Phoenix 1600 & 2000 Motor Mount Instructions & Motor Selection tips

The missing instructions

If you buy the Phoenix 1600 & Phoenix 2000 kit you'll find that the instructions are a bit light.  When it comes to mounting the motor there are two ways, the hard way and the easy way.  Since I own both planes I am proud to say I've done both.

The hard way

The holes on the standard crossbar that comes with most motors that fits this plane line up perfectly to the holes on the front of the white plastic cowl.   You can simply use a tape and die set to put in machine screw grooves into the metal then use the appropriately sized machine screw to secure the motor to the plane.  It's a bit of extra work but it works like a charm.

So, why am I even bringing this up?  If you bought the Phoenix 1600 in particular as  plug and fly  Andrew Newton has mentioned that the 750KV motor is a bit too underwhelming and switched it out for a similar motor that was 1000KV.  But, you may have a spare motor or two sitting around that would do the job with some slight modification. Find a cross bracket, tap it and use it.   You can't really get to it with nuts and bolts because the bottom of the motor will be difficult if not impossible to get to.

The Easy Way

In the kit there is a black plastic disc, a flat metal disc, and 9 screws.  4 are machine screws and 4 are similar to wood screws.  The black plastic is your motor mount.  There is a spot to run your motor wires through so that they don't rub against the motor.  The four machine screws are used to mount the motor.  Use Loctite to secure the screws in place  The vibration over time can loosen the screws.

Black plastic motor mount, notice cable run through the plastic?  Notice the metal disc in the background.?

On the outer parameter of the plastic disc are four screw holes that match up to the screw holes one the cowl.   Your job is to line them up for installation. This is the hardest part of the motor install.  When it's completed it looks like this.

Motor properly mounted.  The black plastic mount is inside the plane.

While you're at it.

The speed controller can stay above and sit next to your battery.  But you'll constantly be working around it.  Take a few extra minutes and get it out of your way once and for all.  Remove the batter tray and mount it under the battery tray.  I am going to include a video of some guy removing the tray.  Please note that there are four screws that hold the tray to wood glued to the side of the fuselage.  The guy in this video just rips it all out by the battery strap.  I found that if you remove the four screws and give a little firm pressure the top of the tray separates from the side mounts.  You can take his advice and remove the 41g ballast from under the tray.   My advice is to not to this before you have checked  the CG and flown the plane.   You don't want to risk making this plane tail heavy.  But yes, anything to make the plane lighter is a good thing. 

A tip about motors

There are a lot of motors that can work with this plane.  Whatever you use has to have a front facing shaft.  That means the shaft comes out the side where the wire are.  You can either buy motor that is front facing such as the Turnigy 2217 16turn 1050kv 23A Outrunner, or the  EMAX GT2215-09 1180KV 

  

Or, you can do a manual shaft reversal.




This guy is using an arbor press.   It works well for the task but most of us don't own one.  We should own a vice.  Simply do the same thing with a vice, but on the side you want the shaft to come out use a socket such as a 12mm socket to allow the shaft to come out the other side without letting the shaft get squeezed by the vice. (Visualize it, the shaft is getting pushed out one direction and it will show up on the other side.  You need the socket to allow space for it to pop through without touching the vice).  It takes a lot of force to move it from one side to the other.  You will doubt yourself the entire time you do it.  But it will work. 

Shaft reversal in vice, socket on left.

Warning-I've done this one 3 motors and on two of them the motor bearing came lose during flight  I use a collet that was made for wheels on landing gear to keep it in place once and for all.


Having done  the shaft reversal many times, and being comfortable with the process my feeling is it's worth going out of your way to find a motor where the shaft is reversed.

Motor considerations- 

Weight:

The optimum motor for this plane weighs around 80 grams.   You can get by with something that is 70g (EMAX GT2215-09 1180KV )  or 90 grams  The  Turnigy and DYS D3530 weigh 74 grams, but need a shaft reversal.  The good news is that you can buy this motor in a lot of different KVs.

If you make the nose too light then the tail will be too heavy.  This is a no-win situation. This isn't a plane you can add nose weight to easily.   If the nose is too heavy then you'll be auditioning lighter batteries to make it fly.   You may pick up bad flight characteristics like going into a spin when it stalls.   Thus, to be safe, keep the weight as clsoe to 70g as possible. 

