Reinforcement for Estarter

[protyne]

well i only need 2 rubberbands crossed over the wing.. holds well enough for me to do simple loops and rolls... anyway its easier for me to remove my battery this way.

You using the long screw to hold down the wing? If it is just the rubberbands alone I think 2 pieces may not be adequate. Even with my 6 pieces I'm getting a little paranoid sometimes

Don't scrimp on rubberband that cost really little compared to your entire kit + electronics. Also I try to use fresh rubber everytime I fly.

[plug&fly]

Guys guys

The idea is to build it light. You should build your planes to fly not to crash. First, it would be a good idea to reinforce the fuse from within with a carbon strip throughout the length of the fuse, use foam safe CA, its lighter. Second, the rubber thing on the wing is to allow the wing to dislodge without damaging anything else. It is supposed to give way on a crash. Thirdly, use light ply on the landing gear holder, just epoxy it over the entire assembly. Fly gentle, and manage your throttle. Sometimes, it scares me to see one of you guys fly full throttle all the way from take off right just before landing. Turn gently, remember its a trainer not a pylon racer. Yeah its fun to see an e-starter taking off vertically and doing 3 loops in 5 seconds, but guys.....

[edmond22]

I suggest cut out grooves in the fuse and wing and hotmelt CF in. Will add quite abit of weight but will be MUCH stronger. I remember my old estarter, it crashed into a SPLASH of foam

Guys Guys, hold on to your horses a bit.

Dun get overzealous in making your plane stronger. Reinforcing a plane so that you can fly it the way you want to and not disintegrate in the air, by all means go ahead. BUT reinforcing it so that it can crash or take harder landings, I normally do not recommend, fibre taping is the most I will recommend. You should instead be reflecting on the moments before it crash etc and strive harder not to commit that same mistakes.

Cutting grooves in the wing for CF, ok doable I supposed but I think doing the same for the fuse is kinda overdoing the steak a bit.

[detach8]

Are you implying you place your batt in the receiver/servos area? Sheesh din think of that man. Ive been trying to crack my brains on how to fit in my gargantuan 3 cell lipo into the batt holder compartment but it's way too thick. Dunwanna cut the foam also as doing so it will weaken the structure's integrity. How to do secure your lipo batt then? Use velcro?

Yes i put it in the receiver area... i just throw it inside the front. Some lao jiao taught me this actually cos I was unable to get the CG right with my batt in the compartment below. Now my CG is perfectly fine.

Protyne:
I advise you to... throw that screw away. If you crash and hit your wings, that screw will cause your wing to break and rip off the foam from your fuse. A few rubber bands is more than enough for the light plane. I've crashed the plane several times (remember I told you my motor flew off mid flight?) and my plane is still intact all because the wing gave way.

My reinforcements and mods

Strengthen the fuse
Just get two wooden sticks or carbon rods (I like wood because i feel it's stronger) and glue it on the inside of the fues, esp near the tail to reinforce it.

Nose down crashes won't kill
Get an old credit card and cut it up to reinforce the front area where your motor mount is, then drill a small hole across the wooden dowel and stick a carbon rod thru it. THis will prevent your wooden dowel to poke right thru the front of your fuse and damage the foam structure inside when you crash nose down. Pic attached.

Forget about the landing gear
My landing gear fell of mid flight and I was unable to find it in the field... and I didn't bother with it ever since. The way the landing gear is mounted will make you rip off a whole chunk of foam if you land badly. I've since gotten a prop saver and belly land my plane instead. Not forgetting, that landing gear adds considerable amount of weight and is a trouble to transport!

Forget about the rudder
Actually, I was a cheapo back then and only decided to mount 2 servos on my ES. So I did... aileron and elevator. I found that I didnt need the rudder, so why add the extra weight, consume extra power, make the bird more complex? Simply get a carbon rod and stick it right through the rudder.

Screw the battery compartment
Not big enough to fit almost any modern batt, weak battery cover that comes off with every crash, and not forgetting water goes into the battery holder if you belly land on a wet field. Screw it, I now fly with the battery in my fuse under the wing. Cover up that battery compartment with some tape.

Wings take the weight of your plane
That said, I put wooden sticks (or carbon rods, its your choice!) under my wing and under my elevator to reinforce them. Run some tape to cover the sticks/rods so that air flows smoothly thru the surfaces.

[detach8]

Tape that foam or see snow
Depending on how badly you can end up crashing that ES, it's best to put some tape around the areas of the foam where you'll most likely hit in a crash to avoid seeing "snow".

[detach8]

Oh ya I also forgot, my balsa aileron mod.. the stock aileron broke in a crash and was too flimsy anyway...

[edmond22]

Detach,

your mods are cool to go but remember that some of your mods are taking away some of the advantages of flying a e starter. The landing gear and rudder should stay, it is something important all fliers will need to pick up. Take off, Landing, taxi and even simple aerobatics will require rudder. I can't imagine myself doing any aerobatics without one, will be extremely limited to rolls and loops? Snap rolls, stall turn are some of the important moves you should learn too, they give you an idea of your plane's behaviour and limit.

