Author Topic: Electric SV-11 (Read 12013 times)

Dennis Adamisin · « **Reply #50 on:** March 18, 2009, 09:45:57 AM »

Quote from: John Cralley on March 18, 2009, 08:29:01 AM

For what it is worth, I have taken to beveling the tips of the male prongs of my Dean's connectors with a chain saw sharpening stone in my Dremel tool. It makes it easier to get them plugged in but is NO help in getting them unplugged!!

John

HobbyCity sells a clone of the Ultra plug that has finger grips on it. MUCH easier to handle!

William DeMauro · « **Reply #51 on:** March 18, 2009, 04:44:49 PM »

Hi guys,
Just to let you know how i did this: I cut 2 1/4" brass rings about 1/4" in length. Drilled 2 holes in the fuse and epoxied them in. The 4mm female connector with shrink tubing is a snug fit inside the 1/4 inch ring, I put some white glue on the shrink tubing and pushed them into the ring. My hope is that this will be strong enough.(it certainly seems that way.) Also if I ever have to get it apart,speedcontrol change or whatever, the white glue should break away with a little force, if not i can always cut the shrink tubing and push them through then dig out the tubing later. I wanted to keep this a simple as possible.
William

William DeMauro · « **Reply #52 on:** March 18, 2009, 04:56:34 PM »

By the way Dennis, I have never used the Hobby City Clones but they may be worth a look for a future project. I've experimented with clones from 3 different sources. The only good ones I ever found came from http://www.dollarrcparts.com/depl10.html. They fit together properly and fit with originals without any problems.
William

Alan Hahn · « **Reply #53 on:** March 19, 2009, 08:09:51 AM »

I have only used "real" Deans Ultra's and find that it isn't that difficult to separate the two halves.

Some people claim that you should plug the male and female Deans together when soldering wires. That way if you overheat the plastic during the soldering, the correct spacing of the two pins is preserved. I haven't had to do that, but it sounds reasonable.

William DeMauro · « **Reply #54 on:** March 19, 2009, 06:24:34 PM »

Alan,
I have never had a separation problem with the "real Deans" either. I also never had a problem with the ones from DollarRc. The others;I don't have much nice to say so I won't say anything. I never plugged them together while soldering but I've alaways used a real hot soldering iron and pretinned both the wire and the tab on the Deans. Then I put the the tinned wire on the tinned tab and reheat just long enough for everthing to melt together and let it set.
William

Dean Pappas · « **Reply #55 on:** March 19, 2009, 09:27:53 PM »

Hi All,
Mark's post about the connectors he found on Ebay is the same connector I was referring to in my earlier post.
They are physically large but excellent items.
Thanks Mark.
Dean

Alan Hahn · « **Reply #56 on:** March 20, 2009, 07:38:22 AM »

Quote from: William DeMauro on March 19, 2009, 06:24:34 PM

Alan,
I have never had a separation problem with the "real Deans" either. I also never had a problem with the ones from DollarRc. The others;I don't have much nice to say so I won't say anything. I never plugged them together while soldering but I've alaways used a real hot soldering iron and pretinned both the wire and the tab on the Deans. Then I put the the tinned wire on the tinned tab and reheat just long enough for everthing to melt together and let it set.
William

William,
We seem to have the same soldering technique!

John Cralley · « **Reply #57 on:** March 20, 2009, 10:03:50 AM »

For what it is worth, I have some Deans Solder Couplers (RC Dude Hobbies Items - 10pcs @ $3.95) which I have yet to try. These are small brass pieces which have a "fork" on one end to fit over the Deans solder post and a hole on the other (al la a banana plug) into which you solder the wire. These should make a neat connection when the heat shrink tubing is applied. You could easily make your own from a suitable sized brass tube.

RC Dude also has Scorpion motors at a slight discount from list price.