KV:  

The D3530 comes in three different KVs.  1100, 1400, and 1700 KV.  It can accept 2 through 4 S batteries.  If you're not opposed to doing a shaft reversal this may be a neat little option.


The higher the KV the more speed performance you'll get from the plane which should make it fun if you're looking for speed. Of course your flights will be shorter.  If you plane of gliding you'll want a slower motor, such as 1000KV.

Searching for a new  spinner

Another avenue you'll find yourself running down is that the spinner that came with the plane may not fit on the shaft of your motor.  You'll be searching for a new one.  I believe 45mm is the diameter size of the spinner.  You'll need it to match your shaft size as well.  I use Gemfan spinners and propellers from Banggood.

Before you go down this road you can get by with a standard propeller.  Put one on that is the correct size for your motor and see how you like the setup.  The folding propellers simply add to the ability for this plane to glide a bit longer.    When you have the motor and proper propeller size you like you can then buy the spinner setup.  It's not hard to install.   The proper size for a 1000kv motor is 9x6.

Summing it all up

The Phoenix 1600 is a beloved plane.  For what you get, it's dirt cheap. You can leave the motor off and make it a slope glider.   You can 4-6 channels with so many features that you can fire up with most of the computerized radios such as crow and camber. 



This is an amazing plane, but it's not a beginner's plane.  They try to sell it like it is, but it's not.  So, take your time building it.  Chances are likely you have other planes.  Perhaps you live somewhere that winter keeps you indoors and you like working on a project that you put a few hours into each week.    Get the parts you want and get it set up right.  If you do your homework and take your time this will be a plane you'll enjoy for many years.

Sky Surfer (Bixler 1) Review

SkySurfer (Bixler 1)

Stock Sky Surfer with a small propeller

Overall score:  87 out of 100


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1. Documentation: 2 points out of 5 points possible.

The documentation was on one large piece of paper with small photos and even smaller text. If this is your first build I am sorry. There’s not enough good information here to firmly understand how to build this plane. The good news is that Andrew Newton does a wonderful build review of this plane which can be found on Youtube. I also did find other suppliers had better documentation on how to build nearly the same plane.

2. Quality of Materials 14 points out of 20

The EPO foam was a bit thicker than the foam used to pack eggs. However, I did have issues with how sturdy this is for a so-called trainer. It’s flight characteristics make it a good trainer, but the quality of materials say otherwise. The control rods are very thin and I would like to get the replaced at some point. The one thing I like the least about this plane is how the servos mount into the side of the plane. If you try to replace a control arm and don’t support it from the inside the servos will fall into the plane. And you get to spend a half an hour gluing the wood that the servo is attached to back into place. I didn’t use the control horns because they didn’t go all the way through the rudder, ailerons nor elevators. I would love to see this plane updated to the new, smooth EPP foam with a bit better hardware.

3.  Build process  16 out of 20 points.

It was different than other planes I’ve built in the past so it took me a bit longer to build. If I were to build it again I would have all the electronics worked out before the plane arrived. I would have both pieces of the fuselage glued together Saturday morning. Then by Saturday afternoon I would be attaching the rest of the plane together over the course of a few hours. By Sunday morning I would wake up early and tune it and take it out flying that day. It’s not a complex build but if you haven’t built a plane like this before it will take you a few evenings to figure out how to assemble it and rework some things. I went for the optional motor mount which did add some time

This is not a beginner's build type of plane. If it's your first plane you will need some help from someone experienced or you can study the build videos and other documentation online carefully. I just don’t think it will be a very forgiving plane if you don’t build it right.

4. Flight Characteristics  30 out of 30

My Sky Surfer

“Everybody should own a SkySurfer” is what Andrew Newton said of this plane. I can see why. This is a floaty-glide plane. It’s not a Wing-Wing on 4S. Hot rodding this plane would be like hot rodding a minivan. If you can appreciate it for what it is, then yes, this is a plane that should be in your personal hanger. But, if you’re not into slow floaters then you should just avoid this plane.

What is exciting about this plane is that it has the ability to fly this one four or five channels. You can put a Y splitter on the ailerons if you want to make it four channels, but why? Here’s your opportunity to fly with ailerons and elevators with use of your rudder something optional. You can get into some more advanced mixing on your radio that most people never get to such as crow and camber. You can work in rudder with ailerons to get tighter turns. If you’re moving up to the big leagues where you’ll be flying with fast planes you’ll want to take advantage of these features. It’s best to learn on a slow, forgiving plane like the Skysurfer before you try it on the less forgiving faster planes 5 and 6 channel planes.