[Ghostfit]

I second that !

....You dun fly your heli without rudder right ?

[flying bear]

stock design flies as well

Hi Detach,

I agreed with Edmond on his comments on rudder. and landing gear.

Part of the fun of this ES is to do touch and go, circuits and nice landings... u missing the fun element of this plane. But do re-inforce the landing gear mounting.

Abt the rudder, ...if rudder is something extra... then plane will be not design with it right ? if ur tx can do mixing, try considering mix it with your turn... make your turn better...!! not forgetting snap roll.... hammer head ...(knife edge ? tell me when u can do it ... would love to see...!!)

Have fun ..... i do lots of things with this plane b4 de-commissioned it... but i do not do as much mod as u ...other than the landing gear.

Cheers

[plug&fly]

Like a ghost....

He slides in and out threads, permeating all that lingers. Ghost fit for .....
I have to second Edmonds' opinion and Ghostfit's too. There's nothing like a beautiful model plane slowly taking off the ground in a scale like manner. And the aggressive roar of twisting propeller in a snap roll. It makes your neck crane. Wondering what the ......? But you cannot do it without rudder.....lots of rudder.

[renold]

Estarter roll

Hi Detach,

I agreed with Edmond on his comments on rudder. and landing gear.

Part of the fun of this ES is to do touch and go, circuits and nice landings... u missing the fun element of this plane. But do re-inforce the landing gear mounting.

Abt the rudder, ...if rudder is something extra... then plane will be not design with it right ? if ur tx can do mixing, try considering mix it with your turn... make your turn better...!! not forgetting snap roll.... hammer head ...(knife edge ? tell me when u can do it ... would love to see...!!)

Have fun ..... i do lots of things with this plane b4 de-commissioned it... but i do not do as much mod as u ...other than the landing gear.

Cheers

I got estarter powered by Himax 2025/4200 with 5:1 gears, 10x8 prop and 2s lipo. It flies well but unable to roll, even loop is difficult. Well it be better with 3s lipo or bigger prop? Please help.

[Suf]

Guys Guys, hold on to your horses a bit.

Dun get overzealous in making your plane stronger. Reinforcing a plane so that you can fly it the way you want to and not disintegrate in the air, by all means go ahead. BUT reinforcing it so that it can crash or take harder landings, I normally do not recommend, fibre taping is the most I will recommend. You should instead be reflecting on the moments before it crash etc and strive harder not to commit that same mistakes.

Cutting grooves in the wing for CF, ok doable I supposed but I think doing the same for the fuse is kinda overdoing the steak a bit.

Yea i totally concur. Flying both the ES and Beaver has taught me that these 2 are designed and hence meant for "gentle" flying. Just like the rest, I was also tempted to perform steep and sudden descents or acute banking after thinking that my ES skill and confidence level have reached top notch and almost paid the price for it. It's really gratifying to see how the ES and beaver perform a stable flight in air and therein also lies the skills required to do so. Thus, it's not so much a beginner plane but more of a slow fly style kinda plane. Personally i don't advocate overzealous mods as the plane will look hideously ugly as can be seen from some of the pics posted (no specific reference). A beaver should like a beaver and the same goes for all other models. As for landing, try to avoid thorny grasses and muds. So long as the ground is relatively flat with ankle high grass it'll be fine. It's good to do a recce of the flying ground first. I've been landing on grass and so far so good. 0 throttle at approx 50 cm from ground and elevators completely up gives a smooth wheel/ground contact even on grass! Of cuz, there shdnt be a sudden change in yaw since it'll result in a torque (spiral descent). Happy style flying guys!

[flying bear]

hi renold,

i m jus guessing.... with 5:1 gear.. yr motor kv will be about 840kv in direct compare to a direct drive brushless. So using 2s will be driving the motor very slowly. You might want to try a 3s, or a bigger prop. I think you motor are not running at a very efficient combination at the moment.

Also chk your aileron end point to chk if it is too little for effective roll.

I use a himax 2816-1220 9*7 prop on a 2s...and able to do all the basic aerobatics like roll, loop, snap and hammer, invert. But with 3s with 8*6 prop, i got no fear having no power.

Bear

[plug&fly]

Hey man

At one time I was flying with only a 350 brushed motor with C gear and 2s, the bloody estarter was looping and rolling, hammer-heading, stall-turning, imelmanning and cuban eighting like no body's business, man. who needs brushless motor-expensive,..er ..expensive..er me I am using brushless on all my other planes. too.

[renold]

Prop size

At one time I was flying with only a 350 brushed motor with C gear and 2s, the bloody estarter was looping and rolling, hammer-heading, stall-turning, imelmanning and cuban eighting like no body's business, man. who needs brushless motor-expensive,..er ..expensive..er me I am using brushless on all my other planes. too.

Can you still remember what prop size you were using then. Please share. Thanks.