The building season is starting.
I cleaned a bit of the workbench. ::)
The kit will be modified as follows:
1- Tail dragger configuration.
2- Ailerons will be added.
3- Reduced dihedral, needed for effective aileron control.
4- Electric power - DUH!!! Exact power to be determined.
5- Access hatch at bottom of fuselage so as not to interfere with windscreen.
6- Possibly a silk and dope finish, like the good old days.
More study of the plans and manual before the gluing starts.
One fuselage side completed.
Two similarily identical sides completed. ;)
The difficult task of joining them is next. :-X
looking great Guy.
Everything appears square.
Could not resist putting her on her legs.
Wheels are a bit small and will likely be replaced.
There will be no control installed for the tail wheel; the rudder is massive and should have plenty of authority for taxi.
With everyone posting pictures of their new creations and builds, I felt compelled to add a picture.
Pilot is mounted on a removable platform, held in place by magnets.
Servos will be Hitech Metal Gear HS82,
ESC is 60 amps.
Motor is Eflite Power 25, with 870 watts this should be enough power on 4 cells.
Very nice Guy!
Santa delivered early this year! ;D
All goodies needed to complete the project.
PERFECT power system for that plane! Nice!
Guy, my son bought me this soldering station and I bought the jig. Its called The Jigs Up. Together this has made soldering very easy. Suggest you invest in this
Quote from: octagon on December 22, 2022, 09:52:20 AM
Guy, my son bought me this soldering station and I bought the jig. Its called The Jigs Up. Together this has made soldering very easy. Suggest you invest in this
I think that I should invest in soldering classes!!! ;D
A bit more progress, the top and bottom hatches completed, almost, need to add magnets and some sheeting ;)
The battery will be located under the bottom hatch.
The top one is for easy access to the ESC and motor connectors.
Photo #93 top hatch on
Photo # 94 hatch off
Photo #95 Instrument panel - The pilot needs to know how it is flying.
Photo #96 bottom hatch on
Photo #97 bottom hatch off
Nice work Guy.
Note to self: when determining right thrust, look from the rear of the plane. ???
Additional note to self: do not build when tired, see above. :-\
Guy,
re: your "Note to self: when determining right thrust, look from the rear of the plane. ???"
You have just been promoted to "expert builder" status.
To achieve this, you must have:
- taken off with reversed ailerons.
- reverse-wired a motor.
- built two same wing halves... and fuselage halves.
- reversed elevator when coming to the field.
- attached covering without removing the backing.
- forgotten to center a servo before connecting a push-rod.
Oh, yes, and burned yourself on a covering or soldering iron.
Frank
ps: note the absence of a lipo fire from the list. It is on a different list. :)
Thank you
@Frank v B for this exhaustive list.
However, you forgot:
- Glued fingers with CA.
- Cut body parts with #11 Exacto blade.
- Started motor with prop on whilst the fuselage was not secure and the wing not attached.
That is just to name a few...
Happy New Year!!
PS: We should go sailing because we cannot fly at the moment...
Yes. I'm on the LiPo fire list. Not an auspicious list to be on.
Now I'm on the "Proud owner of 2 fresh fire extinguishers and lipo bags list"
Guy,
re: your "PS: We should go sailing because we cannot fly at the moment..."
I am ready. Call me when you find some soft water. ;)
Gord
re: your "Proud owner of 2 fresh fire extinguishers and lipo bags list".
Don't let anyone laugh at a small fire extinguisher. A small fire extinguisher at the one minute mark into a fire will do a lot more good than a fire truck at 15 minutes.
Photo 1- shows the small fire extinguisher I used to put out a raging lipo fire with one burst (only 20% of capacity used).
photo 2- the scene of the grime after the fire was out.
Frank
Shaping of the cowling started, one side completed. DuraGrit makes easy work of the rough carving.
Installed, not glued, testing for movements and just for fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NroCHGPGnhI
The plan calls for the stab to be affixed to the fuselage stringers.
As per the picture, it appears that there are very small contact area.
Also, for good glue joint, this should be epoxied prior to covering.
The problem is that there is no support for the covering when removed from the locations shown.
I am confused as to how to proceed. :-\
Perhaps I should epoxy in place and then cover? ???
Thank you
@Frank v B for this suggestion.
These planes have a built-in weakness. On a hard landing the fuse snaps immediately ahead of the leading edge of the stab.
I offer the following. I do this on all planes whether it is indicated on the plans or not.
Fill in the top horizontal triangle under the stab. Put the grain cross-wise (span-wise) so it holds the top together in the event of a crash. If you run the grain lengthwise it will just split open and not hold the top together. In your case 3/32 or 1/8" balsa would do. It also gives a larger/safer glue area when covering. :-)
Covering the tail and then when thinking it pull away from the centre.
