This neat little park flyer is intended for teaching my 9 year old son how to fly. The kit provided a
Speed 280 motor, but at the higher altitude of Colorado, it had just enough power to skim the grass and
land very nicely. An upgrade to a Speed 400 motor gave the needed power. Only problem was it moved the
CG back to the point where it was very unstable. A few nasty crashes resulted, but a little packing tape
and some epoxy put it back together as good as new. Now that I've got the CG right, it flys very gently.
NOTE: Newer Teddy kits now ship with a Speed 400 motor instead of the Speed 280.
First-timer Tips on the Teddy
I think you'll love the Teddy. It's a great plane.
A few things about building/mods:
Be sure that the tail-boom is straight on the spar that reinforces it when the glue is drying. I've seen one guy that had the foam pull away from the spar while the glue way drying, and it changed the tail incidence in a very bad way. I just used 5 minute epoxy, and held it flat until dry.
Test-fit the servo mounts/servos/battery pack/rx before glueing the servo mounts. Move things around to get the CG just right.
Unlike most electrics, there isn't any room to move the battery
pack front/back to adjust the CG. I set mine up with the CG slightly forward, and there is room to move the RX back further to move the CG
back slightly. I've now got the CG exactly as shown in the instructions and I'm very happy with the stability.
If you aren't using the "Multiplex Power Set", then be
careful when you wire the speed controller to the motor,
as the polarity needs to be reversed (the motor needs to run
backwards). Also follow the directions to put the Prop on the plastic spinner backwards for use in the "pusher" configuration.
In this case, the writing on the prop should be facing the rear of the plane.
I put a drop of CA on the tip of the motor shaft to help attach the prop/spinner to the motor.
The spar doesn't run very far out into the wing, so I ran a piece of fiberglass-reinforced strapping tape on the bottom of the wing over the spar, all the way to the tip. I seems to make the wing a little stiffer. I sprayed some 3M-77 contact adhesive to make the tape stick better. I don't know if this mod really helps (I've seen many people fly theirs without this, even doing loops, etc) but it made me feel better.
If this is your first electric, then here's an item you might not know to do when range-checking the model. The electric motor can create interference. Be sure to do your antenna-down range check, and repeat the range check with the motor running, to make sure that the motor isn't causing problems. Always repeat this if you change your motor, or speed controller.
