Geoff Daunt
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Posts posted by Geoff Daunt
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Hi Chris,
Just found your note having made a search. No response l see.!! Well l have just ordered the same model and expect delivery to Spain next week. This is to be my next project and l was wondering how you have got on with the build. I have the SIG Rascal 40 (ARTF) which is a great model and flies a dream. It flew first time with about 2 clicks of trim and no vices. I expect the kit to be of a high standard but any problems you found on the build would be a help or any extra tips. I have not yet decided on the engine....either a 4 stroke of l might venture, for the first time into Petrol. What have you gone with?
Look forward to hearing from you. Best regards, Geoff.
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Very sorry to hear your sad news.My wife and l have just lost 2 very close friends in the last 2 weeks..so l understand what you and the family will be feeling.
As with the others my thoughts are with you.
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Grahamd, Well what can l say ...except brilliant.I have been away in the US for a month and just picked this up upon my return. I wish l had known about this plan/cnc kit earlier but seeing your build process l think (no l know) it would be just a tad beyond my building expertise.
I first saw the DD about 2 years ago when l was at the Smithsonian Air Museam in Washington DC. What a plane and with a surname of DAUNT...well l knew one day l would have to have one.!!! l started to look a while back and found one supplied by Anglia Models. It is a Complete-a- Pack cnc cut out and plans...but the plans leave a lot to be desired. It tells you how old the plan is when one of the few "tips" says " it is well worth investing in the purchase of a plastic scale model to see how all the fairings fit and it will only cost you a few shillings ' !!!!!
I do love to build but this one has been a huge challenge for me and in reality l could not do it justice. I have never worked with retracts (and seeing your problems and how you resolved them) both on retracts and dive brakes...l know i have taken the correct decision to keep it simple for me. So....whilst a huge shame l have had to build mine with a fixed undercarriage and simple flaps. There is not a chance l could have built those working dive brakes ...but it has been an absolute pleasure to read your build and see what you have done. And as to you being a standard balsa basher....l do not think so.
Anyway mine will be in essence a Sport scale look alike....but what the heck this hobby is all about getting the pleasure out of building and flying at your own level. We cannot all have your skills or the likes of Mick Reeves to build a Master Model and we lesser mortals just have to look on in envy.
l have just about finished all the building and about to start on the covering. It is looking good....well at least it looks like a Dauntless.!!!!
Many thanks for sharing this build with us all,not least all the time to prepare the photo's and description as you progress. Cannot wait for the next installement.......
Best regards, Geoff Daunt
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Go with a local club from the site given. Best way forward. I was also a glider pilot and have a PPL but flying a model from the ground has very little similarity.......as you have found out.!!!
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Sorrry David, but if you cannoy fly an Easy Glider then l would not be moving on to anything else. It sounds as if you are trying to fly on your own...if you are the best advice is to join a local club and get some help and instruction. You can go it alone ..but generally expensive and very frustrating when it does not go to plan. A local club is your best way forward.
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Well David, Unless you had some equip. failure then l can only think it was the old " pilot error" sydrome. You say it went in from 100 feet on full power. Did you throttle off before hand !!!! If you did or tried to but nothing happened then an equip. problem. I can only say l have had mine for 12 months and not a problem.
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Another one to look at is the Easy Pigeon. It is very docile, easier to put together, and flies very well. I also have the Mult. easy glider and whilst good l think the performance is better on the pigeon. It is also simpler to assemble since the fuselage and wings are all complete and you do not have the problem of sticking 2 halves of the fuselage together with Cyano and kicker or finishing off the wings.
In my view for a simple introduction l would go for the Pigeon. 3 channel and as cheap as chips. !!
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Phil, I am new to heli's and having read the advice so far let me confirm my experience.
First ..yes a good flight sim. I have the Real Flight G3 whch is great. Lots of different Helis to fly and learn how to use the sticks without expensive crashes. No substitute for the real thing but it gets you started and gives you the "feel" for handling a Tx on a heli set up. Very different to flying fixed wing.
Having mastered sim. flight l then bought the Twister 3D. The thought process being l could advance without having to buy different machines/upgrades later.
If you buy through a Model shop you can ask them to set it up as a trainer first and after you have mastered the Hover and other basic manourvers you can increase the settings (with help) and move on to the next stage.
