wedgewing

thanks for the weight you used. I am going to try that and see if my MPXT experience starts to mirror some of the other posters. Mine is definitely forward of the 70mm.

the 480 I have and the 11 x 7E prop may add some more to it, but that is something I have never been able to find out. what affect does a change in prop size, pitch do to the inflight CG? we all balance them on the bench. Is there any reason to make adjustments if you move from the 10 x X / 450 set up to the 11 X 7 or 8E / 480 set up?

good luck with yours. Praying the snow flakes go away by Friday

S.C.C.

Hi Guys.
Here's the vid of my maiden last week. Flown it a few times since and i'm loving it.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...46#post8482821

wedgewing

back from some travel and put the new tail and elevator on tonight. I have it balanced and had to use a little more weight that the 1/4 oz., but not much more. Balances out pretty close to 70 mm, and I left the battery some room for adjustment. Raining and cold but hoping for some test flight time in the AM on Saturday. I will let the group know how the revamped MPXT flies.

If the outcome is bad, or the weather is worse, I am sure I will get some time to complete the E Flite 260 3D 480, and its clone the GP 330s. so far the 260 3D is going together more quickly, and I am loathing having to glue the GP 330s wings onto the body. the 260 3D has a nice wing tube and 4-40 attachment. more for another thread

KP

Snoopyxupery

I Flew this morning my brain new Extra 260, she's a good aerobatic plane. Rolls perfect, knife edge etc.... But I still love the feeling with the Mini Pulse XT witch rolls and knife edge too maybe not as fast for the rolls and easy knife edge as the Extra but more control in many other occasions.

wedgewing

OK OK OK.....I beg for the forgiveness of the MPXT Owners Club. While I believe screwed up tail feathers that came with my plane (carbon joiner on the elevator was separated from the wood) and the process to get them to somewhat work through repair was a major contributor to my less than positive experience with this aircraft, I made the commitment to give this bird a fair shake.

I ordered a new elevator and tail which arrived this week and were installed last night. I also throw myself to the mercy of the club in revealing that my CG was "way forward" of the 70mm recommended. while that can usually produce a "more stable flight and speedy landing speed" all the up elevator trim in the world to stabilize this plane won't make it a positive flying experience.

The fact that I noticed that speed was never there (not even close to MUS) had me guessing I was flying around on the verge of a horizontal stall (even with speed) and that is why the plane wanted to "twitch" and dump with every turn. I am happy to announce that with the weight I added to the back of the plane and now balanced at 70mm behind the leading edge, and a new functioning tail this MPXT flew great this morning. It is a completely different plane than the one I have wished would turn to kindling.

Not only did it fly very smooth I had it doing level turns in about a 20 foot diameter circle without wanting to stall on me. towards the end of that stunt, it did finally decide to roll out and recovery was an adrenaline experience but it did it. Flight was cut short due to a suspect battery as I heard the pulsing from the ESC and decided to call it a flight before I had an incident.

I know change my verdict on this plane to "very fun, fast enough, smooth flying, smooth lander (always thought that) and pleasant aerobat. " I will also be going back to the LHS today and let them know it was more "me," and a bad tail that caused my less than enthusiastic opinion when they would ask me about it.

I am glad Doc asked the good questions to get me thinking about what I was doing wrong

Happy flights

woodbender

Thanks to all who have been commenting on the MP CG issue; especially Doc who suggested doing the balancing act upside down on the bench. Technically, we're talking about the fore/aft balance point as opposed to the CG, since the actual CG is up toward the canopy, somewhere around the top of the blue stripe on the fuse, I'd guess. So it's only logical to balance the plane inverted since there's a point at which it's stable upside down but not right side up what with the CG above the elevation of the underside of the wing.

When I put my (first and second) MPXT together, I held it up by the spar, thought what the heck it's pretty close and off I went to the flying field. Then reading through the discussions of the balance point, I actually got out the ruler, set up a balancing gizmo on the bench and really dialed it in this time. At the same time I re-adjusted the throws on the servos to factory specs.

OH MY GOODNESS!

It's a different plane entirely! I had a LOT of up trim since the plane would dive on its own and not fly straight and level hands off; essentially flying in a near stall the way wedgewing's plane was flying. Now I have NO up trim at all.

Much to my (now former) frustration, I'd been reading about the plane floating down to a landing thinking "wow... wish I could get mine do that."

Man oh man what a joy to land finally. A couple of clicks of power and she floats down like a butterfly even on my rather rustic and bumpy landing strip. Amazing.

