Edge 540

My Feedback: (2)

I purchased an FMS F3A Olympus at the Toledo show. I purchased this plane with the intentions of having a smaller practice plane to take to the field when I am time crunched to take my regular 2meter. My initial thought was ''WOW'' This plane was very large for an EPO Foam bird. From removing it from the box to a finished product took just under an hour. The plane was very well packaged, and only had a few minor foam dings from packaging that was expected from a model this large. After reading some posts and thoughts on the included metal gear digital servos, I had intended on installing some hitec digies from the get-go. However, once I tested the resolution and power of the included servos I was extremely happy with their performance. They centered very well, and were very quiet and smooth operating. I decided to give them a try, and I must say they performed awesome. The included 15x8 prop was very out of balance, so I am glad I balanced it prior to flying it the first time. I am running a seperate 3s 400mah rx pack through a 6v regulator since I disabled the bec part of the esc. On a plane this large I do not trust BEC's with prior experiences. For the initial test flight I flew it on a 5s 3000 mah pack, and the only trim it required was one click left aileron, and two clicks right rudder. After I flew a couple trim circuits I did a few basic rolls and a few stall turns to feel out the response. I started out with 20% Expo on aileron/elevator, and 10% on the rudder. After seeing how very effective the rudder is at center, I went to 30% on the next few flights. The rolls were very true with hardly any pitching around neutral, and minimal to no elevator was required inverted. For the next few flights I flew a 6s 4400 pack in it, and it required no trim change, and did not notice any large difference in feel versus the 5s 3000 pack. I was able to go through the first half of the Masters pattern with no issues in power. With the batteries being new, I limited my flights to 4 minutes. I was a little concerned initially with the small landing gear and wheelpants flying off of fairly tall grass, but it had no problem what so ever. The stall characteristic is very mild just as a typical patternship. Having just under ten flights on it now, I am growing very comfortable with it and feel it is not going to take a whole lot more tweaking to get it dialed in. I like this plane so much, I think I am going to buy a second one to have just in case they discontinue it, or etc... I own a Great planes Sequence and have flown many flights on a 62" Osiris, and I must say that this thing locks in better and flies 10 times better than those. I highly recommend this plane for anyone looking for a good practice plane and or contest plane for Sportsman or Intermediate !

ltc

My Feedback: (3)

It is now sold by MotionRC (generally considered a great place to deal with)
http://www.motionrc.com/fms-f3a-olym...n-pnp/#reviews
$269 with free shipping.
Might be worth picking one up to see how it compares to the WingsMaker Commander 40ep http://ecsvr.com/wgm/shopexd.asp?id=499 which is a bit smaller (1.32m vs 1.4m) but flies very well also.

Mike Cohen

My Feedback: (26)

With the 5S pack, could it perform the long uplines of the Master pattern, or does that require a 6S?

Edge 540

My Feedback: (2)

Mike,

I flew it yesterday several times with a 5s 3800, and a 6s 4400. It flew the masters pattern very well using wither battery with no re-trimming needed. The 5s pack flew it very well, and the vertical lines were just a little bit lacking but flew them comfortably. I was also using just a 20C 5s, so with a 30-40C pack it would more than likely help. The 6s pack I flew in it is unlimited in performance, and you can make the maneuvers as big as you want. On the last flight I flew it using a 5s 5000 pack and it flew it very well as well. I think I am going to stick with the 6s 3000-5000 packs.

woodie

The Motion RC site lists the Olympus as having 2 elev servos. Is this true?

Edge 540

My Feedback: (2)

No - The Olympus only has one servo for the elevator's. Good Quality servo though with good centering, resolution, and power.

woodie

Thanks for the reply. I just got an email response from Motion RC acknowledging it was a typo and would correct it soon.

Woodie

woodie

On a whim, I ordered an Olympus from Motion RC, it arrived about 5 days after I ordered. Everything was intact, the model is well packed in a foam box with a cardboard lid and shipped in another cardboard box. Nothing was damaged in shipping even with a couple boot prints on the outside of the cardboard box.

I assembled the model in less than 2 hours, kept everything stock including the default ESC settings. When someone posts that the servos included in a foam ARF are 'good', it is usually questionable, and I did expect to replace the servos but honestly, these are some nice servos. Smooth, quiet and center well. They hold trim well in flight, no need to change them out as far as I am concerned. During assembly, the only issue I had was one bolt socket for the canalizer did not seem to have a nut or socket at the bottom of the hole for the screw to grab, but subsequent inspection showed the socket was hidden by a bit of foam flashing which pushed the screw out of alignment. Removing the flashing fixed this small problem quickly.

