Hi Neil,

The Brodak Electric ARF Super Clown is a great plane for a new CL flyer. You can buy the complete E setup from Brodak, or go to the excellent "Electric" site here on the SH forum. Look in the "airplane setups" at the top of the site. There you will see many setups for the Super Clown. The electric section here on SH has all the info. you need to get started flying ECL.

If you have a CL flyer in your area to help with the 1st "trim flight" and your 1st flight, you should have no problem flying CL.

If you do not have anyone to help you with your 1st flights, then you may want to start with the ARF Elec. Baby Clown flying over soft grass. Get the Super Clown too, and save it for your 2nd CL plane.  ;-)

I'm sure your dad is somewhere smiling while watching his son getting into CL flying. :-)

Hello Neil,

I have a Brodak electric Super Clown but I didn't buy the Brodak power package. I was already doing electric control line so I saved a bit of money putting together my own electric components. For you the whole package is probably the way to go The SC should make a fine plane to learn to fly. You will probably need an extra battery or two so that you are not limited to one or two flights before you need to charge the batteries.

After you cut your teeth on the Super Clown, you need to get a Brodak electric ARF Ringmaster (or you could just start out with one.- also a good trainer)!! That way you can fly next October in the 8th Annual Worldwide Ringmaster Fly-A-Thon and represent Northern Ireland!

I'll attach file for the informational flyer that explains about the event.

Hi John (Cralley).  Thanks very much for the input and the information on the Ringmaster. I will definitely be looking for the next model as soon as I have the first, I already know that, so I'll keep that one on my list. Unfortunately I'm not so sure about the flying weather in Belfast in October 

You made a good point about the batteries and I had already added an extra 2 in addition to the one in the pack from Brodak. And this, I guess, is where I'm becoming a little lost. When I buy my next model (a bit premature as I haven't even got my first yet), will I be able to use some or all of the electric bits and pieces there too? I understand that a bigger model will require a bigger motor and battery, but will all the other bits and pieces be interchangeable?

Hi John (E Holliday), that's a great idea! It was definitely his video (introduction to control line flying) that sold me on the Super Clown. I found his enthusiasm infectious and when he mentioned getting back into CL out of nostalgia re. his father it struck a cord with me. Oh, and he's also very funny. I've found myself watching a lot of his other videos too so I might just PM him, although I think the SC he flew in the video had an IC engine and not electric.

Hi John (Cralley).  Thanks very much for the input and the information on the Ringmaster. I will definitely be looking for the next model as soon as I have the first, I already know that, so I'll keep that one on my list. Unfortunately I'm not so sure about the flying weather in Belfast in October 

You made a good point about the batteries and I had already added an extra 2 in addition to the one in the pack from Brodak. And this, I guess, is where I'm becoming a little lost. When I buy my next model (a bit premature as I haven't even got my first yet), will I be able to use some or all of the electric bits and pieces there too? I understand that a bigger model will require a bigger motor and battery, but will all the other bits and pieces be interchangeable?

Hi John (E Holliday), that's a great idea! It was definitely his video (introduction to control line flying) that sold me on the Super Clown. I found his enthusiasm infectious and when he mentioned getting back into CL out of nostalgia re. his father it struck a cord with me. Oh, and he's also very funny. I've found myself watching a lot of his other videos too so I might just PM him, although I think the SC he flew in the video had an IC engine and not electric.

Hey there Neil,
Got my Electric Clown done today....now to fly soon. Using 55' lines to start. Set timer for max RPMs.
Whooooo Buddy and a Crunchie and Flake.
Shug

Hi Shugs.
Im having a good old   At the crunchie and flake thing. Two of my favourites!!

Now that's a clown that I'd like to see fly! I'm hoping to get the silver one. Loved the look of it in your earlier video.

Did you use the Bridak power package or put together your own?

Keep flyin!!

