1050 vs 1250 mAh on Fireball

[floriske.nl]

Planning on buying a fireball combo soon but having doubts about which lipo to get and can't really find good comparisons on them.

1050 would be the way to go if it comes to overall weight.

The 1250 is 25%/40grs heavier than the 1050 but I also know the fireball tends to be a bit tail heavy so maybe the 1250 would be the better choice to compensate on that?

I'm very curious on the fireball owners opinions on this subject.

P.s. I fly mostly big air and mild 3D atm but am advancing slowly

[Doom Buggy]

1250 with the comp motor all the way for me!

[jsbach#1]

There is never a set right or wrong in our hobby so you have to weigh it out and decide what matters more to you. 1250 will balance it out fine, 1050 is tail heavy. Fireball is a heavy bird so any amount saved is welcome OR the other point of view is : Fireball is a heavy bird whats another 40 grams gonna do. I run 1050 in the mini comet but it balances fine so there was less for me to think about.

Also worth mentioning there was a thread here somewhere about it, the person had mounted the esc in the fireball like where they have it in the mini comet, and it balances it much better. Even then, flybarless trim can offset most of anything you'll ever be bothered by.

[DCflyer]

I have 2 1050s and 2 1250s. It does make a difference in the air when throwing it around but if you’re just a sport pilot the only thing you’d probably notice is the CG difference. The 1050’s are good for short smack flights or for lower headspeed flights. The 1250s will balance out better and give a little more flight time but if you expect the same performance with them you will have to bump your headspeed about 150-200rpm. All depends on what you’re looking for and your flight style. Proficient 3D pilots will not notice too much of a CG difference due to the aggressive flight style but if you are doing more sport / scale / pattern style flying you will likely notice the tail dipping a little more with the 1050s over the 1250s. If you’re running the factory plastic tail assembly 1050s will balance out ok, but if you’re running the fully upgraded aluminum tail setup I’d suggest the 1250s for balance and increasing your headspeed to compensate for the additional weight. Flight time is marginal between the two packs......30 seconds give or take depending on how you fly.

[floriske.nl]

Thanks all!

Reckon I'll go for the 1250 for now since my 3D capabilities are still very mild. Just some rolls, flips, loops, stall turns, knife edge piro's etc. atm.

Working on inverted flight and half piro flips but that needs some work.

Going to buy the Fireball as a replacement for my crashed 450 which was my "try out and smack around heli". In my case the smaller the Heli the less nerves ;-) trying new figures with my BT shakes the knees a lot more :-D

At this moment my smallest Heli is a 420 Sport but this still has quite high crash costs compared to the fireball. Next to that I simply want one and am very curious how it flies.

P.s. I was told that the 18T tail pulley is a valuable upgrade on the combo with stock motor to limit the chance of tail wag is that correct?

[jsbach#1]

Don't worry about solving a problem you don't have yet. Use it stock first.

[floriske.nl]

True. But if it's indeed a valuable upgrade why not order it right away ... saves me the shipping costs for the second order of it turns out I need it ;-)

I prefer my heli's with proper tail authority

[Doom Buggy]

It’s cheap enough- go for it. Will help if you delve into lower head speeds eventually. I found my wag as all FBL tuning.

[toadiscoil]

I think the only caveat is the 18T pulley is not recommended for the comp motor. Wondering if anyone has burned a motor with that setup or something.

[Doom Buggy]

Originally Posted by toadiscoil

I think the only caveat is the 18T pulley is not recommended for the comp motor. Wondering if anyone has burned a motor with that setup or something.

I emailed SAB about it- they responded with it’s simply not needed due to the increased RPM’s capable with the comp motor. I do have to think that the stresses on the tail/box/servo would be greatly increased as well, perhaps there’s a safety factor involved too.

[jsbach#1]

Oh sorry ya - okay I should be more specific. If your head speed is high enough for the bird to fly with authority you won't need it the tail authority will be good.

If you're are running a lower headspeed then yes you will need it for sure as it does not have good tail authority at all with low head speed. Whether you're using stock motor or comp.

[Adam Landefeld]

With my competition version, I started with the stock tail pulley, but at my altitude (just under 5,000 ft) the tail lacked some of the authority I expect. Running the HS at 4,000.

I grabbed the 18t pulley and dialed my tail gain back a tad (CGY750 for FBL duty). Now I have a tail that holds no matter what. No wag, no fuss. Really quite impressive to be honest. I think under ideal circumstances the stock setup is fine, but there are also less than ideal settings that need the extra pull.

[floriske.nl]

I'm wondering i there's a noticeable difference between the plastic and carbon reinforced tailboom or is the difference purely cosmetic? I suspect the latter but not sure.

[Thickfog]

Originally Posted by floriske.nl

I'm wondering i there's a noticeable difference between the plastic and carbon reinforced tailboom or is the difference purely cosmetic? I suspect the latter but not sure.

Supposedly lighter, but I'm not sure of any figures.

In many crashes, I've only broken 1 and it's 10 bucks for the plastic. So to me it's a no brainer to keep the plastic.

Those that crash less may want the carbon.

The plastic can fit loosely. I use a simple strip of duct tape around the frame/boom interface. Very tight and still releases when I crash. Good design.

Some have used screws to tighten the boom to the heli frame. That makes no sense to me as it can result in broken booms and/or frames in a crash. It's supposed to release when you crash, not stay on with mechanical fasteners. Some like complicating things though.

[floriske.nl]

In the meantime I ordered the Fireball Combo with 1250mAh pack and 18T upgrade.

Looking forward to build it and see how it handles.

Thx for all the help and info!

[floriske.nl]

The kit arrived and I slowly started building.

First impression: misprinted stickers and poor (edge) finishing of the plastic frame, skids and canopy. Not what one would expect from SAB.

[floriske.nl]

Finished the mechanical build without much issues.

The tail drive construction is poorly designed though if you ask me. You have to be very careful not to missalign the 2 sides.

Also with the 18T pulley and 582 belt the tail control rod length stated in the manual was too long and the suggested dfc link length was too short. Nothing problematic.

[floriske.nl]

Maidened the Fireball today add 4 to 5 bft wind speeds.

Not the right weather to thoroughly test it but the little raskal held up surprisingly well.

Looking forward to flying it in better conditions.

The standard motor doesn't have big amounts of power and rpms tend to drop on high pitch manouvres but it should do for what I bought it for: training

[Doom Buggy]

Comp motor is almost unboggable- Best upgrade it made to mine.

[floriske.nl]

An expensive one as well. Going to stick with stock for now.

Was lucky to be able to buy the Fireball at a one time offer with 30% discount which made it interesting enough to buy. I'm not planning on spending a lot on upgrades just yet.