PC-21 from WIND RC questions
02-14-2024, 03:12 AM
#76
Guldukat
questions regarding lights
1. Looks like you must use receiver channel(s) plugged into navigation light controller to make lights work. Just plugging a battery into the controller without receiver input for landing lights or nav lights will not allow them to turn on? I assume just a -100 to +100 gain will work?
2. Looking up instructions for light controller online says do not plug more than 2 lights into any 3V channel yet according to wind RC manual, all 4 landing lights get plugged into 1 channel and all 3 strobe lights get plugged into one channel. Is this a problem?
questions regarding lights
1. Looks like you must use receiver channel(s) plugged into navigation light controller to make lights work. Just plugging a battery into the controller without receiver input for landing lights or nav lights will not allow them to turn on? I assume just a -100 to +100 gain will work?
2. Looking up instructions for light controller online says do not plug more than 2 lights into any 3V channel yet according to wind RC manual, all 4 landing lights get plugged into 1 channel and all 3 strobe lights get plugged into one channel. Is this a problem?
02-14-2024, 04:59 PM
#77
Thread Starter
JP lights
Started on lights today that are powered by JP navigation light controller. Although all the wiring is done had not tried to turn them on.
key points
1. plugging a battery into controller did not turn lights on. However, when connected to receiver output, and receiver was powered on, you can get lights working
2. apparently the controller is powered solely by the 2S lipo. The servo extension wires provided for all controllers (brake, lights, retract) have the red positive leads all cut so only negative and signal wires get connected from the receiver
3. I fly JETI so set gain leads at -85 to +85 on nav light and retract channel. I did not have wings connected to check those lights but can confirm nose landing lites worked in sync with retract switch - on with gear down. Also checked tail strobe light with same gains and confirmed turns off and on with TX switch. Lights seem to shut off when receiver powered off
4. unknown what will happen when 4 landing lights are plugged into same channel and all 3 strobe lights are plugged into one channel. The posted instructions for the JP light controller says not to plug more than 2 lights at a time into these 3V channels but the PC-21 instruction manual from wind RC clearly shows using one channel for all 4 landing lites and one channel for all 3 strobe lights.
If anyone has experience with plugging more than 2 lights into one of the 3 volt light channels would appreciate any feedback on this forum
5. I have not powered up the formation lights yet which is a separate light system for my PC-21 and powered by a 3S lipo. Not sure how many versions of the wind RC PC-21 have formation lights
key points
1. plugging a battery into controller did not turn lights on. However, when connected to receiver output, and receiver was powered on, you can get lights working
2. apparently the controller is powered solely by the 2S lipo. The servo extension wires provided for all controllers (brake, lights, retract) have the red positive leads all cut so only negative and signal wires get connected from the receiver
3. I fly JETI so set gain leads at -85 to +85 on nav light and retract channel. I did not have wings connected to check those lights but can confirm nose landing lites worked in sync with retract switch - on with gear down. Also checked tail strobe light with same gains and confirmed turns off and on with TX switch. Lights seem to shut off when receiver powered off
4. unknown what will happen when 4 landing lights are plugged into same channel and all 3 strobe lights are plugged into one channel. The posted instructions for the JP light controller says not to plug more than 2 lights at a time into these 3V channels but the PC-21 instruction manual from wind RC clearly shows using one channel for all 4 landing lites and one channel for all 3 strobe lights.
If anyone has experience with plugging more than 2 lights into one of the 3 volt light channels would appreciate any feedback on this forum
5. I have not powered up the formation lights yet which is a separate light system for my PC-21 and powered by a 3S lipo. Not sure how many versions of the wind RC PC-21 have formation lights
02-15-2024, 06:50 PM
#78
Thread Starter
Formation lights working. I have them plugged into a separate channel with same gains as mentioned above. Plugged in a 3S lipo. Working nicely and able to turn as shown above.