With this plane you can burn up your battery in under 20 minutes, or it can last an hour. You can learn a lot about flying with this plane. You can learn how to maximize the power of your battery, find lift and use mild wind to your advantage. I was able to find thermals with minimal power and make this plane go to as high that I had to bring it back down because I was afraid of losing it in the sky. It’s a more sophisticated type of flying It’s not 10 minutes at 100mph+. I know it sounds silly when I say this, but, it’s really your chance to bond with nature. You can be apart of the sky instead of trying to briefly claim it as your domain.

This plane reminds me a lot of the Radian. Smaller, more capable, and yet also a nice gliding experience.

So yes, I am sold, I am fan. It's the kind of plane that if I ever crashed and destroyed I would buy a new one and build it again.

5. Value 15 out of 15 points

With Nasty Nikki at the controls, you never know what to expect.

For under $50 this plane is a smoking deal. I can forgive a lot of quality of material issues when I see how much you get for how little you spend.

6. Ability to modify  10 out of 10 points.

You can buy the motor mounts to allow you to put on larger motors.  You can put on extensions for your flaps, ailerons and rudders. You can put on camera mounts.  You can make it fly with a large variety of batteries. The plane does well for FPV. I have recently purchased the option camera mount for recording video.  The motor is behind the camera so it’s excellent for an unobstructed view. With the larger propeller (with optional motor mount) this plane is very quiet. Perfect for early morning park flying.

Hobbyking's Batteries-Where's my order?

Sooner or later you find yourself in desperation, you need a new battery.  It doesn't matter if the reason why is because you crashed your plane,  or one fell from the sky and ended up under some bushes in a field.  You will need a new one, or two or three.  The guy at my local hobby store tells me with glee in his voice that they have a fantastic deal on 3S 2200mAh batteries, only $25 each!  In hobby store prices that is a good deal.   In the online world, you could do better.

You hit the websites and $15 seems to be the going price. But, just as you're about to accept this you find that Hobbyking is blowing them out for under $11 each.  And to make it even more interesting they have been giving free shipping on orders over $50 since the holidays.   So yeah, this is a done deal.  You order it.

And a few days later it hasn't shipped.

Wait a minute, are they really this backed up with orders?  No, not really.  The problem is that not only do you know how to find a good deal but so does everybody else.  What I believe is happening is that they are actually selling the inventory that is on the boats coming from Hong Kong to Portland, OR.  So, you'll get a fantastic deal, but you'll have to be patient. If you need a battery, today there is always the hobby store if you have one handy.  Or, you can find some suppliers in the country you live in on eBay.   The reason why these prices are so low is because of the fast turns of this inventory.

Which is why when you find a good deal like this you should pick up another one, because if you have to place another order it may take you a while to see that one as well.

Flysky 2.4G 6CH FS-iA6B Receiver review

Flysky 2.4G 6CH FS-iA6B Receiver PPM Output With iBus Port

Get the right receiver

First of all, a warning-  If you’ve been using radio controlled for a good long time you may remember back to the FM/72mHz days.  Some radios were positive shift and some were negative shift and that was confusing enough. When it comes to 2.4g RC transmitters and receivers, it's much worse.  Not only are the receivers not compatible between manufacturers, but sometimes they aren’t compatible in brands. For Flysky, I will share this table with you that outlines what does and doesn’t work.  

https://rc.305.cz/storage/FlySky_Tx_Rx_compatibility_table.pdf

Thus, when you’re buying Flysky, stick with what you know will work with your transmitter.

What is PPM?

PPM - Pulse Position Modulation -PPM is also an analog signal, but instead of using a separate wire for each channel, PPM stacks each signal one after another to send them all along the same wire. This makes wiring your R/C Receiver to your autopilot much easier! The PPM port is on channel 1.

What is iBus?
IBUS is the new Flysky serial protocol. It’s a two-way communication which means it can send and receive data: one port for servo data output and one port for sensors.

This receiver will handle up to six channels.   Most planes can be handled with five channels or less.  Delta wings usually run on 3 channels. The extra channels can be used for operating cameras for example.   RC Helicopters often need a lot more channels and thus require more sophisticated systems.

