ETOC Build Secrets!!!!!

[xtremeRCpilot]

Alright all you ETOC competitors.... Congratulations on another great year!!! We all had a blast watching from the side line!!

Now its time to fess up and reveal some of your build secrets to all of us less fortunate... in other words we would love to hear from you in regards to your plane set ups with LOTS and LOTS of PICS....

I took great interest in the New Vrolet and Sypher that you guys were flying and would like to build one to your specs( motors, esc,props, batts, glues, pull pull set ups etc....) Maybe I can start flying better with a pro built plane! and alot more practice of course.....

This could be a great learning experience for us all , beginner to advance, along with the inspiration coming from the best of the best!!!

Thanks in advance......

John Carver

[3D-Seth]

Yes lets share!!!

[Wayne]

As for the Vrolet.. You can buy the competiton version right from Fancy Foam.
No secrets.

www.fancyfoam.com

[gareth.ky]

There are no secrets, only hard won experience. The F3P Group over on RC Groups is a good place to do some research. I had to build about 5 of them before I could set up one competently. Slop free, precise setup is a huge deal. I second the Fancy Foam recommendation. They are shipping kits that can be assembled to competition spec. Not like the E-flight or other kits, these are the real deal.

[xtremeRCpilot]

Alright then, How about a few specific questions....

How do you set up your planes from the dreaded tail twist( it seemed that every one there had a different set up as far as there kevlar truss sytem was concerned PICS PLEASE)

What servos are you useing?

Any specific PULL PULL methods and whos hardware do you recommend?

Max weights?

Thanks,

John

[Wayne]

The milled out planes are going to twist. There is no way around it.
It doesnt matter though because they fly so slow.

On my Vrolet, I use Kevlar thread for the pull pull. No hardware. Just the thread.
Dymond 4.7 servos for rudd and elev and a E-Flite s60 for the ailerons.
AXI 2203 or a E-Flite Park 250 motor.

Mines comes in just under 5.5oz with a 2 cell battery.

[gareth.ky]

The most effective method I have seen is to do what the Vrolet does. There are some planks running down the length of the cruciform fuselage. On the Vrolet they are shot full of holes so the weight penalty is nearly zero. They come out amazingly stiff using that technique. Matchless does something similar on his airplanes with carbon rods.

Wayne's equipment choices are pretty much what everyone is using right now. I have a Park 250 and 3 of the Dymond 4.7 in a monoplane. I use a Thunderbird 9 ESC with the leads trimmed to keep the weight down. I have an AR6100 Rx with the case off. I run it on 300mah 2S packs from Hyperion. The last one came out at 135g RTF (4.8oz). It's my own design, you can read the build thread and get the plans here.

We have found that the pull pull setups can go slack if the temperature changes. I went to solid carbon rod linkages this winter because it was frustrating me. I would build the airplane in my 72 degree apt and they try to fly it in the armory at 50 degrees and it would be slack.

[Matchless]

I've already given away all my secrets... : ) I'm betting you won't see many others doing the same though... LOL

Indoor IMAC/F3P Yak55 build

Personally, I don't care for pull pull, as I've had the same problems Gareth described above.

The real secret I've learned however now that I have one ETOC under my belt is this.... build it straight and then practice your ass off with it........ I managed to build straight for this year, but now I realize I needed even more practice.

[xtremeRCpilot]

Awesome Guys, This is some great info!!! Keep it coming and pics would be great as well....
I ordered the new Sypher from Jason @ Insaine Foamies and should have it in a couple of weeks.

I just couldnt beleive how straight you guys built yours and how precise they were.( of course your piloting skills are A1) this should help out everyone intrested in flying a well built precision plane and hey, Maybe our flying skills will improve when we get the planes built right, ha ha ha...

Thanks again,

John C.

[gareth.ky]

I'm a pretty green pilot, but I like these little airplanes. Very short design, build test cycles. Plus they fly great and its good practice. I'm pretty much at the 'I can build it right' stage but I need a tone of practice. I follow all the build threads from people like Matchless and test things out for myself. This winter I would like to compete in some F3P-B or C if its available. I'm going to try and do IMAC Basic this summer if I can get the airplane together in time.

So yea, I'm not a pro by any means, just an enthusiast.