Lanier Radical 330/.55AX short build & reveiw

[Black Bird]

Intro

I looked thru the profile threads and I did not see anything wrote up on the Lanier Radical 330 Profile. I thought I would do a short review using the OS .55AX two stroke motor. I had the Goldberg Extreme 330 when it was in production. I looked on Tower Hobbies web site and there is an order pending for the Extreme for $179. Seems like the Extreme will make a come back. But between the two, I personaly like the Rads color scheme. It looks like a Red Winged Black Bird. Hey--that's me. The Rad seems to have the same wing planform as the Extreme. The build will be similar, except I will try to point out the differences.

Equipment

For this particular application I will be using a new in box OS .55AX two stroke motor with a 12.25x3.75 APC. There will be 3 JR st125s with 1.25 aluminum arms for the ailerons and elevator and a Hitec 5625 with heavy duty arm for the rudder. Radio is a Futaba 7Cap with an 8 channel receiver and a Hydimax NiMH 2000 mah 6volt battery for power. Sure there are different setups, but I had the parts laying around.

Hardware

I will be using most of the included hardware. I upgraded to 4-40 push rods with Dubro Connections for better control. The stock landing gear will be sufficient for the maiden and the first few flights. Afterwards, I will upgrade to carbon fiber for da pimp look. The kit did not come with mounting screws for the engine. The manuel recommends 6/32 screws but these were too big for the AX. For a wood mount the AX manuel recommends using 3mm screws with a washers, lock washers, and retaining nuts.

Disclaimer

This build and review is for the purpose of informing the RC community about the Lanier Radical 330 and the OS .55AX. Hopefully someone will find the information contained here helpful. Nothing is perfect and everything comes with sacrifices

Orientation

I am very excited about doing this thread. I love to fly profiles and the Rad seems like it will be a nimbe aerobat. My building and flying skils may not be on par with others, but I will try to give it a meaningful attempt.

[Boulder]

Very cool BB,

Looking forward to it!

[Boulder]

I think the Radical is new.

[Black Bird]

First Look

I knew that my Rad would arrive soon, so every time I walk around the courner to my Apt, I had Lanier dreams. I saw a four foot slinder box sitting in front of my Door. It's here!! My engine arrived before the plane did. So, one could imagine how anxious I was. I was supicious about damage when I looked at the box and it said in bold black letters, "made it china". I inspected the box for any apparent damage and luckily there was not.

Inside the brown box, I found the box that houses the Rad. The color scheme is real appealing to the eye. Everything was packaged nice and stapled down to prevent shifting during shipping. All parts and hardware were accounted for. Lets Begin

[Andy Thomas]

I would take it easy with that prop, my 50sx absolutely screamed with the same prop. It did better with a apc 12x4 12x5 and had tons of power.

[Black Bird]

	Quote: Originally Posted by budgetdude
	I would take it easy with that prop, my 50sx absolutely screamed with the same prop. It did better with a apc 12x4 12x5 and had tons of power.

Response

Actually the 12x4-5 are more of a sport prop than a 3D. I have had the 46Fx, 46Ax, 50sx, and this is my third 55Ax. I had a 55 on my Last OMP V2-nice profile by the way. I had the same prop on all of them. yes the 55 screamed with the prop, but it was around 13,500. Well within the range of the motor when rated. Have you done your homework on the 55. It is a great motor. It's practical RPM is 2000-17000 with it's horsepower maxing out at 1.75 at 16,000 RPM. If I ever was to get 16,000 rpms, I would be one happy pilot. The top end power I noticed is about the same. Remember the difference is only 10-15%. I put 13x6apc and a 13x4Wapc and only got between 10,500-11,500. Plus I am trying to eliminate some of the P-factors, which is very apperent in knife edge flight with a profile with low fuel. An increase in RPM with a reduction of of load on the engine and torgue on the airplane. The 12.25x3.75 gives instant throttle response and a better pull out of a hover IMO. The increase in diameter makes up for the decrease in pitch. I have experience with props from 7x4-22x8. I will let you know how it performs on the Rad as the Rad seems to be built strong, wing bigger, and overall design is heavier than other profiles I have had. .........Except the Goldberg Extreme.

It got 10-11 pounds of thrust with a 50sx and a 12.25x3.75 Apc prop revving around 13,500. The diameter is longer and an the pitch is smaller than your recommended props. I beg to differ how one could get more thrust from a 12x4-5. I do not need a ton of power. If one could give me a quantitative value of what a ton of power would be with another prop, I may be inclined to use it. On a hot summer day, high relative humidity, and high pressure density altitude is the almighty equalizer. Excess thrust determines angle of climb and access horsepower determines rate of climb. Don't understand--Look it up. Decrease horsepower, I decrease the rate of climb, i.e. pull out of a hover. I will be satisfied with 10 pounds on a 5 pound aircraft. Which is what I had on the Katana V2.

