Radian - a new plane from Parkzone

[Nitro Blast]

I would try two things

If you havent gone through the ESC Programming, check the timing setting if there is one.

In theory, you should be able to replicate this issue with it secure on the ground, and get some distance between you and the plane (like a range test).
Ensure there isnt anything loose on the ESC and or that it isnt being shook up on heavy throttle.

Weird indeed.

[mclarkson]

Hmmm... it's the stock ESC - same one I've been running for 2.5 years or so. I know it's programmable, but I'm not sure what the stock settings would be.

I agree it should do it on the ground as well. I'm baffled. I'll keep bangin' on it.

[squidger]

Try another esc just to rule it out. That sounds like insufficient current to the motor.

[NoResults]

Can anyone tell me where you can get a replacement (better) hub and spinner that will fit the Radian. The crummy plastic spinner always breaks and is held on with a couple flimsy wood screws.

What are others using for hub, spinner and prop. Thank you

[Tom Moody]

Originally Posted by NoResults

Can anyone tell me where you can get a replacement (better) hub and spinner that will fit the Radian. The crummy plastic spinner always breaks and is held on with a couple flimsy wood screws.

What are others using for hub, spinner and prop. Thank you

Gee, I have over a hundred flights on my Radian and have not broke the spinner yet. I did break the nose off but was able to repair that with hot glue.

Tom Moody

[pattern14]

Originally Posted by NoResults

Can anyone tell me where you can get a replacement (better) hub and spinner that will fit the Radian. The crummy plastic spinner always breaks and is held on with a couple flimsy wood screws.

What are others using for hub, spinner and prop. Thank you

I ended up making a couple of wing mounted nacelles out of scrap EPP and balsa(the pic's are in an earlier post), turning it into a twin. The whole nose set up, being junk, basically fell apart. You can get aftermarket prop/motor/spinner combo's that you could mod the nose to fit, as anything would be an improvement over stock. In fact, I got so tired of the whole deal, I kept just the wings, and made a complete new EPP and coreflute plane around them. Never looked back I know other people have had success with the standard plane, and maybe I just bought a lemon, but as my third pz plane, I got pretty tired of crap servo's, fragile foam and exorbitant prices. The radian has a brilliant wing design though, and my custom version is my favourite sailplane.

[NoResults]

Well Tom, I am happy you have good luck with this plane. But you did not give me a clue as to the answer to my question.

Pattern14 Thank you. I feel you are right on. I am not a great plane builder or I would do as you did. Maybee crash test hobby or killer planes will come out with a better built glider.

[coreman]

Originally Posted by NoResults

Can anyone tell me where you can get a replacement (better) hub and spinner that will fit the Radian. The crummy plastic spinner always breaks and is held on with a couple flimsy wood screws.

What are others using for hub, spinner and prop. Thank you

I ordered http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...dProduct=19018 from Hobby King. It should be in later this week. The blade pivots are a bit farther apart so it will be interesting to see what effect that has on it. I got several other blade selections to test as well. Right now I am looking for an altitude logger so I can do accurate climb comparisons with the various prop combinations

[Nitro Blast]

Originally Posted by coreman

Right now I am looking for an altitude logger so I can do accurate climb comparisons with the various prop combinations

We use these:

http://www.jollylogic.com/products/altimeterone/



and they fantastic. We actually have a few in the club, and use them for 'altitude quest' games also.

[coreman]

Originally Posted by Nitro Blast

We use these:

http://www.jollylogic.com/products/altimeterone/



and they fantastic. We actually have a few in the club, and use them for 'altitude quest' games also.

I got this one from Amazon for $50 shipped (similar to your unit) and it records the GPS data of the entire flight so you can overlay it on Google maps. The thought was I could pick the start and end point and do the math to get climb angle as well as altitude gained. one of the local ESL guys has one and has posted some interesting graphs showing where thermals tend to get generated at the field and such.
http://www.amazon.com/Canmore-GT-730...ck+Data+Logger

[coreman]

Originally Posted by AEAJR

I will put some dark colored tape on the bottom of the wings, from root to tip, to make it more visable. That's it. Flies beautiful just as it is.

