Plane Details:
Stock Motor and Prop
Futaba Pars2 Receiver
Futaba 4 Channel 72Mhz Transmitter (bought TX/RX off Ebay)
Great Planes Electrifly C35 Brushed ESC
2 SG90 9gram Servos (Bought off Ebay from Hong Kong for dirt cheap, $5 each)
Thunder Power 11.1 3C 2100mah Lipo Battery
Deans Connectors
New paint job using foam safe spray paint from my LHS.
The installation of the new eletronics was straight forward with the most coplicated being learning to soldier the Deans connector onto the battery. As the new LiPo battery is larger I decided to put the reciever in the batter compartment and tape the battery in place inside the fusuleage. I may end up switching this around but it will take some modification of the exisint battery box.
The paint job was frustrating and didn't come out quite like I wanted. Though the paint is foam safe I found that it didn't bond very well. Even the gentlist of scratch will chip the paint off. I used the lowest tack masking tape I could find and still it would lift the paint of. I will have to go back and do touch ups on the areas that didn't survive the tape.
Flight Test:
This was the windiest day I have flown to date but let me just say it was fun. The new lipo battery given this plane new life. I don't know how using this battery will effect the motor in the long run as the stock battery is only 8.4V vs. 11.1V. I am trying to mitigate this by not using full throttle very often. I found that 75% throttle was more than enough to rise off ground (ROG) in a short distance. Once airborne into the wind the plane shot straight up and climbed at an incredible (scary) rate. For the first minute or so I though I would completely lose control as the plane gained altitude and bounced around wildly. I looked at my co-pilot sitting comfortably in his stroller and he looked as concerned as I felt. I decided to reduce the power to 50% and I found the plane leveled off and began to stabilize. For the next 15-20 minutes (forgot to record the exact time) I flew a nice pattern slowly on the upwind side and faaassstt on the downwind leg. It was fun playing around with the throttle so the plane basically stood still on the upwind leg. Eventually as with all flights I decided I should stop putting it off and try to land. This was tricky with the wind and I aborted my first attempt. With the old battery I would usually give it full throttle to do a go round, so this time should be no different, right? WRONG! When I applied full throttle into the wind the plane shot up and was almost half way through a loop before I reacted. I figured I had two options, try to complete the loop, or abort....both seemed risk as I was low to the ground and have never done loops at low altitudes. I decided that I would stay with the loop and try to fly out of it. I did this of course knowing that there was a good chance I would hit the ground nose going way too fast. Luckily I made it through and recovered in time to go around and make a reasonably nice landing. I practiced my landings in the wind a few more times and was pleased with the results. A couple of times when I landed harder than I wanted to my co-pilot exclaimed "Uh", leaving out the "O", as he does because he is eccentric (or because he is a toddler). I definitely recommend the LiPo upgrade as it gives the plane much better power and longer flying times. Keep in mind that you have to replace the stock electronics before swiching to a LiPo battery as it is designed for NiMh batteries.