Had a look on the RSM site and price wise Brodak seems quite similar. And I had the same thought that as I'm new to this the full package is probably the way to go for me. The guy I spoke to sent me the following e mail:

"The motor in this package is an in runner as far as I can make out.  The battery is very large at 3300 all be it a 3S rather than 4s.  THE Hubin time uses pots to set rpm and time and is very fiddley
 
 
For this size of model I would use the Emax 2815 at around 1000 KV with 4S zippy compact 2200s and a 10X5 or 10X6 APC e prop   A Renecle profile timer  with 40 amp hobby king blue series speed controller for the electronics package
 
The motor  is available from Robot Birds. The Renecle timer from RSM distribution.  (I use nothing but Renecles with great success) The batteries and ESC are from Hobby King UK"

The main points he seems to make are about the battery being too big and the timer being very fiddley 

Maybe I'm just over thinking it??

Makes me want to get the package.  Yes, it does look like you are over controlling,  but also the plane looks fast.  Have you tried narrowing the handle spacing?  You can also try slowing the rpm. 

Looks great to me!! Good job!! Can't wait for mine to arrive now, although I ordered a 60 foot line with it so maybe that won't work too good.

How long did it take to build? They say 5 hours but I doubt I'll manage that first time 

Was flying the electric clown yesterday and had two real good flights after some trimming. Went for third flight and hooked up battery and fried my ESC. Did nothing different at all!.....
Kinda bummed about that but. Ordered another. Reckon I'll chalk this up to a shoddy esc and learning experience.

If the ESC smoked immediately when you plugged in the battery, sounds like you are right the the ESC was faulty. I presume this was a battery that you had used previously and that there is no way that you could reverse polarity. I think you should have called Brodak and checked if they would replace the ESC.

I sent a note letting them know. Put a 30 amp on to see if it worked....motor is fine. Not sure I want to fly it with a 30 amp as it calls for a 35 amp. Was the same battery so polarity was correct.
Thankee John.

It's finally arrived!! After a week in customs in London and an extra import tax bill I finally picked her up yesterday.

Just getting all my bits and pieces together and reading over the instructions and I have a quick question for anyone who can help. They say I should use thin CA to fix the wing to the fuselage. However, in one of the many Utube videos I've watched I think I saw someone recommend epoxy for any major joints like this. It also recommends this for the stabiliser and rudder.

Any thoughts would be really appreciated

They may have been talking about 'tacking' the wing to the fuse, with CA. Once everything is lined up, it is easiest to CA a couple tack points to hold it all in place.  Then you can handle the assembly and tip it so you can run a bead of epoxy right into the grooves.  It usually takes me 2 nights to get all the beads in place .... mostly cause the first night I'll spend alot of time making sure the wing/stab is squared and straight with the fuse.  Hope this makes sense.

Sorry about this rambling thread but I've just checked over the kit and found that the motor mount is hanging on by a thread. Could have been damaged in transit, I'm not sure.

Similar question to before really. Should it be CA or epoxy used here? Or should it be reinforced even further? Just a bit worried as one of the videos showed the prop and motor deciding to leave the plane mid flight.

Fibreglass kit on the shopping list for tomorrow then. Don't have much of my 5 hours left and I haven't even started yet! 

Well I have gotten to the point of attaching the wing on the Clown. So far I have managed to do the flaps and stab with thin CA and it all seems very good. I also epoxied and fibre glassed the motor mount as per Shugs suggestion, and I have to say I'm not enjoying working with epoxy. The first batch I made almost burnt my hand in the plastic cup! I now know I have to pour it into a flat surface to help stop the happening 

I'm late to the thread.  My recommendation is to mix your epoxy on something flat.  Here in the US the credit card companies very helpfully send modellers lots and lots of perfect little epoxy mixing cards: they usually look like fake credit cards, but that doesn't matter.  I use those.

My question is, the instructions say to use thin CA again for attaching the wing but almost every thread I've read has said you should always epoxy a major joint like this. I wondered if I could pick the brains of anyone who has an opinion on this please? Specially bearing in mind my poor epoxy skills.