If you’re going into killer FPV setup and are setting up iNav, gimbels on servos  and all kinds of other cool things all on one plane , you may want to upgrade your transmitter and receiver package.   The Flysky is wonderful for simple application. I’ve seen people using it for iNav. And it can handle most planes if you just want to fly it line of sight or mild FPV.  My suggestion is that you always have extra receivers on hand because you’ll never know if Flysky will move on to a new technology that isn’t backward compatible. You’ll want some for future RC projects and in case one of your modules gets damaged.

A link to this article can be found on fb.me/RCplanes.n.stuff

Discount Hobby Warehouse-San Diego

Discount Hobby Warehouse

Address: 7644 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111
Phone: (858) 560-9633

Until I walked into the store I had no idea how much I missed a true RC plane store. Some place that was unapologetically about planes, drones, cars, boats, anything RC.    They've been in business for 35 years and are well stocked.

Yes, we now live in a world where you can order just about anything you desire in RC online and find it from multiple sources.   Still, there is something about walking into an actual hobby store.    The store isn't laid out from a Plan-o-gram.   I was in a woman's clothing store recently.  It looked like they spend every night polishing every square inch of the store.  Discount Hobby Warehouse is the polar opposite of this. Not the cleanest store, it has it's own smell and merchandise is all over the place. Not disorganized, but cluttered.  But, when you walk in and see the things you're passionate about covering nearly every square inch of the store you end up being enthused and inspired.  Everything is screaming for you and you find yourself saying "They have this?  No way!"

The staff is super friendly and knowledgeable. I had only a couple of small items to purchase, hardly worth getting excited about but they gave me full attention and hand-picked each item from the shelves.

The hobby store, a place you can drive to and pick up what you need is a dying thing.  Which is strange because over time more and more people find themselves owning at least one RC item.  You would think demand would grow?  Many people turn to online solutions for their RC addiction. It's nice being able to walk into a store and the people are the exact same flavor of crazy as you are.   Guys run into each other in the store and say hello "Yeah, I told my wife I was going to the hardware store as well."    It's like a bar without the alcohol.

The prices are very good, they actually beat the online prices for the items I purchased and the online stores still wanted to add on shipping.    Overall, I am excited to go back to Discount Hobby Warehouse and spend even more time.  This is a place I plan on spending a lot of money at in the future.

Propeller and motor combinations-What's not in the fine print.

You’ve found the home of broken foam.

Sooner or later you’ll want to go off script. You’ll want a faster motor, or a lighter motor so that you can lighten the planeload. You’ll want a larger prop, a folding prop, or a 3 bladed prop. You’ll stray from what you know and start going to the wrong side of town to talk to those people your mom warned you about for truth and wisdom. Near all the trash and rats and junkyard dogs chasing the rats out of the trash you find my office. Don’t judge me, this is all I can afford after buying so many RC planes. Welcome to the home of broken foam!

This is  your disorientation

Thank you for entrusting me to be your personal Yoda in the search for truth when it comes to matching up motors to props.  It’s a search for the truth and you’re going to use it to make your own decisions.  It’s time to forget all you know.  You are going off script.

Truth number 1

Your car can go faster than the speed limit. The point is that when you get to the maximum speed of the car it starts shaking and you’re consuming fuel like crazy while the engine is working very hard. It’s also getting hot. Top speed of a car is far greater than the maximum legal speed limit in most countries. Your car is designed to work efficiently at speeds it’s likely to achieve. This is what to strive for when selecting a motor for your plane. If you’re at full throttle to constantly keep the plane afloat you’re underpowered. You want to make sure you have more than enough power

Truth number 2

When riding a bicycle the front derailleur controls three gear rings on most modern bikes. These are the three rings next to your pedals. The smallest one is best for hills. Since it’s smaller its easier to make each revolution when you pedal your bike. When you’re going uphill this is the one you select because the other two cog rings are too hard to pedal. But, when you’re on flatland the small ring is too easy to pedal. You are spinning like crazy and not going anywhere. You move up to the middle cog ring and start moving at a pace you feel comfortable with. You find that the middle ring is more efficient for flatland riding. Then, lucky you, you come up to a slight downhill and you have the wind at your back. You switch to the largest cog ring and really start to move. You’ve found even more efficiency.