There is alot more that goes into the proper setup than just throwing things on. Tho they were sitting around, all the components that I am using I have prior experience. I will post empirical evidence of RPM and Thrust measured with different props on this motor.

But that is in the future. Why sit and contemplate what would happen when one can see what really happened. The glue has yet to be applied. The aircraft has not been certified airworthy by a qualified pilot--me . Let's get back to the build

[Black Bird]

Radical Extreme Specifications

Kit Name: Lanier Radical Extreme 330
Street Price: $119
Wingspan: 46.5
Wing area: 744 sq in
Length: 43.5
Flying Weight per mfg: 3.5-4.5
Flying Weight as tested: 5lbs 3oz
Engine Used: OS .55 AX
Prop: 12.25x3.75
http://www.lanierrc.com/lrcprivate/r...es/radical.htm

OS .55AX Engine Specifications

Street Price: $144.99
Dispacement: .545 cu in (8.93cc)
Bore: 23mm
Stroke: 21.5mm
Practical RPM: 2000-17000
Practical output: 1.75ps/16000
Weight: 14.25oz
Recommended props: 12x7-8, 13x6-7
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...1&I=LB7015&P=3

The first thing that I did was grabbed a trash bag and thru everything inside to get an exstimate of the weight out the box. It weighted 3lbs 1oz. My AUW is 5lbs 3ozs. It is easily conceivable to add 2lbs in engine and radio equipment. I noticed that the Rad has a shorter fuse than the extreme. I finally found something aerodynamicly different than the Extreme besides the color scheme.

The manuel is very complete for the novice builder up to an exspert. All the photos are enlarged for easy overall visiual orientation of a particular build process. I manuel is almost identical to the Extreme. Check out the last page.

The next thing I like to do is mount the engine. This seemed to be an easy process. I had to enlarge engine mounts just slightly to accomedate the .55. For the 55, the recomeneded mounting is to use a 4x3mm screws, washers, lock washers, and retaining nuts. Follow the engine manuel installation for ones particular application. The motor did not want to turn over by hand because of the newness of the parts. I added some after run oil to the carburator, glow plug whole, and exhaust exit. After a little cycling of the prop, it turned over thru compression nicely.

[Black Bird]

Wing and Horizontal Stab Installation

Next, I glued the wing to the fuse and then glued on the horizontal stab. At this point I would like to mention the quality fit of the wing and fuse. The fit was snug enough that I could have used Fast CA glue, but I decided to go with 30min epoxy. Slide the wing into the fuse and make sure that each wing tip is equidistant from the wing root. After I was satisfied with the fit. I used a pen to mark the location of the fuse. Take the fuse off the wing. I used a hot Exacto Soldering iron with a blade tip to remove the monocote just inside the lines. Remember to let the Blade do the work. Little pressure is needed. Rather cutting, imagine burning through the monocote with the blade. After removing the access monocote, I applied 30 min expoxy to the exposed wood. I slid the fuse back on and lined it up with the previous lines made by the pen. Leading edge and trailing edge measurement seem to work well in centering the fuse. I removed the access epoxy with alcohol. The alcohol will also remove your pen reference point. Remeasure for proper fit. After I was satisfied with the fit, I let it sit for an hour and then did the same process to the horizontal stab.

At this point, it is a good idea to go over the entire plane and unattached control serfaces with a sealing iron. I was surprised at the covering material used. It did not run away like scared red headed step child from the sealing iron. Make sure to pay special attention to the pin stripes.

Design Change

The aileron servos are sunk into the wing. The allows for easy access for future maintenance. There is only one access cover on the non-muffler side of the wing. I noticed this prevented fuel from getting inside the wing.

[Black Bird]

Control Surface Installation

Ailerons-The wing has slots cut for four CA hinges on each side of the wing. I good idea is to check to see if the slots line up with each other. I had to elongate two of the slots to accomadate the hinges. A neat little thing that I like to do before installing the hinges is to fold them in half. Insert half of the CA hinge into each hinge slot of the wing. Then apply thin CA glue to the hinges. I noticed this keeps the hinge centered while I am tring to put a contral surface on. The glue also stiffens the hinge making it easier to slide into the control surface. After adding thin CA to the exposed ends of the hinges, let dry and test fit the ailerons. Once satified with the fit, apply thin CA to the hinges.

Elevator-I did not mention the snug fit of the horizontal stab and fuse earlier. Unlike other profile kits that require sanding, the stab went in perfect. All I had to do is measure, slice, and glue. The eleavtor hinging is the same as the ailerons. Just make sure that when glueing the elavator, it has maximum throw. From neutral, the elavator measured 47 degrees wood to wood at the top and 50 degrees at the bottom.

