Pusher Star - EPO Trainer Plug-n-Play

 Sergio 155 points

If this battery fit in the internal space, you can use and fly for several minutes more. But, attenction to gravity center, wich can change because the battery 1.8 is heavier...

 Robachan 1090 points

Do you already have this plane? If not, stay away. Scroll down and click on " .....click here to view all discussions". You'll see all the reasons why.

 Kellyann 16226 points

h3rry007 the only way to get this fix is to place a request in ISSUE tab above or go to: Contacts then: Support then: raise a Ticket. I hope this helps

 Geoffrey 3 points

Just bought this lemon Would not get airborne from ground Replaced tiny 6x4 prop with 8x3.8 still struggled even when thrown. Managed to get up to dizzy height of 2 m but almost uncontrolable with any breeze

 Geoffrey 3 points

Pusher star!

 Robachan 1090 points

Cut and copy from my post below "Power Issue Resolved. Strange Flight Characteristics Not. It turned out the ESC needed to be set to the high and low throttle points of the transmitter. Deep in the included ESC's manual (VII.), it says it needs to be done. The airplane's manual does not mention it at all. Tx on, throttle to highest, plug battery into ESC, "beep", throttle to lowest, "beep", you're done. Now it has enough power with included 6x4 prop, but I still recommend 7x4 to help clear fat fuselage". 7x5 prop may even be better. If you want to solve the strange flight characteristics, you could somehow try to make the vertical stabilizer larger. Just make sure you keep it straight or you could make it even worse.

 Robachan 1090 points

Look below and click on the ".....click here to view all discussions" to see lots of info on this plane. There are many other better choices than this plane.

 Kellyann 16226 points

dantheflyingman very small and light one. There is a key ring camera that would work well. I hope this helps

 palnka 64 points

Hola Carlos como estas, si te fijas ahi dice que solo le tenes que poner la lipo y el receptor, si queres aca mismo venden radios en 2.4 a partir de 22.99 dolares, y buen cargador para lipos te recomiendo el Turnigy accucel 6 que funciona 10 puntos yo tengo uno hace dos años y jamas he tenido un problema, con respecto a uno con motor a gasolina no se ha que te referis si glow a gasolina, pero seguro que te va a salir mas caro ya que estos aviones vas a tener que comprar muchas otras cosas mas, este avion al que te referis viene listo para volar, un brazo.

 Skymax 34 points

It's sold as a first 3 axis Trainer yet experienced pilots have difficulty making it fly? What a dog HK, pulp it.

 Theunsie 132 points

I am not a massive plane expert but I think the Bixler is a way better option than this plane. I replaced the Bixlers carbon rod with a bit thicker one from my local hobby shop and latter cut the wings about 1 inch form the aileron so that there was no curve and now it does quick rolls and flies faster. Bearing in mind the Bixler was my first ever plane, although 4channel for the first few flights I only used aileron, elevator and throttle. As your experience grow, you have the option to use the rudder and shorten the wing to get it to respond faster. Hope this helped

 Robachan 1090 points

Click on "....click here to view all discussions" and then please read all my comments down below. You need at least 170g battery or add weight to equivalent.

 Doubletap 76 points

I'm answering my own question, for those who are looking for the CG of the Pusher Star, I got the answer direct from Riccs CS China. The recommended CG range is 55-63mm measured from the root of the leading edge.The aft end of the range actually coincides with the metal wing joiner, Also, I had calculated the CG using 25%-30% MAC, which closely corroborates the numbers provided by the factory.

 Robachan 1090 points

So what's your final setup? AUW? Any comments on how it flies?

 VROOM 193 points

Thanks for the warning.

 ipin17_aero 37 points

Your battery is too heavy, thats why you get a tail heavy, if a plane is more heavier, it will stall easily and loosing it stability because wing loading is increased

 Robachan 1090 points

ipin17_aero, I don't mean to be rude, but you really don't know what you're talking about. This plane's battery is in the nose, so if you put in a heavier battery it should get nose heavy, not tail heavy. This should make it come down nose first when you cut the throttle, which it still doesn't do. My setup is only 30g more than the recommended setup (4 percent increase, all in the nose). This shouldn't affect flight performance too much. If anyone can get this plane to perform well, I would love to hear about how they did it. I really think there's a major design flaw in this plane somewhere.

