AXN Clouds Fly

This is a powered remote controlled glider plane. It is balanced, forgiving in flight, has curved wingtips for stability, a powerful motor for steep climbs and ultra fast pass-bys, and characteristics to glide around forever on thermals.

Specifications

Also called Floater Jet by Hobby King
Released: 2008
Type: Powered glider, high mount pusher
Airframe: Dense and smooth EPO (Expanded polypropylene) foam [1] [2] [3]
Length: 840 mm (measured)
Wingspan 1280 mm (measured)
Wing area: 0.23 m^2 / 23dm^2
Center of gravity: 51.5 mm, range 49-55 mm from LE
Stock weight: 600-650 grams (Servo, ESC, Rx, Bat)
Payload capacity: 200-350 grams (at least) [4]
Reinforcement: Black 750x8 mm glass fiber spar tube in the wings and embedded tube along in the tail section
Recommended flying area: 300x300 meters
Product page: http://www.rc-model.cn/802.htm

Kits

AXN-clouds AXN Floater-Jet with Servo, Motor, ESC, EPO (PNF) - Hobby King 53USD [5]
AXN-C-MOT Floater-Jet EPO with Motor (ARF) - Hobby King March 2011 40USD
AXN-C-KIT Floater-Jet EPO (ARF) - Hobby King March 2011 35USD
AXN-802SET AXN Floater-Jet Set EPO with servo, motor, esc, battery (PNF) - Low Price RC 60USD
AXN-802 AXN Floater-Jet EPO with motor (ARF) - Low Price RC 40USD

Similar airplanes:
- BMI Arrow [6] [7]
- Blitz RC Works Sky Surfer
- Xen Skywalker
- Dynam Hawk Sky
- Wild Hawk

Manual

Manual for AXN Clouds Fly
- Manual for BMI Arrow - Setup is essentially the same
Manual for Align RCE-BL15X ESC - Programming is the same

Stock setup

Motor: AX-2208N 2150 KV Outrunner 27.7x31.4mm (DxW), 3mm shaft, 40 gram, 18A with 5x5 prop 3s, 9 mm tube motor mount, 16x16 mm bolt pattern [8]
Propeller: EMP 5x5 Electric propeller, comes in pairs
ESC:
- Revision 1: AOXAN AE-20A Brushless Programmable ESC Linear 2A BEC 2-4S 26x50x11.5mm, soldered directly to motor 18 awg wire, battery wire 16 awg [9] [10] [11]
- Revision 2: AOXAN AE-25A Brushless Programmable ESC Linear 2A BEC 2-4S 26x50x11.5mm, Deans battery-connector
Servos: Blue Micro Servo 9 grams JR-connector

My Setup

AXN Clouds Fly Setup - My preferred way to set-up the plane and pre-flight procedure.

