Eflite Tribute Setup

[AndyCAP]

I have an Eflite Tribute fitted with the 4100 kV Eflite brushless motor, Eflite 20A ESC, Kokam 3C 910mAh pack, 4 x JR 371 servos and JR 610 Rx. I am really happy with its performance - it hovers at about 1/2 throttle - which is not bad considering that I live at ± 5000ft above sealevel!

The tribute does however have quite a pronounced roll coupling with rudder input - i.e. when moving the rudder right, the plane also rolls right. This is particularly annoying when flying knife edge or slow rolls since you end up with rudder and Aileron fighting each other. I have started mixing in some opposite aileron to counter this effect - with reasonably good results. Is this the only way to rectify the problem?

The other question I have is about what setup is required for flat spins - is it only a question of moving the CG back? I have tried to do a 'blender' but cant seem to get the plane in a nice flat spin towards the end of the maneuver.

Aside from the roll coupling the only other criticism I have against the tribute is the UC which is too flexible. i am planning to solder a thin wire brace between the springsteel wire brace to prevent the UC from bending outwards - I have had many prop strikes on landing and recently broke a brand new GWS and an APC prop (12x6) - very annoying! The Original Eflite Prop seems to have the best combination of flexablity and stiffness and gives good performance.

[Spitfire222]

I have the same brushless set-up as you, but with Hitec HS-56BB's, Electron 6 and Eclipse Tx. I love this planes performance, I've had many people at the park or random field walk or drive up to me asking where they can get one!:cool:

I have also noticed the roll-coupling, and it really hampers good knife-edge flight, especially for me as this plane is my intro to "real" 3-D. I havent tried any mixing on my radio yet, but if it helped you....

As for the wire gear, I have done exactly what you are planning to do, and it works great! On the first few flights without, the prop tips got slightly scratched, but they're fine, much less a broken one. The plane itself is rather felxible, so I glued small 1 in pieces of tri-stock at the fuse-wing joint, one for each corner at the front and back for a total of 8. The motor doesnt notice the extra weight, and the plane is much more rigid. Im also considering adding 2 small pieces of tri-stock at the tail....

My other real beef is the flimsiness of the prop shaft. I've bent two so far, one from a flight with on over-powering homemade li-po pack that cut-out, and once from when doing a violent outside snap, the battery flew off the plane. In both instances, I had no control whatsoever, but the plane flew gentle right-handed 360's to the ground. Hardly an foam was even scratched, but the shaft was bent.....:mad:

Still, overall I really love this plane! :D

Happy flying!

[nrichardz]

1233

1234

1235

Hey Guys

I flew my tribute for the first time yesterday and it flew beautiful I am very happy with it my setup is as follows park 370 4100 kv in stock gearbox castle creations phoenix 10 and 2 cell 900 mah lipoly and stock prop plenty of power and will do every manuver that I can think of here are some pictures I have also just finished a mini funtana but am still a little scared to put it in the air setup is as follows himaxx 2808-0890 outrunner phoenix 10 speed control and 3 cell 1320 and 1500 mah lipoly and an 11 x 7 prop if any of you guys think I should change anything on the setup for the funtana please let me know this is my first balsa airplane and want to make shure it is right before I put it up in the air here are a few pictures

nrichardz

[loker]

that motor is way too small. for the himax outrunner, you would want the 2816-(not sure of kv), the 2808 is 110 watts, the 2816 is 200 watts. the funtana weight with battery is about 24 ounces, way too much for that motor. you'll also want to go with the 12x6 prop instead of 11x7, the larger diameter gives more stability. and if the battery is a 1320, make sure it's got a high enough discharge capability, or the larger motor I suggested will destroy the battery. good luck. ps the speed controller should be at least 20 amps.

[nrichardz]

Thanks loker that is the info I have been looking for I do not want to try to fly it with the wrong setup it is to beautiful of a plane to put in because of a wrong setup I guess I have to go to the hobbyshop this week and get a motor and a speed control and maybe a bigger battery

[Spitfire222]

Ok, my setup is as follows:
-E-flite Park 400 4100Kv in stock gearbox
-stock 12x6 prop
-E-flite 20 Amp brushless ESC
-Kokam 3C 1500 Mah Li-po

I have about 15 flights on my Tribute and it is a 3D animal. This morning, I flew it for a good 12-15 min with one of my charged packs and it hovers all the way until the battery is too low. This set-up is more than enough for this plane. I also have a few extra grams from the tri-stock I added to stiffen the fuse-wing joint and fuse-horizontal stab joint. Also, cross wire to stiffen the gear. I am very satisfied with this plane! :D Had a few people stop by and park their cars behind me and watched me for about 10 min. When they drove off they said "Good show, thanks!" :cool:

[loker]

that setup has lot's of power, but it could be better. first, the park 400 is way more than enough, you could get a 2:1 thrust power ratio with a 370, and save some battery time, same gear and prop though. also, kokams are heavy. my 1500 kokam weighs 115 grams, and the discharge sucks on it. thunder power's 1320 weighs 85 grams, and the pro-lite series are rated 20C, that's 17 amps continuous, 27 amp burst. that's awesome! that's also what I use. you'll never over drain that battery, but my kokam has been destroyed by using the motor you are, because kokams can't handle high discharge rates, except the special ones, which I doubt you have. anyway, my 2 pennies.

