newbie update

can TO&L easily,

and almost always

1. Hopefully the

pretty. Ive got

this rc crap. Im

my boys into this

Mike, Use a prop saver on your SS and you WILL stop breaking so many props. Check out

Paul

If i couldnt laugh at myself, id have to cry. With the way my luck goes, id be inconsolable....

Thanks for the tip, but i did setup the prop saver last week (after 7 propellers) upon your advice. I just broke one despite the prop saver when i crashed into one of the massive 60 foot light towers dotting my flying field. I fly in a park with several baseball diamonds, and the light towers (&backstops & bleachers & trees & etc...) always seem to jump in my way. Anyway, i thought i was clear of the top, but smacked the very top edge of one of the big halogens with the bottom of the prop. even the landing gear hit too, but kinda bounced the whole plane up & over. I was actually able to glide down to a respectable landing though. Gotta love that SS, she flys better with the motor off....

As for the power, i suspect i need a better esc to handle any more battery. GWS website - though not well translated from chinese - seems to indicate that im already running my ICS100 at 8 amps at wot, and the esc is only capable of 8a peak. I put an email into the guys at Bishop Power Products to get some specific recommendations for lipos, chargers, and motors, but they havent responded yet. I suspect i'll get a 2cell kokam 1500 pack (somebody on ezone posted some data, said he actually got more power from a 7.4v lipo than a 8.4v nimh under load - interesting stuff) Maybe a himax or astroflight 010 brushless if they can recommend a specific unit for my setup & flying style. Im not trying to throw money at my flying problems, i fully realize that its practice that i need really (and more props) but the runtime of lipos = longer flights = more practice, and a bit of additional power (not speed, dear lord i frantically try to control her at

You mentioned you use a 3cell lipo, what esc do you use? I guess i could just get a 3 cell myself and a cheapo ICS300 instead of bothering with a $150 brushless setup....What kinda charger do you use? any opinions on the Plantraco PT400 from hobbylobby? looks like it fits the bill for me, though 400mah might take several hours to charge a 1500 cell...but its affordable and runs on AC. thanks in advance, MikeF

of the big

bounced the

landing though.

:-)

GWS website -

Sounds a lot for a 300 on 7 cells. I would say more like 5A currently..I think 8 cells would net yopu a repsctable increase in power.

recommendations

interesting stuff)

A pair of LIPOS have off load charged voltage of about 8.4, very similar to 7 cells. I have found performances on 7ceslls/2 lipos to be very similar, except the LIPOS being lighter, the thing usually flies better.

I would not bother with a brushless yet. If you do sums on power to weight and duration, you will find a cheap can motor and LIPOS gets you more power per unit weight and bags more duration per unit weight than a brushless on Nicad or NiMh. And costs less.

Also, if you smash a $100 brusless motor into a light pole, its expensive.

practice that

more practice,

Flyng an underpowered plane takes far more skill than flying a moderately overpowered one. Check CG as well. you MAY be sufering from a bit too far back. I have fond that a light underpowered electrc planewith a rearward CG can get into a permanent nose up high drag mode, and will stagger around never gaining height like this. Snds like a bit more oomph in the cell department and a tad more weight towards the nose may help.

Youir flights sound like my early electrc flights on a 6 cell speed 600 glider. After I finally managed to get it to stagger around at up to 50 feet off the ground, i went back to the model shop, and complained. They wordlessly handed me a 7 cell pack, and suddenly I had a plane that would actually CLIMB. And moreover, climb high enough to turn before it ran out of sight :-) Us newbies lose a lot of height in the turns, don't we :-)

get a 3 cell

setup....What kinda

Don't use 3 LIPO cells on a GWS 300 motor - you will toast it unless you very carefully adjust the prop/gearbox to suit. First off try the 2 cell LIPO, or 8x Nicad/Nimh route. I can't remember stock cells on a slow stick - is it 7x270 Nicad? 8 x 700 Nimh may be a useful pgrade, or tow Kokam or e-tech 700 may be in teh frame for a 300 motor, or 1200 e-tech or kokam 1500 if you want to play safe. Current should be in the 6A region from memory.

You mentioned having problems with the "up" & "down" on the TX and containing yourself from just reversing the servo. Don't think of the stick movement as "up" & "down" 'cos they ain't. When you push the stick forwards, you speed the plane up (a secondary effect of making the plane go faster is that it has to pick up the speed from someplace and if it can't get it from the engine it'll trade height for speed) ((So it looks like it's going down)) When you pull the stick back, you make the plane slow down. It does this by dumping spped and trading it for height ((So it looks like it's going up))

Stick forwards = faster Stick back = slower.

But ! hey doesn't the motor do that (I hear you cry) No. is the short answer. The motor on a plane is to make it go up, not to make it go faster.

You control speed with the elevator (normally right hand stick, affects the tabs at the back of the plane) You control height with the engine.

There are a few proviso's to that, when you slow an airplane down below a certain point (different on every airplane) it stops flying and starts falling, this is known as a stall. Up high, good fun, low down, bad. (unless it's really low down in which case it's known as a landing) With a weedy engine and a big elevator, you may be asking the plane to go so fast that it'll never climb even on full power.

So, don't reverse the servo. Left stick (engine control) forwards = more power = up Backwards = less power = down

right stick (elevator / rudder) forwards = faster backwards = slower

hope this helps. If you are still having problems, go have a lesson in a cessna. works the same in those and you'll remember it that way. regards Roy TT40 trainer, Ripmax Citabria, Duo discus (1:1)

Glad you're already using the prop saver. It does help. I replaced the GWS stock motor (300 as I remember) with a Multiplex speed

Paul

thanks for the advice. I tripped over hobbylobby.com and was surprised to see such a variety of 'stock' motors. interesting... Maybe a speed300 6v gr3306 and a 2cell lipo and possibly use my existing ICS100 esc..... as for the charger, well....my budget is closer to $30. Im still pissed about my mrc 'superbrain', which i dont think has ever actually fully charged a battery yet.

I'd say so. You will need a pinion puller to get the pinion off as well.

Graupner 6v 300 is allegedly a lot better than GWS.

You can get a bare PCB lipo charger marketed at least over here as a 'westek' that will do 2 cells OK at up to about 700mA from memory.

Best LIPO charger is Astro 109 at around $110, but that may be more than you want to spend. Mind you, they are good at holding second hand value. Which el cheapos are not..

The GWS 350 is a 6v motor as compared to the stock 300 @ 7.2v. Better suited for two lipo cells and screw holes line up with your existing gearbox (don't know if Graupner lines up). Costs about $9. Aeromicro.com is a good place to get motors, gears, props and other bits.