Slow Stick with a Park 480!??!

[Mad Joe]

Well guys, it's been like 5 years since my last post, and frankly a few since my last flight. Since then, I have moved from Mississippi to Fort Lauderdale, FL for medical school and I think I want to get back into flying. I still have my old Spektrum DX6 (DSM1) Tx kit with the AR6000 Rx and 7 E-Flite EFLRS75 servos. I used to fly a SkyFly, since then it has been given away. Aaaannnnddd I used to own a E-Flite Edge 540 with the Park 480 motor. This ended spectacularly in a field and I bought two other semi-not-broken Edges to fix one up, but never did. And frankly, that thing was a handful, I want to practice a lot more before I rebuild it. I say all this to say that I think I want a Slow Stick and I want to know if this setup is too much for the stick.

Park 480 Brushless Outrunner 1020Kv on 12x6 prop
E-Flite 40-amp ESC with dual BEC (EFLA312B)
3S LiPo 20c (or so, mine died so this will be new)
S75 servos
AR6000 reciever
DX6 Tx


May also use this rig for some AP.

BTW, anyone here use the Markham Park field? I need to get some info if I get this thing built.


Thanks guys!

[Rockin Robbins]

Not too much! I'm running just slightly more power and it works fine. Pay close attention to making your wing strong and you'll have no trouble. But keep her light. Most of your flying will not be the straight up and accelerating as far as you can see, even though you'll be capable of it.

Remember that any pitch speed greater than 40 mph is wasted. I use an 11x4.7 SF prop and it's wonderful. I have incredible power with the ability to fly level at full throttle even though the plane isn't too happy about it!

Looks like a great plan if you change the prop. Build it!

[flydiver]

Like RR said, prop for thrust, not for speed, and use a judicious throttle thumb.
Reinforce the wing...lots.
Here's some ideas:
http://www.slowstick.co.uk/slow_stic...forcement.html

There are numerous aftermarket wings and do-it-yourself out of depron/blue core/etc.

[Mad Joe]

I just had these 12x6 props lying around from my Edge 540 days, I'm not opposed to a change. We thinking a 11x4 or x5? It's been too long since I have figured this stuff out.

[flydiver]

If you got 'em, use 'em. You just need to be even EASIER with the throttle.
It's a draggy airframe with a LOT of uncamber. Much speed and power will tear the wing apart.

[Mad Joe]

Well I ordered the SS NPS system from amazon. Also got a battery and charger and want some opinions, be gentle please . I got a Turnigy 2200mah 20C 3s lipo for like 8 bucks ( I know, I know) but all the reviews seem to like it. I also picked up a Dynam Supermate DC6 charger. I am woefully unfamiliar with either of these brands, but did try to shop for value as the wife makes all the money and I just spend it at school . Anyone have any experiences with these brands or better yet the products?

[flydiver]

Not bad choices actually. The battery should be OK for this application if it ain't an eBay dud.
Here's a review on the Dynam.

The manual is woefully bad. There are a MESS of these battery clones and they ALL use the same poor instructions. Google [Accucel-6 + youtube] and start following links. The AC-6 is by far the most popular of these clones. It works exactly the same.

If you care to wade through a massive thread with people asking 'how do I....?) then go here.

When the kit comes Google [Slow Stick build threads]. There are dozens. The SS instructions are of the usual Chinese quality.....not!

[Mad Joe]

Thanks man, nice to see a positive review. The charger I ordered from HobbyPartz.com and the battery from HobbyKing.com so I hope they are as advertized. Just as a rando questions, what is the amp draw on a charger like that. Will a wallwart support it? hmm prolly not mine, its only 300mA. I may have to sacrifice a PC PSU. Oh wait, just found a 12V 4A psu for a defunk LCD. thats just 48watts, is this sufficient?

[flydiver]

Barely....You really want 12-17v and at least 5A. You can find laptop power supplies for like $10 if you look.
I've done the PC PS conversion and that works well but is larger.
I've used a 3.5A laptop PS for a long time but limit it to smaller batteries to not stress it.

Keep the charge rate down below ~3.5A or you'll probably fry that PS. You won't be able to charge larger lipos very fast with the 50W limitation. Some folks end up being surprised by that. Cheap has it's own price.

[Mad Joe]

Thanks, I've got some more studdly PS somewhere around here... I will find one by the time all this arrives. Thanks for the replies! I shall let everyone know how it flies next week.

[Glacier Girl]

Sounds like a plan to me. Bonus is your power plant will work two ways.
Good for a big thrust low speed set up, and when the time comes it can be changed over to a lower thrust higher speed set up, just by changing the prop.

Fly the SS with the stock wing/tail feathers till you have it mastered. Then take a look at Millennium's SSX wing/tail feathers for it. It will turn the SS into a whole different bird.

http://www.millenniumrc.com

[Some Useless Geek]

You know, the rule of thumb with electrics is that 10% of the AUW of the plane should be in the motor. If you fly a Slow Stick with an airframe weight of 250 grams and a battery of maybe 100 grams then you really aren't going to need a motor much bigger than 40 grams. Lots of 380 class motors are that weight.

