Madien Flight SC 2.0

Flight Date: 20Feb2009

Conditions
Equipment: (Super Cub 2.0- Mostly Stock Plane Upgraded Electronics)
WX: ~10mph, Temp ~19F and snowing
Ground Conditions: 1inch light snow
Field: (#2 Baseball Field)

Flight Summary

First some background....

I have been working on a top secret project for the last few weeks. After I lost the esc/receiver from the stock SC, I had decided that I wanted to upgrade the electronics to work with my Spektrum DX7 transmitter.

When I purchased the new SC esc/receiver, I went ahead and purchased it within a fuselage that contained all the electronics for channel 1. I pulled out the esc and put it in SC 1.0 and used the fuselage for SC 2.0. This was more cost effective. For an incremental $25, I obtained the new fuselage, motor / mount, and front cowl. I had to purchase a new wing, tail, sticker set, and landing gear with (larger wheels to complete) the SC flying platform.

I have made a few minor modifications to the SC fuselage which primarily consist of changing the internal batery box and strengthening the battery box with aircraft- reinforcing spars (also known as Popsicle sticks) and epoxy.

The stock servos were removed as well as the Anti-crash Technology. I ended up using the following electronics with the stock motor.

ESC: Electrifly C-25 Mini Brushed ESC w/ BEC
Receiver: Spektrum AR6200
Servos: Hitech HS-55
Battery: Stock NI-MH

A few pictures show the reinforcing spars and the internal location of the electronics.

If you are interested in obtaining more information on how to do these minor modifications, as well as others, you can see how it is done through these youtube tutorials. I generally followed the approaches on strengthening the battery box, but I ended up just epoxying on the cover instead of using screws.

Now, on the flight...

This was a maiden like a maiden should be. The plane took off from a rolling start easy and climbed stably to a good altitude. I felt that this SC had tighter controls than SC 1.0. I was able to make shallower turns and control the plan better with the upgraded electronics. For the most part the flights where uneventful and enjoyable. I kept kept them slightly short as not to run out the batteries completely. On the 2^nd flight I had a perfect landing. The plane came in nice an level and rolled on the ground until coming to a complete stop. Because the landing was so good, I thought I would go for another- the last landing of the evening. Well the last landing was not a smooth as the previous one and ended a little rough and nose down in the snow. Although a little rough, nothing was damaged.

Another thing I noticed was a lack of motor stitching. I have had no issues with the stock TX/RX in terms of flight controls, however the motor does occasionally glitch. When it glitches it is typically at full throttle and for a brief moment the motor reduces back some and then returns wide open. Given the mostly windy conditions I have been flying in, I had noticed this a lot recently with the stock TX/RX/ESC as I run WOT a lot. I noticed this did not occur on SC 2.0.

Things I learned from these flights
The Spektrum electronics are a significant step up from SC Stock
When you have a great landing towards the end of the flight call it good

Damage
None

Stats
SC 1.0 Cumulative Flights: 14
SC 2.0 Cumulative Flights: 2
Cumulative Hrs: 3.0
Successful Landings: 25
SC Maintenance / Repairs* ~$48

*Cost to replace items broken in flight (SC 1.0 and extra Battery cost: ~$150)