Recently bought a Flyzone Beaver as I've watched Glenn and Rob having way too much fun with theirs.
TX-R version so I've added the Rx and three cell lipo...no reassuring beep-beep-beep on plug-in. Any suggestions?
Try rebinding it at full throttle until it binds, then put the stick back to zero. That worked for me.
Does the throttle stick do anything if you raise it?
Don't take this the wrong way but I've plugged stuff into the RX backwards before.
I had to reverse the throttle on the Tx for mine. That should fix it.
Something I've had to do for other ESC's recently (but not the Beaver specifically) is to increase the throw on the throttle to 110% in the low position for the ESC to recognize the low throttle position... but try reversing first.
Welcome to the Beaver gang, and see you at the beach on Saturday ;D
It should go without saying, but take the prop off when doing all this ;D
Pat MacKenzie
Think I forgot to mention in the original post that the Beaver's throttle and control surface response were normal, but no beep-beep-beep on plug in. Maidened it this morning (no beep-beep-beep) and everything worked fine except the water rudders which were at best ineffective and simply collected a great deal of Scugog Salad. Model flys really nicely but after flying my Polaris and EDF powered Polaris, the Beaver water rudders were a disappointment.
Flap programming my DX8 for this model is a bit of a puzzle...I posted on the Flyzone Beaver thread on RCGroups and used their recommendation of Normal-140%, Mid 0%, Landing +140%...it seems to work but values greater than +,-100% seem illogical to me and I worry about over-driving the servo. Am I missing something?
Quote from: piker on October 02, 2013, 10:50:57 PM
I had to reverse the throttle on the Tx for mine. That should fix it.
Something I've had to do for other ESC's recently (but not the Beaver specifically) is to increase the throw on the throttle to 110% in the low position for the ESC to recognize the low throttle position... but try reversing first.
Welcome to the Beaver gang, and see you at the beach on Saturday ;D
Shouldn't it be the beaver lodge?
Quote from: Wingnutz on October 03, 2013, 10:04:15 PM
Maidened it this morning (no beep-beep-beep) and everything worked fine except the water rudders which were at best ineffective and simply collected a great deal of Scugog Salad.
The guys that own Flyzone Beavers around here modify the rudders. They curve the leading edge so the weeds slide under and off them.
Chris
Quote from: Tomahawk on October 04, 2013, 01:46:54 AM
Quote from: Wingnutz on October 03, 2013, 10:04:15 PM
Maidened it this morning (no beep-beep-beep) and everything worked fine except the water rudders which were at best ineffective and simply collected a great deal of Scugog Salad.
The guys that own Flyzone Beavers around here modify the rudders. They curve the leading edge so the weeds slide under and off them.
Chris
Thanks Chris,
Your suggestion certainly fits with my experience as a windsurfer (another life when I was younger and fitter). Weedfins with steeply raked leading edges were essential to sailing in weedy spots and I think the same probably applies to RC floatplanes if they have a water rudder(s)with exposed leading edges.
Do you know if your local Beaver flyers also maintain or increase the area of the water rudders?
Hey Bill!
I have an extra rudder from HK that is large enough to taper the LE and has a variable kickup pressure if you want o try it? Greg H gave me the part no. - its impossible to find without it.
Quote from: Wingnutz on October 04, 2013, 09:29:55 AM
Quote from: Tomahawk on October 04, 2013, 01:46:54 AM
Quote from: Wingnutz on October 03, 2013, 10:04:15 PM
Maidened it this morning (no beep-beep-beep) and everything worked fine except the water rudders which were at best ineffective and simply collected a great deal of Scugog Salad.
The guys that own Flyzone Beavers around here modify the rudders. They curve the leading edge so the weeds slide under and off them.
Chris
Thanks Chris,
Your suggestion certainly fits with my experience as a windsurfer (another life when I was younger and fitter). Weedfins with steeply raked leading edges were essential to sailing in weedy spots and I think the same probably applies to RC floatplanes if they have a water rudder(s)with exposed leading edges.
Do you know if your local Beaver flyers also maintain or increase the area of the water rudders?
They don't add any more area to the rudders. They just round off the leading edge.
I think the main reason for collecting weeds is the hook that is created because the rudder goes forward from the pivot point. The guys just round it off starting at that pivot point.
Wish I had a picture to show you but float flying is finishing around here because of the short evenings.
The modified rudders were still very effective for water control even with the reduced area. Maybe you have something setup incorrectly. I don't own the Beaver personally and can't help with the setup but maybe you can have one of the local Beaver guys in your area look at it.
