Mini 50mm EDF series models from Hobbyking

[dahawk]

[dahawk]

Nigel,

Great vids. Looked like you were having way too much fun ! Also looked like you were mainly at WOT. She really zips along. Wow ! This is what I aspire to do ? Yikes ! See what you mean about moving the servo rods to the top deck.

I'm now wondering if our club field is long enough to support my inexperience in edf's? Or do I need to find a big ole Texas ranch somewhere? I've flown the Radjet at near 100mph but I can do a slow speed stall-out at the end. The field's about 220m in overall length with the groomed "crosswind" runway of about 110m long. There's a tree line on either end so you have to descend over those dreaded trees on approach. Hopeful I'll be able to slow her down. Should not be a problem, at least I hope not. I've seen a few Habu's and Phase 3 F-16's handle the field without incident. But, experienced edf pilots.

Waiting for the wind to calm down.

Cheers,

Hawk

[solentlife]

Having fun ? I was having a BALL !! I really love the T45 as it is a beaut to fly once trimmed. She is tolerant of CoG .... not a speed king but at that size - gives a good account.

WOT ? Most of the time yes ... but she really aerobats if you want and WILL fly a small area. Vladimir who launched the 4S flight - he has a Viperjet with 64mm EDF and he flies it so close and tight - he only needs a small area like a hockey field !
I would suggest if you are going to carve the air ......... get some hinge tape and apply to add to the foam hinge on ailerons... on one wing - an aileron has split it's foam hinge for about 1" in line with horn.

Yes - you see from the landing - the advantage of top mount horns !! I stripped one servo second flight when it was under the wing.

Once you get her in the air .......... am sure you will love her ... for such a small model - it is remarkably smooth flying. You see how easy to hand launch .. no run, just simple shove forward ........

[dahawk]

As always,

Thanks Nigel ! I'm encouraged. After watching your vids, the first thought that popped in my mind was: Adult diapers ! LOL Looking forward to giving her a go once the wind dies down here. Spring in Texas = Wind.

Cheers,

Hawk

[solentlife]

I'm right handed, Mode 2 flyer ............ I launch my T45 with right hand. Once trimmed - no problem ... she launches and I can get hand to right stick before she decides her own thing !
Once I have my catapult bungee set-up she will get a hook for effortless carrier style launches.

Next outing - I'll try and remember to do a close in "box flight" vid to show how good she is .... as you guessed - I like the long low passes and jet climb-outs ......... she looks so good doing it ...

The Red Arrows scheme - I made the white arrow underneath oversize on purpose ........ as you can see in the vid - it really shows up ... The original US Navy scheme was OK in good light - but in evenings could get lost. This Red / White arrow set-up is brilliant.

[solentlife]

I don't believe it !!

I'm really enjoying a 4S in the T45 .... people watching .... and I come down LOWWWWWWW ! zoom up ... carve over .... scream down low low LOWW LOWWWWWW ! into a banked screaming turn .... suddenly saw a slight rise in the ground ...... TOO LATE ... wing-tip caught it and she cartwheeled ...........

Snapped of the nose and ejected the LiPo .... amazingly the main model was not broken ... but had a lot of paint stress cracks all over !!

Went home ... epoxy and hot-melt nose back on ... back and flew again ... then wind got up.

Now I'm making new nose out of closed cell pink foam .............. thread to follow .....

[solentlife]

New Nose for my T45 .............

First cut of the field rerpaired nose ...



Pink Closed Cell foam block



Block cut on jigsaw to rough outline..



Cocktail sticks in joint to strengthen butt ...



Glue on with epoxy ...



The characteristic hump on nose in front of canopy as a separate piece ..



Sanding starts ....



Correction to mate canopy in ..



Finished ...





And CoG balance is spot on ......

Oh nearly forgot .... canopy front tab sits under a coctail stick glued across ....

ESC - while working on the T45 ... I noted that the ESC kept falling out of it's slot even though double side taped ... cocktail stick to rescue .... carefully insert in the side and push across holding ESC in ...... and into other side .. stick is slightly shorter than fuselage width so not see. No gloue as may need to remove to change ESC later .........



Nigel

[dahawk]

Way to go Nigel,

You're quite the magician ! Looks good as new. I will do the cocktail stick blocking on the esc. One thing I do to alot of with my foamies is to apply some packing tape to the critical areas like the nose. Seems to help absorb the shock loads. Maybe not the prettiest though. If I can get out to the field before travel on Weds, I'll try to maiden. This weekend, the weather was pretty bad.

Hawk

[solentlife]

No amount of tape etc. would have prevented the nose breaking ........... She cartwheeled and the nose is the weakest part where it's thin to carry the larger lipo.

The repairs have come out good on a perfect CoG as well ...





