Mark Stringer

Dete You will find the main Atom thread the most useful .. and subscribed to if you need help: **LINK** Welcome to the Atom Club! Edited By Mark Stringer on 17/06/2015 13:54:54

I have posted the Calidus and other videos on YT now and also in this thread: **LINK**

Just uploaded 4 videos and will add pictures here once I get those sifted. Great to see the Vulcan again and the Calidus and Typhoon were great. Not sure I would go back again as I think Cosford would have been better value but as we couldn't get tickets it made a nice day out. First the Calidus Auto Gyro Next the Vulcan: The Typhoon: And finally an assortment of what else was there I will add photos when I can.

I should have mentioned that it will of course have tail feathers these will be from 6mm depron. .. all will become clear as this progresses

Ok - so here are the balsa and ply parts .. there will be a couple of pieces of sheet on the bottom to add to this plus the 6mm sheets that go between the mast holding formers .. but other than the mast, C/F tube, a few servo bearers and the hardware this is about it. I made a modest start with the glue - nose block laminated, rear boom holders laminated and angle spacers added to the rear of the fuselage. I need to decide what to do about the mast before going much further. I will do more updates when I get things done but I will be doing this build as and when .. not going for a 10 day build like I did with the Atom! Edited By Mark Stringer on 15/06/2015 14:19:39 Edited By Mark Stringer on 15/06/2015 14:20:21

I have enjoyed making the Atom Special and was planning to build a Spyro3 next - both Rich Harris's designs of course. As I looked at the Spyro I thought it would be good to adapt it to use some of the design and build features of the Atom ... so eventually was conceived the Spratom ... really should give it a better name It also takes in some of the changes I made when I built my Atom. I managed to draw myself a set of parts .. which was obviously wrong once I actually cut them out (though only a couple of small errors) so I drew it again and so far it looks OK. It has a slightly wider body than the Atom as I found it a tight squeeze getting a 2200 and ESC in the Atom and I will need to get the receiver in this one too. It has a fairly small parts list made up of 3mm balsa, 6mm balsa, 3mm lite ply and 6mm ply plus some 6mm C/F tube and the spruce mast (originally should be the same as the Atom but I am having some other thoughts about that too - I need to decide as it quickly affects my build.) I am sure I will be making even more calls on Rich than I do now once I get near to the end of this build!

There were no tickets left for Cosford so we went to the Welshpool air show. .. wasn't a lot flying but the show was opened by the Callidus display which was amazing ... will post the video once i get it uploaded. Great to see the Vulcan do a full display too .. so important in its last year .. and a fantastic finale by the Euro Fighter Typhoon...but a long way from being Cosford .. will probably have to do RIAT to make up for it.

I have seen the same with the throttle .. if you plug in and the throttle is not at minimum it beeps constantly with some ESCs. If it was reversed it would usually go into the musical stuff of ESC programming so more likely a throttle not down / trim issue by the sounds of it Do your servos twitch / move?

Lots of step drills on the UK Banggood site too which are pretty cheap with free postage: **LINK** Just check carefully as some with lots of steps only have a 5mm depth on each step which may not be enough for your prop (though you could drill from both sides)

Posted by Richard Harris on 11/06/2015 22:10:58: B&Q Mark? I have updated the blog page and added a few more Atoms this evening, if I have missed one let me know? HERE Who will be bringing along their Atoms to Greenacres? Rich Didn't get the chance to do B&Q or have the tools with me to make a new mast - probably best nit to have pushed my luck too soon anyway " if I have missed one let me know?" .....You may have done Take your pick **LINK** but I quite like this one: If I can get to Greenacres I will do but I really don't know at this stage.

Guys often tether their quad copters when testing them out - especially when testing Return to home in case it activates Return To China instead! A light leash with small weights in regular spots along its length is needed. Of course I prefer Control Line flying

Thanks All.. Rich - I am way up North .. and surprisingly the weather is fantastic .. a little breezy for the first flight but almost calm for the second .. hence the longer run and being further away from me when I got disorientated Chris ,.. thanks .. I am sure it will come with experience Steve .. I am very pleased ... did I mention that the next one I am building is a pusher just to make it interesting .. I would like to say it is my own design but it is actually two of Rich's designs morphed into one .. the Spratom I call it .. I will start a build thread for it soon but I have already pinched its mast earlier this week .. now, where up here can I find a piece of 13 x 6 spruce .. need another mast for tonight