William DeMauro · « **Reply #58 on:** April 09, 2009, 06:59:41 PM »

Its been along time coming but I finally flew it today!!!! The conditions were actually pretty bad with 12-15mph winds but I am going on vacation next week and wanted to get it in the air before I left. The first flight was boring, only level flight as my neutral was off more than I expected. My Will Hubin timer did work perfectly as planned and we took enough lap times to realize I was running a 5.1 sec lap on my 64' of lines. My estimates that I had worked on for RPM and lap time were right on the money!!!!
The second flight allowed me to do more, but I still wouldn't push things. I flew some lazy 8,s,inside loops,inverted and a few inside squares. It turned how I expected it to, and tracked as well as can be expected considering the conditions. I was surprised at the amount of glide after the power was cut,almost 2 laps, but after I touched down it rolled more than half a lap,that what I get for putting brass bushings in my wheels.
I may have to remove about 1/4 oz of tip weight,wing appeared to be flying a bit low. I also think that I may need to move my leadouts forward as it wasn't quite as square with the lines as it should be. I wont rush these adjustments till I fly it in better conditions.
As far as the battery goes I put about 2600 back into each. I expect that to climb in better conditions and when I fly the pattern. By how much I don't know? If anyone has an idea of what I could expect, I'd be curious. I flew this on .018's today as I wanted to stay cautious due to the wind and my inaccurate scale.Better to be safe than sorry.

Mark Scarborough · « **Reply #59 on:** April 09, 2009, 08:29:00 PM »

congrats on getting some air mixed with your electrons!
look forward to more progress reports on your creation....

Crist Rigotti · « **Reply #60 on:** April 09, 2009, 10:01:44 PM »

Way to go William!

Sounds like you are on your way. Please keep us posted on your progress. I'm watching what you put back in your batteries. Being my pack is 3400mah I'll be shooting for 2600-2700mah per flight. BTW, Saturday will be the maiden flight on my Resolve EP.

Again, great job!

Alan Hahn · « **Reply #61 on:** April 10, 2009, 07:50:09 AM »

William,
I am not sure if this will scale for you, but when I cruise I use about 260 watts, and my peak maneuvers pull about 450 watts. The average over the whole flight is about 300 watts. So I am guessing, that if you keep your lap speed where it is now, then I would expect you would use another 10-15% more battery capacity--so lets say somewhere in the 3000 to 3200 mAHr range. I will say that I use less on windy days and I assume that's because I get a boost from the wind during the maneuvers and not (I am guessing here) during the level laps.

But since I think you have 4000 mAHr packs, you should be in fine shape.

William DeMauro · « **Reply #62 on:** April 10, 2009, 12:31:17 PM »

Thanks Alan,
My initial estimates were 3000-3200,so I was a bit surprised at only using 2600, but with the wind and only limited maneuvers I guess I am on the right track. I can't wait till next week to fly this again.

bob branch · « **Reply #63 on:** April 12, 2009, 08:57:46 AM »

A very little vaseline on the blades of the deans connectors eliminates the difficulty in taking them apart.

bob

William DeMauro · « **Reply #64 on:** April 26, 2009, 09:12:29 PM »

Finally a good day of flying!!!!!!!!! I finally got out and got some real good flight on my SV11 today and finally have some numbers to go by. I put in 5 flights today and all 5 were the pattern. Temp as about 85 wind was about 5 all day. First flight was a bit fast for me at about a 5.01 lap time on my 64' length lines. Bob Lampione was my official time Keeper for the day. I pulled 2919mah out of the battery. 9300 was my RPM # for the day. I felt it was a little close and it had plenty of power so for the last 4 flights I flew it on lines that were 15" longer.(my lines from my gas powered SV11). My lap times went up to an almost perfect 5.2 second lap. Power through the maneuvers was awsome and I felt like I had great line tension everywhere. My biggest complaint was that it still feels just a little light in the nose,but I do like to fly my planes more nose heavy than most. I will add 1/2 oz for next time and go from there. Tip weight seems good but the outboard wing seems to me to be a bit low rightside up and high inverted. My spotters say "no" I will keep an eye on it. I have tabs to adjust if needed. My mah usage for the other 4 flights were 2872,2884,2904 and 2789. Flight times were about 5min 35sec. Power consumpsion is less than I thought it would be. My batteries are all new I have 3 brand new polyquest 4 cell 4270 18 c lipos from RClipo.com and 2 new flightmax 4400 from hobby city. They are all barely warm after the flight. The polyquest weight was less than published at 390 grams so I made up a 1 oz weight to make up the weight to put in the battery compartment difference with the flightmax. I need the weight anyway. Flightmax are 420 grams. I'm off to a very good start and will post some flying pictures from my first flying session a few weeks ago that I will be getting from my friend Ron H.

