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This
page shows a few quick modifications that will increase the speed
and roll rate of the stock Pico Jet. The best setup is a combat Pico jet
with the stock speed 400 motor, the Pico 380 BEC controller and 7-500AR cells.
This keeps the plane light and nimble.
The
radio gear is straight forward, the battery is held by Velcro
and the receiver is behind the battery so it wont get smashed.
The antenna zigzags across the wing to avoid hanging out and
is just pushed
into a shallow slot from a razor knife. The dent is filled with lightweight
spackle.
The servos are topped with the spackle too, they are in new holes that are
cut too tight so the servo has a tight fit. I moved them forward to compensate
for the Kontronics motor that has the BEC on the housing.
The elevon cutout has been extended to the wing tip and the root end has
been back filled to just outside the prop span because the inner surface isn't
very effective and it disrupts the air flow to the prop.
Here you can see the filled area of the elevon cutout and the
new servo position.
The old servo bay was filled with chunks of foam from the new pocket and topped
with lightweight spackle. The pushrod is made from a bamboo skewer because I am
on a small island in the San Juan's and could only find a 4" scrap of music
wire!
Shaving the keel allows an easier entry to the prop and will
increase
the speed noticeably. The first Pico Jet with this modification was clocked
at 78 miles per hour in level flight. If you cut the vertical angle of the
keel at too much of an angle, you can risk a prop strike on landing.
A small skeg or spar extending back from the bottom of the keel will
protect the prop if you wish to make an extreme cut on the keel.
An extreme cut will also weaken the motor mount area, but a couple
bamboo skewers shoved in from behind will reinforce the area.
The yellow lines indicate the vertical angle, I don't cut a huge relief area
because you wont notice any improvements beyond this point.
This is the secondary trim area, it also lets the prop breath
better.
I should probably close off the front intakes since the speed
controller on this particular plane is on the motor.
Mounting the motor as far back as possible also allows more air to the prop.
Here is the finished Pico Jet. It is 19.4 Oz. ready to fly!
The Combat version can be spray painted, use light coats to
keep the weight down.
The standard styro-pico can be painted with analin dye. (leather dye).
It is alcohol based and wont dissolve styro.
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