Flight Tuning the Eflite Draco

[@Winter_Sportster]

I'm late to the party here, having just acquired my Draco this past Spring, but really appreciate your work in getting Draco into its zone! On my scale, it's a pretty expensive model, so I've been proceeding very slowly as I push it to get as close as possible to the things that Mike does. The only damage (so far) has been a broken prop from Draco standing on it's nose during taxing so, got a set of Kavan tires on the way to maybe help prevent a recurrence (along with a mental note to not get so froggy with the power!). Thanks again for you time, research, and video! Kim

[@7demo7review]

glad it helped,, Love this plane

[@richardhensley8281]

Where can I pickup the 5” Kavan air tires

[@andycraig8610]

Hi Jeff, thanks for the video. Must say that I have only got 4000mah 6s batteries so never had a choice. That said the draco has always felt well balanced. I have done about 25 flight since I got it about 8 weeks ago. I fly off grass and was not happy with this plane at all on first couple of flights, but that was because I felt that it would stall easily because it felt so heavy. With at bit of experience I found this was not the case, and now I can turn and land confidently at slow speed without having changed the setup. To be honest apart from a couple of small bounces it does seem to land gently, and yesterday I did 5 flight without a single bounce. Also if I come in too slow and nose starts to drop, a tiny increase in throttle levels it back up and it recovers easily. I am also having no trouble with either the stock front wheels or rear wheel so far. I was thinking of getting a bigger battery to increase flight time.....but your video has put me off that idea and saved me some cash. Thanks for advice. Andy in uk.

[@7demo7review]

4000mah should be perfect- you can test the cg by getting the ferrite coil out of the way

[@ettube8686]

Nice work looks like you added the icing on the cake thank you

[@Russellsperry]

Thanks for the good advice on that beautiful plane. 👍

[@7demo7review]

Just flew the Draco this morning- 3 great flights- the romance has been rekindled

[@chrisB_OG]

really great video, thank you for sharing

[@7demo7review]

Thanks for the comment!

[@gmorphan]

Excellent video, very informative. After seeing one of your ealier videos, I made an adjustment on my ESC location and was able to get the ferrite coil out of the way. While doing that I also shifts the battery strap back to allow two straps to still hole the battery in the far back position. I will truly consider adding some tail weight in the future. As for tires, I picked up a pair of Dynam 5.5" "ultra-wearable" smooth surface foam rubber tires off eBay for $33. They're pretty light weight, but also aren't as squishy as I would of liked. I'll try them at some point soon, once I drill out the axle holes a bit. I noticed you made some pull tabs to assist in getting the wing turnbuckles out. I'm definitely doing that! 👍

[@7demo7review]

Yes, those are just spare bind plugs - the fit right into the wing nuts

[@LoveRC]

I was able to push the coil down in a crack there. Easily out of the way.

[@scalebuilder_sweden]

Thanks for your review!! Im flying with a 5000mah 6S pack and doing half throttle just straight its draging it’s tail so tail heavy, very unstable. Seeing you moving your battery back and adding extra tail weight makes me wonder. Manual says cg should be 100-70 from the front slat.

[@7demo7review]

Mine was a first run. It gave measurements from the slat and one drone the wing

[@SMGPERFORMANCE16]

What tires would yall do now?

[@roedere]

I'm late to the party, but glad to be here. How did you get your second row battery strap back? My straps are such if I push battery back the straps do nothing. Hmmm

[@7demo7review]

Are usually fold the battery cables in front of the battery so it doesn’t slide for… You could always add a Styrofoam block in front of the battery so it doesn’t slide… But yes moving the battery very far back will render the Velcro straps useless

[@lesrolton434]

Hi Jeff, Thanx for making my mind up and purchasing the Draco. I love STOL rc planes. I have a wee problem, here in New Zealand the planes are hard to get nd I only managed a basic without the Receiver, now I have fitted a DSMX 7 ch. - however can't get the Reverse to work ???? Any suggestions?