Dennis Adamisin · « **Reply #65 on:** April 26, 2009, 09:28:06 PM »

Now THAT's the kind of day I am waiting for. CONGRADS on a great project - now keep practicing!

Crist Rigotti · « **Reply #66 on:** April 26, 2009, 09:47:39 PM »

Thanks for the details William. 85 and 5 all day!

William DeMauro · « **Reply #67 on:** April 27, 2009, 04:24:49 PM »

Thanks for all the encouragement from all out here ,now here are a few pictures from my first time out with it on 4-9-09 . These were taken by Ron Heckler.

Matt Colan · « **Reply #68 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:46:43 PM »

Looks good in the air William!!! If I could only talk my grandparents to go to Flushing this year, I would be able to see it

William DeMauro · « **Reply #69 on:** April 29, 2009, 03:11:48 AM »

Matt,
Thanks for the comments,I'm sure Flushing is pretty far for you,but we have 2 contests a year there,one at the end of May and one at the end of September and we would love to have you stop by. I will also fly a few of the Jersey contests this year,Bergen County and Lincoln park almost for sure. The Nats and Brodak are almost defiantly out for me due to my work schedule.

Dennis Toth · « **Reply #70 on:** April 29, 2009, 12:23:07 PM »

William,

Is your line length eyelet to eyelet of 64' or Center of fuse to center of handle? For the balance can you move the battery forward? I have set my battery holder up to allow shifting +-3/4" which has been enough for different weight pack.

Best, Dennis

William DeMauro · « **Reply #71 on:** April 29, 2009, 06:57:59 PM »

Dennis,
My line length is now 65'3'' eyelet to eyelet. My lap times are at 5.2 so I am happy with what I have for now. I am able to move my battery forward and back at least an inch maybe a bit more as I tried to figure a little weight and balance into my build. I missed on that (for me) as my batteries are already as far forward as I can get them. For most people out here the plane is probably balanced perfect. I like my planes just slightly more nose heavy than most others. This is just a personal preference. If I was 1/4-1/2 oz lighter in the tail I would probably be happy. If my stab was 1/4 inch more forward that would have worked too. Considering that I didn't have much to go on and as far as I know I am the first to convert an SV11 to electric I did come out closer than I thought I would for weight and balance. I actually was very worried that I was going to end up very nose heavy. I was also worried that I wouldn't have enough power. I missed big on that. This thing has plenty to spare as it flies through the pattern easily. I only have 8 flights on it so far and next time out I will work on the nose weight and on getting my wings perfectly level both upright and inverted.
William

William DeMauro · « **Reply #72 on:** June 21, 2009, 05:02:41 AM »