Tips

Center of gravity 49-55 mm from leading wing edge, on wing spar rods, 56 mm minimum drag [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
CG perfect with 3S 2200 mAh battery, a 1300 mAh too light, tail heavy, need to expand the room for the battery under canopy
First flights, best to set up CG as far forward as possible and a little noise heavy then tail heavy [18]
Change prop to 6x4E for more efficient flight, avoid going over 18A on stock motor and ESC combination [19]
Replace stock 20A/25A ESC for a safer more capable 25A or 30A, using a higher rated ESC than necessary will run inefficient, less flight time although cool ESC, now comes with 25A ESC stock
Get an ESC with +10A over the maximum amperage for the motor [20]
Fasten the battery and canopy properly to allow rolls and loops without loosing parts
Add fiber reinforced tape to the bottom of the plane to ease landing on rough surfaces
On stock motor, re-glue magnets with epoxy or CA glue after a few flights
Use a rubber-band and mounts, magnets, or velcro, to keep the wings tighter together [21] [22]
Mount the propeller the right way, the concaved or inward bent curve of the propeller should face the tail, text the front
The text must face toward the front, or on pusher propellers to the back [23]
If propeller is mounted the correct way but rotates the wrong way, swap any two of the three motor wires between the motor and ESC
Cut off excess length of the push-rods to avoid poking holes in battery or ESC
During launch, use 45-50% throttle, trim elevator down a few clicks or program flap-switch to 15-20% elev up to avoid diving, hard throw 20% up into the air, clear elevator up trim [24] [25] [26] [27] [28]
Use blue threadlock on push-rod connectors and any metal to metal screws or nuts
Use threadlock on all screws on the motor and motor mount [29]
Loosen up the foam on rudder, elevator, aileron hinges, or cut them off and re-attach with packing tape
Use 3M double-sided tape to fasten and packing tape to cover the aileron servos, easy to remove for later repairs
FPV: video transmitter on the tail, OSD in bottom of fuselage, camera on canopy, 1800 mAh battery forward
Pick a small enough propeller to allow the motor to run efficiently, avoid overloading and burning the motor, use WebOCalc [30]
Change the prop-saver for a collet-adapter, less vibration, prop-saver not needed on pusher plane [31]
Straighten crooked foam by dipping it in hot 80-90 degrees C water for 1-5 minutes, reform it by hand and use a spoon for any pimples [32] [33]
Mix 30-50% rudder into aileron on the transmitter for tighter corner turns [34]
Set-up throttle-to-elevator mixing on Tx, -15% to stay flat on all throttle positions [35]
Mark the wingtips with red decals/tape to easier identify the orientation of the airplane against the sky
Always take-off against the wind and the same for landing, against the wind as lower landing-speed requires more lift to avoid stall
Use the inner-most hole on the wing-horn and the outer-most hole on the servo-arm for maximum throw [36] [37]
To make the plane less reactive/twitchy for beginners, use push-rod on inner hole of servo and outer hole on the control horn, can also be range/exponential limited on transmitter [38]
Flaperons can help to make landing and launching easier, more angle of attack for resistance and decrease airspeed, replace Y-cable by two seperate aileron channels, programmed by the transmitter, spoilerons are flaperons inverted up [39]
Thrust line should pass through both the center of mass and the center of drag [40] [41]
Motor pod should have an angle pointing through the center-of-gravity point, called thrust line, to minimize elevator pitch down effect when throttling up the motor [42]
For prop-saver, attach the o-ring around the prop and to the 2 grub screws straight no crossing, more centered this way [43] [44]
Change the motor if the motor begins to vibrate during testing and propeller is balanced, motor is unbalanced [45]
To keep the same ESC current draw, when going up in prop size go down in motor Kv [46]
Throws: aileron 10 mm up or down, use outside hole of horn, elevator 5mm up or down, middle hole, rudder 20 mm both ways, middle hole [47] [48]
For maximum aileron throw, adjust travel on transmitter to 140% and cut a dent in the EPO at the edge for the servo arm and push-rods [49]
Turn the servos around with the head pointing to the rear, frees up servo arm movement and avoids binding on max down, easiest accomplished by swapping right with left servo
Add a gyro to aileron for more stable flight in windy conditions, will give minimum roll effect on rudder input, use fast servos [50] [51]
Use a gyro on elevator (pitch) to make landing easier in gusty wind conditions [52]
On a 45 degree dive and 1/4 throttle, release elevator stick, plane should level back, tail heavy if continuous dive and nose heavy if alternating climb/diving bumping [53] [54]
The thrust-to-weight ratio is 1:1 when a motor generates the same thrust as the weight of the plane [55]
Minimum 1:2 static thrust to weight for leisurely flight, 1:1 for aerobatics, and atleast 1.4:1 for 3D and hovering [56]
Wrap ferrite ring on BEC power lead to receiver to eliminate high frequency current noise from the ESC, 5-7 times round, helps wobbly lines on FPV cameras [57]
Propeller dimensions, e.g. 6x4, means that the diameter (length) is 6-inches and the total distance traveled for one rotation is 4-inches [58]
Increased prop-pitch gives increased speed but poorer acceleration, increased diameter increases thrust and current draw but lowers RPM and speed [59] [60]
Flatten wing tips or shorten them for better rolls, speed and agility, it decreases the dihedral-effect [61] [62]
Desolder cable between ESC and motor to add 3.5 mm bullet connectors with heat shrink, easier for repairs and to replace ESC
Enable air-brake on ESC to stop propeller free-turning on no throttle and gliding, will draw small amount of current [63]
Put the two Y-cable connectors in the square space between the wing halves [64]
For a more stable elevator, make a groove on the underside and put a 3-4mm carbon fiber rod from tip to tip, use any type of CA glue, perhaps white tape on top [65] [66]
Balance propeller using a magnetic bearing propeller balancer, add thin tape to the back of the lighter blade of the propeller or sand the back of the heavy side, not the tips [67]
ESC setup: motor brake ON, battery type Lipo, battery low cut-off, cut-off voltage high (3.2V), start mode normal, timing mode high, govenor mode off [68]

ESC Setup

Air break: On (Hold propeller still)
Battery type: Lithium-ion Polymer (LiPo)
Cut-off type: Soft-cut (Gracefully lower motor power)
Cut-off voltage: High (3.1V)
Start mode: Normal (Instant acceleration)
Timing mode: High (12+ pole motors)
Lipo cells: Auto detect
Governor mode: Off (Heli only)

Swap 2 of the 3 motor wires to reverse the motor rotation to go clockwise seen from the tail.