She flies so well now, I've decided to swap out all the running gear from servos to motor going to the 480 etc as suggested. Thanks again for all the great info everyone.

wedgewing

Lon

thanks for reminding us about the upside down balance method too. I can tell you that I had some weight taped in the fuse and while I was smoothly landing (Bye Bye landing gear in the long grass - lots of nylon bolts today) that weight shifted when the stop in air speed is caused by your aileron servos acting like cleats . No big deal on the landing gear, as I was also trimming the tip off the neighbor's pine tree on the way in too. I am very impressed with the MPXT's ability to tap a tree tip like a champ and recover very nicely.

I saw the weight move a bit forward and wanted to see what would happen. I put the plane back up in the air with repaired LG, and it was squirrelly again. I am amazed how the slight shift forward in balance changes the planes behavior unlike any other plane I flew. the weight is in the nice and solid now so hopefully the winds stay slack tomorrow because I flew the MPXT 3 times today to get it dialed in.

All this MPXT time is interfering with the Extra 260 and 330s construction and there is only so much time I can hunker down and avoid weekend Honey-Do projects before receiving some archie at me.....

KP

tmc_2

Hi Guys,

I maidend my mpxt yesterday. I used the 480 motor and it flew awsome.
Thumbs up for a great plane.

woodbender

Perhaps I've just been complacent in the past regarding balance or this plane is particularly unforgiving in that regard, but the difference between having the plane right on it's mark and off even a little one way or the other is remarkable. Close isn't good enough this time.

Speaking of Honey-Do's and budget priorities, I figure I needed new running gear for the MP LOTS more than that new pair of eyeglasses I've been thinking about. I can blame it on this forum, I think, (or so I tell my wife) since I didn't know the 480 etc. existed before I started reading the voluminous amount of info here. Can't wait for the UPS man. Santa is coming early this year.

In my blissful state of ignorance, I stuck the motor I had along with all the rest of the gear left over from gliders into the MP, fired it all up and seemed to fly fine. Being self-taught (and this being my first real RC power plane... (bought a foam 3D because it looked cool, but couldn't get it to stay in the air to save my life.. finally trashed it), I figured I'd just hit the gas and see what happened. After a hundred or so flights with the MP (broke the fuse in half early on so I have lots of spare parts having bought the second plane), I have to say in most respects this is a VERY forgiving airplane.

Have to ask, wedgewing, what the heck is 'archie'??

wedgewing

archie is "flak or Anti-aircraft fire" which i get from her every so often if it appears to consume a larger part of my life

Fliprob17

Congrats. on the maiden

tmc_2

Does any one use the thuderpower packs that are lighteR?
I am using a 2200 3s generic Wanmar brand. It is the usual bulky size and weight.
I position it back but its still a margin nose heavy, nothing a couple of clicks of up trim dont fix.

Just want to hear about those who have used the thunder power lighter cells or similar and if its worth the upgrade?

Cheers

wedgewing

I use the TP ProLites, and they are not that much more than the others out there and I have been very happy with them. For this plane (and all my others), I am using......

TP2100-3SPL

11.1V 2100mAh 3-Cell

142 grams

20 x34 x100

Retail 69.95

The price has actually gone down on them since I purchased the first one well over two years ago. It has survived many of my learning curve flights, and has looked a little beat up and I think is finally ready to move onto power one of my RCU Bipe foamies. The weight helps in the winds and I am just starting to have trouble keeping one of the cells in balance with the other two.

The nice thing about their size is I can squeeze them into planes spec'd for a lot smaller batteries and enjoy the extra flight time and power. I have three of them, and have never used anything else since I went electric.

I could not even find anything about the brand you spoke about so sorry I couldn't spec a comparison for you

KP

icejay55

hi guys my my name is jay this is my firsst time on this thread i am alway in badius or in the stryker thread i recently got the mini pulse i love this plane i am use to my stryker
i have a question my brother in law got one after he saw mine and crashed it on his maiden flight he is a rookie at this he made some repairs on the plane but i dont think it will fly i took a picture of what he did can you guys tell me will this work i will appreciated thank you

RCHubbub

I guess a couple of quick concerns is that the balance of the plane has moved and would need to be rebalanced at the specified CG. Also, there doesn't seem to be any inlet air holes to help cool the ESC and battery inside the fuselage. With that firewall, did he maintain the appropriate thrust angles and thrust line? Doesn't look like it from the picture.

woodbender

Jay, here's a link your brother-in-law might appreciate where he can buy a new fuse pretty inexpensively.

[link]https://www.wholesaletrains.com/Detail.asp?ID=200469715[/link]

wedgewing

Jay

I would agree with Lon on this one. The snub nose may take care of a lot of the weight-forward issues many of us have had to work with, but the fore aft balance (70 mm from the leading edge) is not one the plane tends to give a lot of room on. if he didn't do any wood work on the firewall mount he may have a chance on the thrust line.....good luck.