Use epoxy.  I'd get a longer cure time epoxy, if you can get it.  You don't have to buy epoxy at Brodak's: around here there's perfectly good 30 minute and 1 hour epoxy available from home stores.  I can't imagine that there's not some home store, craft store, hobby shop, or whatever that has just what you need.  If nothing else get your stuff mail order from inside the EU so it doesn't get stuck in customs!

Your epoxy skills will get better.

One further point is about the epoxy. I got 15 minute mid cure from Brodaks when I ordered the kit. The instructions say to mix it 50/50 resin to hardener. However most things I've read mention much smaller percentages of hardener. Should I reduce the % of hardener and would that give me a more workable epoxy (it's very thick and hard to use), but would it also reduce the strength?

All help much appreciated, and needed!! 

Epoxies get really unhappy if you don't mix them in the right ratio.  It's not like polyester resin where you can tune the setup time by how much promoter you put in: you need to mix it per the instructions.  If it's popping off too fast then get a slower mix.

My wife is learning to fly control line right now, and is forcibly reminding me of this fact (and, I have motors and shafts on order from Hobby King!).

Tim-
How can you be certain that she isn't secretly crashing your planes on purpose?! LOL!
"I'll fix you and your 'Stupid F*****g Airplanes'!" Hahaha!
My wife used to call my sailplanes by this very adorable pet name.

Thanks Tim. I'll do as you suggest.

I have ordered a lot of stuff from Hobby king and it's much cheaper but they didn't have any decent kits. Brodak seem to be best for that.

I actually noticed today that they have some very cheap Lipo's, at least compared to what I paid to Brodak. But I'm still so new to this that I'm not totally sure what effect it has on the plane by using different batteries and motors, or how to pair up the correct set up. More to learn I guess!!

First, remember that you can always ask here and someone will help you.

For batteries, pick the same number of cells, the same capacity (mAh rating) and a 20C discharge rate or higher (there is no standard for discharge rates, so manufacturers just say what they can get away with -- so if it's a Really High Quality manufacturer, you can get by with 15C).

For motors, it's kV and maximum current that matter.  Pick one that matches those and you should be OK.  If you can't find or don't trust the current rating, pick one that's the same physical size or the same actual weight (not shipping weight); that should get you close enough.

If that makes no sense, then just start a thread, say what motor and battery you have, and ask for suggestions for what's ultra-cheap.  Be sure to point out that you're a beginner and expect to crash a lot; this should hold down on the number of people who want you to buy top-notch stuff (you want to buy top-notch stuff eventually -- just not now).

Cheers Tim.
Gotta admit I feel like a bit of a thicky but have really appreciated those who have taken the time to help me so far.

Of course you're buried in information right now.  Educated is what you expect to be coming out of school. 

I bought the standard Brodak electric system for $175 (plus 30% for postage), mainly because I just wanted a system that I knew would work with the Super Clown. I know the motor is 1500kv and it says voltage is 7.2-14. The battery is 3S1P (no idea what the 1P means) 3300 mAH and 20C/1C by Arrowind.

I have absolutely no idea if that's all good, bad or indifferent, but it's what they recommend and from speaking to others with the same package it seems to work. Although I've heard some not so good things about the motor and the build quality.

Does this all sound like standard stuff that is easily found in cheaper forms?

Starting with a known-good system is not a bad idea at all.

3S means that there are three cells in series.  1P means that there's one cell each in parallel (this is kind of old nomenclature, because there's a wider range of cells available now than there were -- but if someone were to build a six-cell pack that's a series string of three modules of 2 parallel cells each, it'd be a 3S2P pack.  Don't worry about it -- for anything that's a reasonable size for control line, everything will be 1P).

Yes, this all sounds like standard stuff.  You forgot to tell me that the max current for the motor was 35 amps, but I looked it up.  Then I looked on the Hobby King site and found this:

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__18226__Turnigy_D3536_5_1450KV_Brushless_Outrunner_Motor.html

The kV is close, the max current is close -- it should certainly work well for a trainer, and it may even be enough for stunting if it lives that long.

This is the shaft: http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__20530__Turnigy_Aerodrive_SK3_3536_Series_Replacement_Shaft_Set.html.