I used a 4000mah 5S 30C pack and the model finished out just under 2500gr. The weather cooperated today so off to the field for a test flight. First flight required a bit of up and right trim, nothing major. After the initial flight, the trim held and nothing else required for the rest of the day. The plane has adequate horizontal speed but could use a bit more prop for verticals. I had already run a full throttle test at home and the motor and 15x8 prop pulled slightly less than 40A at WOT so I was not surprised at the lack of vertical authority. A 6S would fix that easily, but I have plenty of 5S packs and don't want another battery configuration. After the flights today, I plan on putting a 15X10 or 16x8 on it next time out. First flight of about 5 minutes only used about 2000mah from the 4000mah pack and battery was only slightly warm on landing, motor was cool, don't know about the ESC, it is pretty well buried in the bottom of the plane. Ambient temp was about 75F. The ESC allows a slow smooth idle and start is also smooth. Throttle calibration is very easy with a simple process using your transmitter. I didn't change any idle trim all day.

I had not put the wing fences on for the test flight and the model did show some minor adverse roll coupling on knife edge. Adding the wing fences (top only) fixed the roll coupling and KE is pretty good without any mixes. Slight pull to the belly on KE but moving the CG forward slightly fixed that. Model rolls very well and KE is almost effortless. Uplines are good, downlines need a touch of down elev mix (pretty standard). Snaps are QUICK, I actually backed off on aileron throw for next flights, spins are nice and it stops very quickly. As I mentioned KE is very easy, you just think about rudder, however, once you are in KE, the rudder response is not touchy. On rolling maneuvers, rudder input needs to be late and very little otherwise you will be changing heading.

I know, this sounds like another 'best plane I ever flew' test flight report, but honestly, I was surprised at how well this 56" foam plane flies. I put 6 flights on it today, a couple pattern buddies also flew it and both said they thought if flew well also. At $270 delivered, this plane would make a nice plane for someone to get started with, but it is also quite capable, I flew the P15 sequence with it and tried a couple KE half loops, it flew right thru them. My only complaint is the vertical performance on a 5S but my guess is a different prop will fix that at the expense of increased mah usage but that shouldn't be a problem based on how little it used per flight today. And, it fits in the back of my SUV in one piece sitting flat.... ;-) Since the 62" Osiris is no longer available, this might be a nice (and inexpensive) alternative for those looking for an entry level or smaller plane.

More reports after next time I go out, I did pick up a 15X10 APC .Couldn't find a 16x8 at the local hobby shop. The prop that comes with the model looks like an APC but it is not and it was badly out of balance but a little sanding on one blade and CA on the other fixed that.

So far, this foam pattern plane gets a thumbs up. Only time will tell if it stands up to a lot of flight time.

Woodie

IflyPATTERN

Pretty neat airplane!

woodie

removed by Woodie

IflyPATTERN

Hey woodie! Thanks, i actually meant for that comment to go in that thread! I fixed my error.

Brandon

Alan W

can anyone draw a comparison to the Eflite Splendor ?

The Olympus certainly looks the part ...

JSchoolcraft

Richard Hansen already did on RC Groups, and I already have a Splendor and just got my Olympus, just need to build it and fly it and I'll post what I can once I have a few flights on it.

woodie

What's the hold up then? It only takes about 2 hours to assemble the plane and set up the radio!! ;-)

Woodie

JSchoolcraft

I hear ya but........

I'm just getting back from the Phoenix contest, and local hobby shop closed and I've got to replace the crappy linkages it comes with at least. I just got the carbon rods and clevises yesterday. If I can get my orders shipped out today I'll put it together tonight. Not in a big rush to fly it in the gentle 30mph winds we have here today anyways. Lol

It honestly looks like it will be a great practice and learning tool for sure though! The Splendor did help me prepare for Arvin. I was able to practice in my front yard (got 2 acres) with 15-20mph crosswinds. That sure woke up the rudder!!

woodie

Yeah, I hear you about the linkage. It is overkill for the size of the plane but my guess is they are trying to make it easy for anyone to put together. I wouldn't do linkage they way they have done it but I am going to fly it stock for now just to check for longevity issues. Actually, you will save a bit of weight by going to carbon linkage which won't hurt, it won't be much but every little bit helps.

Looking forward to hear your impression of the plane.

Quick update, just tested the ESC/motor with an APC 15x10 electric prop. It pulled 44A vs the 15x8 at a little less than 40A. Will fly it tomorrow to see how it feels.