There is a join line ... which I could cover and paint ... but to be honest she's starting to show signs of good use !!

I don't know whether to go for a 64mm or another 50mm replacement next ?

[solentlife]

OOOPS !! My repair has been too successful on battery space ... I now need to pack sponge at front to stop the 4S pack sliding back and forth !

I wondered whether to glue in a foam wall but then thought the sponge gives me shock absorbing for those heavy landings ...

Weather is poor for rest of week ... so I'm getting very frustrated .... at this rate I may even start rebuilding my ME109 .... now that will be a job and a half !!

[dahawk]

Nigel,

Why could you not just install a velcro battery strap ? Piece of velco on the bottom with a strap over it. I actually buy these ready made for about $2.00
-Hawk

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by dahawk

Nigel,

Why could you not just install a velcro battery strap ? Piece of velco on the bottom with a strap over it. I actually buy these ready made for about $2.00
-Hawk

My lipo's don't actually sit right down onto bottom ... they sit proud and bridge the cross foam that creates the box.Only the short dumpy 1800 3S actually sit down in.

The foam is fine in fact as it gives a shock absorbing wall now .... instead of the hard foam wall before.

Today I fitted my catapult hook having picked up the 10m bungee today from Post Office. So all my hand launch stuff now has a carrier like launch ! Just need to test now !

http://youtu.be/CHPDo6JP_Nw

Cheers
Nigel

[dahawk]

Nigel,

I maidened the RAF T-45 today. Some plusses and minusses. On the first toss, it torque rolled right and nosed in within one second. Not off to a good start. It was the tosser. It seperated the fuse at the nose to canopy section. Dislodged all three of the esc to motor connectors. I was able to wrap packing tape around it. No vid.

Second flight was much better. Lighter, straight-way toss, slight dip and go. She indeed really goes ! Had a 1300 mah 3S in here and it seemed to work very well. Greased the landing. All good thus far. Have a some limited footage that I'll try to upload later. The guy using my I-phone didn't really know how. Poor quality. Finger blocking lens, etc.

On the third flight, all was going well until one of my buddies noticed something flopping around in the air. Mayday ! I brought her down almost immediately without a crash. But what I found was that the left aileron had broken away. Split at the seam. Al that was hold it on was the servo rod. Whew, Holey Waltzing Matilda, was I lucky to get her down when I did ! Could have been ugly.

Have you seen this condition on yours? There's a product here called welder's glue that should work fine on this. It bonds well but maintains it's elasticity. Very pliable. If that doesn't work, I'll just make a tape hinge.

Plane is a winner overall. Hardly needed any trim. Easy flyer. Not twitchy at all. Just a tad of down elevator was needed.

Travelling for a week so my squadron will get a short break, then it's back to work for them !

Cheers !

-Hawk( type rated in the T-45)

[solentlife]

I take it the nose broke away at the scarf joint from the moulding ? The glue used here is crap chinese goop and mine separated later ... I just epoxied all back.

I have one aileron that has cracked it's foam hinge line and it now has hinge tape at that point. I hate tape - but it was the quickest fix. Personally I will go to mylar hinge tabs or pinned with tape to close the air-gap.

There's a guy on Youtube who posted a vid doing Hot Melt Glue hinges ... amazing !

Glad you liked the Hawk - even though you had some incidents first outing. But believe me - it will get better !!

Today I might be trying out my catapult launcher on the Parkjet and Hawk - hope to have some vid's

Cheers Nigel

[solentlife]

Here's the hook as I fitted to the T45 ......... it may be a little too far fwd ... but we'll see later hopefully today.



It's actually an old Flybar from my 450 heli cut and bent .... a 2" (5cm) length of 1/4 x 1/4 hardwood drilled and wire inserted / bound and then epoxied into the fuselage bottom.

[dahawk]

Thanks Nigel,

Yes, in plan view, the fuse seperated vertically in a perfect split. Easy repair. I had started off with taping it before I even flew and that always helps. On the, the aileron, I'll look into the hot melt glue hinge idea and the welders glue idea but in the end will probably just make a tape hinge like I do on my foamies.

Also, figured out an alternate mod for protecting the servo arms on the under carriage. A buddy at the field had an HK PKJ like yours and bought some big disposable plastic spoons. Cut off the handle and glued the spoon dish around the servos. Perfect fit and looks good too.

Love the catapult hook. Put one on the bottom and stretch a bungee cord across the LZ for a realistic carrier landing.

That's one heck of lot of plane for USD $75.00.

Now I have to travel until next Weds. I'm itching to get back out there !