Keep this in mind when it’s time to talk about prop size. Larger props can be more efficient in the right conditions. They can also work your motor too hard in the wrong conditions. But, just like gear rings larger props take more work to spin each revolution. Typically, higher KV motors (more on this later) spin smaller props and lower KV motors are better suited for larger props.

Truth #3

The documentation about motors quite often leaves you with more questions than answers. Just because it lists a 4S motor doesn’t mean that the highest thrust listed was made at 14.8 volts. Another thing that screws up things is that propellers from one manufacturer to another can deviate in statistically significant terms when measuring thrust. One will likely produce significantly more thrust than the other. The specs are given to help give you an idea of what the motor can do under normal conditions.

Now it’s time for plane design.

KV isn’t kilovolts

The “KV” after each motor name keeps people guessing. I’ve seen a few people on Youtube refer to it as “Kilovolts” or 10,000 volts. Most of the motors I work with take less than 15 volts and thus putting 10,000 volts through the motor will turn it to, well, spontaneous combustion. The V in “KV” stands for volts. The K is the constant. KV is not an abbreviation but a mathematical formula. K is the number of RPM’s your motor is capable of doing without a propeller. This is ideal world condition, there is some resistance in the motor wiring for example that keeps it from achieving perfection. That being said, the number is usually very close to accurate. Thus, you simply multiply the number of volts times the K and get the ideal RPM of your motor at various power levels.

The propeller is a resistor

Once you put a propeller on the motor KV goes out the window. The propeller acts as a resistor. Typically, the larger the propeller the more resistance it puts on the motor. That’s why we go back to truth number #2 about chainrings on bikes. The larger they are, the more work to make them spin each revolution. The only thing that confuses this issue is the pitch of the propeller. It’s possible to have a larger propeller draw fewer amps (less work) than a smaller propeller if it has a significantly reduced pitch.
The thing to keep in mind is that your propeller is putting resistance on your motor.
Grams of thrust is what we’re concerned about.

Turnigy Thrust Stands are cleaner ways to test thrust.

There are many videos on Youtube with crazy people hooking up motors and propeller combinations to scales on yelling out numbers like 820 grams. The first time you see this it's kinda strange. They are talking about grams of thrust. If your plane was 800 grams for example (28.22 ounces) when ready to fly this means this motor should be able to make this plane fly. The problem is that it may not be the most efficient flight. Just as your car starts to shake at top speed and consume gas like crazy you may find a plane that can produce 1000 grams of thrust may give a more efficient flight without getting your motor hot. Again, it depends on your plane. If you have a powered glider for example even though you have a heavy plane it may be able to take off and climb with less than full power depending on conditions. Once in the air the plane only needs about a quarter of the power it needs when it takes off to keep afloat.

Not all propellers are created equal.

So, why doesn’t someone just measure every combination of motors and propeller and come out with specs once and for all? Two reasons I can think of. First, not all propellers are equal, even when they have the same specs. An 8040 propeller (8”) can have remarkably different thrust from one manufacturer to the other. Enough to be statistically significant. The other reason is we are living in an era of 3D printers. The cost to design a propeller and have a prototype ready to test is dirt cheap. There are companies like GETFPV.com that design, print and test new props all the time. And, the props can be turned out fairly cheap from China. Thus, there are new propellers on the market all the time. The combinations of motors and propellers are endless.

Those friendly little specs that are listed with a motor.

Motor specs can drive you mad after a while. If a motor is listed as ranging from 2S-4S for example, the top thrust list may be at 4S. But not always. You need to take total watts, divided by amps and see how many volts it was tested with.

And, this is the big problem

If all that mattered was grams of thrust then they would figure out what the peak grams of thrust for each motor would be. If they were testing for maximum wattage they would figure that. If they were testing for efficiency they would figure out a battery, propeller combination that maximizes it. Since they are out to sell motors I imagine that if they posted the true peak specs people would assume that this is how you use it all the time and would burn out motors quickly and leave nasty reviews. Thus, what you are likely to see are some results that are watered down. The suggested prop and motor combination will work fine in most flying conditions. It’s like saying your car can achieve 70mph when it’s top speed is really 100 MPH. If you were to drive at 100MPH all the time it would wear out the motor faster.
.

Here’s what’s important.

