It's turning out my visit to Mad Dogs was expensive as it tipped me over the edge to get a Venturi Evo. In the days afterwards when I'd settled on a paint scheme in my head, I knew it wasn't going to be long before I pushed the buy button!
Whilst there's quite a bit of info on Venturi builds, thought I'd do a build thread to get some tips from folks on here.
Wing ordered yesterday from flywingwings.co.uk . Just taken advantage of the 10% off at www.allendale-stores.co.uk (http://www.allendale-stores.co.uk) to get the EagleTree Vector plus airspeed sensor. And got an EZUHF Tx module and 8 channel lite receiver on the way from firstpersonview.co.uk .
Nice! Looking fwd to seeing this - great of Rob to come as well!
Wow, that's a serious jump in with both feet, a big wing, another Vector and a move to ezUHF, I'm looking forward to the build and I can't wait to see this one at the next MD too :)
Sounds like it's going to be a really serious bit of kit.
Nice one mate. But I do feel slightly guilty ;D
With the ezUHF set it to extreme hopping for the frequency.
Look forward to seeing the build.
Great stuff, welcome to the owners' club. :)
What power setup are you thinking about?
Thinking of going with something from Hacker as I've heard good things. Maybe an a40-10l, but need to investigate a bit more. Be interesting to see if you get more performance for the money, or if it just goes to the marketing dept.
I think it buys you more consistency and is less like spinning the reels & seeing if you're a winner.
The E-Flite power 25 1250 is a good motor too, a bit heavy but definitely gave me more grunt than my current SK3 1250kv.
Quote from: Stellaship on April 04, 2015, 10:43:11 AM
Thinking of going with something from Hacker as I've heard good things. Maybe an a40-10l, but need to investigate a bit more. Be interesting to see if you get more performance for the money, or if it just goes to the marketing dept.
TBS recommended the Hacker for their zephyr. They then moved to the OS 3820 1200kv for the ZII and blamed the move on quality control issues from the hacker. Whether this is true, or if it was a move to increase profit margins, I don't know. I'm very fond of my OS motors though :)
Should've mentioned before that progress is likely to be s l o w.
Stuff started arriving. Kit looks great. Got the center section together. Had a slight issue in that it didn't seem to be gluing right and I ended up with a lot of glue everywhere and it not very firmly stuck together. Strange. It was late so I gave up. Woke up in the morning and realised the inevitable CA on my fingers didn't feel like it normally does. Guessed it was because my CA had gone off! New tub of thin CA and it was easy-peasy to get it solidly glued together! It does mean I've ended up with a couple of joints around the camera box not quite as snug as I would like. But I still like it, there's something strangely satisfying about a thin ply structure!
Further progress delayed by tidying up a bit to make some room! And selecting a motor. Phoned up SMC for some advice on which Hacker motor to go for and they weren't the most helpful. Hacker website has a PDF with recommended combos for different planes, but nothing quite right in there. Then used the customised eCalc site they have and settled on an A30-10XL with a 10x6 prop. Power should be adequate. Got that, a speed controller and some servos (Hitec 5485hb, as recommended by Brucey) ordered. Enough shopping, time to get some building in.
Looking good so far!
Progress ground to a halt over the summer, but picked up the build in the last few days. Some photos of progress to wake the thread up. Soldering iron is just there for a shot of what I call 'The Liquidator', got fed up of trying to solder the ridiculous sized cables that come on batteries with a sensible sized soldering iron and so bought a ridiculous sized iron.
Loving iPeel's dremel tip for cutting out foam :)
Wings are half painted. Wish I hadn't gone for one colour all over as it required the purchase of an extra can of paint!
Starting to tackle the wiring now, which although seemed a lot to start with shouldn't actually be that bad now I'm into it.
Quick couple of questions:
1. I want to apply a design with some vinyl cut stickers, should I put these under the laminate or on top of the laminate?
2. Anyone recommend a good place to get vinyl cutting done?
Quote from: Stellaship on October 15, 2015, 10:30:03 PM
1. I want to apply a design with some vinyl cut stickers, should I put these under the laminate or on top of the laminate?
2. Anyone recommend a good place to get vinyl cutting done?
1) On top of the laminate, it sticks really well and will never peel off.
2) Me. :) I can cut up to 20cm wide, as long as you want.
Thanks. That's a very kind offer which I will take you up on, PM incoming!
Bit more progress. Not sure if the components cut into the bottom of the wing is a great idea, wanted it to look neat from the top for some reason, but obviously a bit more vulnerable under there.
Made my own parallel connector with the help of a bit of Sugru - you can just see it with Sugru applied in the side of the centre section shot.
Obligatory mock up shot to show I'm getting there :-)
Followed iPeel's flap method with the laminate so I can get some glue in the slot for the spar. Any tips on getting it in there, planning to use Por and I'm thinking it's going to gunk up the slot rather than running nicely down.
Looking good buddy.
I've put my components underneath for the same reason. They survived the season without any damage, think you'll have to be really unlucky to hit something.
As for the spars, just force the uhu por nossle down the spar slot and run it along. As you slide the spar in, you can spin the wing around the spar to get better coverage.
Thanks for the tip on the glue, easy peasy just to shove the nozzle in.