Glues

Polyurethane (PU) - Light, foams, some filler, humidity activated, slow curing, must be pressed during curing - Best for fixing any type of foam, deep cracks [69] [70]
- Gorilla Glue Quick Cure, Loctite SUMO (less foam)
Cyanoacrylate (CA) - Flows into cracks, brittle - Fasten plastic parts together, e.g. servo horns, sizing ring propeller, carbon fiber rod to foam
- Super Glue, Krazy Glue
Epoxy - Structural, filler - Any structure, undercarriage, FPV camera-mount
- Various curing time and brands available
Contact adhesive - Flexible, sticky
- Shoe Goo, Zap-A-Dap-A-Goo [71] [72]index.php?title=Foam
Silicone adhesive - Flexible - Mount plastic to foam, e.g. motor mount to foam [73]
- Loctite, Liquid Nails
Hot glue - Heavy, could melt foam - Fasten plastic to foam, e.g. position servos or plastic motor mount
- Try thin, medium warm glue

Upgrades

This is a list of possible upgrades. Most of the parts should in theory fit and work with the Clouds Fly. To find the product, search for the listed name.

Battery:
- Hyperion G3 VX 3S 2200 mAh 35C
- ZIPPY Flightmax 2200mAh 3S1P 20C
- Turnigy 1800mAh 3S 20C Lipo Pack [74]
ESC:
- Turnigy Plush 30amp Speed Controller [75]
- Turnigy Plush 40amp Speed Controller [76]
- Turnigy Plush 25amp Speed Controller - gets hot
- Castle Creations Thunderbird 36 ESC
- TowerPro H40A Brushless Speed Controller [77]
- HobbyKing 40A BlueSeries Brushless Speed Controller [78]
- HobbyWing Pentium 25A Programmable Brushless ESC [79]
- Misc:
  - Turnigy BESC Programming Card [80] [81] [82]
  - Turnigy 3A UBEC with Noise Reduction [83] [84]
Motor:
- Grayson GH Micro Jet V3 2200 KV Brushless Outrunner Motor - Light 34 grams, powerful [85] [86]
- Hoffman Magnetics Super Sport Series Outrunner 2470kv - Powerful, try 4.75x4.75 or 5x5 prop [87] [88]
- MicroDAN 2505 Speed 2800 Kv Bright Finish - Pricey, mounting tube 8 mm, new mounting plate needed, 6x4E Sport prop S3 [89] [90]
- Suppo 2212-06 2200KV motor [91] [92] [93]
- BP A2212-6 - Same as Suppo 2212-06
- Grayson GH Super Mega Jet V2 2550 KV Brushless Outrunner - Try apc 6x4e prop [94] [95]
- TowerPro 2409-12T Brushless Outrunner 1600Kv - Powerful, try, 6x4e, 7x6e prop, silent, mounting tube 9mm, direct drop-in, soft steel, use collet-adapter [96] [97] [98] [99] [100] [101] [102] [103]
- RCTimer BC2826-6 2200kv - Powerful, try TGS 6x4E/6x5E prop [104] [105] [106] [107] [108]
- RCTimer 2212-6 2200kv - Same as RCTimer BC2826-6 [109] [110]
- Emax CF2822 1200 KV Outrunner Brushless Motor - Mounting tube 10-11mm [111]
- Emax CF2812 1600 KV Outrunner Brushless Motor - Mounting tube 10-11mm [112]
- FC 28-12 Brushless Outrunner 1534kv - Clone of Emax CF2812, try 7x6, mounting tube 11mm [113] [114]
- A2208/9 17A 2200KV Outrunner Brushless motor V2 - Try 5x5 prop [115] [116]
- Moxie MOX-X2208N-2100 Brushless Outrunner Motor 2100KV - Try 5x5 prop, mounting tube 8mm, direct drop-in, very similar to stock motor [117] [118] [119]
- Scorpion SII-2212-1850KV V2 - Try 5x5E [120] [121] [122]
- Black Mantis B2836 2200kv Inrunner Brushless Motor - Silent [123]
