tryitoz

Bought this nice plane today and some extra parts. Had a friend help
me get it up in the air. Here is what I found out and also I have
included a few questions for the experts below:

1. If there is a moderate wind it seems to stall in the air and hard
to turn and such. I assume normal. Also I flew it too far in one
direction and I guess got out of range or had some interference-plane
stopped responding.


2. I cracked the wing good and also buried the plane in the ground
thus deforming the fuselage where the motor is mounted.
**I assume the tie wrap recommendation is a good one. Anyone try this
behind the motor?

Any other tie wraps recommended?

3. Someone recommended that you put clear plastic tape on the back of
the main wing where the prop is. I did that. Someone else suggested
putting plastic tape all around edges of wing front and back...
*********Can I do this without causing too much of a airflow problem?


4. On a crash the canopy was deformed and cracked off. Had to tape it
back on (where the battery is). ***I think someone suggested a tie
wrap here to. Not sure exactly where though/
Thoughts?

5. Fuselage boom did snap out of place a few times and get it to snap
back in. ****Any way to prevent this from happening?


6. If I use the higher (voltage) performance and heavier battery it
will make the plane heavier. ****Does the tail (elevators) need to be
adjusted more or do you suggest I just use the high performance tail?


7. Does the spare fuselage (I ordered 3) come prewired with
monofilament line coming out of it so I can just hook them up to the
tail? Does it contain the servos as well? I would assume so, but not
sure if I need to disassemble the current fuselage.


8. Any other tips to make this a stronger yet still flyable plane.


A true novice.

Thanks for your patience.

Joe

jim lilly

Joe,

Winds of around 15mph are the Aerobird & Aerobird Challenger's top
range to fly in, as they only goes about 20mph tops. That's best
attempted with the optional 7-cell 900mah battery pack.

The higher the wind, the less your flight time as they're struggling to
remain airborne. On a really calm day I can easily get over 10 minutes
on a 7-cell pack, but when very windy I come down around 5-6 minutes &
still have a little power left.

Don't just buy the optional 7-cell battery pack by itself, instead get
the Aerobird X-Pack, as it comes with a better tail wing. Together they
make these birds come alive, increase response & flight time, not to
mention the X-Pack cost the same as the battery alone.

Always launch into the wind, fly into the wind, land into the wind.

Do the boom tie strap, and the motor tie strap fixes BEFORE your first
flight, and you'll be VERY glad you did.

Forget those 'wing-tip' streamers, as they could very possibly get hung
up in the prop & cause your bird the crash. If you want to try those,
cut them VERY short, where they can't reach the prop.

Some complain about these birds being very slow responding in turns.
Easy cure; use more throttle when turning. Increases response time
greatly.

Some find after a crash, that their canopy has sheared off &/or just
won't stay shut. Fix; get some 3/16" wood dowel rod, punch out the
little plastic retainer caps that hold the foam for the rear of the
battery compartment, then slid a piece of dowel rod into place, leaving
some to hang out each side. Put a rubber band from one side over the
canopy to the other side.

I just noticed that Venom Racing is offering an 8.4v 1100mah 7-cell
battery pack for $31.99. Comes with fittings for the Fighterbird,
Firebird XL, and Aerobird/Aerobird Challenger. Anybody tried one yet?

http://www.venom-racing.com/

--

Jim Lilly - Team Z
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/teamzBios.jsp
https://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/
Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1

jim lilly

Joe,

1) Throttle-up as you turn.

2) Do the tie-wrap BEFORE you fly & no such damage occurs.

3) Tape only the areas where the prop can come in contact, then put a
bit on front edge wide enough to keep rubber bands from digging into
wing.

4) Tie wrap, no. See my prior reply.

5) <http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=922187
#post922187>

6) Take out the foam that sits behind the battery. Cut it in half just
before the pegs which hold it in place. Now when using the 7 cell pack,
put that cut piece in front of the battery pack. If using the 6 cell
pack, put the cut piece in back of the battery pack.

7) Yes & yes.


8) See my other reply to you, and look for this message.....

From: "Darren Earle"
<darren.earle@nf.sympatico.ca>
Newsgroups: rec.models.rc.air
Subject: Re: aerobird
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 16:22:16 GMT

...here on this newgroup. It had pictures of Aerobird fixes;
AeroBird repairs 001.jpg
AeroBird repairs 002.jpg
AeroBird repairs 003.jpg

Do a 'Google' search, they may have cached copies w/images if they're
not still here.
--

Jim Lilly - Team Z
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/teamzBios.jsp
https://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/
Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1

tryitoz

Thanks

How do you do the boom strap? Is there a picture?

I noticed someone had a picture of screws in the boom which is tricky
but could be good. I picked up some screws.

How about a tie strap in the canopy area-where would I put this..

Thanks, Peter

jim lilly

Joe,

I'll try sending photo's to your HotMail address, Aerobird_1.jpg -
Aerobird_5.jpg

For the boom fix, you drill one hole on each side of fuselage in the
indentation area, in an upward angle on each side. Do NOT drill through
the boom, but above it. Insert the tie strap and pull tight, securing
the boom to the body (Aerobird_1.jpg - side view & Aerobird_3.jpg -
viewed from bottom).

No idea, doesn't even sound good.
When mine sheared off, I took 5 strips of duct tap & 5 strips of 3M-
Scotch clear packing tape and sandwiched them alternatingly, then
stapled each end - one to canopy, other to body. Then I did my fix to
secure it down better (Aerobird_2.jpg & Aerobird_5.jpg).
--

Jim Lilly - Team Z
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/teamzBios.jsp
https://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/
Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1

professor_au

On the manuverability - simple tip - no need to apply much power if
you can maintain the air speed constant. In simple words try this:
1. Before the manuver make sure you have enough speed
2. As you come to the point of planned turning intead of just put the
stick to the side do down and to the side. This will create enough
force to rotate the plain almost instantly. Why? simple. more
expensive and "proper" RC's when they turn one elevon goes up another
will go down proportionally. In the aerobird only one elevon goes up
and the plain tend to go up and to the side intead of plane manuver
(whch make it more stable for the beginners).
So, simply by increasing the travel on working surfaces and tilting it
down when you go in to the turn will improve the responce time
3. Dont forget after the plain start leaning on the wing (start going
in to turn) then you can pull it up and go in to the power turn, but
be carefull not to stall it or go in to the spiral.

Good advise - even with X pack the surfaces are not that big to do
extreme manuvers. If you glue half of old creadit card to each of the
elevons (add and extra inch or so to the end of the elevons). But I
recon you should try to master the flying on the base config - go slow
or you'll have to buy shares in a glue factory

Regards Prof

jim lilly

Professor,

Excellent pointer, thanks!


Make that glue & packing tape.
--

Jim Lilly - Team Z
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/teamzBios.jsp
https://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/
Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1

darren earle

I drilled extra holes down on the horns and put my lines closer to the
control surfaces. Now it immediately responds to my commands. It's
amazing how much more responsive it is. Be sure you've mastered all the
other holes on the horns before you drill.

aeajr

I hear the challenger is much more responsive than the origianl,
especially in expert mode.

Any comments?


--
aeajr

Best Regards

aeajr

http://www.lisf.org
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jim lilly

Aeajr,

I'd read but not confirmed yet, that the AB Challenger's elevons would
have 1 rise with the opposing one lowering when doing a turn. The
original AB only had one rise for a turn.

Peter....that true???
--

Jim Lilly - Team Z
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/teamzBios.jsp
https://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/
Using - Virtual Access(OLR), ZAP 4.0, & WinXP Pro w/SP1