[HACKER_RULES]

Hi Troops,
if you think the roll coupling on the Tribute is a bit anouying, brace yourself when you try knife edge with the Funtana as it is a real pig. Oh, and landing is a bit of a challenge as well!! Don't slow it down too much as it will just drop out of the sky followed closely by removal of the u/c requiring workshop time to repair. Having said that my u/c has remained intact as I received warning from about 6 other flyers who ripped the u/c out on their first flights.
However once you have come to terms with the few antics of the Funtana it's a real hoot especially for blenders and violent snaps. My setup is a Park400 4200 kv motor , stock 6.6:1 gearbox, 12x6 APC prop, Ultrafly 25 amp esc, 2000 3S kokam lipo, wing in the forward position and CG at 110mm back from the LE ( demanding but fun ).

Cheers HR

[Boss248]

The Tribute and many other foamies and non foamies have roll and or pitch couple in k/e but most of it comes from using way to much rudder throw in k/e .I started dialing out rudder with dual rate and when I got the plane to fly a good k/e I landed and had ended up with only about 1/4-3/8" rudder throw. Now obviosly this changes with the speed the plane is flying but try dialing out rudder and watch the couple go away it may never go away totally but I bet you will see just how little rudder throw it takes. Try this and post what your results.

Boss

[nrichardz]

Hey guys made some changes to my planes this weekend and all for the better my tribute now has a himaxx 2808-0980 outrunner with a phoenix 10 esc and thunder power 3 cell 1320 mah pack and an 11 x 7 prop it is absoulutely a dream to fly now and flight times are between 20 to 25 minutes. As far as my Funtana still have not flown it yet but put a park 400 4200 kv motor in the stock gearbox and will fly the stock prop and my new esc in it is an eflite 40 amp control the bad news is nobody here where I live carries the big lipoly batteries in stock I am trying to find a 2100 to 2500 mah battery for a reasonable price so if any of you guys know where to look please let me know anyway I think that this setup with the right battery will be awseome

nrichardz

[AndyCAP]

Thanks for all the feedback & advice guys!

Spitfire222: I have exactly the same problem with bending prop shafts - bloody annoying - but nothing that a tweak with a pair of pliers cant fix. I recently repaired my Trib after losing sight of it behind the glare of a street light - flying at night - not very bright of me!! none of the local suppliers had any Eflite gearbox components, so I found out that the GWS components fit too. Replaced the shaft and gear - fits 100%. I have however bent the shaft again - so seems as if its just as soft!

I stiffened the forward part of the fuz using very light glass (39 g/m^2) and 5 min clear epoxy. Its a mod that most of the guys do here - the easiest is to do it before assembling the kit - i.e. glass the forward section of the fuz (from about CG forwards).


Boss248: Thanks for the advice on the rudder. I'll try it out. At what speed do you fly K/E though? I noticed that the pro's use very little rudder in K/E (from ETOC video) - even when flying high alpha rolls - Is this perhaps due to low weight? My tribute weight about 430g

Blue skies & tailwinds!

[Foamiesrfun]

Well Hello everyone,I flew my Tribute for the first time today and I love it thread here http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9027#post9027
I have been flying a www.fancyfoam.com (http://www.fancyfoam.com) edge 540 for the past year and so and well I still love my edge but the tribute really suprized me its a great flying plane.
Mine came out around 15 ounces AUW.but tracks so well The KE I notice it tucked inside a little when you roll it right but I really havent tryed much.I am very good with my edge at KE I could do it a whole flight if I wanted to.So my fingers know what to do if the plane does anything funny.
I am flying with tis set up here:

Himax 2015-4100 Motor
GWS gear box ,with himax heat sink
12.60 prop
25 Amp Castle Creations ESC
and from 850 poly quest 3 cell packs to 1320 TP Pro lite 3 cell packs

It flys really well on both batterys,with the TP pro lite its way to much power everything vibrates so but about 1/4 thorttle I should be good for 18 minutes or so I flew 12 today but it got dark on me still had plenty left. and with the Poly quest I should be goot for around 8-9minutes. maybe more flying it easy. so far I only have 3 flights on it.i plane to fly alot tommorrow.

[Foamiesrfun]

Well Hello everyone,I flew my Tribute for the first time today and I love it thread here http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9027#post9027
I have been flying a www.fancyfoam.com (http://www.fancyfoam.com) edge 540 for the past year and so and well I still love my edge but the tribute really suprized me its a great flying plane.
Mine came out around 15 ounces AUW.but tracks so well The KE I notice it tucked inside a little when you roll it right but I really havent tryed much.I am very good with my edge at KE I could do it a whole flight if I wanted to.So my fingers know what to do if the plane does anything funny.
I am flying with tis set up here:

Himax 2015-4100 Motor
GWS gear box ,with himax heat sink
12.60 prop
25 Amp Castle Creations ESC
and from 850 poly quest 3 cell packs to 1320 TP Pro lite 3 cell packs

It flys really well on both batterys,with the TP pro lite its way to much power everything vibrates so but about 1/4 thorttle I should be good for 18 minutes or so I flew 12 today but it got dark on me still had plenty left. and with the Poly quest I should be goot for around 8-9minutes. maybe more flying it easy. so far I only have 3 flights on it.i plane to fly alot tommorrow.
Oh and so far no landing gear I put the tail skid on but no wheels as I fly off grass and taller grass most the time,kinda hard on landing gear.