EMS 6.1 meter Quintus with FES - build thread

[Steve P]

Still doing some deciding on where I want to place things. Powerbox Pioneer + 2x 2200 mAh receiver packs up over the retract to give more flexibility to where everything goes down below under the seat pan, or the two 4000 mAh flight packs. In either case, a more structurally sound shelf will be a nice add.

The shelf now sealed since the bottom becomes part of the retract fender and has a strong back that will have heavy duty Velcro.



The bottom of the shelf has two alignment rails mostly to create greater glue area when it is epoxied to the top of the retract frame.

[Steve P]

A couple more photos for the record before I dig back into this project over the weekend…

Decided overkill never hurts in the retract department. Heavy duty car steering arm together with a ball joint to allow some play that I see in the retract mechanism. Super strong and no binding or whining whatsoever.



Trying to keep everything small and compact in the canopy area, I decided that 150 ounces of torque and a metal gear servo would be sufficient. Now this is a place where I usually go for standard size MG HV overkill, but this linkage only needs to move 1/8 of an inch to release the tow line. The plate is both gooped during the alignment phase and epoxied in place. Fingers crossed. This is the same set up I used in my much larger DG 1001 but that used a MKS747 servo that’s just slightly more powerful. Being anal, I will color all the Epoxy black

[Steve P]

Got all eight wing servos settled today. Everything is in place and wired with the mounts sized and all the linkages constructed. I’m just waiting for an order to deliver a couple receivers so I can turn the whole thing on with more than just a servo programmer. Want to be certain I get all the servo travels exactly the way I’d like via the transmitter and adjusting the servo arms before I final bolt everything into place.

The wings ended up with MKS 6625s with metal arms for the flaps and KST X10s with metal arms for the ailerons. Spoilers have JR 398HVs that I had taken from another model so a good place for reuse instead of a new set of 189s.

[Steve P]

Some quality time with a soldering iron this morning making up the motor-ESC and a wiring harness helped me resolve where I was going to place the flight batteries.

Getting the tow release scooched up right underneath the motor helped create some extra space for wiring to be comfortably placed. The seat pan clears all. I was able to run the power side down the left of the fuselage while the strobe controller and one of the two receivers can go on the right. Pioneer and probably the two receiver packs up over the retract. Final receiver will go wherever it can get a clean read.

Looping the power wires back around to the ESC made for the easiest install. I could’ve tried to get fancy and put one pack on each side and the ESC in the center, but this allows the ESC to sit over at the side cleanly where heat can dissipate.

[stevekremer]

Looks nice Steve!

[Steve P]

One, two, three… and all the good stuff is hidden away.

Pioneer, switch, one of two receivers, and the strobe controller up top. The two 7.4V receiver packs can be seen below on either side of the retract frame.



Trimmed the fender to work with the hard shelf



Cockpit back hides it all

[Steve P]

Another one of those “need a bigger shop” moments. Got it all together, mostly programmed, tossed in all the battery packs, seat pan and canopy to get a first check of the balance.

Now I need to find a way to add two pounds up around the motor.

[Soaranator]

Nicely done Steve - first flights at Windy Ridge?

[Steve P]

Nicely done Steve - first flights at Windy Ridge?

Thanks, Bill. It appears that way?! Sittin’ level and pretty at 60mm from the leading edge…



No excuses now. Just need to do some more radio programming beyond the basics to give myself camber and a couple other presets. The long runways at Windy seem like a good place to give it a go!

[Scalesoaring]

What is the all-up weight with ballast? Looking forward to a flight video!

Bruce D.

[Steve P]

No idea. A bunch. A gentleman never asks. ;-)

[Steve P]

The Quintus made its date with the sky today. Thanks to Jack flying Kevin’s Pawnee and to Len with the Bidule for some great tows. I’m not yet willing to ROG from the wet conditions at Windy Ridge, but once in the air the FES performs well taking it back up to altitude.

I will be taking some lead out of the nose tomorrow with each flight. It moves around the sky well both from a speed and nimbleness perspective. Speed runs are fun! I have an mode that mixes flaps with ailerons for some impressive roll rate.

It retains a bunch of energy on landing but comes in straight and true dropping in on spoilers, flaps and elevator mixed. With more time I’ll further refine the landing mixes.

So far, quite good! No flying shots, just a few out in the sun where it belongs.

[Hoot]

Is there a reason why you use graphene batteries ?

[Steve P]

They have proven to take a beating and be resilient in several EDF and FES setups — both mine and those of others.

[Steve P]

Update. On day two I removed 1.75 ounces of lead from the nose and saw a noticeable bit of difference. I planned to do more, but just kept flying. I think another .75 next time around. Old TD flyers love those rearward CGs.

Refined the landing mix a couple times and it’s better but still retains quite a bit of speed hauling all that extra weight. Still straight and true.

Looking forward to more tuning at Sky High.

Found a couple fly photos from Stéphane. Maiden flight proved the prop brake was not strong enough. Using the Zeus programmer for the first time proved so simple and the brake strength was quickly increased for a good positive fold.

Comin’ in a spinning’…..

[Steve P]

Thanks to Jeff Duhaime for a few more shots of the Quintus at its first outing...

[Steve P]

Thanks to Conio for this. The strobes are a fun add, not sufficient to find the plane high in a bright sky, but overcast is okay. So is flying at dusk.

But always seeking to pioneer new depths, they are a godsend after sunset!

The landing on this flight at Sky High was from east to west – – which means out of complete darkness into mostly dark. The tail strobe was a savior as the plane completely disappeared when it turned on final and didn’t appear until it was right over the runway. Pucker factor 11.