I have read some reports of people bagging on wholesale trains as a vendor, but I think they don't read the order timelines (some say in stock, some say 3-5 days to get your part). All I know is when I could not get a replacement cowling from Horizon, I had one in 3 days from Wholesale trains. Same goes with the new tail I just put on the MPXT. it took them a few days to get it, but I did receive it so I can fly the plane without using de-icing fluid on the wings

When I lost my cowling and engine mount digging post holes like your brother and law, I made sure I collected the pieces and rebuilt another mount from materials collected from the LHS. I don't have the elaborate laser cutouts but I have reduced the weight of the box with larger drilled cutouts. I did not want to spend $40 on a new fuselage, so I made sure I reproduced the old engine mount, and thrust angles correctly. Flies great.

If he is handy, try the rebuild. If all the parts are gone, order the new fuselage from WholesaleTrains

happy flights

wedgewing

Jay

I wanted to share some crash photos of today's lunch time festival as I attempted to sneak in some time between rain storms here in cleveland. I am going to post these on the MUS page but everyone likes to share in a good crash documentation.

10 minutes in after some very fun flying and inverted spins I was cruising around for a test approach because the winds were really going at it and i was going to have to alter my usual approach. As I turned off the base leg my MUS just nosed over and went in to the grass field about 100 yards away.

postmortem examination shows plenty of juice in the battery and I was well within my flight time envelope. My MUS is apparently a teenager and we stopped communicating. I have a spectrum DX7 on board and don't think there was any other issue other than my plane chose to go solo and in a gentle dive wound up as a "Stick in the Mud". It is a blow out but she will be back.

If this can be built back, your brother and law can put his humpty dumpty back together as well. Looks like I will have more time for the MPXT with the unscheduled grounding of the MUS. Enjoy the pics everyone!

KP

RCHubbub

I presume if you are using the AR6100 that it is version 1.2 which corrected the uncommanded elevator output issue?

wedgewing

RCHubbub:

Great question. I had no idea about that one but in sifting through some of the wreckage on my workbench I found another clump of grass, but also found the AR6100 with a small sticker on the end of it (oval shaped white) that says V1.2. I am assuming that this means my currently smashed plane is safe from a crash from the elevator issue. Is this correct?

I had recently switched over to the DX7 and the AR6100 and will check my two other receivers. Thanks for letting me know about this

KP

RCHubbub

Yep, my understanding is that v1.2 corrected the uncommanded elevator issue.

http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/S...ProdID=SPM6100

woodbender

Loved the turf shot, wedgewing. Told my wife about it. She thinks it's a subconscious desire to get a new plane.

The circumstances are worrysome, though, aren't they. Wierd to have it take a sudden dive. If not a radio quirk then what the heck do you think happened? Wind shear? Sun spots?

wedgewing

Lon

Your wife may be right about the subconscious desire to get a new plane, but tell her I have a whole bunch of them as I had purchased the 260 3D and the GP extra 330s to take my mind off my problems I was having with the Mini Pulse XT.

I was within 150 yards of the plane, and someone had already wondered if I had a previous version of the AR6100 Spectrum receiver. It was the darnedest thing as the plane did not act erratically, it just never completed the turn from base leg to final and continued south while I needed it to join me to the east. started a nice plunge and I watched it stick in the ground with no response on the way in. I purchased the DX7 to eliminate radio issues, and maybe that was the cause, but everything (engine, esc, receiver, and battery) worked during the autopsy a couple of hours later.

I am hoping this photo comes through because my MUS is always protected against sun spots with the solar shields bolted on to combat global warming here in Cleveland......

More time for the MPXT

KP

woodbender

Have you done a range test on the radio gear? I mean a real one where you get 150 yards away and see if the control surfaces wiggle? Wierd behavior indeed.

Any day now, my wife is going to suggest a 12 step program for my airplane addiction. Wonder how many of 'em I've built, flown, crashed in the last 50 years or so.

New running gear for the MP due tomorrow. Speaking of running gear is it possible you stripped a gear in a servo?

wedgewing

they have a power reduction feature to range test at what they call 30 yards and I have done more. Flown the plane more than a few times at that distance with no issues. Pre flight showed no issues. I had a buzzy servo a few months ago but yanked that as soon as I could not keep it quiet at neutral settings.

doing some tear down and puttzing on the MUS tonight. rained so bad here I could not even get a therapy flight for the MPXT after work. Figure that I will get the fuselage framed up tomorrow and maybe by the end of the week have it up and running.

What did you ever decide to do with the landing gear for your MP?