BTW, I met a nice lady on Linked-in from Latvia who's into RC flying. Her name is Karina and she actully sells Italian RC motors: karinazarina.blogspot.com Always nice to see females in this hobby but don't tell my wife-LOL

Cheers,

Hawk

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by dahawk

Thanks Nigel,

Yes, in plan view, the fuse seperated vertically in a perfect split. Easy repair. I had started off with taping it before I even flew and that always helps. On the, the aileron, I'll look into the hot melt glue hinge idea and the welders glue idea but in the end will probably just make a tape hinge like I do on my foamies.

If you start hauling this baby around as she is capable of - but don't do as I did .... with no rudder you can't get real low and haul her round ... the nose drops in the knife-edge as you'd expect ! I cartwheeled mine when I forgot !

Also, figured out an alternate mod for protecting the servo arms on the under carriage. A buddy at the field had an HK PKJ like yours and bought some big disposable plastic spoons. Cut off the handle and glued the spoon dish around the servos. Perfect fit and looks good too.

I still prefer arms on top as I haven't seen any protection that does servo, rod and horns ... On top is a simple and g'teed solution.

Love the catapult hook. Put one on the bottom and stretch a bungee cord across the LZ for a realistic carrier landing.

Whole point is to make easier for me to fly without questionable launches etc.

That's one heck of lot of plane for USD $75.00.

Told yer !! I thought you'd like it !! Wait until you hot her up !!

Now I have to travel until next Weds. I'm itching to get back out there !

Know the feeling well !

BTW, I met a nice lady on Linked-in from Latvia who's into RC flying. Her name is Karina and she actully sells Italian RC motors: karinazarina.blogspot.com Always nice to see females in this hobby but don't tell my wife-LOL

Cheers,

Hawk

Will have to have a look ......... there's not many RC'rs in Latvia ... we reckon maybe 100 ... and only about 7 we know of in Ventspils .......

nigel

[solentlife]

WOW .....

Set up Launcher .... 5kg pull on bungee .... 3S in the T45 .......... ran up throttle till you could just tell she was light on the rails - HIT the trigger and VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM she shot of straight as an arrow ... opened throttle as she pulled away ........

I mean she went STRAIGHT ...

Later stuck the 4S in her ........ same again .............. STRAIGHT as an arrow.

This is THE way to launch any of these machines .... $10 system ... million $ satisfaction !

Video being sorted ............

[dahawk]

Cool !

Anything has to better than my first hand lauch of the RAF T45 yesterday ! Ker-plunk. Look forward to seeing the launcher.

Cheers,

Hawk

[solentlife]

WOW !!!!!!!!!

Set-up launcher in the field ........... 5kg pull on bungee.

Flew the Cessna to gauge the wind and conditions ...

Set up the T45 with 3S on the rails ......

This was first launch of the rails and a total unknown factor ..... so I eased up throttle till she was light on the rail ... reckon about 30% throttle ... hit the trigger VROOOOOOOOOOOM - she shot of STRAIGHT as an arrow ... no torque, no bank, STRAIGHT !

Opened throttle as she went away ... what a beaut !

Later with 4S .......... exactly same ........... BRILLIANT !!

I have no wish to launch any other way now ... this is THE way to go !!

Videos to follow ....

[mclarkson]

Hey guys, I've looked through this thread and I'm not entirely sure which planes are being talked about. People seem to have bought them on different sites, under different names. I can't find any "Sky Angel" planes on HK.

Could I get a link or two? Thanks.

[dahawk]

Mclarson,

JPowers is the Mfg. They are sold under different brand names. I bought mine from Banana Hobby. Was skeptical as I had heard horror stories about them but much to my surprize and enjoyment, they shipped from Calf in 3 biz days. $74.90 +$16.00 shipping No damage. Even included a Lipo. I got the Red Arrows(RAF) version. Schaweet ! HK does not offer the Red Arrows. I must say, Alot of plane for the money. I'm happy.

On this thread, we get some good mentoring from Nigel. He's been through it all with this plane and has made several upgrades.

Here's the link:http://www.bananahobby.com/2079.html

Enjoy !

Hawk

[mclarkson]

Thanks. Is this one of them, too?

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by mclarkson

Thanks. Is this one of them, too?

Thats her ..... I bought that from HK as shown.

Forget the missiles - they look nice but will never survive first landing. Keep them for display only.

Dahawk reckons I'm mentor ... not really - I just love the 50mm EDF's and having an absolute ball with mine.

Check youtube regularly .... as now I'm uploading various showing the T45 launching of my Catapult Bungee ... amazing.

[solentlife]

Here's her going of the catapult ........ (compilation vid)

http://youtu.be/7XLX9A2vNkc

First flight on 3S .... 90kph, then on 4S gave me 108kph.

Seems I am stuck around the 100kph mark !! Once I get the shaft adaptor for my 51mm DF, 7 blade fan and 6000kv motor .......... we'll see about more speed