ST Models MX2 Mods And tail wheel problem

[Davethebluessinger]

Couldn't find a thread on WF for this plane so I thought I'd post one.
Just bought an ST Models MX2 foamie. Looks great and had some good reviews.
But after looking at threads on other forums I decided to do some mods before the maiden.
First thing was to hot melt a 4mm ply strip to the underside of the fuse and attach the undercarriage, I also drilled the ply and pushed 4 2" long bamboo skewers through the holes and into the foam to increase strengthening. The standard plastic mount is apparently useless and rips out of the foam unless you absoloutely grease the landings! I replaced the wheels with 2" foam jobs that I'd taken from my Wot4 earlier (upped the size to accomodate longish grass). I fitted one of the stock front wheels to the rear bracket. Can anyone suggest a better tail wheel mount because frankly the wire used to make the factory fitted item is nowhere near strong enough. Maybe one from a PZ model would work? Any suggestions gratefully received!
Next up I replaced the ESC and Motor. The original motor/prop combo pulled too much for the generic 30A ESC so I bought an Epower BL2815 920kv outrunner and linked it up to a Hobbywing Pentium 40A ESC, tests I've seen report that using the 12 x 6 stock prop it should draw appx 34A max. I mounted the motor using the fitting kit that came with it, I had to file a little off here and there and slot 2 of the holes as the originals fell over holes in the firewall. The motor is a little bigger diameter than the original and the mounting kit pushed it about 6mm forward of the original which meant I had to remove a bit of the foam from inside the nose cowl with a Dremel. Once hooked up correctly to the ESC I taped the cowl back on rather than using glue so I can remove it again in the future if required. I fitted a 45mm Aluminium spinner to complete the look, much nicer than the original white one!
A minor mod was required to the battery hatch to ensure it stayed put and a tiny area of foam needed to be sanded away above the Elevator servo as the horn was rubbing on the fuse.
Finally I applied GF tape to the leading edges etc.
I'm hoping tomorrow will be fine so I can take it to the field

[squidger]

I just sold mine after 18 months trouble free flying stock.Although I never fitted the landing gear because it is a known weakness on these models. Mine was pulling 25 amps on full throttle and I kept the original esc which worked well. I replaced the front latch on the battery hatch with magnets and fitted a lego perspex window to the front of the canopy and stuck a camera behind it.The tail wheel wire is very flimsy but never broke. She always flew well. You had to land with a little speed as she would float in ok and at the last second would drop out of the sky and land firmly. I just set brake mode on and stopped the prop left and right when I was going to land. Never broke a single prop in about 80 flights.Really nice model. Ran out of wall space in garage and recent new model meant I had to get rid of an old one so she had to go.

[Davethebluessinger]

Hi Squidger, believe it or not since I made my first post on this I still haven't got around to maidening the MX2! The weather here in the midlands has been either too wet or too windy or BOTH!
I'll post again when I have something to report but as you will have seen, the forecast is for more bad weather this week.
Hopefully it might get colder and stiller around Christmas when I'm off work and can get in some time on the sticks!

[squidger]

You'll find it's worth the wait. You're gonna really enjoy flyin the MX2. It goes exactly where you point it and has loads of power and with your power setup should be vertical. Have fun

[JetPlaneFlyer]

I used a 'Radio Active' tailwheel on my similar sized Precision Aerobatics Ultimate AMR: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Radio-Acti...item27bac9ef03
Nothing fancy but does the job fine.

Steve