[@7demo7review]

Glad I could help- it’s a great plane after the tweaking..

[@MrLportz]

Hi Jeff, excelente explanations! What battery did ou use on this video? Thanks!

[@7demo7review]

6000mah 6s and 5500 6s

[@christiangbel7207]

hello just bought a Draco and really liked your video here,,, but don't really understand the whole CG thing. you say you fly it at 70 mm from the leading edge or a little bit further back. In the manual it says 100 mm. would you go that far back ??

[@7demo7review]

There are two measurements- from the leading edge of the wing or the slats…

[@kokman62]

Hi the 5.5" wheels are they 3.7mm(0.146'') / 4.2mm(0.165'') Axis Hole Diameter cheers Robbie Great vid as I'm just getting one

[@keithwilliams9514]

Great Video! Thank you!

[@7demo7review]

You’re welcome- hope it helps

[@afterburner666]

Were those the recommended CG numbers when this plane first came out? Is the Draco 2.0 a different version of this plane? I ask because the CG for the 2.0 is 95-105mm.

[@7demo7review]

It depends. Some measurements were taken from the slats and some from the wing leading edge. If they changed the cg on the 2.0- good on them

[@Adanacon]

Great video Nice tweets to the CG . Way better landings. Shocks need to be way softer for softer landing

[@7demo7review]

Thanks, I am loving my Draco now!

[@richardhensley8281]

How do you install the 5” tires?

[@bgrant1512]

So what was the final CG you used? Was it the 83 mm? I watched the whole video hoping you say were you ended up.

[@7demo7review]

Right at 80mm, sorry, I didn’t include that

[@bgrant1512]

@@7demo7review Thanks

[@greghelms4458]

Ok. So was watching your videos and disagreeing with some. Flying this morning and had thought my CG was pretty good for me. 7000ma pack. Finally put battery all the way back. Omg what a difference. I’m also gonna get some weights and try some on the tail like you’ve got. Still. Like it is has multiple three point Landings on first pack. Thanks.

[@7demo7review]

Great to hear,,, gone is the snap stall!

[@greghelms4458]

@@7demo7review also. Mine must have been a later build. Coil isn’t there where yours was.

[@carlosperez7015]

I "inherited" a crashed Draco. My buddy got disappointed so he handed it over. Says the Draco doesn't roll or fly inverted. Is this true? I believe I saw some rolls in your vids but not inverted. Thanks for all the heads up!

[@7demo7review]

It rolls and flys inverted unless you turn Safe on. Safe will prevent rolls and inverted flight

[@carlosperez7015]

@@7demo7review I use Futaba. No safe. Old school. I love to fly inverted. Thanks for your videos. Kavan is a big ouch to the pocket. Any other valuable info you can share? I presume you're still flying her.

[@aaronstrom16]

I'm really surprised your flying it like that and not using crow config, I've not yet flown a draco but I bet you would get so much better High AOA with those ailerons as spoilers. Its really cool seeing it do that low and slow, high wing loading and the rite pilot can really be alot of fun. Once I got an NX10 I use one slider for ailerons up and down a mix, and the other slider for turning up and down the as3x gain while in a very slow high AOA. Iits alot going on at first but it comes second nature adjusting the ailerons with the flaps on approach, lots of fun.

[@7demo7review]

Crow would be super interesting!

[@jbrundt]

Nice video. Your buddy was right at the hairy edge on those last flights....personally I would have kept a bit more power on during those landings and use the elevator to control my speed. You never want to get behind the power curve. That being said, good info on the Draco. I'm considering one and your series of videos has been very informative. I think too many guys were buying this plane thinking it would be a no-brainer OOB but it does require a bit of skill and technique to fly. I've seen plenty of other vids where this plane has crashed and I have to wonder if it's due to pilot error (in the sense they are not familiar enough with the aircraft and what's needed or just have had the benefit to enjoy the luxury of having flown planes with excess power to spare to get them out of bad situations). I think Horizon sized the motor appropriately to have you 'fly the wing'.

