AVC

Posted by Tim Hooper on 15/12/2015 21:16:39: Specifically, I want to make my first foray into ic power. More specifically, a 20cc petrol engine bolted to the front of a BUSA Citabria Pro. Hi Tim I built the BUSA Citabria Pro some years ago, and it's very beautiful, especially when flown "scale, ie slow. Mine was a bit underpowered, with a Saito 115, but that made the flight more realistic... (although the 20cc petrol would give similar output...) I'm for sure teaching grandma here, but the only piece of advice I would give is related to the wing / engine incidence. I'm not too keen on using down/side thrust but in a parasol like this, with 82" of thick wing above the fuse, the down thrust is an absolutely must. According to the plan and instructions, former F1 is totally "squared" (= no down/side thrust),and the wing, if my memory is any good, had around 1-1.5 degrees positive incidence. During the building, I added around 2 degrees of down thrust, and left the wing as per the plan. In the first flight the take off was quite clean, but as son as the wheels left the ground, the model began to climb, and even with full trim down I still needed to keep pushing the right stick. The changes I made were, A) make 5 degrees of down thrust and B) change the wing incidence to neutral or even slightly negative (I didn't measure this, just played by ear...) by adding washers to the back seat of the wing. The result was much better, and since then all flights were straight. Another bit that I don't like of the Pro is the system for mounting the wing in the struts. I'm sire there has to be a better way... I hope this helps somehow... Edited By AVC on 17/12/2015 10:20:41

Chris, this is impressive. I found this plan on outerzone a while ago, and it is in my "to do's" list, I'll follow this with attention and try to learn something!

Is not Tony, but Nigel Hawes, isn't it?

Hi Olly I like the idea. I did a quite unrealistic list here but that was limited to modeling. Here's my suggestion for 2016 (no commitments though): 1) Fly (so far in 2015 I have flown just one day, and with a little electric...) 2) Try to finish some of the big projects before starting any new big one 3) Tidy the garden (my kid got lost in the middle of the grass some weeks ago...) 4) Do the Great North Run, the Morpeth-to-Newcastle half marathon, or maybe both 5) Get my A + B certificate 6) Try to complete as much a possible of this list

Posted by GONZO on 14/12/2015 21:03:01: I would imagine that over the coming few years the initial costs and registration requirements in the USA will significantly increase thereby reducing the numbers of aeromodellers in the USA. Hello Gonzo Why do you think that the registration costs will significantly increase? Is there anything in the document that indicates that possibility? I must admit I haven't read the document, just the first page on the FG forum, but the cost mentioned there is 5$. My concern is that if you are right, the same scenario will come to Europe in a while, and we are already enough threatened with laws, regulations, bylaws etc related to security, sound pollution and so on. By the way, I don't understand why there has to be a cost associated to the registration...

Another one to add to the list: Model Radio Workshop and Mike Ridley. I'll tell my story: Due to a domestic accident, one of the switches of my radio (Futaba 8FG) resulted broken. I decided I could replace it (7 quid the switch vs 50£ + postage for sending to Ripmax) so I bough the switch and some braid, and eventually I was able to take out the old one and solder the new one. The problem is that when I switched on the radio, none of the switched worked. I contacted Mike Ridley in Model Radio Workshop, explaining the issue and asking for the process to send the radio etc. Instead, he made an initial assessment and told me to look at the soldering and the tracks, to see if I had made a bridge (maybe this is pretty obvious for many of you, but I must admit that electronics is a big black hole for me...). I check as per Mike's advice, and I found, not just one but two bridges (soldering skills is another black hole...). I took again the soldering iron and the roll of braid, and eventually I managed to clean the bridges. Now the radio works perfectly, thanks to Mike's advice. That's not even a good customer service (technically I haven't been his customer), that's simply professionalism. Thanks Mike!!

I didn't know there was such a good club in Blyth, Northumberland. That's quite close to where I live, so I may pop in one day and maybe join the club.

Thanks all for your comments, I really appreciate them. Thankfully, the radio is now repaired. I contacted modelradioworkshop.co.uk, and Mike Ridley gave me a good advice. I checked the radio andin fact the problem was as Mike described, and I've been able to fix it. Anyway, I'll still consider the Hi Tec for Xmas

Thanks Steve, I didn't think on the Flash 8...