And, of course, lighter is better. Think about going light instead of going straight up. Heh.

[TopSpin]

I prefer the flying brick approach where at least 35% of the AUW is motor and battery, more if necessary to achieve my speed goal.

Faster is always better and there is no such thing as a bad landing as long as I hve enough epoxy.

Truth.

[mumblinaviator]

Overpowered Slowsticks are a blast, period.

I've owned and operated many turnigy 3s 2200's and they all perform very well and are very predictable, not to mention cheap. I have yet to have one get unruly on me.

Have fun with the build!

[Rockin Robbins]

My Turnigy 2217-20 motor is hooked to an APC 11x4.7 SF prop. Pitch speed is about 30 mph and the thing is great. I have her putting out just about 200 watts at just over 18A. This way I have enormous power but don't have to worry about ripping the wings off running around at full throttle. I don't do that much though because she's trimmed to run flat at about half throttle.

Just the same watch the dihedral joint. Reinforce that really well. Make sure the reinforcement fiberglass rods on the front and back of the wings are glued with epoxy along their entire length with no gaps to spread out those forces and make sure the center tubes are epoxied to the wing also. You don't have to build heavy, just make her strong.

Enjoy!

[Mad Joe]

Well, I got her built and finally got my Turnigy 2200mah 3S 25C lipo in, and a charger, and built the ATX converted power supply. I got it all together and took it out for a maiden. Thing takes off in 4 feet with 1/4 throttle and has no probs with altitude. I somehow made a mistake with the rudder construction and so while checking control surfaces in the air, it fell like off.... So it flat spinned into a tree where it stayed for 1.5 days until I could get some PVC pipe to knock it down. The lipo, mind you had 2 minutes of flight time on it ever, was sitting at 1.15v per cell. I did the adventurous thing and NiMH boosted it to 9v and then LiPo balance charged it. Dmg was minimal to airframe. Just a little on the horizontal so that has a CF rod in it. Wing was fine, rudder was fine. After doing a discharge on the battery, its charging now at 1c to try again. I think I'm going to use lock nuts on the rudder this time. I'm also going to want to pick up a 11x4.7 prop or 11x5.5 for thrust. This 12x6 is nasty fast and I'm afraid to rip the wings off.

[Rockin Robbins]

Great job there! You'll get the kinks out in no time and be having a great time. I must have broken six props before I finally got all the brain farts out and just started having a great time flying!

[hayofstacks]

You get the battery to take a charge?

How I set my slow stick up, was using a 2.5 oz heads up rc power up 450. I think it is 240 to 250w, 40 amp speed control. I braced the wings using tape and the rods from a $1 kite my kid broke. I flew mlsty with a 1800ma 3 cell, but everything from 800ma to 2200ma worked fine. I slid the servo tray back on the other side of the fuse joiner, right against the tail. Put your battery and and motor up front, balance it out by sliding the wing back. I could hover the plane, but it would just fall out of the air and the wings would start to flutter as it stalled out after about 20-30 seconds.

Overall, I loved my slow stick to death. It was a tough airplane. Broke the fuse twice. Second time I replaced it with a 3/8ths square stick and hot glued everything in place to keep it from sliding. I probably had near 1000hrs on the origonal wing. Could fly for over an hours worth of touch and go's, as well as slow fly by's. I did findmyself doing stupid things at very low altitude, got bored I guess. I ripped it apart for the guts of my mini ultra stick.

[tarheal63]

I am getting ready to purchase my first SS, I am putting a 2409-12t that I have laying around with a 30A, I will probably run an 8040 on it till i get used to it. Will 8g servos suffice on this? I presume they will as most people I see are using hs-55's. I am looking forward to it as a lazy flyer that I can hop up later. For such a simple plane, man people love it.

[stevecooper]

Originally Posted by tarheal63

I am getting ready to purchase my first SS, I am putting a 2409-12t that I have laying around with a 30A, I will probably run an 8040 on it till i get used to it. Will 8g servos suffice on this? I presume they will as most people I see are using hs-55's. I am looking forward to it as a lazy flyer that I can hop up later. For such a simple plane, man people love it.

the 2409-12t will take no more than a 9/4. prop,, and the 8/4 is about as low as you should go,,it'll haul that SS into space! (32+ Oz thrust!) I like the 2409-18 as it'll swing a 8/4-11/3.5! around 30 oz of Uff pa-pa! 8-9 gramers will work just fine,, use um on mine as well, bubsteve

[tarheal63]

I was going off of the HURC site,
The GWS EP8040 prop produces 27 ounces of thrust at 18 amps with a pitch speed of 46 mph. This is the prop to use if you want to stay on the conservative side!

I figured on staying conservative. I have the 12t lying around, so I figured to keep cost down I would use it, I have a few 1300 and 1600 batteries also to use on it. The only thing I will need are the servos.

[stevecooper]

The APC 9x4.5E prop produces about 31 ounces of thrust at 23 amps with a pitch speed of 41 mph.
I see Jeff at heads up got 31 Oz,, My tests got 32 Oz,,,Jeffs the best go-to guy for most everything,,bubsteve