Projects New RC Project that has me stressing

[Derek]

Here is the updated motor mount idea that I'm going with. I'll post video or pics later on when I have it done.

 

[Derek]

Ok, I finally have the Tacon Bigfoot 160 motor mounted on my plane. If you look at the image in my previous post, where the aluminum is bolted to the foamboard, I do have some 1/8" plywood on glued to the inside of the plane. I am back to making some progress on this project, lol.

Here are some pics...

 

[Tony]

That may work for you, just hope it's strong enough for that motor and prop. We will find out soon hehe.

 

[Derek]

Yes, I hope it's strong enough, too. I'll post a video that shows and explains a few more details.

 

[Derek]

I'm having a thought...I still have yet to order my 2 lipos and the Rx pack for my plane. My RC budget needs to be replenished, lol. However, here is my thought:

I'd like to be able to get some power to my plane so that I can start setting the servo's, get the motor spinning in the right direction, and such. I do have my 6S 3000mAh 70C lipo from my Trex 500 and I do have a spare CC External 10A BEC. Can I start running the wires in my plane and temporarily attach the BEC to the wiring for power? Then, when I am done testing the equipment, just snip off the BEC and wait for the Rx pack.

I figure as long as I'm not running ALL my servos at the same time, the 10A BEC should allow me to do the testing.

Am I right?

 

[Tony]

That should be fine. just watch the temp of everything and if you see smoke, you know it was a bad idea

 

[Derek]

What do you think the chances are of seeing smoke? If a servo were to burn up, I could probably get over that. I just dont wanna burn up my ESC nor cause any damage to the Tacon motor.

in all honesty...should I just wait until I get the lipo's and Rx pack?

 

[Tony]

Nah man, the risk is low. YOu won't burn up the ESC if everything is hooked up correctly. Meaning not wired to the battery backwards (reverse polarity). And I'm sure that BEC will be enough for what you are doing.

 

[Tony]

I guess I need to learn that my jokes are not always that well taken lmao.

 

[Derek]

No worries, Tony! I love jokes. It's just that I'm still learning what I "can" do and what I "shouldn't do." I have put alot of time into this plane and I'd surely hate to see something bad happen to the plane before I get it in the air...at least once. If I can get the plane into the air, fly it around a bit, then it crashes...I'll still consider this project a huge success. However, i surely am hoping that I can get the plane into the air, fly it around a bit, then bring it home with no damage and have one hell of a story to tell.

I'll get that BEC hooked up today and see if I can breath some life into this monster. I sure do with that meter that I ordered would show up. I checked the tracking number yesterday. The site said that my order left Hong Kong on the 27th. Hopefully it won't be too much longer now.

 

[Tony]

Just don't leave the paint stick on the motor. Those are very weak and it will more than likely split if you spin it up.

 

[Derek]

Agreed!

The last thing I need is a reason to end up on YouTube while saying, "Hey ya'll, watch this!!!" lmao

 

[Tony]

It would be like you live in oklahoma or something... wait...

 

[Derek]

Ha ha! Too funny! I dunno about Oklahoma, but I have some in-laws from Tennessee and they are just funny to watch.

 

[Tony]

"Hey, hold my beer and watch this". Never a good thing to hear when they have something that flies in their hand hahaha. Don't fly drunk, it doesn't work, trust me... Poor plane...

 

[Derek]

Ok...finally, I have another video update on my 20 foot wingspan plane that I'm making. Finally got the motor mounted. I'll be working on more as time allows. I have two more days off work then I'm working Wednesday and Thursday, then I'll be off Friday-Sunday...so i do still have time this week to get more progress done.

Anyway...here's the video:

 

[breeze400]

It's coming along derrick when do you think you will get her in the air? With winter here might be spring! Lol. I know I have way too much snow I my yard to do any flying here.

 

[Derek]

Yeah, it's definitely gonna be a few months before this thing see any air. I've got high temperatures in the 20's, with 15-25mph winds, and 6" of snow all over town. I'm not trying to rush this plane at all.

I have to admit...when I decided that I wanted to do this project, back in August...I didn't fully comprehend what all I was getting into, lol. As I've progressed and hit various complexities, I've had to stop and log in to RCH and scream for help, lol. On the other hand...there has been a great deal that I've learned while making this plane. I did tell the wife that this will be the ONLY big plane of this size that I'll attempt to make. It's just not practical and storing these plane parts has it own challenges, lol.

But anyway...yeah..the maiden flight attempt will probably be no earlier than late March 2013.

 

[Derek]

Hey Tony...I am, once again, perplexed. I just had one of my YouTube buddies tell me that I'll still need an external BEC for my big plane.

Now...you know what motor and esc I'm using...you picked them out. You also know that the current plan is to get and use a 6.6v LIFE pack to power the RX and servos...that was your idea. Now...my YouTube buddy is saying that I'll still need an external BEC to go along with my Tacon motor and Hobbywing ESC. Why would that be the case?

There seems to be some confusion as to the plans for this plane. I may need to do a video that gives a brief overview of what I've done and what I plan on doing.

 

[Tony]

The LiFe battery will power the ESC just like the servos, but only the signal wire will work so it knows what to do. As long as your servos can handle 7.2vDC, you can plug that LiFe pack right into the Rx and forget about it. But, if your servos will only handle 4.8v (usually Futaba), then you will need to run a BEC to drop the voltage.

I'm only going to run the LiFe pack on my 600. So if your worried that I"m going to blow something up, then just know that I will be doing the same thing with my big ass bird as well

So from what I see, I have to say that your youtube buddy is wrong here. well not wrong, but may not have the whole picture or know what a LiFe battery is used for. We will get it all worked out.