Combat Wings XE2 info

XE2 4-spar version.

Motor: JustGoFly 400DF, Max power 220W (20A at 11.1V/3S), 3000Kv, 46g (1.6oz), Screw spacing is 16mm by 19mm diagonal, Power range is 7.4/2S to 14.8V/4S, 3mm shaft. JustGoFly M5 slim-style collet.

Prop: APC 5.25 x 4.75 (with this prop, max power of 220W is exceeded (285W) so do a cool-down run (quarter throttle for 30 secs) before landing the plane).

ESC: Castle Creations Phoenix 25

Battery: TP extreme 2200-3SX, 2200mAh, 25C (55A) continuous, 30C (66A) sustain, 50C (110A) burst, 170g (6.0oz), 4 pin balancer connector.

Battery2: TP 2100 3S (old generation), 10-12C (21-25A) continuous, 15C (31A) burst.

Hitec HS-311 standard-sized servos (to help add weight to nose).
Hitec Electron 6 receiver, dual-conversion.
Channel 1: Right elevon
Channel 2: Left elevon

3M bidirectional strapping tape ("Extreme" type)
Solite covering on the bottom.
Trick RC colored tape on the top.
Trick R/C Tape Hinge on top of ailerons (3M Gift Tape on bottom of ailerons).
JustGoFly pusher motor mount, aluminum.
3M 77 spray glue
Gorilla glue and low-temp hot melt glue for joining wing cores.

NiMH LiPo cell, voltage info

NiMH:
1.2V per cell
Discharge to 0.9V per cell
(my pack is 8-cell: 9.6V, 7.2V discharged)

LiPo:
3.7V per cell
Discharge to 3.0V per cell

Web search hit:
Finally we will need to find a lipo battery that will meet the discharge requirements of your project. This can get a little tricky as not all batteries are the same. This is where you hear the term "C". as in "20C" or "10C". This number is a multiplier and refers to how quickly a battery can be discharged. The C stands for Capacity as in the capacity of your battery. So if you have a 2000mah battery and it is rated at 10C you would simply multiply the mah of your battery times 10. This tells us that our battery can be discharged at 20,000ma. If we divide "ma" by 1000 we get Amperage. So 20,000ma = 20amps. (or simply drop off the last 3 zeros). [DCL: It's a 2A battery so at 10C discharge rate, discharge is 2*10=20A]

Cobri 20 gearbox info

Gears: 72T, 15T
Gear ratio: 72/15 = 4.8
Put on Formosa.

Massive Formosa Repair

Completed massive repair of the Formosa today. Mid-air collision on Friday at RSA left it broken into 3 pieces with a big chunk missing from the fuselage and another chunk out of the wing.

eflightline hobby address

Mike Small
1500 Peru Ave
Port Orchard, WA 98366

Bought: Cobri 20 gearbox with 72T and 15T gears.

Formosa: Preping Cobri 20 gearbox and Razor 2500 motor

Pinon gear is a slip fit over the Razor motor shaft, so needs green Loctite (Loctite #620). With one screw, mount motor to gearbox. Do this so we know how far down on the motor shaft the pinon gear needs to be. Do a test install of the pinon gear: slide the gear onto the shaft and check where on the shaft it needs to be to mesh with the spur (big) gear. Remove (slide off) the pinon gear. Put just a HALF A DROP of loctite on the outer circumference of the end of the shaft. Slide pinon gear onto shaft and into position (it will move the loctite glue with it). Tip: While sliding, spin pinon gear a bit to work the glue thru. Heat it with a blow dryer (heat gun) for about a minute to jump start the curing process. Let sit for 15 mins. Carefully remove motor from gearbox and let loctite cure for 24 hours before flying.

Drill screw hole in gearbox:
Clamp gearbox in a C-clamp to act as a holding vise. Use paper towel rags around the gearbox to prevent scratching. Drill 5/64" hole with power drill. Tip: Starting the hole with a punch awl will help. Now the Cobri gearbox can be firmly mounted to the GWS stick mount with a screw thru the screwhole.

Painting F-18, Thinning Acrylic Paint

RC Groups Discussion - F/A-18 Hornet Foam Parkflyer: "Regarding painting, pretty much any acrylic craft paint will work if brushed on, but some work better than others when sprayed on. I use Delta Ceramcoat for spraying (thinned 50/50 with windshield wiper fluid or water) since it seems to work best. The only surface prep I do on Depron is to final sand with extra fine 320 grit sandpaper and then wipe down the whole model with a paper towel wetted with rubbing alcohol to remove any grease.

On my Blue Angel F-18, I sprayed on two light coats of Navy Blue on the entire model and that added 0.75 oz to the airframe. The other decorations I added (yellow stripes, painted canopy, decals, missle rails) added another 0.5 oz, for a net weight gain of 1.25 oz. That's not too bad, but you'll definitely notice that extra weight when you fly it. Thus, my recommendation is to make the first few flights BEFORE painting it so the model is at it's lightest weight. The extra weight of a good paint job is well worth it IMO, but make sure you enjoy at least a few flights with the model unpainted when it's flying at it's best!"

Nice Brushless setup for F18

RC Groups Discussion - F/A-18 Hornet Foam Parkflyer: "I'm running the BL Himax 2025-4200 with an aluminum gear box, 3.75:1 gear, APC 9x6SF prop with a TP 2100 3s1p lipo, and CC Phoenix 25 ESC. AUW is 22oz, thrust is 26.4oz, pitch speed is 52.8mph. 17.6 amps draw on the battery, 9.8 volts on the motor. Prop rpm is 9250 and motor is 34700rpm. I get 7 to 8 min flight time, 9 if I really manage the throttle. This set up will hover and pull unlimited vertical, at least as far as I can see."