Aerobird Challenger, need some advice and help... thanks, Joe

Joe,

Winds of around 15mph are the Aerobird & Aerobird Challenger's top range to fly in, as they only goes about 20mph tops. That's best attempted with the optional 7-cell 900mah battery pack.

The higher the wind, the less your flight time as they're struggling to remain airborne. On a really calm day I can easily get over 10 minutes on a 7-cell pack, but when very windy I come down around 5-6 minutes & still have a little power left.

Don't just buy the optional 7-cell battery pack by itself, instead get the Aerobird X-Pack, as it comes with a better tail wing. Together they make these birds come alive, increase response & flight time, not to mention the X-Pack cost the same as the battery alone.

Always launch into the wind, fly into the wind, land into the wind.

Do the boom tie strap, and the motor tie strap fixes BEFORE your first flight, and you'll be VERY glad you did.

Forget those 'wing-tip' streamers, as they could very possibly get hung up in the prop & cause your bird the crash. If you want to try those, cut them VERY short, where they can't reach the prop.

Some complain about these birds being very slow responding in turns. Easy cure; use more throttle when turning. Increases response time greatly.

Some find after a crash, that their canopy has sheared off &/or just won't stay shut. Fix; get some 3/16" wood dowel rod, punch out the little plastic retainer caps that hold the foam for the rear of the battery compartment, then slid a piece of dowel rod into place, leaving some to hang out each side. Put a rubber band from one side over the canopy to the other side.

I just noticed that Venom Racing is offering an 8.4v 1100mah 7-cell battery pack for $31.99. Comes with fittings for the Fighterbird, Firebird XL, and Aerobird/Aerobird Challenger. Anybody tried one yet?

--

Jim Lilly - Team Z

Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1

Joe,

1) Throttle-up as you turn.

2) Do the tie-wrap BEFORE you fly & no such damage occurs.

3) Tape only the areas where the prop can come in contact, then put a bit on front edge wide enough to keep rubber bands from digging into wing.

4) Tie wrap, no. See my prior reply.

5)

6) Take out the foam that sits behind the battery. Cut it in half just before the pegs which hold it in place. Now when using the 7 cell pack, put that cut piece in front of the battery pack. If using the 6 cell pack, put the cut piece in back of the battery pack.

7) Yes & yes.

8) See my other reply to you, and look for this message.....

From: "Darren Earle"

Newsgroups: rec.models.rc.air Subject: Re: aerobird Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 16:22:16 GMT

..here on this newgroup. It had pictures of Aerobird fixes; AeroBird repairs 001.jpg AeroBird repairs 002.jpg AeroBird repairs 003.jpg

Do a 'Google' search, they may have cached copies w/images if they're not still here. --

Jim Lilly - Team Z

Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1

Thanks

How do you do the boom strap? Is there a picture?

I noticed someone had a picture of screws in the boom which is tricky but could be good. I picked up some screws.

How about a tie strap in the canopy area-where would I put this..

Thanks, Peter

Joe,

I'll try sending photo's to your HotMail address, Aerobird_1.jpg - Aerobird_5.jpg

For the boom fix, you drill one hole on each side of fuselage in the indentation area, in an upward angle on each side. Do NOT drill through the boom, but above it. Insert the tie strap and pull tight, securing the boom to the body (Aerobird_1.jpg - side view & Aerobird_3.jpg - viewed from bottom).

No idea, doesn't even sound good. When mine sheared off, I took 5 strips of duct tap & 5 strips of 3M- Scotch clear packing tape and sandwiched them alternatingly, then stapled each end - one to canopy, other to body. Then I did my fix to secure it down better (Aerobird_2.jpg & Aerobird_5.jpg). --

Jim Lilly - Team Z

Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1

On the manuverability - simple tip - no need to apply much power if you can maintain the air speed constant. In simple words try this:

1. Before the manuver make sure you have enough speed
2. As you come to the point of planned turning intead of just put the stick to the side do down and to the side. This will create enough force to rotate the plain almost instantly. Why? simple. more expensive and "proper" RC's when they turn one elevon goes up another will go down proportionally. In the aerobird only one elevon goes up and the plain tend to go up and to the side intead of plane manuver (whch make it more stable for the beginners). So, simply by increasing the travel on working surfaces and tilting it down when you go in to the turn will improve the responce time
3. Dont forget after the plain start leaning on the wing (start going in to turn) then you can pull it up and go in to the power turn, but be carefull not to stall it or go in to the spiral.

Good advise - even with X pack the surfaces are not that big to do extreme manuvers. If you glue half of old creadit card to each of the elevons (add and extra inch or so to the end of the elevons). But I recon you should try to master the flying on the base config - go slow or you'll have to buy shares in a glue factory :)

Regards Prof

Professor,

Excellent pointer, thanks!

Make that glue & packing tape. --

Jim Lilly - Team Z

Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1

I drilled extra holes down on the horns and put my lines closer to the control surfaces. Now it immediately responds to my commands. It's amazing how much more responsive it is. Be sure you've mastered all the other holes on the horns before you drill.

I hear the challenger is much more responsive than the origianl, especially in expert mode.

Any comments?

-- aeajr

Best Regards

aeajr

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted from the RCGroups.com Discussion Forums. Visit us at

Aeajr,

I'd read but not confirmed yet, that the AB Challenger's elevons would have 1 rise with the opposing one lowering when doing a turn. The original AB only had one rise for a turn.

Peter....that true??? --

Jim Lilly - Team Z

Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1

Good AB advice, however I never liked the 'wooden dowel' canopy fix, ...and came up with my own for your consideration.

Pics are included w/ the post here:

thanks, bubba

-- bubbadice

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted from the RCGroups.com Discussion Forums. Visit us at

Bubbadice,

Thanks.

I tried the fix you're using & yes it looked good, but not cost effective over the long run. Those wing hold down rods break just the same as the dowel rod ones do. When they break, you play hell trying to find the pieces. Sometimes you loose just the end caps. The wooden dowel rod ones are infinitely cheaper and a fast fix in the field.

Either fix will work, it's just that the wooden dowel rod fix is cheaper by far. --

Jim Lilly - Team Z

Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1

Plano97,

Thanks! --

Jim Lilly - Team Z

Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1