HI Ron,

I am very glad you are getting your E-CLPA ready for flight. You have all the right E parts selected and your beautiful plane will have plenty of power. :-)

BRAKE

I have not used the CC CL version yet so I don't know if you have a choice in the BRAKE setting? If you do, you may want to set it for a soft brake, so that it does not "abruptly" stop the motor. There is no need to stress the system with this violent sudden stop. My guess is that since Bob/Dean worked with CC on the CL version that they have the correct setting as standard.

SPOOL UP SPEED

The only other setting that is up to the pilots preference is the spool up time. I set mine for a very slow spool up because I like the realistic TO on pavement, but on grass I have to make sure I let it spool up while being held until it reaches a high enough RPM to TO safely in the grass "of the day". This slow spool up setting makes it much easier to fly the plane slowly off the ground and slowly climb to the 5' altitude over the complete 1st lap. ..... Some guys want it a fast spool up to duplicate what they are used to with FULL POWER TOs like their wet systems gave them. ..... Like all the settings, this can  be changed to find the one that suits your style. :-)

YOUR SETTINGS

It looks like all your settings are OK. I'm sure others will comment here and may have some suggestions for changes. There is a great amount of experience on this forum and I'm sure you will end up with the optimal settings in the next few hours. ;-)

Thank you for making such a complete listing of settings. Once it gets a complete peer review here it will be very helpful to everyone to use as a template for their setups.

PS: Other than the SW champs, and the CL contest in Feb., when is your next CLPA contest? I would like to come over and fly with you this spring if you have a contest then.
:-)

Warm Regards, 
Your WNY friend

Hi Ron,
 I can't comment on features such as  Governor Gain, Head Speed change rate etc because as Rudy says they are really personal preference and you will arrive at your ideal settings over a number of flights.

I usually set the Brake Ramp at Slow <-> Medium, just because as already said "No need to stress the system". Not sure if it is also the case in the US but in the UK the prop must be stationary on landing so I set "Brake Strength to "100% (Hard)" which seems to do the job for me at least. For the same reason I set "Initial Spool-Up Rate to "4" (Any less and it takes an age to haul itself off the line if the grass is a bit long).  For "Cutoffs" I use "Auto Li-Po" and 3.2 Volts/Cell. 3.0 is probably fine but you are pretty well flat before then and probably want to land anyway. Against certain advice I set "Current Limiting" to "Very Sensitive" and have never had a motor cut during manoeuvres yet.

The 3 head speeds are not necessary and can be left blank if you use "Governor High or Low" but should be used if you select "Set RPM". I can't find any details of "Set RPM" in the user guide but I "Think" it works as follows.....

Set RPM gives you 3 speeds depending on your Throttle position, Speed 1 is Throttle % from 1->49, Speed 2 is 50%->99% and Speed 3 is 100% If you have a timer which "Ramps" up to compensate for voltage drop you can set it to run at head speed 1 one until it begins to compensate for voltage drop then switch to speed 2  and finally speed 3, certainly this is how it seems to work with my jmp timer. A few more revs for the 2nd part of the pattern was always reassuring as well.

My description of Set RPM may well be complete rubbish and I'm sure someone will jump in if this is the case.

TTFN
John.

Thanks John and Wynn for your very useful information. I will make some changes in the ESC.

Wanted to fly tomorrow but Arizona decided to turn cold and windy for the next couple of days.

Ron Hook

Norm,

Thanks for the advice. In fact, I did use your "cookbook" for my original settings. By far, it has been the most helpful article out there for people not quite sure where to begin. Thanks for all the great information. I have downloaded it and printed it our for my files.

Ron Hook