 HobbyKing_Admin 8862 points

Possibly it needs a bigger prop and or motor?

 Robachan 1090 points

Anthony, as you can see from the video, it at least flies now, just horribly. Do you think just more power will remedy it? It comes with a 6x4 prop and I used a 7x4. Dr Kiwi on RCgroups tested this motor a couple years ago and on the bench it overheats with a 7x5 APC. A 7x3.5 GWS HD was OK giving 529g thrust at 10.9v. What size do think would be OK to use in flight without overheating? I don't want to fry it, I could use it on another plane. I have 7x5, 7x5.5, 7x6, 8x3.8, 8040, 0843, 8x6. Dr Kiwi tested with the 8040 and got good thrust numbers before overheating. Should I try that and hope it cools enough in flight? How much weight should I try adding to the nose? Do you think enlarging the vertical stabilizer would help flight characteristics at all? It would mean adding extra weight to the tail, which in turn would necessitate more weight in the nose, porking up this already porky beast.

 Robachan 1090 points

Power Issue Resolved. Strange Flight Characteristics Not. It turned out the ESC needed to be set to the high and low throttle points of the transmitter. Deep in the included ESC's manual (VII.), it says it needs to be done. The airplane's manual does not mention it at all. Tx on, throttle to highest, plug battery into ESC, "beep", throttle to lowest, "beep", you're done. Now it has enough power with included 6x4 prop, but I still recommend 7x4 to help clear fat fuselage, which I believe is causing all the trouble with this plane.

 Robachan 1090 points

Here are my recommendations if you are unlucky enough to have bought this plane or still want to risk it and get one. 1. To get the cleanest airflow to the prop, remount motor as high as possible without thrust angle washer, don't use motor cover, and cut as much foam as you're comfortable with to allow as much airflow to the prop as possible, without weakening the motor and wing mounts. 2. If you can, use 7x4 prop to help clear the fuselage. 8x3.8 was too big and made the plane fly even worse, nose pointing at a 30 degree angle to straight, rudder trim didn't help, just steered it. 3. Leave the 28g of nuts in the nose and use at least 170g battery or add equivalent dead weight. BTW, efficiency is low. Be prepared for a shorter flight than you think, even with a 2200 lipo. 4. Pull out the useless rear landing gear whose wheel pops off with anything but a perfect landing. This loses 8g and can allow around 15g less weight in nose (total saving - 23 g) Now it flies a little better, but still not very well. Glide is pretty good, however. Not being one to give up easily, and enjoying a challenge, my next step is to put a 64mm EDF jet above the wing and see if that improves its flight characteristics. Less torque twist and direct intake may be just what this thing needs.

 Robachan 1090 points

This guy flies a LOT of HobbyKing planes, and he agrees this one is difficult to fly. Check his first video out here. He has a couple other more successful ones too, but continues to say it's difficult. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_r_RbWoHuo

 gazza2009au 310 points

guys you must add as much weight to the nose of the model plane to reach the correct center of gravity by adding a bigger battery your only making the problem worse by increasing the planes overall weight for a margin of extra nose weight so run the recommended battery and add as much weight TO THE NOSE untill the plane flies level all the videos i have seen of this model flying are all obviously tail heavy and make sure when installing the propeller the PRINTING ON THE PROPELLER MUST FACE FORWARD if u still cannot fly the plane upgrade the motor one guy on youtube has this model and he has a 2200mah pack he got over 8 mins of flight time this means the motor isnt producing enough power to fly this model its lacking thrust that it obviously needs try a tower pro 2409-12 with a APC 8x4 for thrust or APC 7x6 for speed u should have around 700grams of thrust

 Robachan 1090 points

gazza, you obviously haven't read through these comments very well. As I said before the battery IS in the nose. It is in the most forward point possible, so adding a bigger battery means adding nose weight. And the power issue has been resolved - reset the ESC to your Rx and use 7x4 prop. I also said the glide is now OK, so it is no longer tail heavy, but it still flies like it is. This thing just flies horribly, no matter what you do.