Hi,
I want to apologize for not updating more frequently but work,weather, and plain old frustration with this plane has kept me from posting very much on here at all. I have now completed 31 flights. The first 29 of which were very frustrating. I had a hunting problem that was driving me crazy and not much time to fly. I was finally able to start working it out last week. I tried all the usual solutions without much success.(Nose weight and up and down engine incidence) I even tried a reverse pitch prop just to try to change things up.(Don't do that to a Scorpion version 1 that is rear mounted.) That cost me my motor as the cooling holes don't cool very well in reverse. I now have a Scorpion SII-3026-890 on it. I am still running the reverse pitch 12x6 APC thin electric on it. Finally after flying last Saturday And Sunday I was able to bring myself to cut this plane open and add some slop to the elevator. I knew I could work on this as I was also granted this week off from work as a vacation week unexpectedly opened up and I grabbed it. It was way better on Tuesday but not quite right.
Tuesday evening I get a call from Bob Lampione asking if I want to go to Brodak's,we leave tomorrow 5 AM. Not caring if the plane was right or not I said OK. After driving for about 7 hours on Wednesday I didn't feel like flying and spent the day meeting people that I had only read about on here or in magazines. Thurday morning I woke up and decided to put the motor back to 0 incidence figuring it couldn't be any worse. Finally Thursday afternoon I get an opportunity to try it. Matt Colan offers to pit for me and before I got 1 lap done I knew it wasn't going to hunt anymore!!!!! I finally flew a complete pattern without fighting this plane. Friday I flew a respectable 483 in Expert stunt with it in what I consider only my second real flight on it. I passed on Saturday as we wanted to get an early start for home. I had a great time at Brodak's. I want to thank Big Art, Archie and Dennis for being so nice to me. By the way Dennis's new e-plane flies great and I had a blast flying Dennis's Baby E-Clown.

Dennis Adamisin · « **Reply #73 on:** June 21, 2009, 06:00:15 AM »

Enjoyed meeting/ talking ECL with Will. He has a lot of great ideas and gave me a lot of tips to apply to some of the coming birds. At one point we had had our two birds side by side comparing notes and discussing them with Gerry Phelps and Tom Morris - who were both enthusiastically talking about building ECL birds.

...and I'm here to testify that Will's SV-11 is the REAL DEAL. Flies with authority, even in the absolutely dead air we tried practicing in on Thursday afternoon. Sound's like Will has been battling through some trim issues - but looks like he has it "wired" now. Looking good.

Crist Rigotti · « **Reply #74 on:** June 21, 2009, 08:05:48 AM »

Will,
Glad to see you have things worked out. If I have this right, to eliminate your hunting problem:
1) You added some elevator slop
2) Put the engine at zero degrees up/down thrust.

William DeMauro · « **Reply #75 on:** June 21, 2009, 12:17:13 PM »

Quote from: Crist Rigotti on June 21, 2009, 08:05:48 AM

Will,
Glad to see you have things worked out. If I have this right, to eliminate your hunting problem:
1) You added some elevator slop
2) Put the engine at zero degrees up/down thrust.

Crist,
Basically yes, when I built it I had about 1 degree downthrust in the engine. First thing I tried when I was trying to get rid of the hunting was more downthrust in the motor. When that didn't work I went the other way and started feeding upthrust into it. All those two things did was affect the way it turned in one direction or another. Last Monday I reached the point where I had nothing to lose and cut it open I drilled out the hole in the flaphorn that goes to the elevator.(It was the only one that I had any shot of getting apart). When I flew on Tuesday it was way improved but still not where I wanted it but I still had some"up" thrust in the motor. On Thursday before I went out to fly it I pulled the last shims out, putting the motor back to where I started when I built the plane. So technically I guess I shouldn't have said zero incidence. The other thing I did was lower my battery down about 1/2" even though I don't think I had a vertical CG problem. In any case something I did must have been right since it's not hunting anymore. Now I can focus on flying it and standard trim setting such as handle spacing, fine tuning tip weight etc.

Crist Rigotti · « **Reply #76 on:** June 21, 2009, 12:33:37 PM »

Thank you for your detailed reply William. I too have some hunt and wanted to know the details. I'll try what you did.

Matt Colan · « **Reply #77 on:** June 23, 2009, 06:28:03 PM »

I launched for Will at Brodak, well just pushed the button, and it looks like the plane flies really well. Hopefully we'll see each other again this year, maybe Lee, if you're able to go. We are already making plans for Brodak next year.