There are volts, amps and watts, which one is the most important? If you go over the required voltage suggested for your motor then you shouldn’t cry when your motor dies. Watts are good for reference, but amps are what you need to pay attention to. If you run too many amps through your motor for too long it will melt the insulation on your motor wiring and then the motor will short and die. Heat is a sign that your motor is working too hard. If your motor is blistering hot when you land your plane it’s time to think about a new prop and motor combination.

Different flying characteristics

I heard one guy describe his 4-minute flights as the best four minutes of the day. He’s looking for maximum thrust and battery life isn’t important. If you’re flying a glider you’re looking for motor efficiency. You want to find the right combination that keeps you in the air longer. It doesn’t take long to become a motor connoisseur. You can start pairing the right motor to your plane. You will prioritize what’s important when dealing with a motor. Another factor not yet discussed is motor weight. The heavier your motor is the disproportionately more weight you’ll need to put on the other end to counterbalance it. Heavier motors start putting on the weight of your plane rather quickly Heavier planes fly differently than lighter ones.

Useful data to keep in mind.

Gliders are looking for efficiency. You may even be able to get away with an underpowered motor if you’re able to give your glider a good, brisk shove into the air at takeoff and keep off of full throttle in flight. You may be able to get away with a larger prop than is suggested for your motor as long as you’re not drawing above the suggested amperage.

Here are some numbers to keep in mind.

Efficiency-

(Grams of thrust)/(Maximum wattage) This is a comparison number. It’s used to compare two motors. The one with the larger number is more efficient.


Watts per pound


(Maximum wattage)/(Grams of thrust)=Watts per gram of thrust. The result is almost always less than 1. The higher the number the less efficient the motor is. However, it’s best that the ratio is greater than .23 If you multiple .23* 453.592(this is the number of grams in a pound) it equals roughly 100 watts per pound. 100 watts per pound should make anything fly. It’s the general rule of thumb.



Battery life matters

The reason why your car doesn’t reach top speed at the speed limit is that it would be inefficient. Though your car can do 100 MPH it will do most of it’s driving at under 70 MPH. It’s this overhead you want in a motor and propeller combination. Battery consumption of LIPO batteries drops considerably when you are at 20% from full throttle as opposed to being at full throttle.

Real world tests

Thankfully we live in the world of cheap motors and cheap propellers. All you need is a fairly inexpensive voltmeter and a digital scale and you can set up your own lab to test your own motor and propeller combinations. The thing to do is to take measurements of grams of thrust at full thrust and backed down to 10 amps, 5 amps and 3 amps. Change out propellers and keep records of each thrust measurement. You will want to stay within the manufacturer's suggestion for maximum amperage and make certain that your motor isn’t getting hot. If you’re pulling excessive amperage or your motor is getting too hot you’ll need to back down the propeller size and/or pitch.

Take it up

Instead of one pure winner, you’ll want to take your favorite 2 or three propellers out for a flight. Figure out which ones give the best flight characteristics while keeping you within the zone of flying time. Once you’re in the air your results are no longer scientific because flight characteristics change from the flight. If, for example, one flight lasted 18 minutes and the next one lasted 21 minutes the way you fly and weather conditions may have caused the variation. By this point, all you’re looking at is the flight characteristics.

3 bladed propellers

A very common problem is that you are landlocked on your plane. You want a 9” propeller for example but can only fit an 8” propeller at the largest. If you simply switch to a 3 bladed propeller you can get the what you’re looking for. The idea is that if you fly with an 8x4 (8040) 3 bladed propeller it’s around the same as a 9x5 (9050) propeller.



The real downside to 3 bladed propellers is that they break on landings more frequently.

C1 Chaser Radio Controlled (RC) Airplane

Oversized Wing-Wing?

The Wing Wing is one of those planes that people just love. All EPO foam, a simple design, easy to build, easy to fly, durable, and a ton of fun to fly, The main directive of the Wing Wing is to make it a little speed demon. It’s loud and tears up the sky like nothing else. When the C1 was announced Matt Osborn put out a video saying that we’re all going to get divorced because we’re all going to buy one. He was crazy about it, and then another video came out where he said he hasn’t flown the plane in six months, why? The short answer may be that it’s not a Wing Wing. Yet, this is a plane that stands on its own merits.