Chris
Bill, I ran .049" piano wire to the rudders for more positive movement, using the keepers at the tail and z-bends at the rudders. Weight is about the same as the (removed) tailwheel and water handling is good. My DX8 flap settings are similar to yours and I've added 10 and 20% down elevator at half and full flaps. :)
Tom
Quote from: Tom M. on October 04, 2013, 04:45:41 PM
Bill, I ran .049" piano wire to the rudders for more positive movement, using the keepers at the tail and z-bends at the rudders. Weight is about the same as the (removed) tailwheel and water handling is good. My DX8 flap settings are similar to yours and I've added 10 and 20% down elevator at half and full flaps. :)
Tom
Hi Tom,
Good to hear from you! I'd forgotten you are a Beaver Lodge member. I will try the piano wire first and see how that works as the rudders really don't seem to move very far. I think I'll have a look at the elev movement when flaps are deployed...put in roughly the same settings as you but I'm not sure it was down...I've only done one landing withe model and I cant even remember if I used the flaps.
Ken, I'd love to have a look at the water rudder you've got and get the part #
Indeed a Beaver Lodge member! I had a lot of fun making off-colour jokes with Carolyn about my new Beaver- seems women progress beyond juvenile humour... ;D
Tom
Bill, if I remember correctly.
I think the guys did mention that the water rudder steering wasn't that great when there were weeds caught in them. Were you able to try steering without the weeds caught in the rudders or wasn't that an option where you were?
Chris
The standard set-up is marginal at best. To get good steering you have to ditch the elastic band method and create a pull-pull scenario for each rudder. Glenn did that and it worked well. I haven't yet, so my rudders have been barely "good enough" all along. A BIT better than no rudders at all ;D
Robert
Hi Bill,
Hope you like your Beaver! The water rudders are dismal in the stock form, but rigged up in a pull/pull fashion are very responsive. One thing to consider is a larger bellcrank at the tailwheel position to increase the throw. I'll send a photo if you wish.
Glenn
Rob, Glenn,
Thanks for the replies...I was thinking the ineffective rudder situation was something only I was experiencing. Adding to my woes was one rudder sticking in the pulled position with the elastic unable to centre it. :-X I've at least fixed that. I'll do the pull-pull thing. Glenn, can you post the pictures of your pull-pull system please?
I like the way the model flys and it made the one water take-off and landing I've done (maiden flight at Scugog)really smooth and easy.
Dad and I drove to Frenchman's hoping to float fly yesterday but even though winds were light where I live, the SW wind was strong enough to create white caps on the lake and offshore wind in the bay when we arrived. No worries...we went to the Waterfront Restaurant and had a beer! The car is packed for another attempt today.
We did take the Beaver to ROGO last night, sprayed the floats with sillycone and enjoyed doing scale speed passes at three to four foot altitude from one end of the field to the other...the model really looks and flys scale...now if I could just figure out that characteristic Beaver radial sound...
Will post pictures of today's efforts and my new old rescue boat.
Looking forward to float flying Saturday!
Bill
Hi Bill,
Here is a couple of photo's which will show how I rigged my Beaver. I think I will taper the rudders as mentioned above. Catching weeds really jerks the airframe around... not good!
Glenn
We went to Frenchman's yesterday as it seemed pretty calm in Markham...SE wind was creating lakeside whitecaps and swirling over the spit into the bay. I've had bad experiences with high-wing floatplanes and crosswinds and as I really didn't want to chase an overturned Beaver all the way across the bay on my Stand Up Paddleboard, the Beaver stayed in the car and I flew my Polaris.
Tom,
It's true...little girls grow into women with grown up sense of humour. Little boys sometimes never grow out of their juvenile sense of humour and build and fly model airplanes!
Glenn,
Thanks for the photos...did you use a separate wire connector on each of the four monofilament lines? I'm concerned about equalizing tension on the lines if I can't adjust each one separately. I've extended the servo arm with a piece of 1/16 ply and sanded the rudder shafts to get them to rotate more freely and swimming pool tests show some improvement but I'm still not thrilled. Wire push rods or pull pull...
Also...the mystery package of monofilament bridles included with the Beaver...I think you mentioned and Rob confirmed at the meeting last night you've figured out how to mount them as pontoon bracing wires. Good for you! I phoned Great Planes support about these, e-mailed a photo of them as the "technician" I spoke to didn't know what I was talking about and got an e-mail back to say they had been included with the Beaver in error and should have been omitted!
I hate to ask you to share all your secrets when you've been generous about the pull pull but any chance you can coach me (and Great Planes support staff!) about how to mount them?
LOL, I send some photo's of the wing to float attachments/rigging as well!
Glenn,
You did include the answer to the mystery monofilament bridle in your photos...thanks. Thanks too for the moral support at FB recently...I didn't expect the Beaver to fly or move around on the water that well in the wind.
I've rigged up the float to wing bracing as per Glenn's photo and the photos I also found on the Flyzone Beaver thread on RCGroups. I built a longer bellcrank out of 1/16" ply and combined with sanding the rudder shafts to allow them to rotate more freely, it's made quite a difference to the water handling.
I too will modify the water rudders to deal with weeds but this week gone by, I've been float flying the Beaver and four other water planes at ROGO and having a blast!
No nose-overs, smooth take-offs and landings and a realistic looking Beaver (looks wrong to my eye with wheels!)
Ahh...the wonders of silly cone! ;D