[@7demo7review]

It’s still a very unique plane to fly- I just did this weekend- lots of fun!

[@th3s41nt]

Would Goat heads pop the kavan tires?

[@7demo7review]

No

[@SkyFlyChannel]

hi Jeff, in the original description is a CG of 100mm +-5mm mentioned. Am I'm wrong with that? cheers,Jörg

[@7demo7review]

Some measurements were from the leading edge of the wing and some more made from the leading edge of the slat

[@richardhensley8281]

What tires size do you have?

[@AlpineBenz]

have you tried the longer elevator servo horn yet?

[@7demo7review]

No I just drilled a different spot on the clevis, but, it was too much travel, so I toned it down a bit

[@dutchloveRC]

very cool

[@LoveRC]

Jeff, how much did you pump up the tires?

[@7demo7review]

None, I have no pump,,, I took out the air that was there

[@LoveRC]

@@7demo7review thanks. Just got them in the mail. They are smaller but nice and lite.

[@7demo7review]

Sweet, you’re going to like them!!!

[@richardhensley8281]

What web site did you buy the 5” Kavan tires?

[@7demo7review]

I believe it was Sig manufacturing

[@roberthoag6482]

Having trouble finding the 5" Kavan tires you used. Finding inflatable, but not solid. Could you provide a link to source?

[@7demo7review]

I put a link in the description- mine are inflatable… not solid

[@roberthoag6482]

@@7demo7review Thanks. My bad. Found the link and misunderstood the inflatable part.

[@tabdycollins]

I'm puzzled by your CG measurements. My manual says 100mm from fwd edge of slats. You seem to mention 65mm yet you are talking about moving aft. To me, that would mean increasing the 100mm figure? Perhaps you are measuring from somewhere else? The idea of 'crow' or at least deflecting ailerons up a wee bit to reduce stall sounds a good and interesting idea but surely one will then need to change the RX to one with more channels won't one?

[@7demo7review]

Crow would be interesting!

[@7demo7review]

I think there was two measurements one from the actual wing and one from the forward slat

[@Paradicted]

The stock wheels are not 6"

[@7demo7review]

Yes they are…

[@Paradicted]

Just measured them twice - they are just a smidge over 5.5"

[@old-rcplane-phart]

👍

[@PhilBender612]

You thought the power was lacking on this plane? Well that's a first....are you sure you had a 6s in it Bud lol

[@7demo7review]

Now that the cg is correct, the plane feels good on power, more nimble. It flew heavy before making the changes

[@jimmyhaley727]

not gonna be a long video for me as I can tell you could not be pleased if you were given a gold tray with a small turd on it,,, it is a stol plane, fly it that way AH,,,, ole USN vet

[@7demo7review]

So, you’re going to complain about free information?

[@jimmyhaley727]

@@7demo7review free, yes,, mine works just fine as I fly SCALE planes SCALE, I want to fly 3d then fly a 3d plane,, love mine as it came out of the box,, ole fart Jimmy

[@jimmyhaley727]

oh,, i did add Kvans and that / is wonderful

[@riskninja8194]

I am don’t mean this disrespectful at all but most, if not all, of the complaints you have about this airplane are due to the fact that you’re really not a very good pilot. That was some of the worst flying I’ve seen, but you’re blaming most of the pilot error on the aircraft. I can tell you that I have been flying for 20 years (aircraft and RC scale) and I am 100% confident that this was truly poor piloting, and just crapping all over the airplane/airframe for poor piloting. Honestly, I just think most of the issues were Pilot error, and moving the CG back basically gave more room to hide poor piloting. I don’t mean that to be disrespectful at all. It’s just an honest and very accurate assessment. It’s very frustrating though to see you bash one of the best airframes on the market because you don’t know how to fly it

[@Mike-pb5bj]

Ho yes ! much betters! but this bad boy in Canadian moneys will cust me something like 900.00$ may be over ! for that price , I will check for something else! but yes it's a nice plane !