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| Precision Aerobatics Discuss Precision Aerobatics in canada |
Topic Review (Newest First)
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| 11-19-2016 11:09 PM | ||
| oscarmok |
Re: FMS F3A Exlporer Foam Pattern Plane Great review Max. |
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| 11-19-2016 07:39 PM | ||
| Max |
Re: FMS F3A Exlporer Foam Pattern Plane To date, I have 34 flights logged onto this plane. The prop mod was the best thing I have done to improve performance. I also removed the plastic landing gear strut covers. While they make the plane look pretty, the have a tendency to twist when bumped or handled (in and out of car) If you overlook that it's twisted, the flight is out of trim. After I removed them, the plane flies consistently from flight to flight. Overall, I am very happy with this plane. At first I was worried about its compact size. I did want the larger model (Olympus) but the pluses outweigh the minuses. Compactness was important for me, since I was doing a lot of travelling with this model, and space was a premium. The other plus is the battery it flies on. The 2200 3 Cell is probably the most economical battery to run. Most people already have a pile of them (as I do) so I did not have to buy larger, more expensive batteries. IE- when I was looking to buy the Olympus, I was looking at buying 4 6S-4000's, which is an additional cost on top of the model purchase price. Flight performance for a small foam pattern plane is excellent. Windy days are easy to compensate for, and I flew some great, smooth pattern flights on windy (crosswindy) days with no problem, but I did notice some drift and the amount of crabbing to stay on the line is considerable. I did have trouble with gusts. Gusty days made the plane bounce a bit and it under-performed. But the gusty days where I noticed this phenomena were few, and besides being knocked off the line, I still managed to fly the full pattern. Another plus is the smaller model naturally flies in a smaller box. Maneuvers being tighter take less time. So I ended up flying 2 full sets of the intermediate class in 6 minutes. When I bumped the flight time down to 5-1/2 minutes, I don't complete the full second set. On the other hand, with the smaller plane and resulting smaller flight box, I do find that I have less time to "think" through a maneuver. Things happen faster, so you have to think faster and compensate faster. I notice any errors I make flying this model become more obvious compared to flying a 2M F3A, which gives me a lot more time to think and compensate through each maneuver. And finally, one minus: The wheels. This plane is not grass capable as it comes out of the box. I had no success flying off grass at all. All my flying was done from geotex fields or paved runways. As a result, I could only fly on weekends when I could drive the distance to the paved or geotexed fields. If you only have a grass field, you may have to swap out the existing wheels (and remove the wheel pants) to get larger wheels that would allow you to take off from grass. One final plus for anyone thinking of getting a pattern plane to fly on: Price. At 150$ USD, its a minimal investment to try pattern flying. Compared to the larger Olympus (380$ USD), its a bargain. For me, this is a great weekend practice plane that I am not afraid to take out when the Sunday fliers are aimlessly weaving about the sky. Better to fly this plane when they are around than to worry about them when flying a larger and more expensive 2M F3A plane. 
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| 11-13-2016 08:59 PM | ||
| bigdbc |
Re: FMS F3A Exlporer Foam Pattern Plane Quote:
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| 11-13-2016 08:51 PM | ||
| Max |
Re: FMS F3A Exlporer Foam Pattern Plane I sure did. And WOW!! What a difference. Verticals are superb!! it goes up like a rocket now. Straight up without slowing down at all. Unfortunately, after the prescribed 6 minutes, I landed and checked the first battery. It was a lot warmer than in the past and after unplugging, 3.65V. I noticed I had more than enough power on the up-line verticals, so reducing the throttle ATV to 70% percent is what I did before the next flight. Second flight, with Max Throttle ATV to 70%, verticals were still solid. A full flight of 6 minutes got my battery to 3.73V/Cell and still too warm for my liking. Before the next flight I dropped the flight timer to 5-1/2 minutes. Flight 3 was perfect all around. Battery voltage after unplugging is 3.80! and only slightly warm. Perfect! Flight 4 was a repeat of flight 3. All in all, the new prop makes a world of difference. While I lose 30s in flight time, the difference in performance is like night and day. I'm really loving this little practice plane now
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| 11-13-2016 08:38 PM | ||
| bigdbc |
Re: FMS F3A Exlporer Foam Pattern Plane Nice work. Did you manage to get some flights in? |
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| 11-13-2016 08:31 PM | ||
| Max |
Re: FMS F3A Exlporer Foam Pattern Plane Today I went out with an APC 11x8.5 prop. Here are the 2 props side by side. The stock prop is fine pitch- 11x5.5 and the blade width is narrow. (The stock prop looks a little shorter but that is because I dinged one of the tips and trimmed the other end to balance the props) The stock prop has very little blade twist from root to tip. In contrast, the APC has a much more aggressive blade twist, which I feel would make for more efficient thrust. Swapping out the prop became a bit of a problem. That is because the spinner on the Exporer is a 3 piece unit that fits precisely to the pitch of the stock prop. The first 2 peices cradle the prop.... Nice tight fit... Then the end of the spinner has a nut built in that screws on and keeps the spinner together. Unfortunately, the APC prop is just too thick at the root to allow the existing spinner to fit: Using a pen, I marked the spinner where the necessary clearance would have to be cut. Then using an exacto knife, I carefully cut away the marked-off area very carefully. To avoid and potential for cracks, I carefully radiused all the material I cut out so the spinner had no nicks in it when I was done. The result was a perfect fit. |
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| 11-10-2016 06:47 PM | ||
| Max |
Re: FMS F3A Exlporer Foam Pattern Plane YW Dean! I managed to find an APC prop for it. Looking like some nice weather this weekend. I plan to give it a try
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| 11-08-2016 08:07 PM | ||
| bigdbc |
Re: FMS F3A Exlporer Foam Pattern Plane Hey Max, thanks for the updates/info sounds like a decent plane. |
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| 11-05-2016 08:57 PM | ||
| Max |
Re: FMS F3A Exlporer Foam Pattern Plane So far 22 flights. I am starting to like this plane. For pattern practice, its quite good. I also like that it's compact. Normally it fits in my SUV all assembled. But a few times I took the wings off to make more room in the car. Its not too troublesome to take apart and re-assemble, though I would not like to do that too often. I also noticed that though the plane balanced on target with the battery pushed slightly forward of the nest, for the last dozen flights or so, I simply plonked the battery in the nest without pushing it forward, and the plane actually flies better with the battery further back. I also notice now that its soft on the verticals. Full throttle upwards result in a positive climb but i cant help but feel its needs more oomph. The pitch on the prop is pretty fine, and its a straight blade. I'm more used to using APC style electric props. I'm going to have to find one that is the correct diameter for this plane and give it a try to see if it makes any difference. |
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| 10-30-2016 06:42 PM | ||
| Max |
Re: FMS F3A Exlporer Foam Pattern Plane Some more dialling in.... 4 batteries, 4 flights. I'm using Gens Ace 50C 2200. I am running 6 minutes and when I land and unplug, the cells are at 3.80v/cell. Perfect! batteries are only slightly warm to the touch. I set up Expo at 35% and Dual rates at 60/80/100% I'm finding the plane flies best on 80% for the elevator and 60% for the ailerons. For snaps I will use 100% on all and it snaps very quickly. Outside loops from the top on 80% elevator are do-able but when you are pushing down elevator and its heading downward, there is a slight tendency to panic..  LOL. For that, I prefer the higher rate on the elevator as well.Overall, flying was very precise. I am thoroughly impressed with its tracking throughout the maneuvers. If this is how well this 40" model flies, I can only imagine how well the 55" Olympus might fly. |
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