Jonathan M

The steerable nose-wheel setup however proved to be a bit of a headache! Firstly I realised that I hadn't thought the thing through properly - i.e. the geometry of using the servo-arm side opposite the rudder clevis meant that when I applied left rudder the wheel turned to the right...! (I'd copied the setup on my Boomerang, but forgotten that in the case of the Gangster the rudder linkage exited the rear fuselage on the other side.) The rough-and-ready dodge was to swap the nose-wheel connection to the same side as the rudder, but this meant using a hole closer to the centre (so less steering movement), but even worse this then left the linkage is a complete and unhappy floppy mess, which compounded by the friction at the firewall end of things (which I'd hope will at least lessen with time and stray engine oil!) made an awful graunching noise - so not at all happy! There are only two proper solutions: either make the nose-wheel fixed and lose the steering connection altogether (which is my plan C), or use a separate steering servo (Plan B). I've only currently got a HS85MG going spare - not as big/strong as a standard but at least it is metal geared.... and will fit once I've moved the throttle servo over a bit! Aaaargh!

Decided to use the wire U/C and 2.25" diameter wheels supplied in the kit. I had previously thought about fitting bigger wheels, say 3", to cope with our patch - plus I was worried about the axle bits which had been cut too short for a collet each side of the wheels on the rear ones - but decided to give the original equipment a go. The trick was to solder a washer to the axle just before it became a radius, using a simple wooden jig to keep the washer in its correct place and perpendicular to the axle (ignore my substandard soldering skills!) and this left just enough room for the collect to fit and its grub-screw to bite.

That's the essence of it for me (except I don't have the throttle-activated voice alert as you do). I do all my pre-flight checks in the pits before/after starting (i.e. the model checks), then do my pre-takeoff checks (i.e. check what else is in the air etc) once I've positioned the model on the strip and taken my position in the pilot-box. That's enough for me - I don't want the timer on a switch, I want it on the throttle, but only over 25%. Will get my head around the programming... ?

Thanks Matty, I'll delve into this later and see what I can configure.

Nor have I, but if in the long distant future I needed to re-cover then I'd rather have everything apart.

Nice progress.

Yes, that's exactly the sort of thing I'm after. But as I lack a skilled programming brain (and don't know if my version of TX and OpenTX will support this kind of intervention to the timer) I was hoping someone who'd already done this could provide an example of the programming!

Good points Andy. It isn't too much of a stress really because a typical full tank will give me 16-17mins and my timer is set to 12mins so there's normally plenty to spare even if I keep the engine running for a while at or slightly over tick-over (which in reality uses very little fuel). The reason however that I prefer the timer to activate via the throttle is that avoids the problem of forgetting to hit a switch!

Every day's a school day! (I guess the long-term maintenance option for mylar or flocked hinges is simply to slice them down the hinge-line and start again?) In the meantime, I weighed the airframe plus engine and U/C: total is a shade over 5lbs empty (my original target guess was 5.5lbs) so this is very pleasing. Wing loading at this weight is 16oz/sq ft and power-to-weight roughly 170W/lb. But a rough finger-balance test before shutting up shop indicates the CG might be a bit too aft? Will wait until the engine and U/C are all properly fixed in place then do a proper balance measurement. If this does prove to be the case, then the battery can simply be dug out and moved into the next bay forward.

X9D+ from 2018, running 2.2.21

These things Shaun (which were supplied in the kit but not quite enough (!) so I bought more). Fiddly, time-intensive business it was: first I greased all the knuckle areas with vaseline, then using 5 minute epoxy glued the hinges into the moving parts (i.e. elevator, rudder, ailerons), then when this had gone off I repeated the epoxying in the static parts - and in each case then spent another few minutes constantly moving the control-surface (and cleaning off excess gobs of epoxy) to ensure the that the curing epoxy didn't permanently bind the hinge.

