AEROWORKS 35% 260, assembly, discussion, and flying thread

[aviti]

Yeh, I know where you are coming from. It's tough to buy an ARF, put it together as light as possible and find out the finished weight is more than you expected....and then it's too late to return it. I guess the only way is to see what others are weighing out of the box and then their all up weight with engine etc. Then you can know what its gonna weigh before you assemble it.

[bodywerks]

True. But it is safe to assume that 24 pounds is out of the question when the kit contents come to 18 pounds, even with my BME and CF stuff

[gstjohn]

from personal experiences aeroworks have always been heavy. there is a guy here in fort Collins, Colorado that has a aeroworks extra 300 with a DA100. it weighs in at 30lbs with carbon gear, carbon wing tubes etc. he claims that it flys okay but is a pig on vertical uplines and in H.A. manuvers. I have seen the QQ 102" yak and it seems to be very light but also very strong. my Composite ARF 2.3M extra when I weighed it last thursday, minus fuel and smoke oil came in at 24.75lbs with a BME 95 on the front. I flew it on saturday with the smoke tank full and all of the extra weight and it still had unlimited vertical and power. I have no doubts that it would perform as well in Colorado Springs as it does here, but maybe this summer I will hit a Colorado springs event and I can test it out.

[bodywerks]

Is that a 2.6 meter you are talking about? 24.75 pounds is fat for a 2.3 meter, no? They are usually in the 19 pound range...

[red_z06]

My 2.6m yak55 was 24.5lb before smoke stuff and large volume mufflers.

[gstjohn]

no its the 2.3M, I have everything light, 1 8611 all the way around, 1 reciever, 3 batt packs with a battshare from smartfly. they are supposed to be around 19lbs with the DA50, and pipe. I dont even have a pilot for it yet. I really dont notice the weight as with the BME I have unlimited power and vertical. I was a little shocked when I weighed the plane and it came out that heavy, but oh well, I could shave a few more .oz off by using a carbon wing tube, and I may still but right now I am a having a great time flying it as it is.

[gstjohn]

I was just on Composite-arf.com website and the 2.3M is designed to be around 20-22lbs. so I am only 2lbs heavier, which could be a mix of a lot of things. paint I know only added 1/2 lb. I have also added a carbon/balsa sandwiched brace across the Landing gear for added rigidity. I have also added carden landing gear cuffs, and of course a smoke system with a 24oz tank. so by adding all of those small things up I can see adding an extra 2lbs.

[bodywerks]

ahh, ok. I have seen under 20 with a DA and bare plane - no bling or extra paint, though.

[gstjohn]

I was going to go the DA route but I have heard that the 2.3 does not have the power with the 50 and tuned pipe. A guy on here was claiming that his 50 and 2.3m would barely climb out of a torque roll and he was in California. so there is now way that it would fly with any performance here in colorado.

Sorry to Hack this thread with composite arf and weight issues, back to Aeroworks' 35% Extra 260.

[capngriz]

Once again, disappointment in the RC world of weight...Man, I really wanted this one.

[red_z06]

I got one coming possibly on Friday or on Monday. It will be powered by DA100 with MTW canister setup.

It will be all Hitec servoes. Rudder will be 1 or 2 5955. Aile 4 5945 or 4 5955. Elev 2 5955.

[bodywerks]

	Quote: Originally Posted by capngriz
	Once again, disappointment in the RC world of weight...Man, I really wanted this one.

If you are at sealevel, this will still be an awesome ship. The key is to assembling light. One of the guys at Aeroworks is assembling one for himself and keeping me posted. With CF gear, tubes, tailwheel, and some unnecessary wood removed from the hatch, they think they can get it in the high 25 pound range. at their 6000 foot altitude, it still won't be impressive, but if they can manage it, then the high 26's are still doable without all the CF. For how friggin big this thing is, even 27 pounds would be great, for sea level flyers at least...I must remind people that I returned it for more personal reasons. It is not uncommon for kit weights to vary up to a pound in this size plane, for one. I was just hoping to get lucky, I guess. The other reason is that I know I need to be under 24 pounds at my altitude to get the performance I want, and it wasn't going to happen if they couldn't get to the bottom of their target weight. Of course, I could just strap this 110 into a 75cc plane, but then I'd have wingloading issues. It is equally affected by my elevation
The key to keeping it light is to leave the dual rx's, powerboxes, rudder servo trays, matchboxes, heavy batteries and other nonsense out of the plane. Other areas to shave up to 1/4 pound is in proper-length extensions, lightweight switches,minimal foam padding and velcro, lighter hardware where possible, etc.
The Aeroworks guys are doing their build thread on another site, but I will relay any interesting results.

[JPrc]

Has anyone started to assemble their 260 yet?

[sprice50]

	Quote: Originally Posted by red_z06
	Rudder will be 1 or 2 5955. Aile 4 5945 or 4 5955. Elev 2 5955.

Is there really a need for 4 5955 on ailerons?

Troybuiltmodels had this to say "HS5955 REPORT: I flew my new 35% Extra 260 with 5 HS 5955 servos on board with one on each surface. I can perform knife edge square loops with just the one servo on the rudder. The power is amazing. I put on 6 flights and the servos worked to perfection. They are fast, strong, good centering, no bad habits. I am using two Li Ion 2-cell packs using two 6 volt MPI regulators. I am very very happy with the servos. The upgraded versions are now available and I feel they are the best servos available in a standard size case. The don't develop gear slop like the JR 8611 servos."
http://www.troybuiltmodels.com/Servos.htm

http://www.troybuiltmodels.com/AWX260.htm

Can't wait for the build thread red_z06

[romanbm]

Gene flys the RBM 260 with only one servo per surface , he use HS 5955 this's realy good to keep light , strong and simple , but the plane with smoke sistem is only 23lb
they are exelent servos ; Now I reccomend one servo per aileron for a plane this light is not a problem, but for 26 lb and up I'm not sure does any body have use one servo per surface with 26lb and up?