XK A160-J3 Skylark 4CH 650mm EPP RTF RC Airplane from Banggood - Part 4: Serious Control Issue
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- čas přidán 11. 01. 2021
- I ordered this ready-to-fly (RTF) J3 Cub model from Banggood on the first week of September right before Labor Day. It was on sale at $89.99, plus $2.70 for shipping and $1.80 for shipping insurance, so I paid a total of $94.49. However, the price may have changed, but I suspect it will go back on sale again if you are willing to wait:
www.banggood.com/XK-A160-J3-S...
It was not in stock when I placed the order, but I did not care since I was not in a hurry to receive it. It was delivered to my home late October.
I think what I paid was a very good price for such a complete package of a nicely-sized parkflyer with a respectable 650mm wingspan. It is not too small and it is not big either.
In the first and three episodes, I showed the unboxing, the assembly, and the maiden flight:
• XK A160-J3 Skylark 4CH...
• XK A160-J3 Skylark 4CH...
• XK A160-J3 Skylark 4CH...
My initial observations were all good. However, as I watched more reviews of this airplane on CZcams, I realized that many people have had or have been having an issue they called a "tip stall". The plane was becoming unstable during some turns and then stalling or going into a spin without warning. A video posted by CZcamsr Albert Kim was especially curious, because his plane crashed during a turn, although it had plenty of airspeed:
• Multiprotocol Module T...
Watch that video at 9:52 and at 10:12. After watching that video, I became concerned and wanted to investigate this issue further to figure out what is the culprit of these crashes and if they are systemic to this airplane, or even to the whole XK line.
In this video, I am presenting my findings and what I believe the cause of this issue is. And my findings are really bad news in my opinion. I think this product should have never been released for sale. This instability issue seems to be widespread enough that I believe it is a design or programming flaw of the stabilization system.
Now I am on high alert for any XK products using this transmitter/receiver/stabilization combination, since I have previously crashed my XK A800 glider and XK A430 Edge aerobatic plane in very similar ways. Both of these XK models come with the same transmitter, so I am assuming they also have the same 3D/6G stabilization system. I am going to continue testing my theory on these models as well and post those videos soon. If you own any XK airplanes, I suggest you check them before your next flight using the procedure I detail in this video. GOOD LUCK!
Thank you very much for watching. If you find this video useful or informative, please give it a thumbs-up. If you are not already a subscriber to Props & Wheels, please consider subscribing, so you do not miss new content we are adding almost with a daily cadence. I hope you are part of this amazing hobby, or at least considering joining, because it is so much fun and rewarding.
Stay safe and healthy! Cheers! - Věda a technologie
I found you need to have the Transmitter on high Rates and you wont have a problem .
Such a helpful video! Thank you for all the effort!
So many respected reviewers have struggled with this plane. I've got one and the elevator control was not working out the box. I've ordered another receiver as the servos for rudder & elevator are integrated into the control board. I'm following all the recommendations and hope it will fly without any problems but I don't hold out much hope.
Awesome awesome video. Thank you so much. I was thinking about getting one of these I really like them. I would definitely look into that.
Very good troubleshooting and communicating the results. Far too few people can do both.
First time viewer. I’ll be back.
The plane is tail heavy I added 2 pennies to the nose and I trimmed the rudder no problems .
I bought the 1st with rudder issues then returned to get other one same but still have same issue!
I have a working theory as to why the gyros in these are flipping out. it's not a tips stall issue, as you can see the rudder going to full deflection and putting it into a spin.
I suspect it is because they moved the receiver back into the tail section so that the plane could have a detailed cockpit. But the built-in gyro system on the receiver brick needs to be mounted near the center of mass so that the plane rotates around it in all 3 axis's.
By mounting it in the tail the receiver is experiencing lateral and vertical motion when the plane rotates in yaw and pitch, and I bet it's confusing the self-leveling software. Look in any other Eachine,Volantex or XK ready-to-fly aircraft and you will find the receiver with gyro under or over the wing and near the G/C and center of rotation/center of mass.
That is a good theory Doggeslife. It may explain why other XK planes do not have the same issue. I thought the issue was the abnormal full deflection of the rudder when you gave a quick succession of small RLRLRL rudder inputs. Please let me know if you end up testing and proving your theory. Thank you.
@@PropsWheels I just need a beat-up and ugly but still flyable A160 airframe that I can relocate the stock radio's position in and test-fly it without having to worry about potential crash damage. I don't want to test theories on a near-new plane and trash it if I'm wrong.
Great information
Glad it was helpful!
I have one coming in tomorrow and I will run this test on mine> If it acts up I am going to un-hook the rudder and just fly it 3 channel without the rudder. I have a A600 Beaver from XK and have never had a problem out of it. Thanks for the video. It probably saved my plane!
Hi Tim. That us a very good idea. I think it will fly fine as a 3-channel airplane. Please let me know how it goes. Good luck!
Fly the model on high rates. thats the problem .
@@thetwogardens6048 I have tried both high rates and unhooking the rudder. now instead of twisting down, it just comes straight down like a arrow. I have given up on mine. I would also like to let you know that I have had a XK Beaver for a couple years now so I decided to get another one and it acts just like the Skylark. Big Bummer!
@@PropsWheels Not good. Now it just comes straight down. I also bought a XK Beaver and it does the same thing
@@rcplanetim53 I bought that XK A800 glider and only got three flights out of it . The receivers on those things are crap.
I wont buy small planes anymore. I stick to the bigger stuff .
Hi once again, I also have the a800 and it literally without warning it dived into the ground consequently it is hot glued and taped together and I have been reluctant to fly it since. With a lot of the small models that I have including the Mustang and Corsair I have not experienced that problem but I do feel that the sensitivity could be dialled back to eradicate twitching whilst flying but for the money I accept there’s a in what can be provided.