Whichever way you go ..good luck and keep us posted. Also make sure you buy a training rig for under the skids. -
Thanks Ron. Seems a good way to proceed.
Been through EPA on all channels as follows.
Ch 1 -Ail. 100% each way.
Ch 2 - Elev. 100% each way.
Ch 3 - Throt. 100% each way
Ch 4 - Rudder. Currently set at 60% each way. I have reasonable rudder response but assume you want me to set at 100%. Please confirm.
Ch 5 -Gyro- 100%L/U l guess on the gyro there is nothing else to move on the sticks!!
Ch 6 - Pitch. 100%.
So other than rudder the shop seems to have set up ok..
I have put VR1 and VR2 at mid point.
The model shop also told me to ensure that when l flew the heli all the other switches were in the forward position.
Look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Geoff. -
Hi Ron, With that no of Heli's l guess you know a thing or 2 !!!
Do not know for certain but guess pictures may be a problem. I know you can post pictures of Models on the site but never seen anything attached to threads.
Will check EPA's and get back to you later. Just got some guests arriving for a few days so might have a problem escaping to my model room......do not wish to upset the wife to much..." cannot you do that later" !!!!
Regards, Geoff. -
Thanks for the response Ron.
I read through the Heli set up section in the Hitech manual last night for the umpth time but when l got to Throttle curve and Pitch curve set up l must admit to a feeling of complete loss and a dread of messing things up completely if l started to tamper with the current set up.
Does all this pitch and throttle curve function apply equally to electric motors as well as i.c.? The manual seems to imply a heli set up for an ic engine...Just shows how little l know of heli set up. !! The model shop in Engand set it up for me when l was not present so l really do not know what they did...except to set it up initially as a trainer and not with the 3D settings. As l said in my first thread l believe the set up is with 0- and about 8+.
I did buy a pitch gauge but to date have not neede to use it.
If you have the time and would like to take me through it, as a complete novice, then l am happy to have a go. Perhaps others would also find it usefull since l am sure there will be lots of others out there like me. As a matter of interest do you also have the Twister 3D or something bigger and better ?.
Thanks for the interest. -
I have the Twister 3D which was set up for me by my model shop in England. I am now out of the country and having fun flying it at home in sunny Spain. I have been flying for a few months now and have mastered the hover and am comfortable flying up to 10m height and getting it back down safely. Fingers crossed l still have not broken anything !!!
I am now thinking about increasing the pitch on the blades. They were set up with 0 degrees negative and about 8 degrees +.
My thinking is that l shoud be able to acheive the same degree of lift/ height for a lower motor speed and therefore increase flying time. Am l right or on the wrong track !! Currently l need about 70% throttle to get the required lift.
The instructions do not tell you how to increase the pitch. I have disconnected the motor leads to see how the pitch works and see that as l increase the throttle the 3 servos all move down to give the desired pitch movement.
My questoin is how do l increase the pitch.?
Do l disconnect the servo arms and reduce by a few turns on each of the 3 servos or do l do it somehow through the transmitter.?
I have a Hitech Eclipse 7 TX with a dedicated helicopter option set up.
Sorry if this is fairly basic stuff but my previus experience is with gliders and a basic ic trainer.
If l should leave well alone please say so.
Many thanks.
Geoff. -
I tried the problem battery tonight and it lasted about 1 min before it lost all charge. The Voltage was wellup but nothing in the battery so a safe disposal looks to be the answer and a new one ordered in due course. Thanks again for the advice and assistance. If you are ever coming to Spain In the region of Javea (about 100 Km north of Alicante)let me jknow and we can have a beer or 2.
Best Regards
Geoff. -
Having investigated, my charger only has set values for discharge rates 11.1, 7.4, or 3.7 so l left it on 11.1. It will also only allow me to discharge at a max of 1.00.so off l set. It started it's discharge at 12.1v and stopped at 10.072v.
It also showed a discharge in Amps of 1078.
I then recharged at 1c and it ended at 12.49v and input 1152 Ma. I am assuming if all was well it should have put in 1500.
It looks therefor that it will not take a full charge for whatever reason.
I do not know if there is anything else to try but once again many thanks for your advice. A new battery might be the answer. By the way yes they are all the same make and are the batteries supplied specifically for the Twister 3D heli.
