Peter Jenkins

kc - just to clarify for newbies, this is any 2 of the 3 leads going to the motor. These leads carry the 3 phase AC power that the ESC supplies to the motor having converted from the DC input from the battery pack. As written, there is just the chance someone would swap the leads into the ESC from the battery - which is terminal for most ESCs of course. I always take the view that if there is some ambiguity there's a chance of an error being made.

Well spotted Martin.

Comment from one of the Flight Coach team: We are having some DNS issues in European. We're looking into it, could be something to do with some new EU rules. For now you can access it by setting a preferred DNS in your ipv4 settings. I just chose a random one in Australia (one from here: https://public-dns.info/nameserver/au.html) and that fixed it. I did try the URL I posted and it now seems to work but for how long? If you get to flightcoach.org, then you will see this home page: The Software Manual and Hardware Setup tabs should give you the information you need. It doesn't seem to specify any particular board though.

An alternative to carbon rods is to use metal turnbuckle type rods. That way you can make minor adjustments to eliminate any electronic trimming by adjusting the rod length mechanically very easily. 3 mm rods should be suitable.

The Flight Coach website seems to have gone down as I cannot access it either. You can find a short write up on it on the CK Aero website (link) and some information on boards here. I will try and find out why the FC website is down and post the outcome on this thread.

That may be so David, but the rest of us wouldn't know what was going on. After all, English is the language of aviation. Having said that, I remember flying into a French airfield just outside Paris, Les Mureux, where all the RT was conducted in French till someone told the controller thst someone was calling him in English! He then spoke to me in English and everyone else in French! I kept a very sharp lookout till I was clear of the runway!

Just found this video by Juan Rombaut, a world Top 20 F3A pilot, talking about how he uses Flight Coach to help him practice and improve. Link.

Great job Dave. Others might also be interested in the Flight Coach system that has been developed for F3A aerobatics but can be used for any type of flying. This website gives detailed information on setting up hardware and how to use the free plotter software to display your flight. This project has had the benefit of working with the Arduino folk to produce an excellent post flight debrief facility. The plotter is designed to segregate each manoeuvre in the FAI schedule but you can use the plotter without recourse to this function or you can choose to call each of your manoeuvres one of the named manoeuvres. There is a facility to extend or contract the path of each manoeuvre if you wish to look at each segment in detail. There is plenty of information on the Flight Coach website on how to set up the hardware/firmware and how to configure the plotter.

Oooh. Very lucky! These usually lead to disaster!

Just a shame that England indiscipline gifted the French the penalty to beat us. But, what a fantastic period of play to score 3 tries! Pity they weren't able to sustain that way of playing. Too msny mistakes cost Scotland a game they could have won. Ireland got away with a lack lustre performance. Pleased for Italy to get 2 wins and a draw.

Well, we are in official Spring and today did feel very Spring-like

Nice morning for a maiden flight. Bought a second hand contra drive and second hand airframe. Needed a new ESC and props - expensive. Got in 4 flights and lots of progress on trimming. Probably needs another 10 flights or so yo get it completely dialed in.

I have given up using Wattmeters and use on-board telemetry. The system I use is called a Unisens-E and is made by SM Modelbau (link). This unit can be set to speak Futaba, JR, Spektrum, Powerbox and a lot more. You get both real time indication of current, voltage, power, as well as a max and min in the flight provided you don't turn off the Rx before checking the max/min figures. You also get a height read out and a vario if you are into thermalling. I found on a static ground run, full throttle gave a reading of 3,600 watts and 99 A! I shut that down PDQ. In the air, the full throttle reading was usually around 2,70 W and 80A. Only once, did I see a max of 2850 W. So, if you set up your system on the ground and, quite naturally, don't want to exceed the maximum power/current for your motor/ESC, you will always be underusing your motor's power. In the case above, the difference between static and dynamic tests is 28.6%. Now, I only ever check for max power in the air. I recently ran a test on a contra drive using a 10S pack and this was the outcome of the values I was prepared to inflict on the drive. The motor has a max power of 2,800 watts and 80 A. These figures were with the throttle stick at around 65% open. I fully expect that the full power in flight figures will not be too far off these ones. The screen shows the max values during that particular operation. So, the Watts show 2,709.8 for an rpm of 3,789 and Amps of 71.9 A. Ignore the voltage figure as that is showing the maximum voltage that the system saw and that would be at the initial plugging in of the flight pack. The min values would have the voltage that corresponded to these power figures. The props, by the way, are a pair of 22 x 20 Falcons. The Unisens-E is a very small device and you don't need any other sensors other than what comes inside the less than 20 g unit that costs Euro 65.90 + shipping. No doubt it can also fall foul of customs but it shouldn't at that price. It is easy to swap from model to model provided you have leads to the Rx that you can plug into as well as a lead from one of the motor 3 phase wires to give you the rpm signal. I just use servo plugs to make swapping the Unisens-E between models very easy. SM Modelbau also sell a device called the Unilog 2 that has a micro SD card that records every flight and can be read off line but that costs Euro 99 plus you need to buy the SD card.

And close to a MATZ and the London TMA. Narrows it down a bit more.

I do hope this wasn't a BMFA Club or originated by a BMFA member. I hope that Manny or Dave will take this further and if it turns out to be a BMFA Club/member, then put them in the right as regards the rules of the air. One has to wonder who this person is that they think a NOTAM about an activity means that absolves them of the usual rules of the air!

Are you able to reduce the control throw by moving the pushrod to a more inner hole on the servo or more outer hole on the control horn?

Can't have been much fun for those who didn't have his marksmanship! 🤣

Two cracking games today where the underdogs came out on top. I just hope both England and Italy continue to play in that way. George Ford seemed to be having an off day on the kicking front but loss of 8 points (1 conversion and 2 penalties) rather made the game the exciting spectacle it turned into. Marcus Smith played a blinder with that very last kick in the red time zone. But well done to all 4 teams for the most exciting 6 Nations day. What will Wales-France bring tomorrow?

Do you use Rates?

Dare I ask which make of servo? Alternatively, were they main stream brands (Futaba, JR, Savox, Align etc) or lesser brands?

That would make up a schwarm or two rotte.

Hi Richard I'll take it. Don't know why as the Spitfire is still in its box! Peter

Hi Jim Firstly well done on getting your first YS. They are highly specialised engines used primarily in competition aerobatics before the advent of electric power. They are more powerful than you would expect for that size of engine as they are supercharged and fuel injected. They require some special handling but I'm assuming that you have read up about it and have the necessary understanding of this device. They also need an anti vibration mount and they can be hard to come by. The Hyde mount (made by Chip Hyde) is still the go to mount for a YS. £360 for an ARTF that has a 10 lb weight is quite reasonable IMHO. I would just point out that the YS was aimed at aircraft that weighed 11 lb. If you were to buy the sort of aircraft that the YS used to go into (a 2 mtr pattern aircraft or F3A) you'd be talking about paying £2,000 +. The Ultimate will be a bit overpowered with the YS and it is a good deal heavier than a 20 cc petrol engine. You are no doubt aware that the YS needs high nitro fuel, ideally 30% but that's now all but impossible to get. 20% seems to be the limit for legal reasons. Enjoy and do let us know how you get on.

Must be the first time a seagull photo bombed the Red Arrows eh? Beaten by Eric!

I did charge a guy who was learning how to fly but as he didn't have a suitable trainer I charged him £1 for every flight with my trainer aircraft which I thought was fair as I'd paid over £300 to get it up and running. He was quite happy with that especially since it was all properly setup and we didn't waste ages getting the motor started etc! Choke, back flick or two and engine running.