Put some chrome reflective strips on the leading edge as telltales when specked out. You get blinks when it is pointed towards you. I did 4 on mine, the angled tips and the inboard sections so I get the following sequence: a tip glint, then the two inboard panels and then the other tip while circling. I used to do this on all my open class gliders so I could push the limits of my eyesight and still head back home

[coreman]

Originally Posted by scottdearinger

okay - I am back over the city- further from downtown and over a big park that gets lots of RC action - despite all of your displeasure with my videos- you sure did add some views-
Just trust me- we will be safe - I don't want to get in trouble- the Waterworks Park security knows me well here and I am welcome...

click here to watch the video

What did you post now Scott?? I've been flying my HK wingcam but haven't gotten anything worth posting yet. I hope to get some nice foliage shots over the next couple of weeks (we haven't hit peak yet). Good to see you in here. I always enjoy the two stooges productions

[Nitro Blast]

Originally Posted by coreman

I got this one from Amazon for $50 shipped
http://www.amazon.com/Canmore-GT-730...ck+Data+Logger

SCORE! Thanks coreman, (button clicked!) I'm getting one of those.

[coreman]

Originally Posted by Nitro Blast

SCORE! Thanks coreman, (button clicked!) I'm getting one of those.

Mine has been shipped so I hope to be able to do my prop testing sometime next week

[doug773]

I was flying my 2 years old Radian (although the fuselage has been replaced...) on a beautiful tropical afternoon, at about 300' when all of a sudden it pitched down. It barely responded to my desperate nose up commands, finally hitting the ground at high speed, on a 60 degree nose down attitude.
Fortunately the place I use to fly is the perfect one: it's a huge open space with lots of vegetation 10 to 20" tall and soft sandy soil, that dampens even the worse of the impacts.
I had just some fuselage damage!
Everything else was working just perfect.

Post crash investigation showed the culprit: due bad design the lower horizontal stabilizer plastic foil cover simply became loose, leading edge first, creating a powerfull pitch down momentum, that easily overpowered the available control!
It was fixed glueing back and covering the leading edge with tape, besides, of course, the fours hours dedicated to rebuild the fuselage with the help of CA.
It's brand new again!
I strongly suggest you guys inspect the horizontal tail before each flight.

[sotjet]

Originally Posted by Tom Moody

Gee, I have over a hundred flights on my Radian and have not broke the spinner yet. I did break the nose off but was able to repair that with hot glue.

Tom Moody

Hey!
I crashed it on the first flight becasuse the wind was blowing it backwards!
And the nose came off too!
And I repaired it with CA!

[doug773]

Were are you, guys???

[coreman]

Originally Posted by doug773

Were are you, guys???

Up here in the north I've switched over to flying indoors until probably March or April at this point. While the air is dense and winter thermals can be strong, the flesh is weak!

[AEAJR]

I added flaps to a new wing for my Radian. It lets me land even slower and I can play with camber and reflex. But I am not sure it makes all that much difference on this glider, except for spot landing. But it is fun to have another surface to play with.

I still fly it on the DX5e that was included with the RTF package. I do the flap to elevator mixing manually. I moved the throttle to the gear switch and moved flaps to the left stick on my DX5e.

[Nitro Blast]

Originally Posted by doug773

Thank you!
Do you know something about this device's performance and dependability?
Wheight, range, etc.
Did any folks have any experience with this?

Hi Doug,
I now have a plethora of experience with Feytech devices. So far, they have been solidly reliable. The weight is minimal (like a RX), and I dont know what you mean by range.... it has longer range than my eyes do, and that is still dependant on the Radio system.


Sattelite signal is great, there are modules out now that have a little watch style battery that hold memory for sattelite location that make them faster to boot up, but even the non battery versions dont take too long to aquire sattelites.

[doug773]

Do you guys have any experience with this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...cm_cr_asin_lnk ??

[coreman]

Originally Posted by doug773

Do you guys have any experience with this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...cm_cr_asin_lnk ??

There has been some discussion on RCG about it. The units work really well for stabilizing planes. The concern with using it on a glider is that it's going to mask thermal indicators by preventing the tip raising or tail raising upon entering. If all you want is a stable camera platform and aren't concerned with thermalling, they work great

[doug773]

I'd use it mainly on windy days.
As for the camera, do you have some recomendations, budget wise?

Thank you!

Doug

[mclarkson]

Both for flying on the plane, and for taking video from my point of view, I use 808 #11 and #16 keychain cameras, available via eBay for about $30 - $40. I'd get the #16, but still have some older #11s.

Some sample video. Onboards are #16s with wide angle lenses.:

YouTube Video

Here's one of my older #11s on my Radian:

YouTube Video

[coreman]

Originally Posted by doug773

I'd use it mainly on windy days.
As for the camera, do you have some recomendations, budget wise?

Thank you!

Doug

I have the keychain cameras mentioned. They work well. As another alternative. I use the Hobby King Wingcam. I took this video on my Radian using that. They had been running about $35

Radian Pro