Here's a battery: http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__26766__Turnigy_3300mAh_3S_20C_Lipo_Pack_UK_Warehouse_.html.

You definitely get what you pay for -- but since you're going to start by running things into the ground at high speed, repeatedly, you may as well start out with the cheapest of the cheap.

Keep us posted, by the way.

Keep us posted, by the way.

Will do!

I use a scale (in grams) to measure my epoxy.
MGS is expensive.
R,
Chris

Hi Chris. I was thinking of doing this after being told to mix it on a flat surface but wasn't sure if it would work. I'll def give it a try. Cheers.

The glue will work well enough, but you'll probably run out of hardener before you run out of glue -- my 30 minute epoxy glue is about 20% denser than the hardener; I expect that your 15 minute epoxy is the same.

Hobby epoxy is made to mix equal volumes, and to be tolerant of the mix not being exactly right.  They actually put filler in the hardener to make this so.  There are professional epoxies out there that are designed to be mixed by weight, and for which the mix is more critical.

Just squeeze out more or less equal amounts of goo from each bottle onto a card and mix it up -- it'll be way stronger than wood, which is all that you need.

I was looking at the Oriental for maybe my next one actually. What do you think of it so far re. quality/finish etc?

Yet another question. The box for the Super Ckown gives a list of additional items you need. One of them is baking soda. However, nowhere in the instruction manual does it ever mention baking soda. I did a bit of googling and it seems this can be used with thin CA as a gap filler. Am I right?

I do have some gaps between the songs and the fuse. Although it doesn't bother me too much I figure I should use this first build as a learning tool, so if this is right I might try filling the gaps. My further question is, if I am right, what's the best way to do it? Do I simply sprinkle the asking soda Ito the gap and then squeeze in the thin CA? Does a reaction then take place?

Thanks Tim.
The wing is already epoxied from yesterday so I don't think moving it is an option. It's going nowhere! Not until my first crash anyway.

Maybe I'll just wait until I mix the next batch of epoxy tomorrow to attach the stab and try to fill the gaps then. They actually aren't that bad, but as I know they are there I see them every time I look at it. Also have a bit if cleaning up to do to get some excess epoxy off the covering. It's a very messy business!

Out of interest, I've seen a lot of talk about centre of gravity. Again, the instructions don't seem to mention this. But I have noticed that the outside wing side is heavier than the inside. Is this normal or will this cause a problem?

I was looking at the Oriental for maybe my next one actually. What do you think of it so far re. quality/finish etc?

No complaints on the quality of the covering or build.
I really only had two minor nags.

1. Bellcrank had the leadout wires running directly through the nylon bellcrank.
For me, my thought was, "If I DON'T change this, and I DON'T crash the plane, I'll be really bummed if I fly the @#$% out of the plane and that eventually creates a problem. So bummed, I would be. Truth is I will likely kill this thing before that could ever happen, especially now that I bushed the bellcrank!

2. I wasn't in love with the foam wheels supplied. But it had wheels at least. The tail wheel was so lopsided I was compelled to replace it.

Its a glow power assumed ARF. As such, its got things that if I were to build in a kit, I would change for electric for sure, and the plane would be lighter.
I didn't love the flat plate tail either.

Again, all of the above EXTREMELY MINOR! For the money, it is an incredible value, incredible.

I look forward to building my RSM Thunderbird II kit next, but I will have to decide BEFORE I start on it if it will be glow or electric. That way I can make it great if I convert it to electric.

IF you are like me, you might be better served by getting an "ARC" vice "ARF". Had I got that instead, I would have been much more likely to make some more major changes for the planned electric power system. I would have likely notched the wing LE inside the fuse and put a pass through in the fuse bulkhead forward of the wing. That way, the battery could have been moved back a bit for proper CG with a lighter tail, resulting in a much lighter RTF weight.
As it was, there was no sense in lightening the tail with the aft end of battery ahead of that bulkhead. I may have to add some tail weight as it is now.

All comments, none complaints. Its a pretty plane.

R,
Chris