Or turn off as shown here
02-15-2024, 06:56 PM
#79
Thread Starter
Controller wiring on tray above fuel cell. Still need to plug in wings to see which nav light wires go into which JST “Y” connectors. They are all 3V
03-14-2024, 05:19 AM
#80
Thread Starter
Working on balancing now. Very clear that despite efforts to keep installed equipment forward, the model is quite tail heavy going with recommended CG in manual. Would be nice to know how far rearward the CG can be safely moved to minimize the amount of nose weight needed!
03-26-2024, 05:41 PM
#81
Thread Starter
So it turns out the retract controller does not shut off when RX powered off. I decided to mount 2 switches under the front tray. Above is the switch on the left side which is plugged into a 2S lipo and then into both the retract and brake controller. The other switch plugged into 3S lipo and does lights
03-26-2024, 05:46 PM
#82
Thread Starter
Have balanced the fuselage on the wing spar without the wings on or cockpit installed. Was balanced nicely after adding 12oz of weight in the nose. Have subsequently mounted the retract and light batteries on front of equipment tray. Will do complete CG check after weather warms up and can get the model in my garage
04-02-2024, 12:55 AM
#87
04-04-2024, 05:03 PM
#90
Hello, Everyone, This is Fred from Wind RC, and i am really appreciated that you discuss the PC21 here, i been following this post from the beginning, and here is what everyone asked recently. Check the CG below, and hope this can help you something.
04-04-2024, 05:20 PM
#91
My Feedback: (15)
The CG shown in post #90 is what was used. Still required more than 20+onces of weight (using Kingtech 100 tp engine and 24x24 five-blade prop) in the nose to balance. I do have the early version of this model. Would like to see the equipment install from others currently flying the Wind RC PC-21.
04-06-2024, 05:16 PM
#93
Yes, Reinforcement on the wing root, Modify the horn on the rudder, the fuel tank now is reinforced. And the light controller now is changed into a new design which will be able to use only one.
The following users liked this post:
Fred-WindRC (04-12-2024)
04-21-2024, 10:52 AM
#97
Thread Starter
The manual states 213.5 mm for CG but sounds like a “CG range” would allow the CG to be moved more rearward. I balanced mine today at 220 mm. It was dead on balanced with a total of 32 ounces in the nose.
Yesterday, 05:18 PM
#99
Hey everyone, got mine maidened. I have a total of 2 flights on it. Hopefully I can help everyone out with what I found on my pc-21 to help others with theres.
First impressions.....
1: This thing is huge and is very good quality.
2: The packaging in the crates is the best I have ever seen. Other companies like to wrap in bubble wrap, and stuff everything into as few boxes as they possibly can. Wind RC used 3 crates to package this plane. Everything had plenty of room inside so nothing was rubbing on eachother. Roy had an issue with the cockpit seat coming unglued from the cockpit floor and rubbing on the canopy. I didnt have this issue but it could very well happen to you. Also, please take Roys advice on making a system so your canopy doesnt go all the way over. I used a string method that can be taken on and off with ease. But over-all I was extremely impressed with everything else.
3: Loc-tite!!!! I got the plug and play version with servos and hardware installed. I went over all the hardware and servos and to my surprise everything was loc-tighted. (you dont find that much anymore).
4: Front pins to take off cowl. These pins are fragile. Dont know what kind of metal they are made of but my two front pins broke off trying to get the cowl off the first time. Now its a hassle to get cowl off. I have to take prop and spinner off in order to get cowl off now.
The assembly itself was pretty straight-forward as there is so much done for you. I would say the part that took the longest was turbine placement. I am using the kingtech k-100TP. I saw pictures of other builds and it looked like no modifications or very light modifications where done to get the turbine installed. Mine required quite a bit of dremeling and shimming to get it to line-up. But once enough customizing was done it fit great and looks very clean. I am huge on spinner/cowl spacing and centering and mine is spot-on.
