Cougar 2000 V2 - Repair in progress

[Pilot Ben 28]

tray is for lipo. I can't really be bothered with dremmeling the edges away... I think a 4.8v will be fine for it so for the hassle I'm going to leave it a is.

[Pilot Ben 28]

 

So... I cant fit a 5cell/6v battery in no matter what shape humped/flat/square so I've gone for a 4.8v 2500mah instead.

 

At 6v my HS322HD servos in the wing produce 3.7kg of torque, and at 4.8v they produce only 3.

I think this will be enough as there's two of them? Will it be enough?

 

At 4.8v the 645's make 8kg so no issues there !

 

B

 

[Lofty 5]

 

So... I cant fit a 5cell/6v battery in no matter what shape humped/flat/square so I've gone for a 4.8v 2500mah instead.

 

At 6v my HS322HD servos in the wing produce 3.7kg of torque, and at 4.8v they produce only 3.

I think this will be enough as there's two of them? Will it be enough?

 

At 4.8v the 645's make 8kg so no issues there !

 

B

 

You could try one of them newish Li-FePO4 / A123, 2 cell batteys, they come in all sizes and mAh's! They do cost a bit more than a standard battery, but give you so much more! "just a thought".....

 

Best to fly it and see what the roll rate is like! If you find you are getting servo / control blow back, then you may need to replace them with some thing a bit better!

I did fly one on Futaba S3001's all round, and it was ok! But in the end, its all down to how you fly it or what you want to do with it!

 

Edit:- I have always flown mine on 5 cell batterys tho!

 

[Pilot Ben 28]

Well my "last" cougar had 322's all round and it ran on 4.8v. If it was a bit faster I would upgrade but because I'm using it at slower speeds, I should think it'll be fine...

[Pilot Ben 28]

 

the s3001's make 3.2kg so I may be alright.....

[Lofty 5]

 

the s3001's make 3.2kg so I may be alright.....

 

They are only around 3kg at 6v........maybe a bit more powerful and faster with a fully charge 5 cell battery! I always charged the battery up every 3 flights or so as well!

Futaba S3001

4.8V 33 oz-in (2.4 kg-cm) 0.28 sec/60°

6.0V 42 oz-in (3.0 kg-cm) 0.22 sec/60°

 

[Pilot Ben 28]

So I sucked it up and got 4 HS645's

[Pilot Ben 28]

Cast is off!!!!! Get the cougar built and away I go

[Martin 0]

 

You could try one of them newish Li-FePO4 / A123, 2 cell batteys, they come in all sizes and mAh's! They do cost a bit more than a standard battery, but give you so much more! "just a thought".....

 

I was going to suggest that myself! They don't have to be expensive:

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/zippy-fligh ... -pack.html

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/zippy-fligh ... -pack.html

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-nan ... -pack.html

 

... etc ...

 

They also have the advantage of being smaller and lighter, and providing a much better discharge rate (so you don't have to put in a huge pack just to get the current rating for multiple heavy servos). Even the small ones are fine for 4-5 servo planes. My WOT4 with 4x Hitec HS5485HB digitals and 1x Futaba S3001 flies fine on a 700mAh Zippy Flightmax - though I am tempted to up this to 1100mAh. Either the 700 or 1100 should be fine in a Cougar.

 

Also, you can check them at the field with your LiPo balance checker, and if it's low you can top it up with LiPo charger in half an hour or so. I love them as there is no more worrying about when I charged the receiver pack or whether it has self-discharged - just connect it to the charger and if it's already full charging will terminate within 2-3 minutes. Compare that to NiMH which take 1 hour plus just to notice that the pack is already charged!

 

(On a tangentially related note, why on earth have Hobbyking decided to mess up their site so that it's no longer possible to link directly to an item in a particular warehouse? Sigh.)

 

[Pilot Ben 28]

Yeah I saw that and gave up and ordered from wheelspin instead

[Pilot Ben 28]

 

I did think about getting a li-fe but I didn't really consider it, as I'll have to take it out of plane to charge it as I can't charge it through the switch. Also I would really pack the batt in as I need to shoehorn the gear into it, so it would be impractical to take it apart every time it needed a charge.

 

I may be at the field with the foamie this Sunday bit we'll see!!!

B

 

[Pilot Ben 28]

 

Tadaaaaaaa

 

Elevator and rudder aren't connected and there is no radio, but so far so good. I'll be running the engine tommorrow to see if the props are ok

[Pilot Ben 28]

 

[Pilot Ben 28]

 

And it balanced puuurfectly first fime

I cant tell you how long it took me to put the gear in

But, its done and read to go, at long last, the biggest challenge ever to put a switch in a plane!!!!!