RandySmith · « **Reply #78 on:** June 26, 2009, 09:46:18 PM »

Good Job Will !
I look forward to seeing the SV-11 , we talked about it so much I would love to see it fly in person. I hated to miss Brodaks this year. but no other choice

Randy

Ralph Wenzel (d) · « **Reply #79 on:** June 26, 2009, 10:21:48 PM »

For (relatively) ease of unplugging Deans Ultra connectors, make a double loop of dental floss tape that runs between the terminals. Do this on both sides. When you want to unplug, just stick a finger into each loop and pull. Much easier . . .

BTW, the Zippy seems to be one of the few "Hong Kong-based" LiPo batteries with a decent reputation, and they have a new offering for a very reasonable price - a 4S-4900 mah unit weighs 416 grams (14.6 oz.). See:

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7296

William DeMauro · « **Reply #80 on:** July 25, 2009, 06:03:38 PM »

Quick update,
Four really good flights today, I think that makes a grand total of 38 or 39 so still not getting the time that I want on it. Lap times are still around 5.0-5.1. Power is Awesome! I feel I may be able to knock about 100 more RPM off and still be OK. I may go to wider line spacing to speed up the turning. I've always flown with narrow spacing and realize at this level,If I want to stay competitive I have to fly the plane a little harder.. This is more of a style change that I have to make than a problem with the plane. I'm still using around 2800 mah out of my batteries.

Matt Colan · « **Reply #81 on:** July 25, 2009, 06:32:44 PM »

Sounds like it flies good Will! Any chance you'll make it to Lee in about a month?

William DeMauro · « **Reply #82 on:** July 25, 2009, 07:40:10 PM »

Quote from: Matt Colan on July 25, 2009, 06:32:44 PM

Sounds like it flies good Will! Any chance you'll make it to Lee in about a month?

Not sure at this time, I,ve never been there. My sister lives up near Boston and I've never been to her house so mabye I can make a weekend out of it. Isn't that quite a trip for you, probably further than me.

William DeMauro · « **Reply #83 on:** July 25, 2009, 07:45:07 PM »

Quote from: William DeMauro on July 25, 2009, 07:40:10 PM

Not sure at this time, I,ve never been there. My sister lives up near Boston and I've never been to her house so mabye I can make a weekend out of it. Isn't that quite a trip for you, probably further than me.

I just looked at a map and I am probably closer to lee than my sister.

Matt Colan · « **Reply #84 on:** July 26, 2009, 07:03:36 AM »

Quote from: William DeMauro on July 25, 2009, 07:40:10 PM

Not sure at this time, I,ve never been there. My sister lives up near Boston and I've never been to her house so mabye I can make a weekend out of it. Isn't that quite a trip for you, probably further than me.

Lee is about a 4 to 4 1/2 hour ride, definitely not like the 13 hour drive to Brodak. Lee is on the western end of Massachusetts, about 45 minutes from Albany.

Quote from: William DeMauro on July 25, 2009, 07:45:07 PM

I just looked at a map and I am probably closer to lee than my sister.

Yes, Boston is on the other end of the state, closer to where the Mass Cup contest is being held this year in Wrentham.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #85 on:** July 26, 2009, 12:56:16 PM »

You guys in the NE parts of this great country don't know about driving distances. The first Chickopee NATS I am looking at the map and thinking when I hit the state line it will only be a couple of hours to the base. About a half hour later we were there. I mean it sits in the middle of the state. Topeka sits just above the center of Kansas and takes about two hours to get to the southern state line. Most contests are over 200 miles for me here in indian country. DOC Holliday

PS:Didn't mean to high jack the post as I may try one of these electronic wonders. I keep thinking back to the day when I didn't really know an .049 from a .60 as far as use and power. jeh

Matt Colan · « **Reply #86 on:** July 27, 2009, 05:50:44 AM »

The nearest contest for us, is Lee and that is 4 hours away and something close to 200-250 miles away. I'm 10 minutes from Canada, and grandpa and I are the only two CL fliers in our area. We have a neighbor that shows some interest in CL, but other than that no one here flies. There is an RC club about a half hour away from us, but they didn't mow a circle for us so we had to whip the plane around because we could only land on the runway since the grass is tall.