The fuel tank was not an issue but I elected to take it out which is a nightmare. I took out the Wind Rc plug, line, and clunk and replaced with my own style. I used leftover pieces I had from other birds. I do plan on putting a second tank in but will wait a little while longer to do that.
Issues!!!
The two big issues I have had on this plane are the retracts and brakes. The retracts themselves work fine, but the struts on mine dont extend back to the full down position when there is no weight on the aircraft. This prevents the gear going into there wheel wells correctly when being retracted. I know there is a trick where you can install wood dowels to compress the springs a bit more. I have done this but on my second flight the right main still didnt fully retract. So I will need to go in and make the dowel a bit longer.
The brakes are another issue that although my plane stopped before going off the edge of the runway it got close.
Here is an example:
My runway is 700 feet long. I landed 50-100 feet after the beginning of the runway and went to full pulsating brakes. It came to a stop about 75 feet before the opposite side of the runway. That is way to long. I landed at a nice slow speed as well. Fred from Wind RC says he has new brake hubs and I will end up ordering them in the coming weeks and hopefully those help.
Flight characteristics are awesome. I have 32 degrees of flaps and she comes in nice and slow and predictable.
But overall I am very impressed with this plane. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a very peaceful, predictable aircraft to add to there hangar.
Any questions, please ask.
First impressions.....
1: This thing is huge and is very good quality.
2: The packaging in the crates is the best I have ever seen. Other companies like to wrap in bubble wrap, and stuff everything into as few boxes as they possibly can. Wind RC used 3 crates to package this plane. Everything had plenty of room inside so nothing was rubbing on eachother. Roy had an issue with the cockpit seat coming unglued from the cockpit floor and rubbing on the canopy. I didnt have this issue but it could very well happen to you. Also, please take Roys advice on making a system so your canopy doesnt go all the way over. I used a string method that can be taken on and off with ease. But over-all I was extremely impressed with everything else.
3: Loc-tite!!!! I got the plug and play version with servos and hardware installed. I went over all the hardware and servos and to my surprise everything was loc-tighted. (you dont find that much anymore).
4: Front pins to take off cowl. These pins are fragile. Dont know what kind of metal they are made of but my two front pins broke off trying to get the cowl off the first time. Now its a hassle to get cowl off. I have to take prop and spinner off in order to get cowl off now.
The assembly itself was pretty straight-forward as there is so much done for you. I would say the part that took the longest was turbine placement. I am using the kingtech k-100TP. I saw pictures of other builds and it looked like no modifications or very light modifications where done to get the turbine installed. Mine required quite a bit of dremeling and shimming to get it to line-up. But once enough customizing was done it fit great and looks very clean. I am huge on spinner/cowl spacing and centering and mine is spot-on.
The fuel tank was not an issue but I elected to take it out which is a nightmare. I took out the Wind Rc plug, line, and clunk and replaced with my own style. I used leftover pieces I had from other birds. I do plan on putting a second tank in but will wait a little while longer to do that.
Issues!!!
The two big issues I have had on this plane are the retracts and brakes. The retracts themselves work fine, but the struts on mine dont extend back to the full down position when there is no weight on the aircraft. This prevents the gear going into there wheel wells correctly when being retracted. I know there is a trick where you can install wood dowels to compress the springs a bit more. I have done this but on my second flight the right main still didnt fully retract. So I will need to go in and make the dowel a bit longer.
The brakes are another issue that although my plane stopped before going off the edge of the runway it got close.
Here is an example:
My runway is 700 feet long. I landed 50-100 feet after the beginning of the runway and went to full pulsating brakes. It came to a stop about 75 feet before the opposite side of the runway. That is way to long. I landed at a nice slow speed as well. Fred from Wind RC says he has new brake hubs and I will end up ordering them in the coming weeks and hopefully those help.
Flight characteristics are awesome. I have 32 degrees of flaps and she comes in nice and slow and predictable.
But overall I am very impressed with this plane. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a very peaceful, predictable aircraft to add to there hangar.
Any questions, please ask.