Eclipson Pathfinder - Maiden Flight

[@3dprintmiami]

Great flight!

Awesome flight 💯👌🏻😎👍🏻👍🏻

[@robtomben]

Couple questions; Firmware INAV or Ardupilot? Did you set up with differential thrust? What was your throttle and pitch angle for auto-launch? Setting mine up and could use some info, thanks. Oh yeah, where did you get those OSD graphics? Why no flaps on landing? Just curious.

[@Prevettspecialdesign]

Great video, that plane flys really smooth, nice job and thank you of the video! Simon,Sweden

[@brubakerjm]

Yes, it's an incredibly smooth flier. I had one of my best flights of 2023 with it. Side note: I am learning Swedish! Thanks for watching!

[@maxun1]

Love it.

[@brubakerjm]

Thanks for watching!

[@maxun1]

@@brubakerjm Was beautiful

[@mickeyg.c.1654]

pretty bird, awesome video! What a perfect set up!

[@brubakerjm]

It's such a great plane! Can't wait to fly it again this season!

[@thargor6750]

Looks efficient!!

[@ioannisbatas1614]

Superb !!!

[@sebby_d_fpv]

👍

[@HenkBonhke]

Hi there great flight! Did you use lw pla for the wings and body? I just printed the plane in pla, wondering if it flies as smooth as yours😊

[@brubakerjm]

Hello! The entire airframe was printed out of pre-foamed LW-PLA (Polymaker), except for some sensitive pieces like motor mounts and such. I normally prefer PLA+/PLA Pro, but the continuous printing/vase mode design of this model is so good that using LW-PLA was just as simple as normal PLA+. Have you flown yours yet?

[@powerstroke01]

​@@brubakerjmmy polymaker lwpla is super stringy. Have you had any issues?

[@brubakerjm]

@@powerstroke01 Sorry I missed your comment! Yes, pre-foamed LW-PLA is very string if printed in normal ways, i.e. with non-printing moves like travels. Even with a whole bunch of retraction, it still just oozes right out and makes a huge mess. This is not a problem with the Eclipson Pathfinder or other models that are designed for vase-mode printing, since there are zero travels moves and the extruder just continuously extrudes in a single path the entire time. For other designs that are *not* vase-mode friendly (if a part requires infill, for instance), then one needs to dial in retraction and re-prime settings to try and get close to the right amount of stop/start during each travel. In these cases, I also ramp up my travel speed to try and minimize the time the nozzle has to ooze. I also usually turn on (in Cura) Combing -> All, which makes the print head travel along already-printed lines, which helps to hide the inevitable oozing by trying to get it to ooze onto previously printed paths. Some people don't like Combing though, but it has worked pretty well for me. The few remaining wisps can usually be knocked off with just a pass or two of sandpaper. That said, lately if a design is not vase-mode friendly, then I am probably just going to print it in PLA+ and just deal with the extra weight.

[@powerstroke01]

@@brubakerjm I appreciate the reply! I just finished printing the Pathfinder and it came out beautifully. Used the polymaker lwpla as well as some asa, petg, normal pla and tpu of course. Starting to assemble it now. 😎

[@brubakerjm]

@@powerstroke01 Excellent! The designer of the Pathfinder had a previous model called the Helix which I printed. I was astounded at how well it printed given the vase-mode design, having not tried a vase-mode-designed model before. So when the Pathfinder became available, I jumped on it. I have not tried ASA yet, but I have heard that some people find that ASA parts can be even a bit lighter than pre-foamed LW-PLA prints, all with increased strength and heat resistance. I'd like to try an entire airframe in ASA sometime. Good luck with your assembly!

[@pointman028]

Buitifull flight ✈️

[@amoswolfe7122]

Are you still flying twinky?