The C1 Chaser-Overview

The C1 is a 1200mm EPO foam plane with a similar build to the Wing Wing. It looks like something that you may expect to see flying at Tomorrowland at Disneyland in the 1970s. It’s a Delta Wing with a serious spar going through the middle of it. The main bay is HUGE and can hold a lot of FPV gear if that’s the route you want to go. This plane is an excellent platform for FPV. It also demands larger batteries. Your 3S 2200mAh battery is probably too light for this plane and will need extra weight just to get it to fly. So, the downside to this plane is that you may need to buy some new batteries.

My FPV plane gripe

The radio controlled plane hobby is evolving. It started out from the need to simply fly planes line-of-sight. That means, as far as you could see it was as far as the plane could go. So, the planes were built for fun over short distances. But the newer FPV planes are designed with gear-loading in mind. They are designed to hold a lot of gear and travel much further distances than 2000 feet, so the fun factor for line-of-sight flying is forgotten in models designed for medium to long range flights. These flights are usually minimal on turns, going in fairly straight lines is the objective. Instead of being sports cars they are more like cargo trucks. If you try and fly them line of sight they do work but they may not be as fun and responsive as you would imagine them to be. The large Skywalker planes are not on my radar because I don’t plan on doing this type of flying. So, when I see planes like the C1 Chaser my first impulse is to think that it won’t perform. But, to my surprise, it does perform.

C1 Chaser - Normal Build.

What was suggested on the Banggood website.
11.1V 3S 3300mAh 20C Lipo Battey,




2212 2200KV Brushless Motor


6030 2-blade propeller


30A ESC






Hmm, the high KV motor and small blades means fast and loud. I put on an 8 inch prop with a triple bladed propeller instead. That provides lots of thrust and requires low amounts of power. It flies well even on 2S though hand-launching is more difficult with 2S. What I had to do was go through trial and error with batteries to figure out which one would work the best. I managed to make it fly with a 2700mA 2Sh battery with a little extra nose weight. The glide characteristics were off the charts! It caught thermals and increased in altitude with the motor off. I still didn’t have the right amount of weight in the nose which made it a bit hard to control. But it floated like a cloud. The lightweight characteristics meant that it didn’t have to move that fast in order to maintain flight. This is important if you plan on catching thermals.

The FPV Build

11.1V 3S 5200mAh 20C Lipo Battery


2217 1400KV Brushless Motor


8060 2-blade propeller


30-40A











This motor is heavier by around an ounce. That is counterbalanced by more than an ounce in the front The propeller is 8”, along with the motor it can definitely provide thrust. That battery is very heavy so it’s going to weigh the plane down. Yes, it will work with your FPV gear but it’s going to be a much heavier plane. It will require more energy to keep it moving and will need faster speeds to prevent it from stalling.
What do you want?


When you weigh this plane down it’s no longer a lazy glider. The extra gear is expensive, so perhaps you may want to work up to the heavier build of this plane. With more weight it won’t fly the same. It’s going to be harder to launch and is a lot less care-free in flight. My suggestion is to start off with the lighter batteries, figure out how to fly it then add your gear. When it’s built light, and you get the CG right it is very, very manageable in the air.

3 Thing I do and don’t like about this plane

#1. It’s a lot of great plane for the price!

Like the Wing-Wing, you get a lot for your money. For under $50 (USA) you get a plane that is actually very well built. The servos mount on the top which help prevent them from ripping off when you land on the grass. The lid snaps on and actually stays in place during fliight. The motor mount is not weak like the Wing Wing’s motor mount. It has different noses for FPV or non-FPV flying.

#2. It’s resilient

I’ve unfortunately given mine a good crash. Other than a broken propeller it was fine. I think I was more lucky than anything, but still. . . it can take a bit of abuse and hang in there

#3. It’s versatile

A lot of planes are one trick ponies. They are great for one setup only. What i like about this plane is that it can go many different directions. Do you want go full FPV? Sure, it can do it. Do you want a plane that you can fly with iNav? Yes, this is perfect. Do you want to make a glider? Why, sure, give it a try. Since it’s cheap it may be the model you use for more than one build.

What I don’t like

#1. It’s pure white with ugly decals.

White affects me more on some planes that others. This one just looks cheesy in white. It looks lIke a large flying styrofoam cooler. If you haven’t read my review of Krylon Foam Primer, this is a good time. This plane is begging for a good paint job and lamination. Since it’s in many pieces that are easy to paint separately it can make a very nice two tone paint scheme or even 3 tones.