Woodie

woodie

Well, I took the Olympus out today and flew it with the 15x10 eAPC prop. Plenty of vertical authority with the prop and no problem flying a complete P15 sequence on a 4000mah 5S pack. I lowered my throttle curve a bit in the middle to compensate for the increased pitch so horizontal cruise was about the same speed as the 15X8. So, if you want to use a 5S pack instead of 6S it worked well for me. An increase of 5A going from an 8" pitch to 10" pitch doesn't seem to overload anything. The ESC is 70A and the motor is ambient when landing. It was cool today so higher ambient temperatures will obviously increase the ESC and motor temps but it doesn't appear that it will be a problem.

Woodie

JSchoolcraft

Well all of my parts except for the props have come in. I am taking some photos of what I've done so far but the first thing was to make the new Tru-Turn Turbocool spinner fit the existing motor. Luckily with a lathe everything becomes "bolt-on". Not only do I think this spinner will help cooling but it looks wayyyyy better than the stock POS spinner and will allow APC props to fit quite nice! Gonna take photos of the linkage as I go too. Main goal with this plane is to learn proper setup and trim as well as practice maneuvers I struggle with, without risk to my 2 Meter. Should be a fun experiment! I also plan on making the 5S setup work great, as I have a ton of them due to my 2 Meter.

JSchoolcraft

Here is the stock spinner and Tru-Turn that I'm going to replace it with:

JSchoolcraft

All I needed to do was replace the stock spinner screw with an 8-32 machine screw, put some heat activated epoxy on the shaft to cover the flats then machined it down to fit the Tru-Turn backplate and drill/tapped the stock motor shaft for the 8-32 screw. Came out pretty nice and the fit to the fuse looks to be perfect. Just hope I won't have to adjust the thrust!!

ltc

My Feedback: (3)

Was the stock spinner out of balance or did you just replace it "because" ...

JSchoolcraft

Replaced it just because. Besides to use props other than stock, would require quite the "butcher job" to the stock POS. Also did it for better cooling.

woodie

I have about 35 flights on the Olympus now. Still very pleased with the value/performance of this foam plane. No major problems, I had a magnet pull loose in the canopy a little glue fixed that quickly, and the rudder hinges are slightly off center (rudder off center to the left). I need to pull the rudder off and fix that, but I have been having too much fun with the plane to take the time for the fix.

I have flown the plane with both 5S and 6S setups. Right now, I prefer the 5S setup with a 15x10 eAPC prop over the 6S and 15x8 prop. More than enough power and speed with plenty of flight time for pattern sequences. Even tho the 6S generates more rpm, the 15x8 just doesn't seem to pull like the 15x10 and the 15x10 gives a broader speed envelope. Either approach works, but I am pretty happy I can use half of a 2M flight pack (4400mah). If you get much bigger (capacity wise), the pack will be a pretty tight fit under the canopy and could impact cooling air flow.. I may need to take an APC 15x10 and mod the pitch to 15x9, the 15x10 has more than enough speed and the 9" pitch might be a perfect match. Right now, I don't use full throttle for anything, slightly less pitch would give more throttle range. Worth a try.

What is surprising about this foam pattern plane is it will do about anything you ask of it. Rolling loops, snaps, KE loops, etc. Not bad for a $270 plane. Servos are still performing well, no centering issues but time will tell.

What would I like to be different... maybe slightly taller main gear, the plane sits pretty flat and you need maybe a little more ground speed for lift off than necessary if the plane could get up on the gear and rotate easier (very minor point). You can increase the AOA on the ground by bending the tail wheel wire up a bit but a bit more would help. The paint scheme is pretty visible in the air, but don't put tape on any of the painted areas, it will pull the paint easily. Likewise on the decals, even tho they are sticky back and the edges can curl up, if you try to remove them, the paint will pull also. Once again, a minor problem on a plane like this.

After all, what can you expect from a foam pattern plane with a 56" wingspan? Several of my pattern friends have flown the plane and the reaction is usually the same, very positive. No, it doesn't fly as well as my 2M plane, but it certainly flies much better than I expected. Very pleasant surprise for sure.

Woodie

pshark101

Well Woodie, you talked me into ordering one. When an amazing pattern pilot says a model flies great, that's all I need to hear. I'll be going the 6s route, since that's what I use for my Hyperion Helios. Should be a nice practice model, and a good backup.

-Jay W.

woodie

Jay, looking forward to you impression of the Olympus. Jamie, did you get yours in the air?
Woodie