HBT R/C Pilots check in

For the first time in over 5 years, I dusted off the RC equipment and went flying last night. During college I was too poor, and lately brewing has been sucking away all the hobby $$. Anyway, forgot how much of a blast it is to fly. I know I've seen other people post before, so who all on here flies R/C?

Last night I just got out the foamie wing. I also have a thermal glider and gas trainer, but those are a bit more of a pain since i'd have to find a bigger space to fly.

Also, if anyone wants to lend me their expertise or point me towards an HBT equivalent RC forum, that'd be great. The old nimh packs I used to use for the wing are pretty much shot. Right before I quit flying I upgraded to a brushless motor and ESC. I didn't go lipo because they were pretty much brand new at the time and super expensive, but the ESC is compatible. If i'm going to have to buy new batteries anyway, I might as well get a charger and go lipo now that they're not quite as spendy. I don't have any idea though what specs i'd be looking for on the pack or what the best online vendor is.

My first passion is R/C stuff, but the homebrew makes the time out in the garage just that much more enjoyable

RCGroups.com is an awesome site for rc stuff. What kinda pack are you looking for, I have at least one 3s 2200mah pack I could give you to get you hooked on the power they make compared to the old batts.

Don

I haven't flown in about 4 years. I was pretty deep into before I bought my first house.
I need to go fly again. I bought one of those little E-flight blade helicopters last fall to satisfy my RC urges. I second the RCGroups forums. Great bunch of people over there.

I had just gotten into nano edf jets before I got my house. Those little things are a blast!

Here are a few pics.
firs tone is a full-house pattern plane that was built from a kit designed by one of the members of RCGroups.com. THe second one is a couple of home made blucor foam planes and the third is a F4D-1 Skyray nano edf kit.

gp125racer said:

What kinda pack are you looking for, I have at least one 3s 2200mah pack I could give you to get you hooked on the power they make compared to the old batts.

Don

Click to expand...

That's part of the problem. Because LiPos were still so expensive when I last flew, I never really researched them. Now I'm interested, but I don't even know where to start.

The foam wing I have is a Zagi 400x. The stock speed 400 motor was replaced with an AstroFlite .020 brushless, and the ESC was swapped out for a castle creations phoenix 25. I've been emailing with the folks at castle, and they said that the esc should be lipo compatible, but it's old enough they're recommending I send it in and for $25 they'll swap it with a brand new one that's running the latest software.

The spec sheet for the phoenix 25 says it can do lipos up to 3s when bec is enabled. I don't really even know what the 3s means.

Edit: stock zagi battery packs are 1700mah Nimh's at (I think) 9.6v

3S stands for 3 3.7V lipo cells wired in series.

Here are some rough specs for that motor and different props.

Expected Performance with 5.5 x 4 MAS prop

Battery Amps Watts Rpm
2 Lithium 14 amps 110 watts 17,300 rpm
8 Nicads 17 amps 154 watts 19,200 rpm
3 Lithium 23 amps 259 watts 22,400 rpm
10 Nicads 26 amps 312 watts 23,500 rpm

Expected Performance with 6 x 4 APC-E Prop

Battery Amps Watts Rpm
2 Lithium 17 amps 136 watts 15,900 rpm
8 Nicads 21 amps 187 watts 17,500 rpm
3 Lithium 27 amps 304 watts 19,600 rpm

The combo highlighted in red is probably what I would try.
Weigh one of your current battery packs and then substitute
a 3s lipo of similar weight so that you can obtain proper cg easily.

Something like this would probably do the trick.
Hobbycity Online R/C Hobby Store : ZIPPY Flightmax 3000mAh 3S1P 20C $19.75

caspio said:

The spec sheet for the phoenix 25 says it can do lipos up to 3s when bec is enabled. I don't really even know what the 3s means.

Edit: stock zagi battery packs are 1700mah Nimh's at (I think) 9.6v

Click to expand...

I have a Typhoon that has been collecting dust for a while. I moved to TX two years ago and haven't flown since I have been here. Maybe it's time for me to dust off the sucker or maybe I will start off with my Easy Star to remember how to fly.

Ice9 said:

Weigh one of your current battery packs and then substitute
a 3s lipo of similar weight so that you can obtain proper cg easily.

Something like this would probably do the trick.
Hobbycity Online R/C Hobby Store : ZIPPY Flightmax 3000mAh 3S1P 20C $19.75

Click to expand...

Man, these packs are so much cheaper than when they first came around. Thanks for all the info. I actually am currently balancing too far forward, even with the pack all the way at the back of the tray. A pack that's a little lighter would definitely help things out. Any recommendations for chargers? The setup I have now is Nimh/NiCd only.

edit: zomg 3000 mAh. With the state my packs are currently in, I'm lucky if I'm seeing 1000 mAh. I really do need to upgrade to lipo.

Here's the beast
ignore the wrinkles and other battle damage, she's had a rough life :cross:

I can't find my original receipt, so I have no idea what prop that is. Numbers on the prop say 5x5.4 (pitch?) and 5540 (model no, or just pitch again?)