Posted by Peter Miller on 14/12/2015 13:53:19: This should be interesting!! And the word that you want is Cojones. Oh I don't know, you mentioned boxes, a big box is a cajon, pronounced cahon. Hahaha, it's nice to read my mother tongue in a British forum, even if the word relates to specific parts of the male anatomy... BTW, if anyone fancy some free Spanish lessons, I'm more than happy to help Edited By AVC on 14/12/2015 14:26:26

I won't build it (I'm an "old school" balsa basher...) but I think it's a good idea. I'll follow it with attention, and try to learn how to work with depron...

Thanks Bucksboy, that's a key thing: reliability

Posted by kc on 13/12/2015 14:14:35: AVC The weight of the cut out solid balsa parts for fin, rudder, tailplane and elevator is 65 grams ( 2.3 ounces ) Shaped as per plan but not yet rounded on edges or tapered to rudder thickness. Elevator also has not yet had the 'V' cut removed as it's easier to put the elevator joiner in whilst both elevator parts are still in one continuous piece. V cutout is made after joiner inserted and hinges slots are cut. For reference the full 4 inch by 36 sheet of 1/4 balsa weighed 60 grams. An extra bit was used for elevator. This was a good sheet of balsa for the job - light ( about 7 lbs /cu ft ) but really stiff. So AVC what does your builtup fin, rudder, tailplane & elevator weigh in comparison? Hi KC. We'll I still don't know, I haven't started the building yet (I'm a good guy and will wait until January ) I'll let you know as soon as I have it built. I don't think it will beat these 65 grams though, and if so does, it won't be for a big margin...

Thanks both for your answers. Ken, the Aurora looks quite appealing, a bit like an Aston Martin: powerful but with no "show-off". Frank, I considered also the FG14, mainly for the benefits you've mentioned (receivers, familiarity, etc...). The problem is that the price is around 100 quid higher than the other two. Even buying in US (with Tower Hobbies discount), the prices is 300£ + duty (3.7%) + VAT (20%) + customs broker fees (around 20£ = £380-ish, and no warranty / technical support in Europe... Thanks again for your comments, I'll take them on board

Hi I know this is one of those topics where there's no single answer, but even though... I have a Futaba 8FG which has recently suffered a domestic accident. I don't know how much the repair will cost, but just in case I've started looking for suitable alternatives. So far, I have narrowed the search to the Graupner MZ24 and the Hitec Aurora. The thing is that I've always used Futaba so I have no experience with any of the those two brands, so if anyone out there could advise I'd appreciate. Just to clarify, telemetry is not my main priority, although I think that both offer a good array of such functions. I'm mainly interested on reliability and support (official service, upgrades, etc...). Thanks!

I'm in!!

Darren, you should have a look to my workshop: the most advanced piece of technology is a mini jigsaw I recently bought in Lidl Going back to the original question, I don't have experience with this particular model, but ages ago I had a Giles 202 of CMPro. In that one, the right and down thrust was already built in the firewall, and the engine was mounted with a specific offset to compensate it. Could it be that the Zero have a similar arrengmemt?Edited By AVC on 12/12/2015 05:37:58

I'm with Kc, I'm really enjoying this "pre-MB" and I really expect the proper building to be similar to this one

In the end is a personal option, and it all depends on what you want to do with your hobby. And as John says, trim it correctly and use the rudder in takes off, verticals, etc. But again, it's all down to preferences

For the same reason that we don't use 3 axis gyroscopes, autopilots, etc. From my point of view a hobby is not about making the life easier, but to enjoy with the challenge of controlling a model airplane in the air

Paraphrasing to a great designer "don't build any rigth thrust, learn to use the rudder instead"

Posted by Levanter3 on 11/12/2015 12:15:40: Besides they often be made from offcuts and can be much fun to do. That's my main driver!

Kc, I agree with your analysis, and I know that with this little tail and short tail moment, the effect of the difference in weight (if any) will be minimal. I'll do it that way just because I like open structures. Having said that, let's do the test: I'll weight the tail group once built, and we will compare with your solid one, ok?

Thanks, that's a good point also. In fact, my initial though was to laminate the l.ee all the way around the tips, and then place some "cores" of 1/8 or 3/16. I still haven't dismissed the idea