Once again a clear concise video I’m intrigued what if anything is possible with this stabilised receiver. Thanks.
Hi Michael. Thank you for sharing your experience with your XK A800 glider. My last few crashes was like that as well, felt like I had no control and it kept leaning towards one side until it hit the ground. I am going to check it for the same rudder issue. I never had any such issues with my Eachine and WLtoys stabilized parkflyers, and I think they are fantastic.
By the way, I just posted another flight video of this airplane:
czcams.com/video/vLdoWWh9JoE/video.html
Best regards.
Can we not disconnect the link to the rudder and just fly it bank and yank?
Excelente observación se puede enlazar con futaba ??
Great work on your videos, thank you. Have you been able to find a way to bypass the stabilization and go to manual flight?
Utytt
I have never had a tip stall issue. The plane for a start is tail heavy and needs at least 10g weight on the nose. But I do find that the electronics on XK planes to not be the best .
In this plane, the rudder is already mixed with ailerons in stabilized mode, so there is no need to use the rudder in flight to make a turn, which is where the problem you are reporting is on. So, just do not use the rudder alone in flight that everything will work well.
HI,
I have an A160-J3, I would like to use it with a TX16S radiomaster. I have detected that you have a new V911 protocol card. Can you tell me on which channels I can set the other functions? 3G/6G - L,H etc.
Thanks and greetings, Aldo Guarasci
is the receiver use KN-WLTOYS or V911S-E119 multi protocol ?
The suggest cg in the laughable "manual" is WRONG. It makes the plane tail heavy causing tip stalls and spins. CG should be no more than 1/3rd of the cord of the wing from the leading edge. I balance mine right, moved the rudder and elevator pushrods to the outside holes and mine doesn't tip stall or spin out of control. 45 years of RC experience.
Hi Aztom40. Thank you for your recommendation and tip. I do not like flying tail-heavy planes. I may do another review flight video once I bring the CG forward. Take care.
Thank you for the smartest advice yet! that’s what I was thinking .a plane will not fly if it’s not balanced in the CG is a bit too far back. Do I measure 1/3 back from front part of Wing? 1/3 of the over all wing with?
@@rogerhartzell544you measure from leading edge of the wing where it connects with the cockpit
Unreal. I just ordered this plane a few days ago. It’s literally arriving today and I’m thinking I should just not even unbox it and return it.
That's why i have both the XK a600 PS new name XK a900 . This plane doesn't have this issues the only problem with the XK a900 is that it is tall heavy so you need a bigger battery or put some weight in te nose of the plane. PS i had this plane before that's why i know
One my wing struts already broken. I am beginner and new to the hobby. Now i have to wait month for new wing strut to arrive from china because i can't find any uk model shop which sells a160 skylark parts :(
Sorry to hear... It is not one of my favorite airplanes. :(
I just used a barbecue skewer and painted it .
No es un avion acrobático para estar moviendo los mandos tan rapido, cualquier avion si lo vuelas muy bajo, es muy probable que se estrelle, por eso es recomendable volarlo muy alto, debes volarlo con el motor a tope, volarlo de preferencia a primeras horas del dia 7-9am para que no existan vientos fuertes. En un espacio abierto con bastante espacio para que los giros no sean tan cerrados. Este hobby requiere un lugar y horarios especiales y mas cuando son aviones ligeros.Yo tengo uno y vuela increible.
Yo lo compré, estoy esperando la entrega, es mi primer avión. Si veo que me gusta el hobby me compraré un radio y receptor Fly-sky que me servirá para otros proyectos y tal vez lo pueda adaptar a este avión.
Which protocol was this plane on I don't own this plane. I just want to know which protocol it's on in order to bind my XK A180 to my Jumper T-lite.
Here is the binding video:
czcams.com/video/dPChLMySfKM/video.html
I tryied binding the the airplane to my RadioMaster 16x radio using the video you posted but it would not bind. Is their another sub protocol that I can try. I use v911s and wltoys
If you have the new version of the XKA160 (the receiver board will have extra sockets for satellite DSM and S-bus receivers) the protocol used is now V911S/E119. You may need a recent firmware version on your Radiomaster TX16S Multi Module.
Maybe you got a lemon, mine flies perfect
I am glad you are having better luck. Perhaps they fixed the issue.
If you take the prop off and throttle up it gets worse
It’s not a good plane out of the box. I bought a new board thinking that was the problem but the new receiver has the same reactions as original. Can u put in a different receiver
I think you can put a new receiver, but you will also need a small brushless ESC and some soldering for the micro servos and the motor connectors. I am not sure if it is worth the effort though... :(
For a bench demo of what the real problem is with this model watch this.... czcams.com/video/wiFARGgVZKt/video.html
Not a great fan of his videos but gotta give credit for being the only finder of this I've yet seen.
This link does not work; it says "Video unavailable". I am curious what the root cause was.
Try to shorten the video
In this plane, the rudder is already mixed with ailerons in stabilized mode, so there is no need to use the rudder in flight to make a turn, which is where the problem you are reporting is on. So, just do not use the rudder alone in flight that everything will work well.
It's fine to fly without rudder in the air, but the rudder is useful during the taxiing on the ground. Unfortunately, this beautiful plane doesn't have full manual mode.
It should be easy to check this theory with a good Multi Protocol Radio. Just lock the inputs from the rudder stick to 0 and allow only the Gyro mixing of aileron to rudder to move the rudder. Adjust the COG for non tail heavy, select a flying day with a bit of wind (to get the gyros working) and fly large circles and 8s at 60%+ throttle (to discount the stalling of the highly loaded wing at slow speeds) - No lawn darts = theory may be good. Still a Crash Monster - back to the drawing board!