Rudder-One of the nice things about this arf is the vertical stab is already glue to the fuse. This eliminates some of the anxiety surrounding proper symetrical fit. Before glueing the rudder, I installed the tailwheel. Design Change-previously one had to cut a slot in the bottom of the rudder and drill a whole for the ninety-degree bend in the wire. The slot is already cut and the whole is already drilled into the rudder. I elected not to epoxy the wire into the rudder. I go thru tail wheels too often. Once the tail wheel mounted, glue the rudder to the airplane.

Sealing Hinge Gaps

At this moment it is a good idea to seal the hinge gaps. The reason as to why goes beyond the scope of this build. I sealed the gaps on the alierons and the elevator. Do not use scotch tape. Make sure to have atleast quarter to a half an inch of clear monokote on each side. I noticed anything less, fuel and air are able to work the clear monokote free.

[Black Bird]

Servo installation

Servo installation is straight forward requiring minimum effort. One of the misses the Goldberg Extreme received was in regard to the white tube being to small to fit the servo extensions inside. The reviewer elected to make a slot in the bottom of the tube to cure the problem. I noticed the white tube this time around was slightly bigger. I was able to slide the servo exstensions thru the tube and I am using 16 inch heavy duty wires. But I still wanted to access the servo exstention connections, so I cut the access slot. I used an exacto soldering iron with a blade tip. When hot, I inserted the first quarter of an inch of the blade inside the white tube. As the plastic starts to yield, begin the cut. Let the blade do the work.

Battery, Switch, and Receiver

I put my 6 volt 2000 mah NIMH with some padding inside the access hatch, against the fuse, at the most aft location as possible. I took the padding that came with the OS and shove it against the battery to prevent shiffing during flight. I installed the switch on the top of the wing, and the receiver the was installed right under the access cover. I drilled a tiny whole for the antenna to exist and taped it to the side of the fuse with scotch tape.

[Black Bird]

Here are some pictures of the airplane finished and ready for engine break-in

[Boulder]

Don't forget the video!

[Black Bird]

OS .55AX Engine Break-In

Since this is my third .55AX, I was very optimistic. I have read up on many different ways to break in a motor, but I have just followed the recommended precedure in the engine manuel.

As mentioned early, when I took the motor out the box, it did not want to turn through compression without force. Fear of damaging the internal working parts prevented me from forcing it thru compression. So I put After Run Oil in the Carb, Glow Plug Slot, and inside the exhaust exit to ensure that all the internal working parts were properly lubricated. I cycled the hub more and more in each direction until it popped thru compression with the prop.

Now it was time to put fuel in the tank and see what tune this engine would sing. I turned the high speed needle valve counterclockwise two and a half turns out as a starting point. I opened the throttle, plugged the venturi with my index finger, and flipped the prop seven times to prime the motor. I lowered the throttle stick to a high idle. I connected a hot glow driver and apply a sullivan dynatron starter to the aluminum spinner. I applied the starter twice before it ran.

With the airplane anchored down, I proceeded to do the break-in procedures. It is a good idea to use the included extension wire for needle adjustments and prop safety. Two and a half turns out seemed to be a good starting point. I gradually gave it throttle and at the same time I opened the high speed needle valve. Sounds tricky huh. It really not that difficult. I just wanted to make sure I was as rich as possible for a particular throttle setting. At full throttle, I knew that I was full rich.

Now I put my transmitter down. I turned the needle valve until the sound changed from four stroke to two stroke. This is the song that I am talking about. When you hear the tone change from four to two, leave it at that setting for ten seconds. After ten seconds open the needle until you hear the four stroke sounds. Leave it at this setting for ten seconds and then repeat. Repeat this cycle until the tank is dry.

I ran three tanks thru the motor, doing exactly what I mentioned above. At the end of the third tank, the high speed needle setting is one and a half turns out, and screaming like a scary movie--holding top-end RPM for 30 seconds or more.

Following the engine manuel's recommendations on wood mounting seemed to be very trust worthy. I was worried about using a 3mm screw inside a 3.5mm whole. I noticed vibration, but the sturdy nose of the RAD handled it well. I checked the mounts for cracks and signs of the wear and there were none.

Yes, the motor does scream with the 12.25x3.75 and the throttle response is almost instantaneous. Straight and level flying is usualy around half throttle. And please only use full throttle on uplines and high power thrust vectored maneuvers. As far as a hover, for get about it, when you need the power, it is there.

Now that the motor is fully tuned and broke-in, rpm and thrust measurements to follow.

[Black Bird]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Boulder
	Don't forget the video!

Thanks for tuning in B. I am going to go buy a digital camcorder soon, just waiting on some more funds. But between me and you , the airplanes flies emaculant.

[Boulder]

Sounds like this will be my next profile, I just happen to have a spare 50SX

What's your AUW, or did I miss it in the thread?