 

 

 

 

B

 

[Pilot Ben 28]

 

Flew the cougar extensively yesterday. It is now my favourite plane it my small fleet I love the way it hovers in a breeze and is happy tottering along at walking pace, and then just stops in mid air

Can't wait for the funfly

That's my camfc flying done for 2016, see you all in 2017.

B

 

[Pilot Ben 28]

I'll also be keeping you all up to date with my gliding adventures on the Scottish north east coast

[Pilot Ben 28]

 

So I've restored a few gliders, one of the notable ones being the Cambrian models Slingsby Eagle sailplane, which flew well on several occasions. I have also flown a stripped trek sumo wing off a cliff, and somehow got it back

 

Anyway, there's a storm coming up here, with gusts of 50mph so that's that on the flying front until next year

 

 

B

 

[Pilot Ben 28]

Next on the list is a Ripmax expression. Watch this space!

[Pilot Ben 28]

Thought I'd return to this 2 1/2 years later, just to say that I have recently converted my current Cougar to electric power. To say I am happy with it is an understatement, and I am sure that there will be a video of it here courtesy of @Ivan.S very soon! For those interested, I have used the 4-MAX "high performance" setup, namely a 35mm 800kv motor with a 12x6 prop mated to a 70A ESC. I am using a 2650mah 4S. I can also say that the balance and handling seems to be unaffected, whilst cutting weight by about 100g from my previous setup.

Does it still feel the same as "my" cougar? I think it does, you know!

B  

 

[Guest Craig]

Well, i have converted my cougar to an electric running an eflite power 32, 4s 3300, 13x6 prop, eflite 60amp esc.  I am pulling around 50 amps max throttle. Model weighs just under 2kg (2000grams), and it fly's beautifully for around 7 mins. 

I also run it on 3s 4400 14x7 prop and it also flies great in the air for around 12 mins. 

I am much happier with this as an electric then i am being an os. The messing around and sometimes heart thumping dead sticks leaving brown stains in your pants is not the greatest feeling. 

I have recently installed an eagle tree 2d-3d gyro to help with 3d but not flown yet. putting full control into a gyro is abit scary. 

[Pilot Ben 28]

The only gyro I’ve even had the pleasure of working with was in an old club trainer, and the first thing it did was park the model in some trees!

 

I really dislike gyros, because they not only distort the flying by constantly interfering, but they give a false sense of pilot ability, and this causes problems after the gyro is removed. However, gyros are only bad IMO for LOS (decent-sized) models. For smaller foamies they are very useful, such as eflites warbird range, the gyro system helps fly the smaller warbirds in less than perfect weather. For FPV, I think that you really do need a gyro to keep the flight smooth, as well as position hold etc on multirotor models.

2kg is defo on the heavy side for a Cougar isn’t it? Mine weighs around 1.4/1.5kg and performs like a cougar should. I use the 2650mah as any bigger would make the model too heavy for what I want to do with it, as well as not really fitting inside the fuz (see previous posts about the new tray). I get about 6 mins when I do “proper” flying, and I think around 12 mins when flying gently, not that I’ve ever done that of course !

I was forced to put the model to leccy a) because the power from the 35 was awful, and b) because Dave persuaded me that for funfly these days you really want leccy for the quicker throttle response.

If the engine is set up properly, and it is happy, then there should be no deadsticks, indeed I have only ever had one on the 35 in over a year and that was due to fuel starvation (having too much fun lol). What engine did you have in it before Craig?

 

B  

[Guest Craig]

I had a webra 35 aero with a  black top think it is made in Austria. And i dont know why mine weighs so much.

I hand launch my cougar with 3/4 throttle then ease to half throttle for smooth flying. It has unlimited vertical at full throttle chucking out over 700 watts. just over 3/4 throttle i get it to prop hang for 3 seconds then it starts fall out  cause of my lack of 3d skill. 

 

the plane is great fun dam i bet if be even better 500 grams lighters 😍

[Guest Craig]

I am also looking at the fun fly fusion models but the only kit version is seriously putting me off. You have to do absolutely everything to it to get it flight ready. 

 

I would gladly buy one pre made

[Pilot Ben 28]

Webra engines are the same as the Weston uk West engines. They all have a reputation of begin unreliable, hard to tune, and a tendency to blow up!

Fusion is an amazing plane, and the kit is dead easy to put together. The Cougar flies better than the Fusion however, but I think that the Fusion is perhaps better for funfly.

[funflyjames 19]

Hi Ben,

Webra are certainly not the same as the Weston Uk West engines. They may have the same distributor but Webra are or certainly used to be great engines from Austria. I've had one for years in my big Hurricane. I certainly wouldn't touch a West engine with a barge pole though!