I do know there is another PAMPA member, but he lives in Middlebury, an 1 1/2 hour drive, so we have never met this person.

DOC, Massachusetts is a pretty small state but at least it is inhabited. In the rural area of Vermont, (we are what is called an urban area, but is a rural spot) there is nothing. I think New York is a small state because I think of New York as the city and Long Island. Everywhere else I don't consider New York. But it is a trek for us to go to any contest, that is why we only go to 3 or maybe 4 a year.

Edit: I just thought of something, host a contest up here in Vermont, have everybody come up to us. The only place I would be able to see a contest to be held, would be my school, where the parking lot can hold two circles and 30 or so other acres grass that could be mowed for other circles. Hmmm...maybe someday it could happen.

steve pagano · « **Reply #87 on:** September 10, 2009, 11:56:48 AM »

Hi Will

Finally saw that bird fly in person on saturday and boy does she put on a show!!! Never new you could get so much power from an electric!

Steve P.

William DeMauro · « **Reply #88 on:** September 11, 2009, 06:36:53 AM »

Thanks Steve!!! I guess I owe you all an update anyway. It is now up to flight 61 and I am finally getting good flights consistently out of it as most of the major bugs seem to be worked out. I've taken the aluminum landing gear and wheelpants off (weight 3.8 oz) and switched to a carbonfiber gear and no wheelpants(weight 1.7 oz). Thanks Jose Modesto for the gear!!!! This was done to lighten the plane and correct a vertical CG issue that seemed to be there. I've been working with Jose Modesto to try to get the last minor trim issues corrected and that was one he picked up on. I am averaging 2700-2800 out of my batteries consistently now. Still using the 12x6 pusher and am able to use some 3600 mah batteries that I have for my Cardinal if I want extra flights. I'll have it out this Sunday at the Pal Park Contest, hopefully it will do OK. At least Mike Palko wont be the lone "E" guy there. Now if I could only fly like him!!!!

William DeMauro · « **Reply #89 on:** September 20, 2009, 01:04:12 PM »

I flew the new 13x4.5 on the SV11 today. I cut it down to 12" and started at 10100 rpm. This gave me a 5.6 second lap which was about .5 slower than I was flying it at. Incredibly it chugged through the whole pattern with power even in the overhead and vertical 8. For the next 3 flights I was at 10200 as this was the max setting available to me today. It flew a nice pattern at 5.5. I would prefer to fly the plane somewhere from 5.3-5.4 so After I went home I reset the speedcontrol to 10200,10300 and 10400. next time out I will fly at 10300. On the first battery I recharged(a 5.5 one) I put 2555 mah back in. I have plenty of room to go with more RPM. I now know that I can use the 3600 batteries that I have for the Cardinal in this. For the first time since I started flying this plane I didn't feel like I was being rushed. I think these props are going to work out real good for us.

Dennis Adamisin · « **Reply #90 on:** September 20, 2009, 01:18:50 PM »

Now THAT is good to hear. Based on the Pathfinder with the cut down prop it sounds like you are going to be coming in around the same RPM.

THANKS for the fast feedback.

Archie Adamisin · « **Reply #91 on:** September 20, 2009, 02:55:01 PM »

Great news Will. Glad to hear that the prop is working out for you. I can't wait to see your Sv go. I have heard many great things about it.

Archie Adamisin
Muncie, Indiana

Arch Adamisin · « **Reply #92 on:** September 20, 2009, 09:38:04 PM »

I guess that trip to Detroit was worth it.
We all certainly enjoyed your visit and hope you can do it again sometime.
Arch

Author Topic: Electric SV-11 (Read 12013 times)

Alan Hahn

Alan Hahn

Alan Hahn