Pretty much there now. Awaiting a prop. And probably take an evening to get it all set up. Then a brave-pill for the maiden once the weather improves :)
Very smart :) Loads of room in there still
Yeah looks good. Pitot tube is a bit out but shouldn't cause any issues
that looks very nice :)
Thanks for the nice comments.
Vector makes it all nice and neat leaving the space. Some of the features were wasted on my disco as it provides camera and vtx power (not to mention basic osd). But in this it's a neat solution all in one package.
Good spot on the wonky pitot, hole is a touch too big, already planning to line it up and secure with a dab of hot glue.
Anyone know where I can get a spacer for my motor shaft? It's quite long if you look in the pics, reckon I can get prop about 15mm further back with a really thick washer!
I can print you a spacer if you let me know the dimensions you're after. I've holding a stock of stuff to send you anyway. :P
Thanks iPeel, I'm conscious I owe you a design or two :D
It's finished now and ready to maiden. Came out at about 2.1kg with 2 x 3000MAh Zippys. Bit worried about my ability to launch it successfully as it feel quite heavy and awkward, but guess I just need to go for it!
Just waiting on the weather....
Wings sense fear. You need 100% commitment, full throttle and a good chuck.
Grab it by the leading edge up against the centre section and throw. Remember to follow through with your arm.
I learnt how to throw left handed so I could keep a hand on the stick.
My advice would be to take as much weight out as you can for the maiden. Make sure you have correct C.G. but You only need a working RC setup. You dont need lots of batteries or any FPV gear
Less weight means it accelerates quicker, needs less power and can fly slower.
Also wait for a day with a steady wind. Flat calm is hard because you have to get it moving quicker. A breeze helps
Ideally get a slight downward slope with long grass and with a steady wind blowing up the slope..
(the long grass is for lying down in to gaze at the sky after you picked up the bits :laugh: )
Seriously though. If you can do some of the above, then it increases your chances of success greatly. You can get the trims right etc and if your launch fails it is less likely to get damaged.
Once all that is achieved then putting all the gear on will have much better chance of success
regards
Andy
Thanks for the tips.
Successful uneventful maiden first thing this morning. Spent a bit of time checking everything 20 times, but in reality putting off going for it!
Good chuck with full power and it was fine. Flies really nice. Needs a bit of tuning. And then flying. Lots.
Good stuff. Always nice to get the first launch out of the way
Glad to hear it went well, you got lucky with the weather compared to the rest of us :)
Had to work for the weather window, sun rise was at seven fifty-something AM, it was raining by 8:15AM!
Some pics of it completed, not much different to before.
Tidy build, you must be very pleased with it, looks a lot of fun!
What kind of duration at cruise speed are you expecting?
Looks very nice. It would be interesting to see the difference in efficiency (if any) between the graupner prop and an APC. Also, I would suggest covering over the holes on the tops of the cameras. There was a noticeable difference in flight performance and handling when I plugged the holes on mine.
Also good to see a Hacker motor, quite unusual now in the world of cheaper HK stuff. I've got an A50-16S in my Sebart Wind 50 and it's pretty good, but I do wonder if they're worth the price still. The quality is still hardly on par with Axi.
Haven't really thought about duration, beyond thinking I'll get about 20 minutes of fun based on others I've seen. Only the brief maiden flight so far, will need a few more flights to get some numbers.
Its an Aeronaut prop, wanted a graupner e prop but they were out of stock when I ordered. I'm interested to see how the Hacker motor performs - be interesting to see if I'm just funding the marketing department!
Good point on the camera holes, cover is in the works I believe.
I used the Aeronaut Cam prop on my last Venturi, TBH I've tried them all, Aeronaut, Graupner and APC-E. I always fall back to the APC in the end because they just work and are as strong as you can get. I've seen pretty much no performance benefits between them in the long runs Brucey and I do when he's always flown on the APC-E.
On my latest Venturi I run a 9x7 on a Scorpion 1100kv motor.
Quote from: iPeel on December 17, 2015, 09:51:18 PM
I always fall back to the APC in the end
Same here, tried all sorts and sizes and ended up with APC-e props, they are just tough as old boots and I've not broken one yet (although I've tried hhehehhe), my only criticism is they all need balancing on both the blades and hub, 5-10mins and you're set.
The Z2 had x2 5000mAh 3s batteries and would get an hour with ease milling around at the same att, 1/2hr of proper play time, should be around that mark I'd have though?
I can confirm that Stellaship's Venturi Evo is not under powered, bat-out-of-hell...
Good to hear!
Pimped with new stickers and natty FPV camera cover very kindly provided by iPeel.
Not flown it for a while and fiddled with the flight controller since last time. Between that and it looking smart expect there's a high probability of stoving it in tomorrow morning!
(http://s15.postimg.org/annkufzcn/IMG_3121.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/annkufzcn/)
Looks smart
All good with the flights.
Not sure if I'm convinced about the orange design, but in recognition of the fact that iPeel put time into making it for me I'm going to decide that I do!
Issue I do have is that I'm not happy with the video. Breaks up far too much for my liking. And that's close in, haven't ventured further afield yet due to lack of confidence in it. Running TBS 2.4GHz VTx with the stock antennas and can't remember who made the module I'm using in the goggles. Not sure if it's just that I'm banking around close in and it will actually be fine when I get further out or if I've got an issue somewhere. Need to do some testing.