 blackacefighter 28 points

I have dealt with similar problems on planes that I have designed, if the trailing of the wing is below the leading edge, when looked at from the wing tip, you have a serious design problem. It basically works like perpetual flaps. Causing the aircraft to stall uncontrollably and constantly Sources: Studied Aerospace engineering, built models for years, flown models for longer. and last but no least, Ive made this screw up too!

 mikec@aloha.net 220 points

looking at this plane, i ask myself "could this plane fly well?" can't believe people would construct a plane such as this and expect people to buy it. i prefer to buy a clouds fly, kinetic 800* even the minimoa because they look aero dynamic and flyable. but this thing looks like a toy which could be dangerous if you don't correct some things on it first. anyway, my thoughts only.

 Robachan 1090 points

blackacefighter, the bottom of the wing is completely flat from leading to trailing edge, so that is not the problem. And this basic plane design works on planes like the Hobbico SkyFly. I think the problem here is the width of the fuselage. It is almost double the width of the SkyFly's. And the tailboom is much bigger and fatter as well.

 greengo746 45 points

From what I can see, the fuse is too big, the tail boom is too fat. If I am unlucky enuf to own this plane, I would put a bigger battery and cut off the tail boom. Find CF tube to replace it. Then it may fly well. Else it would look cute hanging on a wall :)

 Robachan 1090 points

Here is the first guy (out of 6 I have seen on YouTube) who has been able to make this plane fly half decent. He put a big Busy Bee vertical stabilizer on it. I think the original vert stab is just too small and the fuselage too big. When it's traveling through the air the big body wind deflection doesn't allow the small tail to work properly. Problem is, more tail weight means you need more nose weight as well, further increasing an already porky plane.

 marvin8888 139 points

yes definitely sir!

 Robachan 1090 points

Received mine a few days ago from HK, and it is indeed the Riccs Pusher Star.

 fanny 512 points

Yes , meet cloudsfly's ugly little sister

 stijn tip 14 points

her little FAT sister:P

with that setup, and the weight you would think it's rather a fast plane

 stijn tip 14 points

her little FAT sister:P

with that setup, and the weight you would think it's rather a fast plane than a trainer

 Jackrr 224 points

the wings look rather long, so the wing area should be ok to provide for a reasonable wingarealoading.

 gazza2009au 310 points

there is always some lovin for the fat ones everything in life is loved by someone lol

 kyrre 301 points

You are not paying for the actual weight of the plane, but for the volume of the box. It doesnt matter if they remove parts as long as the box remains the same size. They would have to cut the plane in to smaller pieces if they should get the volum weight below the actual weight of the plane.

 Sawdust 1605 points

Flying weight 620grams, that's not my idea of heavy.

 HobbyKing_Admin 8862 points

Typical ARF/RTF plane boxes weigh 1~1.5kg each.
Grab a cardboard box from your garage and weigh it yourself.

 HobbyKing_Admin 8862 points

 Robachan 1090 points

Yes, I have to agree with valanti256 a little now, HK has been unusually ruthless deleting many comments on this one. What's up? Please explain HK.

 Robachan 1090 points

Yes, with a little cutting. First cut the front two strips of foam that raise the battery about 5-6mm up off the fuselage (cut only battery width). Don't cut the third, rear-most strip that will help keep the battery in place, unless you plan to hold the lipo in place by other means. Then cut an outline of the battery in the front part of the battery housing and push the foam forward strongly (crushing it) to give an extra 6-8mm of space. This will allow for a perfect snug fit of a 2200 lipo. And, depending on the weight of your lipo, you might want to take out he two nuts (28g) that are in the secret compartment under the battery housing.

 BearPaw 59 points

This is really good explanation. Thank you. I tried to click on YES (Was it the best answer?), but nothing happens. Guess they don't want to give you some extra points. :) Thanks anyway...

 Robachan 1090 points

Yeah, sometimes that doesn't work for me either. Clicking thumbs up is cool too.