Now remember, this is a personal preference, and most people will be fine with it the way it comes out of the box. I'm just striving to get smoother. I usually use a 7/8' arm on my ailerons and crank my end points to 125%, so clearly I needed a 7/8' arm. I picked up one of the Skywing power system and servo kits to get some spares and was delighted that it not only came with the 1' metal arm, but a 7/8' plastic arm as well. Just what I needed!
The plastic arm cut my throw to where I could turn my end points up to 125% and hit the same deflection. It's still 31 degrees, but now I have my resolution back.
Now, remember, this was not a big change. I only knocked off 10% of what the plane came with, but that's what I needed to suit my style. Maybe it was a placebo kind of thing, or maybe I've just become more sensitive to small set up changes, but I could feel the difference right away. The roll axis control became much smoother and more precise, which is exactly what I was after. We had a great day with zero issues, outside, that is, of a few close calls.
You can see one or two of my close moments in the video. I was pushing the plane extremely hard, which shows you how quickly I got comfortable with her. I've only got about 15 flights on her, so there's plenty of performance yet to find.
Right now, my set up is pretty close to identical to what I use on my 48" EXPs, so if you're an EXP pilot, nothing on this plane, set up wise, is going to cause you any issues. It also kind of flies like an EXP, so you'll be right at home.
More Flying
The big surprise was the harrier performance. She goes into post stall effortlessly just by picking the nose up, either smoothly or with a more violent pull, but the result is sort of the same. With a smooth pull she just mushes in and you've got full control. If you snatch it into a wall or parachute, the plane just acts like it hit something and completely stops. There's so much pitch authority you need to creep up on the violent stuff at altitude until you get used to it, but in this respect, it acts a lot like a 48" MXS. If you are going to rotate it super hard at low altitude, you'de better lead with a little throttle because a hard rotation spills all the lift right now. It's not scary once you have done it a few times, just leave yourself a little margin until you know what to expect.
So, the ease at which the plane flies into a controllable drop or harrier is probably as strong as anything I've flown. Once I find a plane can rotate hard and act benignly, I know I can trust it, and that was one of the first things I tried on the maiden.
With the new set up the plane does cracking precision. Point and slow rolls are much better, and big Cuban 8s are nice and round. It does help that the 6s power system gives you so much utter speed, because speed is stability. The plane simply tracks and the speed pushes it through rough air or wind gusts. So, it's stable at speed and it's stable in post stall, and those are the two things we have to demand from out planes.
I do keep getting tripped up on my snaps though. Outside is fine and I have that part figured out. On inside snaps I am getting better, but my timing isn't perfect just yet. We're only two flights in on the new set up, so it's going to get better as the pilot learns how the plane likes to be flown.
In general, it's a little killer. She has got badass power and runs about as smoothly as a TMotor (which is my new standard). The assembly and set up is so easy you won't believe it until you have built your own. I build with a healthy degree of OCD and it still only took me 30 minutes.
All that is left now is to fly the snot out of it and wait for the new Skywing receiver ready 48" NG, which should not be too much longer.