So ... i took the motor off the BD5D found that its connections were female whereas the Atoms were male ... so i took the ESC too .. fitted it all in the Atom .. calibrated the ESC, adjusted the head down a little, . added a little more of the lead back in the nose. ..popped a fresh battery in and went to the far end if the field. .... Worked hard to remember what everyone said today ... spun her up by hand first then held in UP as i tweaked the throttle .. gently .. gently .. bit more .. bit more .. elevator to neutral as she gained rotor speed ...up into the air gently .. veered right .. held left .. kept it gentle .... FLYING !!!!!!!! She still needed some down trim and plenty of left trim but at least the trims all worked in the right direction now ... had 5 or 10 minute flight, left and right hand circuits ... flew a treat ... sooooo chuffed. Adjusted the head again so that i could centre the trims and had a second go ....the wind had died right down so i had a much longer run but she took off lovely this time .... a low right hand circuit, got disorientated, came down in the long grass ... another mast needed but all my fault that one and despite that i was still very happy with the two take offs, especially the second one. Thanks again to everyone for the advice today and to Rich for his help and if course great design ... my head is finally in Auto Gyro mode! Edited By Mark Stringer on 10/06/2015 22:39:03 Edited By Mark Stringer on 10/06/2015 22:40:26

Tom I have complete trust in the design and appreciate all of the work that Rich and everyone have put into the model. I will take a step at a time and do my best to learn as I go along. If I can get properly to grips with the Atom then hopefully my next model will also be good ... lets hope I have gathered enough idea of how an AG works otherwise that will have little chance of getting in the air I will try and update later ..

Steve That was sort of my point when I first asked as I knew it could actually fly - I am more than happy to say "I think it is me!" As I have changed the nose weight I may reduce the plate angle a little (especially as it is not using the same head plate as during its first flight) to allow for that and hopefully help keep me on the ground as it builds up rotor speed. I have sorted the trim issue out now for the Atom and my Wing Wing so if it needs some trim to keep it level once in the air then at least that will be easier now. I think the idea of taking off at less than full throttle is probably what I really need to get into my head .. if I can get the motor change I will try again this evening .. the field I have available is amazing so I really don't want to miss out on my chances while I am here. Thanks again .. will report back

OK - have sorted the trims out now so good there thanks .... will research elevon endpoints and expo another time ... motor change later hopefully

Thanks loads .. busy lunchtime then .. best not get this thread too off track, but thanks so much for this Now can I do that, remove the engine from my BD5D and get it into the Atom, adjust the head, throws and trims and get it flying tonight? - Will report back ....

Posted by Ozgur Sar on 10/06/2015 09:58:46: Mark, you don't need to play with the elevon mixing settings. Just release the control rods on the servo heads and adjust the head angle mechanically. If you want to increase the travel limits, go to end point menu of your radio and increase them for aileron and elevator Regarding trim I don't have any experience with Taranis. But I'm sure there should be videos in youtube Edited By Ozgur Sar on 10/06/2015 09:59:45 Thanks .. I wasn't meaning that .. I will move the rods to adjust the head position and adjust the end point settings on the TX for more movement ... I just have the odd situation with my Taranis where the trims work the wrong way (i.e. up on the trim moves it down ... tends to make things worse when you trim up and it goes down even more ) .. I will search YT when I can. Thanks again

Posted by Ozgur Sar on 10/06/2015 09:12:32: Yes Mark, I permanently set the head to that position by adjusting the control rods. My travel limits (end points) are set to 150% so that I can pull or push the elevator or aileron to the limits in case I need. Expo settings are 15% to keep controls smoother. That's great info thanks .. I have some Taranis setup to do anyway so will adjust those settings too ... now how do I make the trim work the right way?!?! (The elevon control for the Atom and my Wing Wing using the Taranis both have the elevator trim work the wrong way around for some reason .. very confusing!)

Posted by Ozgur Sar on 10/06/2015 07:36:57: Hello Mark, I had the same problem in my very first take off attempts and I noticed that CG was not front heavy enough so I added approx. 50 grams near the motor. Also I adjusted (tilted) the head in elevator axis to the front around 5-10 degrees which made blades almost parallel to the ground. When you say adjusted I assume you mean permanently set to that position using the control rods? I may try shortening the mast too if I can. Max - thanks - I guess if the head is set down more then I will be able to use your approach .. at the moment she takes off in what feels like a few feet. I will see if I can swap the motor out and shorten the mast .. never easy when working away and have limited supplies with me .. I was lucky to have a spare mast as I bought another autogyro I am building with me to sand its parts. Will see if I can do all this and try again this evening. Thanks All

OK thanks Steve .. so should I just hold in a little down and let it run further before allowing it to leave the ground .. I know it flies and was just nose heavy so I am assuming I just need to keep it on the ground longer to let the blades spin up more or is there another trick? Thanks