A bigger Skyray

Mind and uncross your fingers before committing to Flight. Yeah, I hope it works properly this time.

Well that did not go well!

Looked good to start with but a real nose plant!
I am pretty certain I know what happened. Would you believe it I had not set the ESC throttle range correctly. Doh!. The launch was at reduced power but the sudden loss of power as I moved up the throttle (the motor stopped dead!) had a dramatic effect.
The impact completely crushed the nose back to the intakes but everything still worked. The energy absorbing capability of the Depron ensured nothing else was damaged in any way.
The repair is not as significant as it might look as the nose was built as a separate unit originally 
First the fuselage was 'cut back and 'made good' to the appropriate former.
 
A new nose cone and cockpit frames were printed. Replacement Depron formers cut out.
 
The cockpit canopy was 'ejected' in the crash so was basically undamaged.
The original fuselage nose plan was retrieved.
 
Now ready to start building the new nose and all done on the same day as the crash.

"If you can build it from scratch then you can always repair it"

OW! By doze! 

Simon, this is such a run of bad luck. That sudden quiet in the video. Not much height to recover from. One of those 'every once in a while it bites you' rituals with ESC and transmitters. Got me looking back over the manual to see just how one could double check this.  What is written in manual certainly could be clearer.

Todays effort titled "Loads of Pins"
 
The first half of the new fuselage nose planking nearly complete. Just needs the glue to set overnight, then its on with the other side.
One benefit of a 'replacement' new build is this time I know exactly the position of what has to go in the cockpit allowing the necessary supports to be 'built in' rather than 'squeezed in' through the canopy aperture. 

Another day and yet more pins.
 
The majority of the planking on the new nose is now complete. The cockpit framing and make the skin good around it then the real fun begins - trying to get it to fit on the rest of the fuselage. .

jon
Don't worry I actually enjoy doing this sort of thing, perhaps almost as much as flying it. Although only brief flights so far from what I have learned I am pretty confident it will fly nicely..   

The new nose in place.
 
Once the glue has set it needs a bit of filling and sanding.
Then fix all the "electrics" back in the cockpit and test it still works.

Almost done.
 
Still got to organise fitting the Rx in the cockpit and some paint to finish off

Took the opportunity of the near flat calm yesterday evening to fly the bigger Skyray.
It flies pretty well except the motor did cut out again.
First time after about 30 seconds just the motor so a perfectly controlled glide landing. Before I moved I tested the motor on the ground at the full range. No problem so most likely an ESC 'heat' issue (it was certainly not new).
Another flight and the motor cut out again briefly but recovered after a second but stopped again after a further couple of seconds but this time no control either. Control returned just before it was about to hit the ground so no more than a firm touch down, Based on this It appears both the ESC and BEC might be suspect. I gave up at that point!
In the worst case it could also be the Rx or the Hobbyking Tx or a connection or wiring interference!

Nil desperandum!
.   
 

Nasty possible combinations of the usual suspects. Any chance of putting that receiver and esc in an alternative (low-value) model to see if they still fault in the same way?

I don't know about other folk, I have so little storage space as well as a partner who thinks RC should be doable on a childs writing desk - so I tend to retire and reuse stuff from earlier models once I have learned from them. Or if I am alternating between two current models I sometimes swop their receivers and ESC because I don't fly two on the same day.

Do others who have a dozen models keep a dozen sets of receivers and ESC going?  
 

jon
I am afraid I am a bit of a glutton.
All of my planes (30!) have their own Rx and ESC. I work on the principle "if they work properly don't touch anything" 
I have built more planes than that so some Rx and ESC have been reused where appropriate. 
I have also had a few Rx and ESC failures too!

For the Skyray I have ordered a new 6s ESC that has an internal BEC so in effect replacing both possible suspect items in one go. .  

Yes Jon, Each of my many models has it's own set of gear, ready to go. The only thing I take out is the lipo's!
That way, you can be pretty sure the weight, balance, and control surface trims are correct, within room for error/hangar rash.
I also take several models to each flying session, knowing that if I manage to crash one, or something (very rare) fails, I have alternatives. Also it gives me a range of models to choose between  for differing weather conditions - ie flat calm = big glider or scale, windy = smaller agile model,  howling gale, if I'm daft enough to fly in it = small, cheap and disposable model.that is approaching the end of it's useful life, or flies like a shot duck anyway so I don't care about it.
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That means I have an assortment of different-sized lipo's as well, so each model has the size and cell count written on the battery tray, so I avoid (hopefully) mistakes, and a fail-safe method of keeping track of which lipo's are charged, and which are used. Each charged lipo has wooden clothes peg clipped on to the wires, which is taken off before installation, and used ones don't! Fail-safe, because if a peg comes off in transit, I assume that particular lipo is one I forgot to charge, and don't use it.
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If you take everything out of a model, as you say you do - when you next go out to the field, the first thing you should check is the range - because you have disturbed the radio, and might have put the antennas in different orientations or places - then check all your controls really go the correct way, don't just waggle the sticks and see if the contol surfaces jiggle.

Thanks guys for sharing how you manage your collection of models and ESC and wiring.  I do like the idea of a close peg to show the state of the battery!

Now that I have a few extra receivers that Tony gifted me I can give them homes.  I just got two more ESC which after I have wired them up should help as well.

I am baffled!
Late tis evening 9pm1) the wind had died down quite a bit although still a bit gusty
Flew the Bigger Skyray but after about 4 second the motor cut, recovered after a second and then cut again. Almost exactly the same as the previous flight.
The subsequent landing was a bit of an arrival with some minor damage.
It certainly sounds like a receiver problem so I left it where it was applied full power and walked away to a distance much further than at any time during the flight. The motor ran faultlessly for a full minute. I even moved the Tx around a full 360 degrees with no problem.

So no problem with the ground range or the ESC overheating. It has never run for anything like a minute whilst in the air. What else could it be?
A loose connection somewhere that responds to the small 'g' changes that occur in flight?
A servo fault that momentarily drags down the BEC voltage to the ESC low voltage cut out? Seems unlikely given there are only two micro servos and their full stall current is less than half the BEC capacity!

Tomorrow I will set full power, put the Tx down and walk away holding the plane and moving it through typical flight attitudes and orientation .
I have a feeling it will still perform faultlessly!. .
 
 

I am seriously deflated!
Perfect this evening so I had another go this time with a 1000mAh 4s.
More power so it flew faster and went further but it did exactly the same as before. 5 seconds power then the motor cut, control remained . The motor came back after 1 second but cut again after a further second, this time with no controls.
A big impact. 
 
Still sounds like the ESC cutting out but as everything still worked where it lay I ran it at full power for 30 seconds with no problem.
I will have to get to the bottom of this problem before I even consider rebuilding the bigger Skyray again.