Disastrous Introduction to Hobby...

[dman]

Hi guys,

Once again, thanks for the replies and advice, it is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the advice on EC3 plugs.
Since that time, being the first time I had soldered/inserted EC3 connectors, I have soldered/inserted plenty more without hassles, I am in my 2nd year studying Electrical Engineering and have had plenty of experience with soldering. It was actually the plastic casing that I had damaged the first time, nothing to do with the soldering per se.

As for the battery and charger, the battery could still operate the servos just not the motor.

This was because 1 of the lipo's cells had been discharged way below its limits.

Although when I measured it with my multimeter I read each cell to be above 4V, when the LHS owner measured it with a purpose built lipo balance meter he said that 1 cell had discharged fatally.

He said this may have been caused by a defective charger, I thought this to be unlikely and presumed that it was due to the LVC on the ESC being too low for safe operation of the lipo.

Thus the fact that I had been flying my battery until the ESC cut power to the motor every time I flew, must have taken its toll on the battery.

However I could not be absolutely certain of this, so I decided to take him up his offer to replace the charger in case that was the cause.

Subsequently I timed my flights based on measurements taken over the duration of a test flight (10mins or so depending on throttle management) so as not to reach LVC, I have not had any problems since.

Ok, so clearly the Radian Pro is not for me. I woludn't mind getting another SC but the BNF is not available to me locally (I live in South Africa), and I am looking for either a BNF or PNP, as I have both a Tx and Rx already and don't want to spend unecessarily, needless to say buying the components separately, as would be done with an ARF, is far too expensive for me at the moment.

I have not yet looked into the Multiplex Minimag, Funcub, or E-Starter but will do so.
At the moment I am leaning towards the Radian (3 channel) as I think this will be most suitable and offer something a little different.

[iflyforfun]

dman, you seem to have a very good grip on some of the technical aspects of the hobby and just looking at the way you write your posts it's obvious to me that you are way ahead of the newbie curve when it comes to your understanding of certain components. It sounds like your gonna stick with the hobby and that makes us all happy.
The Fun Cub is a GREAT flyer. With some skill that plane can fly in extremly windy conditions. If you follow the Vimeo links that I sent in my previous post then you can also watch some videos of me flying the Fun Cub in some very windy conditions. It is a smoth flyer in no wind and with good power management and some skills with in flight trimming you can get it to fly very,very slow. If you decide to use the flaps you will be amazed at how slow it can fly. Right now it is still my favorite plane because of its versitility. You can fly it from just about any surface and it is also very capable of basic aerobatics. With a little practice a windy day will NOT keep you grounded. I'm flying mine with 3000mah zippy lipos and can easly get 30 minute flight times when flying in windy conditions letting it just float in one position like a kite. Normal 1/2 throttle flight times run about 12 minutes but I use my DX6i timer and have it set for 9 minutes. Even flying very hard my lipos always come down with over 3.5 volts per cell(I always check right after each flight). Of course we all fly differently and this is something you should be checking and recording for yourself. Keeping a lipo log is very easy and helps you identifly possible problems in advance. I cant comment on the other recomendations like the Minimag but I can tell you that the Fun Cub is a great step up from the SC. My fleet of planes is not large, its actually small compared to some other members fleets, so I can only make this statement based on my own flying experience " IMHO the MPX fun Cub is the ultimate all round trainer that can be flown and landed from almost any surface in almost any wind(with skill) can fly extremly slow or very,very fast and needs no mods!!!! And that ELAPOR foam that MPX uses is the best stuff I have ever seen. It's like armor plating. If you do decide to go with the Fun Cub then follow some of the build logs that you can find on the net and also at RcGroups.com. The only issue that I ever found with the Fun Cub is attaching the tail wheel. This is a royal pain in the butt. Many have written on the difficulty with the tail wheel assembly and using the word diffcult is an understatement.
Good luck.

Ifly

[pauliepilot]

Nice post ifly :-) good luck what ever u got with...and we'r all here to help"if we can" even if we cant :-)

[dman]

Hi guys,

Thanks again for the replies and advice.

Yes I'm definitely sticking with the hobby, never was any doubt about that, I was just venting frustration at the time.

The funcub looks great, but I think it may be more suitable as a second plane for me.
Also the cost of buying all the components to complete the kit is a bit more than I'm looking too spend at the moment, considering how much I have already spent.

I think I'm going to go with the radian (3 channel).
I feel confident that I would be able to fly it and the long flight times are very appealing. Longer flights = more time in air = accelerated learning = more fun .
The fact that it is a sailplane is great and once I am more practiced I would like to try slope soaring.

I will be going down to my LHS as soon as possible to pick up a radian, another 1300mAh lipo, and a AR6000 Rx, as the AR6110 that I have has a range that is too small for the radian.
I do not often have time to do anything during the week between my studies and work, so it may have to wait till the weekend.

Thanks for all your advice and encouragement, it has been extremely helpful.

[iflyforfun]

I've never flown the basic Radian but it seems to get a lot of praise. Keep us posted on your progress.

[spamcannon]

This is funny because I've had similar experiences for my first three flights. All three times I crashed and damaged my Super Cub. To the credit of hobbyzone, it is a tough quality plane and all it took to get it running again was a little gorilla glue. But every time I have tried to fly, the wind has been over 8mph and the plane was all over the place. I still haven't gotten a feel for this thing, because its always flip flopping like a kite.
Oh well.....I have a quality charger on the way and I've realized I'm going to have to bite the bullet and fly early in the morning when the wind is at its lightest. This isn't nescessarily a bad thing, as I'm imagining flying my plane in the morning, getting some excercise in the park while I'm there, and then back home to get ready for work. Not a bad idea to start off a stress filled work day with a nice peaceful flight!
p.s.
I'm working on getting my savage 25 nitro running so I can mess around with that if its too windy!!!

[blue320]

Dman...

Get a Champ and call it done ; ) If you loose it, you'll smile and say, "Next?"

[kenninny]

Sorry to here about the mishaps but don't give up. I tought myself to fly with the sc had many crashes and bought many parts parts for the cub are inxspesive but I learn from my mistakes
now I like to fly it in higher winds. I also have the eflite apprentice, I like it, it flys really well its faster than the cub, buy at 50% she is nice and slow the responce to the controls are quick but it flys real stable, plus it big enough to see well. but which ever plane you buy, enjoy it

[flydiver]

May 25, 2012 17:24:51 GMT 1 blue320 said:

Dman...

Get a Champ and call it done ; ) If you loose it, you'll smile and say, "Next?"

The Champ is completely unsuitable if there is ANY wind issues at all. Since this guy has a Cub essentially blow away I don't think this would be a good match for his purposes.

IMO, neither is the Radian. Longer flight times....well yes, but the thing just floats around up there. It's also pretty poor in much wind. I think it could actually blow away easier than the SC. Don't get me wrong, I had one and liked it but it is a THERMAL trainer, not so much a trainer plane. But, I suppose you could use it that way

If dman doesn't want to build one of the other suggested planes, I think the most cost effective learning step at this point would be a T-28 Trojan on a buddy box system since he has the TX. An experienced pilot/buddy is required.. Do NOT do this by yourself, it would have a very short life. It's too much plane for his present level of experience and would be another disaster probably.

dman needs to be realistic that almost all learning in this sport seems to come from mistakes and bad experiences. Good judgement is built on mistakes. He's only made a handful so still has a good deal more to learn. Mistakes in flight are almost always costly. Minimally they involve grief, glue, and tape.