Here's my new Stryker!

[elkmaster01]

I had to paint the verticle fins for visability,,,old eyes!

I put a 40A ESC in it,,it runs good on the 3S but when I tried a 4S battery it got smoking hot,,I ran it WOT for 45 seconds. The ESC was slightly hot but the motor was extremely hot.

Anyone think that it would be alright in the air on 4S since the WOT would be only short bursts?

I'm going to maiden it today on 3S,,,when I ran it on 3S and held it verticle it had enough power to climb out of my hand so it's better than 1 to 1.

I did notice that the wing tips flex a lot just from the flight controls at full travel. I can see doing a CF tube mod on the wings if I want to fly on 4S.

I'm dissappointed in the battery layout,,to get anything larger than a 2200 3S will take some hogging-out. And why didn't they make the battery hatch bigger. The battery hatch seems pretty cheezy,,,how often does that break?

I set the flight controls by laying a straight-edge on top of the wings. And I put +80% for expo,,,I'll mess with dual rates when I get a feel for it. I'll use Kents method for launch,,just put in 10 clicks up elev and throw it WOT.

Oh,,,,and I DO have the aileron channel right,,,,right-stick/right aileron UP,,,right? Still can't beleive I did that to my F-4E,,LOL.

I'll report back!!

Randy

[19000rpm]

Nice looking plane. Gabe and Kent have some great posts on the Stryker in all forms from stock to the Darkside.

[Gabe]

I ran mine on a 4S on the stock motor for about 150 flights. I only ran WOT for 5 to 8 seconds max, followed by some low throttle to cool her off.

The extreme heat on the motor from running WOT for long periods of time caused the caulking that held the motor together to melt and the motor cap spun.

You'll be good, just use throttle management. She's a blast!!

[elkmaster01]

Thx Gabe!!

I flew it this morning,,,,,,perfect. All my trims stayed centered so it was a good rig job. This thing is easy to fly,,it's hard to believe how stable it is. My first landing took two approaches 'cause this thing floats like crazy,,,but it only skidded like a foot,,,LOL. The third landing I had some 10 mph wind and I could just flop it down wherever I wanted.

It is just a little faster than my F-4E, but OMG you can really bang the sticks around. On a WOT pull ups,,how does this thing not bend the battery,,LOL.

I got 7 1/2 minutes on a 3S 2200mAh 25C battery and I took temp readings on landing,,the ESC was 92 degrees and the motor was 96 degrees,,,it was 78 degrees ambien at the time,,,,pretty good.

I'm not going to worry about dual rates,,,,at 100% and +80% expo I can fly as smooth or as wild as I like.

I can't wait until winter to fly this,,,in the cold dense air you'll be able to hear it scream from the Mackinaw bridge!!

Fun stuff!!

[Gabe]

Another satisfied Stryker owner!

I had one sent to my folks' place and flew it bone stock. I had forgotten how much fun a bare bones Stryker really is!

Happy flying!

[elkmaster01]

Gabe,,how critical is CG on this thing? My 4S batteries are 100gr heavier than the 3S and there's no room to shift the battery back.

Also,,I don't know diddly about props,,,is the stock prop alright for running 4S?

I opened up the battery compartment for 4S and lightly glassed it to keep it strong.

How on earth did you guys find room for a 100A ESC and 6S batts? I had a hard enough time just getting a AR6200 in there..LOL.

Oh,,,the blaze-orange verticle fins help a LOT,,,this thing gets small in a hurry!

[akent]

Nice job, Elk!

I never flew the stock Stryker power plant on 4s. It flies great on 3s though.

I did upgrade the stock motor to the Turnigy 28mm 2350kv outrunner that made a fairly big difference on 3s. I was also very disappointed in the battery room. But you can hog the battery area out quite a lot.

I will finish up my dark Stryker one of these days! I need to order a motor mount.
Kent

[Gabe]

No worries on the CG. If you can push it aft a little, go for it. If not, she flies just fine a little nose heavy. If you are able to slide it aft, just stick your fingers on the dimples in the finger slots to double check that she's not tail heavy.

Yeah, I cut out A LOT of foam for the larger batteries.

Also, as far as props are concerned, I'd stick with the 6x4. I switched to an APC 6x5.5, but I think that ultimately lead to the motor's demise. I'm sure I was pushing 90+mph on that setup, but it was just too much for the stock motor. I burned up an E-Flite Six Series motor on the same setup holding WOT for about 10 seconds. So, it's obviously a lot of amps.

Just don't hold WOT for more than 3 or 4 seconds and then glide around for a few secs to cool her down.

[elkmaster01]

I flew it 4S this morning,,,it went very good. I used a Hyperion 2600mAh 35C battery and flew for 8 minutes. The battery cells were still at 3.84 v/cell so I figure I can get 10 minutes on it.

I kept the WOT to a minimum,,,about 4 seconds at a whack.

It wasn't a whole lot faster than on 3S but it did have a lot more power. On 3S it would climb to about 400 feet verticle before it rolled over but on 4S it just kept going.

I checked the ESC and motor temp on landing and they were just a couple degrees warmer than on the 3S.

The wind picked up to about 15 mph steady with some gusts,,I won't fly my F-4E in wind like this but the Stryker handled it very nice,,,I'm impressed.

I'm good to go,,,thats for the help guys!!

[Gabe]

If the motor really wasn't that hot after your 4S run, try an APC 6x5.5 prop. Doesn't have to be an E prop. Just reverse two wires on the motor to get it spinning the right way. Keep the lettering on the prop facing forward.

You'll get a noticeable increase in speed. 5-8 mph increase for sure.