bluelevel

My Feedback: (39)

That's the way I did it and was quite baffled that it didn't want to rotate. Your CG check is supposed to be done for turbine powered planes with just landing fuel on board, I did it with take-off weight.

There's not a whole lot I can do to reduce the amount of air entering the nose gear opening but cut additional openings in the top hatch. As you can see in my earlier postings, I cut 8 "gills" in the top hatch but there's room for 2 or 3 more per side. I have already laminated some carbon to the inside of the hatch so opening it up even more is not a problem.

That's good advice. I can fabricate some wooden packers 5-6mm strong and put them between the nose retract and the mounting rails. Also stiffening the nose oleo spring sounds like a good idea as it was compressing way too much when I accelerated.

Dave Wilshere

Leave the inlet set up. Do the nose leg and packer and it will be away

Canadian Man

My Feedback: (1)

bluelevel

My Feedback: (39)

Just wanted to post an update on my previously reported take off rotation problem. Also wanted to give huge a shout-out to Electron. Parallel to posting here I contacted Electron to report my issue and ask them for advice. My email was answered quickly and Adrian suggested to try a stiffer front spring and increase the front height by using a 70mm dia tire instead of the stock 60mm one. I received all promised parts in the mail free of charge, that's what I call awesome customer service!

I had already made 5mm packers to raise the front, the bigger front tire will be installed as well in case that I need a few more millimeters of height. The new spring feels fine as well.

No flying weather right now, I'll report back here as soon as I was able to test the changes.

bluelevel

My Feedback: (39)

OK guys, seems as if I got my take off rotation problem sorted. As stated in an earlier post, I started with a stock version of the Electron ER-40 retracts and could not get the plane off the ground. The thick golf course like turf at our field doesn't help and coming from turbines I also learned that EDFs simply do not deliver the same thrust at take-off speed. In a first attempt I added 6mm packers under the nose retract to improve the angle of attack and put a thick 4mm spacer in the nose oleo to increase the pre-tension of the spring. That helped a bit, but I was only able to get the plane off the ground by jerking back the elevator stick completely. The take off roll looked as if I were a complete beginner and the plane was close to stalling.

Today I test flew the bigger front tire (70mm instead of 60mm) and I have also installed the firmer red spring I received from Electron. I started with the CG location as per Dave's recommendation but moved it way back. The small Rebel still needs a firm pull to get it off the ground but I can live with that. Flew 4 battery sets today to dial in the throws, expo & gyro gains and I moved back the CG 2 times (it is now about 3cm aft of the spar behind the wing tube).

Comparing the smaller 2m Rebel to my bigger Rebel Max there are still worlds between those 2 planes, but of course it's a bit unfair to expect that the Classic flies as nice as its bigger brother. All in all I am happy with the plane now. Still not a huge fan of EDFs but our field doesn't allow turbines on weekends, so what can you do...

grolleman

I haven't been able to fly yet, but I will adjust it as well, our field is not very long.
What size spring is it exactly?

grolleman

double

bluelevel

My Feedback: (39)

As I said in my post, I am using the red (harder) spring instead of the stock (blue) one. Just ask Electron and they'll know exactly what you need.

But as I said in my previous post the spring swap wasn't the only thing I did. I also replaced the original 60mm tire with a 70mm dia and I added about 5mm of packers under the nose retract. This elevated the nose 10mm.