Darn!!
Too much heat, not enough area to hold, dust on the surface...
It is a do-over.
Quick video of the camera installation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBOfE4Dqz2Q
Guy
Excellent! Looks great!
Quick video view from the cockpit...
I will need to modify the location of the camera as the view is rather limited from inside the cockpit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwRgnWbcZdA
Ready for Maiden Flight.
Oops, box in the way...
When will the rain stop?!?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyC7IzNDG_c
Guy,
re: the box in the way- the plane is now pre-crashed. ;)
re: when will the rain stop? If it rains a few more days we should prep our RC sailboats. 8) ... and book our places on the ARK. I hear they will be taking two model builders. ;D
Frank
ps: Tune down the elevator by about 30%. These planes float and are quite responsive to elevator, not to aileron.
Well, the Maiden Flight did not go as expected, to say the least.
The first video is the take-off run, quite normal, here is a link to the 6-second video.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fYBy7LFHzQE
The second video 6-second video shows the sudden cartwheel.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TT29tlVozpI
The post incident analysis indicated the following:
1- The servo connection was poor as there was an insufficient amount of threaded rod inserted in the clevis for the left aileron and it pulled from its spot as can be seen in the attached photo.
2- The receiver stabilizer function was reversed. When the plane was turning right, it exacerbated the right roll tendency.
3- The pilot was tired, jet-lagged and wanted to get that flight in and incorrectly interpreted the roll tendency.
4- The wing mount was glued as per the instructions; however, there needs to be additional gussets for rigidity. The wing came off without damage and the rubber bands did their job.
5- The motor came off - The firewall plywood delaminated and the propeller did not break.
For the "next Maiden" the following changes will be done in addition to what was mentioned above:
A- Be well rested.
B- Fix the tail wheel pull/pull system for more tension.
C- Turn off all automatic roll/yaw/pitch automatic controls.
D- Perhaps have the flight conducted by
@Frank v B so as to have someone else to blame for any mishaps... ;)
Concerning TC regulations, as evidenced by the videos that the plane was still rolling on the ground, this plane did not take-off, therefore no logbook entry is required as per builder/manufacturer's (i.e., my) instruction. The left wing was raised and the right wing hit the ground when the receiver exacerbated the right roll tendency, cartwheeling the whole thing.
So there you have it, I will eat my humble pie now.
Guy
Guy,
Your last post is:
- self-explanatory
- an NTSB crash report identifying cause and solutions
- a full Mayday TV episode in 6 seconds.
Wonderful! ;)
Frank
Fuselage too far gone for a decent repair.
Many stringers went missing and re-gluing those available would not be structurally sound.
It appears that I will need to re-build from scratch.
I will keep the parts that are salvageable, toss the rest.
May modifications will be made along the way.
Repair almost complete.
Modified the fuselage, but retained the proportions and distance from the wing trailing edge to the tail.
Tested the motor only to discover that I have a bent shaft....
Let me clarify before all the comments start flying around.
The E-Flite Power 25 suffered an unscheduled nose-first spiralling descent to meet Mother Earth (and the only sizable rock in a 10 meter diameter of the impact site) which resulted in the MOTOR have a bent shaft.
Any suggestion on repair? Sledge hammer and gentle application of brute force?
Or perhaps fly it as is until the next "event"?
A non-judgemental reply to Bent Motor Shaft issue.
That is a very sizeable shaft (diameter-wise) but worth a try.
The way I have successfully straightened shafts:
- determine where the bend is located- usually at the top of the bell.
- place the motor shaft in a drill press up to the bend. If you don't have a drill press, use a regular drill. With the drill press I use regular speed. With the regular drill, use low speed.
Now for the interesting part- grab the motor before you turn on the press/drill so it stops it from spinning wildly.
- spin the shaft/bell and determine where the bend is when it stops.
- grab the bell and bend it slightly in the opposite direction. (with a drill press you can grab the motor with two hands. With a regular drill you are probably limited to one hand).
- keep testing it and bend it in small amounts until you are satisfied. 5 minor adjustments are better than one or two major ones... potentially in the wrong direction. You'll get the hang of it quickly.
To test the motor, power it up horizontally while resting a small slotted screwdriver on top of the shaft. If it bounces, you have work to do. If it does not bounce, look skyward and yell "Eureka". You will be surprised how accurate the screwdriver test is.
Frank
ps: Guy, how do you do it? You used your Avro Arrow to find (dowse?) two broken chairs in the hand-launch area. With your Seniorita you can locate rocks.
Now if you can teach your planes to find water you can make a fortune in California.
Ready for Re-Maiden flight.
Fixed (almost) the vibration of the motor using the suggested gentle application of brute force repair method.