- hexTronik HXM2730-3000 Brushless Outrunner 3000kv - Light 24 grams, try 4.1X4.1 prop, mounting tube drop-in, HK comment [124]
- Turnigy TR 28-26 16A 1900Kv Brushless Outrunner, HK comment [125] [126]
- Turnigy TR 35-30A 1700kv Brushless Outrunner - Try APC 7x5e prop [127]
- Misc:
  - MicroDan GBx Motor Mount - For converting backplate motors to 8mm tube style motor mounts
  - HXT 8mm Alloy Motor Mount 2.5g [128]
Propeller:
- APC 6x4E [129] [130]
- TGS Sport 6x4E Precision propeller - Less noise, climbs steeper, flies easier [131] [132] [133] [134]
- APC 6x3E [135]
- Master Airscrew 6x3.5 prop [136] [137]
- TGS 6x5E - For 2S battery [138]
- APC 6x4 Sport [139]
- APC 7x5E prop - Adjust motor pod angle
- APC 7x6E style
- Master Airscrew 6x6 3-prop [140] [141]
- Misc:
  - Shaft adapter to suit 3.0mm motor shaft (collet) [142] [143]
  - Ultralight Collet Prop Adapter for 3mm Shaft, M5 [144] [145]
  - Spare Rubber Ring for Prop Saver [146]
  - KD Colet adapter for 3mm shafts [147] [148]
  - Extreme accuracy Prop/Rotor balancer [149] [150]
  - Top Flite Power Point Balancer [151]
Servo:
- hexTronik HXT900 - Great value, same as Towerpro SG90 [152] [153]
- Towerpro SG90 micro servo 9 gram [154]
- Hitec HS-65HB Micro Karbo Gear Servo
- Hitec Micro Servo HS-82MG metal gear - Bit heavy
Receiver:
- AR6110E DSM2 Compatible Parkflyer 2.4Ghz Receiver [155]
Transmitter:
- Spektrum DX7 DSM 7CH
- Turnigy 9X 9Ch Transmitter
- Hobby King 2.4Ghz 6Ch Tx & Rx V2
- Futaba 7C 72MHz or 2.4GHz [156]
- Futaba 9C
Gyro:
- Turnigy TG-380 - Light, channel switch for on/off, gain by travel adjustment [157] [158]
- E-Sky EK2-0704 - In rate mode [159] [160]
Camera:
- Mini DV MD80-AEE [161]
- 808 Car Keys Micro Camera #3 - 720x480 resolution [162]
Misc:
- Spektrum trainer cable 1/8-inch mono jack - For PPM out, EzUHF later on
- Light weight horn set - Same horn as stock horns
- Ultra Thin Foam Glue 40ml
- Evotite CA460 Foam Safe Super Glue (Medium)
- Turnigy High Density R/C LED Flexible Strip-White - Mount inside the foam
- XT Lipo Monitor 3S
- Turnigy Pure-Silicone Wire 16AWG Black
- Turnigy Pure-Silicone Wire 16AWG Red
- Turnigy Pure-Silicone Wire 18AWG Black
- Turnigy Pure-Silicone Wire 18AWG Red
- Turnigy 4mm Heat Shrink Tube Red
- Turnigy 4mm Heat Shrink Tube Black
- 3.5mm 3 wire Bullet-connector - Between motor and ESC
- Nylon T-Connectors Deans - For ESC
- JR Y Servo Lead 30CM Length
- 15CM Servo Lead Extention (JR) 26AWG
- High stength fiber tape 20mm x 50mtr
- Nylon Snap-Click style clevis - For rudder and elevator pushrod
- Pushrod Snap Connectors 1.5mm - For servo arms
- Dubro Servo Arms Micro XL
- Gorilla glue amber - To fix foam [163] [164]
- HXT900-G HXT900 Replacement Gear Set
- Aileron horn low-profile 18x16x1mm - For holding wings together with rubber band
- Carbon Fiber Tube (hollow) 3x2x750mm - For elevator strength
- 5 Spoke Wheel Shock Absorbing D60xH18mm [165] [166]
- Turnigy Watt Meter and power Analyzer [167]
- Quality Epoxy Glue 30 minutes
- Double Sided Tape Pack 110BS - For aileron servos