Apologies if this has been covered before, but I'm trying to work out how to set the timer for my IC models to only run when throttle is at say 20 or 25% or over. It seems that I can set it to run at a percentage of total throttle - i.e. it'll count down slowly at lower revs and faster at higher revs - but this is not what I'm after. In practice a few minutes can be spent after starting in the pits with the motor running at idle or slightly higher before I'm ready for takeoff (e.g. I might want to wait until someone has finished their schedule or messing about, or other models could be landing, or there could be a fulls-size overhead, etc). Currently I tend to re-set the timer just before my own take-off, but sometimes forget. Is there an easy way to set this?

Advice taken Nigel and Andrew. Raided my stash of 2mm connector wire with threaded ends to fit the clevises (both from RC World) and made up +/-100mm lengths for both ends of the tail snakes - everything now fully rigid wherever unsupported by hard-points. Yes, the wire is slightly too small a diameter for the inside of the Sullivan inner snake, but with enough epoxy pushed down the tube only a destruction test will budge it. Then glued in the aileron hinges and fitted connectors. At 100% travel on the TX getting +/-30mm, which is the maximum available given the geometry. Instructions say to start with 18mm and increase if necessary. (I recall Andy Stephenson saying earlier that he needed as much as possible for a decent roll-rate.)

Much appreciated. Of the two options the internal stiffening one is the more elegant, and quickest to achieve.

Thanks for the warning Mark! There are two possible retrofit options to prevent this: either glue-on a ply support-bracket midway between the exit hole and the horn, or temporarily remove the M2 studding for the clevis and epoxy in a length of stiffening rod of some description...?

Yes. The outside (red snake) is flushed off where it exits the fuselage. Same with the rudder snake on the other side. I'm not overly anxious about it flexing unsupported at full up elevator... at least when I applied hand-force on the snake inner it felt pretty stiff.

Battery snug against aft bulkhead with the help of a few bits of scrap balsa and some CA. A bit cosy in the aft bay, but at least nothing snags anything else - and colour coded aileron extension leads run forward through next former for ease of plugging in. Tail hinges epoxied in and elevator horn on so far. Nearly there....! ?

Thanks for that Jim, appreciated. Red Baron, thanks for the kind offer of ribs for the Chilli Breeze. I've already in fact got a pair of foam-cored wings cut for mine, but was thinking of a built-up wing for extra lightness. Will PM you. Jon

Wide-ranging applications of the plastic tech! Yes, a build thread for your (proper electric of course!) Chilli Breeze would be really interesting to follow. I've got the plans for mine (proper IC) pinned to the wall, but it won't be started for a while as I've got a couple of slope soarers and an own-design Peanut Scale to build first.

Thanks for that RB - I've got to the point where I really like having to do as little more than the bare minimum ? How's your Chilli Breeze coming on? Electric or proper?

Covering and trim business all done! Decided on a black cockpit in the end, but yet to work out how to affix the canopy as I don't quite trust canopy glue to stick to shiny film! I suppose some sort of screw fixing will also be needed, then a few strips of scrap brown film to hide/tidy up things. Then just the engine and U/C to fit in place, glue in the hinges, make up the control surface linkages and fit the RX, battery and switch. Will leave the cowling until after the first few trim flights - as I'd guess the model would likely need at least some right-thrust.

My covering skills leave a lot to be desired (photos carefully selected to avoid those with unsightly wrinkes), but at least no-one will notice when it's zipping along at two-houses high..! Masking-tape mockup of white upper-wing stripes. Cowling still needs a few more wraps of wetted cloth to de-flimsyfy it further before sanding smooth and painting brown. Original plan was for a black cockpit, but the bare balsa makes me think maybe a white one would be fun at least... even if it does nothing for my non-existent knife-edge flying skills!

A welcome change from all the usual misery. Loved the geezer who said he didn't have a problem storing his 450 gliders at home, as he'd divorced his wife in 1972 ! ?

All good work Adrian - I admire the mindful way you've gone about this.

Made a start this evening getting the brown stuff onto the fuselage. I don't know what the 'approved' method is, but I'm finding things much easier by sizing and ironing on small panels - working from the underside up, and from the tail forwards.