As a matter of further interest the other two batteries when recharging always take exactly 1100 Mah Never 1050 or 1000 but always 1100. When l recharge Nicads or NIMH they always give different input readings depending l suppose on state of charge......Just wondering if Lipo's behave differently since it cannot be a coincidence that every time l use the other batteries l discharge them when flying to exactly the same point? A matter of curiosity thats all.!!
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Many thanks. Yes l have the Multiplex Charger so l can discharge the Lipo's. I do not normally do so, l recall being told that unlike nicads and NIMH, lipo's do not retain a memory so usually not necessary. Do you know if that is good advice or should l disharge all the batteries from time to time.
Could you also tell me a suitable discharge rate, since l will need to input that figure into the charger. Lastly do l also couple up to the balencer when l disharge.
Thanks Timbo. What a great site to be able to get help from other modellers.!! -
Thanks for the information Timbo.
I have done as you suggest and putting the Negative Prod on the black wre and going up the different colours l got the following results; 4.2: 8.4: 12.6.
So with my limited knowlege of electrics it would seem that each cell is currently balenced at 4.2V per cell.
Any other thoughts as to why it will not take the same charge in Mah as the other 2 batteries.? Many thanks.
Geoff. -
Thanks for the reply.
I would not know how to chack the voltage of each cell with my balencer since it seems l can only plug it in and it does an auto balence either with no charge input or with a charging input. There is no lcd screen or other read out info on my balencer. The one l use is an e-station balencer.
You could be right about running down to low but l have treated all batteries the same and stop when l can acheive no lift.
I guess l could check the voltage with a simple volt meter but then l assume l would need to remove the protective wrapping. How do l tell where the positeve and negative ends are on these cells since l have never opened up a pack?? -
A Question for you experts.
I have 3 Lipo's for my twister 3d helicopter. They are 3S 1500 each. After flying and running down to the minimum 2 of the batteries will take approx 1100 Mah charge with a dedicated Lipo charger and linked to a balencer. The 3rd battery will only take a charge of about 750 mah. This is on a regular flying basis. I sequence the use of each battery and they have been used about 20 times each.
My question is why is this third battery not also accepying a 1100 recharge. The cells all look ok and l have never crashed or damaged the cells to my knowledge. The obvious result is that this third battery only gives me about 70% of the flying time of the other 2. Any advice greatly appreaciated.
Geoff. -
Sid, I set up as per instructions and have had no problems. But see my first thread about aileron connection hole.However l also dial into the Tx about 40% exponential to keep the initial response soft. I suppose it is about how much you like to use the sticks!!! Good luck and let us know how your first flight goes.
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Richard, as to canopy catches all l can say is they work a treat if you follow the instructions. They are an excellent tight fit and have never moved in flight.They are about the best l have come accross for ease of fit and simplicity. I mention this in case anyone else should think they are flimsy and not upto the job. Pleased you are enjoying yours ..as am l.
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If it helps l use the Multplex Charger which does Lipo,Pb,Nicad, and NiMN.I charge from a 12v car battery, in the workshop. It is very simple to use and shows the charge rate and stops when fully charged. You need to select battery type and the rate at which you want to charge, but it is all in the instructions..
On Lipo,s l use an E-Station balencer in conjunction with the charger so each cell is kept in balence.
I am no electric expert but have found this system easy and have had no problems in charging any of the above types. -
Thanks for the replies guys. Guess l better start jigging. !!
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Thanks for the reply Danny. The problem is you cannot build flat because of the taper of the wing ribs. they are not of equal height tapering from 2" at the root to 1/2" at the tip. Think of an elongated triangle. The taper needs to be equal on both sides and you cannot acheive this if you build one side flat. I hope this explains my problem to you and anyone else who might be able to assist
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What is the difference between the two. ? what are the inputs to achieve the spin compared to the spiral dive. ?It would be interesting to try the 2 ...at a good height.
Sig Piper Cub
in Scale and Semi-Scale kits
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Hi Dan,
many thanks for the response and those few tips.I have never used glass cloth before ,having covered my build models with solarfilm/Profilm but always willing to leard/try something new!! I assume glass is recomended for those areas so will have a go.Sorry to hear about your engine what a pity. Any idea why it seised!.
Let us know how the maiden flight goes indue course. Good luck.
Regards, Geoff.