Hello Everyone! MY SC and questions :)

[ps360pc]

Hello all, I'm new to the forums here, although I've been reading for awhile

I'm fairly new to RC planes. Tried heli's for a bit, and crashed the heck outta it. Kinda hated heli's, planes seem so elegant in comparison. Being financially... restricted, I went with the most reliable plane I could find without spending too much money. So, the SC is my first plane...

I have a slightly modified SC... I've done an aileron mod, mounting the servos sideways and flush with the wing. I used hinge tape on the ailerons, as well as superglue+hinge tape to secure the servos. Also, I've replaced the stock radio with the receiver from my old CX2 heli, and put in cheap new servos since the old ones were the 5 wire. I had 1 from my heli that was recoverable, too... mix n match, oh well I'm not quite done with the wing, I plan on hiding the wires in a slit along the wings or something similar.

So anyway, I have questions!

Paint vs Plastic coat...
I've seen this monokote stuff at the local hobby shop, would I be able to use that on this plane for color, as well as strengthening? Would it be effective, and would the styrofoam this plane is made of be able to take the heat of application? Or is paint a better option for making this thing look beautiful?

And for my next upgrade I'm gonna save up for...
I want to do a brushless outrunner someday. Basically, I want something quieter with better battery life. I wouldn't mind a touch more power, but that's not my biggest concern... I just want something that will be more efficient with my 1300 lipo's. What size motor would you recommend? I know the 480 is done quite a bit, but it seems that's more for performance in acrobatics, not necessarily efficiency with smaller batteries

Also, any place I can find really good deals on parts and such? The local hobby shop is a little spendy, and I have very limited finances.

Thanks all!

-Ryan

[pauliepilot]

Hey bud,hobbyking.com seems cheep for allsorts,allso i have two supercubs one painted the other in solor film,the sf cub was made way to tale heavy and had to balance which has made for a real heavy cub"looks nice tho and makes it more resistant to scratchs and the odd crash"did mine in yellow with the red decal sheet,the painted cub was a pain in the butt looks ok but paint will b no gd after 5or mre flights?
I found sf to b easyer then paint but make sure the irons not too hot or cold it covers this in the sf instructions,gd luck bud hope tbis helped a little.

[flydiver]

Shrink films operate at different temps. MONOCOTE is a high temp film and may warp/harm the foam.
You want a 'cool' coat like ECONOCOTE.
Check out this thread and download the temp link.
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=711624

Some film is HEAVY, some is light. A LOT goes behind the CG. You end up with a tail heavy plane, not good, not good at all.

The stock brushed motor and gearbox is not nearly as bad as people are always making out for efficiency. Efficiency means getting flight time for the battery amps used. A cheap brushless motor may have more power but be LESS efficient. In fact a lot of the cheaper (popular ones) are not so good in the efficiency dept.

In addition brushless is lighter. If you put on 'COTE' and then a light motor you end up with a real tail heavy plane. That's one of the main reasons for putting on a BIG brushless motor since you end up needing a lot of nose weight.

Here's the way to gain REAL efficiency.
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=830383

This forum seems to be about throwing the kitchen sink at it and wondering how it got heavy.

[leisureshoot]

Nov 29, 2010 17:19:38 GMT 1 flydiver said:

This forum seems to be about throwing the kitchen sink at it and wondering how it got heavy.

The above quote made me think of this pic....
[flydiver][/flydiver]


seriously though, flydiver makes a great point. The Super Cub will put up with a lot of poor aeronautical engineering because it has so much lift in it's over-sized, top-mounted, exaggerated-dihedral, wings. At some point, it seems that many on the board get to a point where they have modded the SC to a point which it flies nothing like any other aircraft. Then they start removing stuff and making it closer to original SC design, and live happily ever after.

The best mod I have made that reaped the greatest reward was switching to 2.4 GHz TX/RX, then adding ailerons. I ended up switching to brushless when I crashed into a car wheel (to avoid the car), and broke the original motor. The brushless motor I put in it is only slightly more powerful than the original motor.

Everything else I have done has been for fun, with no great improvement in flight characteristics.

[flydiver]

You nailed it! Some days I feel that way. Doesn't everyone?