#2. Cameras may be difficult to mount.

This ain’’t a Bixler. There are not many different mounting options for your FPV cameras. There is a hole in the nose that fits a camera lens. Which one, I don’t know, perhaps a Runcam? Other than that, it’s self-contained which makes it hard to mount cameras. Perhaps you can leave the lid off and make a base out of plywood? I’ve seen people mount cameras on the wing with Velcro.

#3. No spare parts

I don’t know what will happen if you break a motor mount. Supposedly, Smallpartscnc.com is making and aluminum motor mount for this plane. The owner tells me it’s on his wish list. If you break an elevon perhaps you can make new one out of foam or balsa wood. If you break a winglet and can’t glue it back together you may have to get creative with cardboard or foam. But, if worse comes to worse you simply buy a new plane and use the broken one for spare parts.

Overall

I fly this plane with a smile on my face. It’s a lot of fun. When properly trimmed this plane is very maneuverable. It can do flips and spins and various stunts though planes this size tend to not be as sporty as smaller planes. I am impressed how well it moves around a fairly small park, it’s very controllable. This is a plane you really need two versions of:

Version 1

This is the heavy build. It’s fun to fly this plane on 4S. For me a 2200mAh 4S LiPo worked perfectly. I had a 8x6 triple blade propeller. Yes, it tears up the sky. And yet it’s still fairly floaty. I’ve had larger batteries in it with longer run times. The extra weight helps the plane penetrate better on windy days. But, it flies like heavy planes do. This seems like a great plane for iNav or FPV. It also seems like it could do some good intermediate iNav flights. Perhaps out and back 4 or 5 miles. Play with different batteries, make it go for speed or distance, or perhaps tone it down a bit and have it float a bit more. Strange to say, but even with this build the plane is versatile. Just by changing batteries it can be a completely different plane. That’s what makes this plane so appealing in my book. It’s different flight characteristics on one build give it range.

Version 2

The goal of this is to make this plane as light as possible. I am going to power the plane with a D2208 1400KV motor and fly it with an 8” folding prop on a 2S battery. The idea will be for it to catch thermals. You can think of it as a low powered power assisted glider. The key will be a good launch. It may be underpowered for takeoff so the difference between success and failure may be a good shove into orbit. It may be a glider that you can take to the glider spots on windy days.

A word about launching

Matt Osborne talks about “The duck” of this plane, You launch it and the first thing it wants to do is fall back to earth on its belly. This can be reduced by tilting the nose up and giving the plane a good firm toss. Learn how to do it with your left hand. It needs to nearly fully power to take off but once airborne you should cut back on the throttle if the angle of attack is too steep.

Ideas for your first C1 Chaser

I’ve learned quite a bit about building planes and have learned a lot from my mistakes and less than stellar ideas. The motor mount can take huge motors and I know you may be tempted to start off with a D3536 as your first motor. I don’t know if this plane will balance with that heavy of a motor. Thus, to be safe, stick to 50g and 60g weight ranges of motors. There are a lot of great motors in this range.

Painting the plane

If you stick with white and land it on the grass over time the bottom will look very dirty as it rubs along the wet grass, time after time. This is a plane ripe for painting. If you don’t primer it first with Krylon Primer the EPO foam will melt a bit. It will give an alligator skin texture. It doesn’t look bad, but you may not like it. You can paint the wings one color and the fuselage another color. I painted mine red and black in honor of my college (San Diego State University). It looks so freaking sweet low to the ground. But at high altitudes the black is a bit difficult to see. My second C1 I painted the fuselage blue, the wings white with blue tips and red winglets. It’s a patriotic American red, white and blue. I am waiting on parts before I assemble that one. EPO foam is smooth and thus doesn’t need a lot of paint. Paint does add weight so try to get your painting done in as few coats as possible.

Lamination

Lamination reduces drag. It adds strength and rigidity. I go for a strong 5 mil lamination.


Battery- Start out with what you’ve got. Add weight onto the battery to get the plane to balance. For example, start out with a 3S 2200mAh battery if that’s what you’ve got. Go to hardware store, buy some lag bolts. They are long and heavy. Figure out which ones make your plane balance the way you like. Weigh your lagbots and battery combination. This weight combination is what you should look for in your next battery. It can be 3S or 4S if your motor supports 4S.