[pauliepilot]

Im new here if you had'nt guessed allready just quick question i needed parts for my sc,so i spent £70 on a sc with a brushless A/30/29 inrunner motor?allso a bli controller probley about 18a?spektrum ar500 rx,with two jp s7.5 servos,came with a 3bladed prop too but just yesterday broke one blade allso didnt really like that prop anyway so my question/s
What lipo should i use?"been useing my 1000ma 25c 3s and been swelling opps"
What size prop should i go for?
Pls some ideas due to grounded cub alltho it is snowing and -2 i'd still go freeze my bits to get that buzz of flying,
Gd old sunny england

[flydiver]

Swelling lipos means > over discharge or excessive amp draw-or both. You need to NOT fly to LVC. If your batteries can't 'keep up' you need larger ones with a higher C-rating. Theoretically those lipos should be good for 30A (1.0a x 3C > 30A). They obviously aren't doing the job

Without knowing more specifics about your motor/gearbox and prop it's impossible to determine if you have excessive amp draw-but, I'd bet on it. Probably too large a prop.

Amp draw is defined by the motor and prop. In your case you have a gearbox so the gearbox defines what prop you use. Without knowing the gear ratio there is no way to recommend a prop.
www.modelflight.com.au/manuals/pdf/ultrafly/A30_MotorManual_new.pdf
Above is the specs for the motor. You really should have a wattmeter, and learn to use it. It will pay for itself in parts not burned up or ruined.

Edit-better info on the motor and gearbox.
www.aircraft-world.com/prod_datasheets/ultraflymotors.htm

[pauliepilot]

Wow erm wasnt that ever good at maths
Im just useing the sc gearbox it fits right in!
So should i use my 30a esc and 1800ma 30c 3s and get a amp mtr and just test diffrent props
I'll have to look up a blog that shows you how to test the amps,
Thanks for ur advice im learning v slowly

[flydiver]

I know-folks think they'll just get a plane and learn to fly. It's WAY more complicated than that.

The SC gearbox is 3:1 (I think-someone correct me if I'm wrong).
That last link chart shows ~ 4:1 ratio. So....by eyeball I'd get a GWS 9x5 HD and try that, or just use the stock prop. Best if you could test it of course.

That motor is only rated for 16A. Putting a 30A ESC will not help a bit unless you are pushing over the limit of the 18A one. A larger battery WILL help since it can deliver more.

What WILL help is NOT flying to LVC and if your ESC can be programmed for a higher LVC to set it and ONLY use it as a backup.

What size prop were you using? The little tiny numbers should be printed on it.
FWIW 3-bladed props have less thrust and less efficiency than 2 bladed.

He's how to use a wattmeter.
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=311574

[pauliepilot]

There isnt no numbers on the props?iv looked real close too!
Sorry what does lvc stand for?
What make lipos and where is cheepest place as im in the uk?
Thanks again for info flydiver.

[flydiver]

No numbers on the prop > probably junk.
Good rule - if you don't know what it is, don't use it.

LVC = low voltage cut-off; Don't be such a 'guy', read the manual.
You don't know what it is, you're in for some surprises.

LOTS and LOT of info on lipos in the related section. Can't help with UK shops at all but there are some in here that can.

Suggest you grab a pot of coffee or favorite beverage, bookmark this thread and start reading:
www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31368

[pauliepilot]

Wow thats alot of reading,been there the last hour and half its like being back at collage But its all good,just wondering if it may be better to make or buy a mount and use the prop adapter on motor shaft"but just thought its not an outrunner"
Think i need more hours reading and less flying :-(
Thanks again flydiver.

[flydiver]

You mean not use the gearbox on the motor.
NO NO NO! You'll fry it in seconds. It's a very high KV (RPM/volt) motor.

Look up the section on motors, KV, prop sizes and stuff related to power in that link.

Go ahead and fly. Just realize you'll make lots of mistakes, then you'll go 'what happened?' and you'll find out afterwards. Pretty much everyone ends up learning the hard way.
It's a fun sport but an unforgiving one.

[pauliepilot]

Need to do mre reading but inbetween do a little flying,im off to the lhs soon going to get two 1500ma 30c hopefully they will take the ampage a bit better?
Will have to find a cheep amp volt meter,oh yeah a prop too it won't fly without one :-)
Did you say try the 9x5 prop! I'll pick one up and i won't use the in runner as a outrunner.
thank you

[pauliepilot]

Update been lhs and decided on 2200ma 25c hope this size lipo works better,and a9x4.5 prop becouse they didnt have 9x5