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OZ e flyer

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Everything posted by OZ e flyer

  1. OZ e flyer

    Servo access

    OZ e flyer posted a gallery image in Member Albums

    Servo access
  2. OZ e flyer

    Wings underside

    OZ e flyer posted a gallery image in Member Albums

    Wings underside
  3. OZ e flyer

    OZ e flyer posted a gallery image in Member Albums

  4. OZ e flyer
    About time I did an update I guess. Nearly 3 months has passed since my last post and my sleeker is still not finished. But its getting close. Its been a slow build but when you work away like I do time is very limited so any build I undertake will be slow. Plus being my first plan build I've been trying to be as accurate as I can and planned each stage carefully. I've really enjoyed building this little beauty so far and I'm certain it won't b my last build. Background: I modified the wing to include ailerons, reduced the dihedral and extended the wing length by one rib distance each side. Total wing length is now 950mm. Fuselage was built to include the undercarriage as per the original drawings however, the plan is to make the nose wheel steerable and instead of having the wheels attached by elastic band, I designed them to slide in to the fuselage and they can be removed the same way. Current weight stands at 400grams without a motor, ESC, Rx, battery or associated wiring so, so far so good. Photos next.
  5. OZ e flyer
    I'm an electrician by trade (worked in the elevator industry), bought my first butane Weller soldering iron many years ago. Loved it. Portable, quick and accurate. Stopped working last year and I had to buy a new one. This time bought the Dremel. Every bit as good. TP
  6. OZ e flyer
    Hi Richi, Check out the Phoenix range of gliders (Lanyu are the manufacturers) comes in a range of sizes 1.6m, 2m and 2.6m wing span. I was looking for an electric glider myself and my club members strongly recommended I get the Phoenix Evolution, it is a 1.6 and 2.6 metre wing span machine in the one box. Simply attach the two outer wing pieces to the fuselage for 1.6m model or put the 1m removable piece on the fuselage and attach the outer wing pieces to it and you have a 2.6m soarer. Pretty versatile and from all I can read not a bad machine. Excellent value for the money. Mine has just arrived and I won't be able to assemble it until after Wednesday as I am away until then. Currently it is a big brown box in my lounge room teasing me. I intend to do a build/maiden blog on this site so keep your eyes open. I am a novice like yourself and I agree with the comments above, get in touch with a club and pick their collective brains. You will learn so much and so much quicker. Have fun and happy landings. TP
  7. OZ e flyer
    I guess this is the age old problem for any publication. Not everyone will like everything you print. I don't fly IC. No other reason than council rules not allowing their use where I fly. So the whole club is electric only. Others would never think of flying anything but IC. Which do you print? IC articles or electric? Some like big warbirds, others small indoor flyers, you like potatoes I like tomatoes. You get my drift. I think RCM&E does an outstanding job of writing for the broad cross section and from what I took from Davids comments they intend to continue in this fashion. (Fantastic, says I). I believe that limiting the scope of content in anyway is to limit the appeal to readership, I also understand that the cost of publishing something with enormous content is expensive and to recoup those costs by way of a fair retail price could limit appeal to potential customers, particularly in a time where electronic media is killing off paper publications at an alarming rate. Finding your niche in the market would be a very challenging task indeed. Again I think RCM&E has hit its mark perfectly and they deserve accolades for doing so. I would be curious to find out what your global circulation is excluding the U.K. I know that trying to buy the magazine over the counter here in Australia was becoming hard as it sold out very quickly at my local news agency. Solution: I got myself a subscription. Again thank you RCM&E for sticking to your formula, I'm sure it will ensure your ongoing success. TP
  8. OZ e flyer
    That's fantastic David, thank you very much. Long may your subscription list grow. 👍😁 TP
  9. OZ e flyer
    RCM&E, please don't follow suit. I love the free plans and build reviews. I am building my first plane (Sleeker) and can't begin to tell you how much I have enjoyed the whole build process. I even enjoy the annoying little voice in my head that keeps saying "you could have done that bit bigger" or "next time I'll do that bit better/differently" I foresee myself building and flying many more If RCM&E were to stop including the free plans I'm afraid I would have to seriously consider if the magazine would be good value for money for me and it hurts to say that. Reality is being in Australia, many of the articles being U.K. Oriented content are of little interest to me. Sorry but it's the truth. Meanwhile big ups for RCM&E, keep up the good work and please keep including the free plans of these wonderful little flying machines. TP
  10. OZ e flyer
    Black Magic, Gentle Lady glider? Just 2 off the top of my head. Or how about a flying wing? Or maybe a micro/indoor electric model? I look forward to following this one. Thanks night flyer. TP
  11. OZ e flyer
    I'm probably only suggesting what you already have done but, I've found this site to be interesting and simple to read and understand. http://rc-airplane-world TP
  12. OZ e flyer
    Maybe they're opening a new branch which, is all well and good as long as they remember their roots. Or perhaps they want to make trunk calls. I think they're barking up the wrong tree tho. Sorry, couldn't resist. Lol.
  13. OZ e flyer
    Yes, please do a blog. I appreciate that experienced builders may find it uninteresting but they don't have to follow the thread. For us newbies/less experienced, I read every build blog just to see how others do things and to see if there is anything that I can apply to what I'm doing. Sometimes the most obscure little things are big EUREKA! Moments to me. I look forward to reading the blog and one day soon will contribute my own build blog. TP
  14. OZ e flyer
    Thanks for the tips guys. Melting foam was indeed my biggest concern. I guess the reasons I would like to cover the wings is to provide some protection against rubs and scrapes, stiffening I hadn't even considered but I get the advantage and the cost of a little extra weight. My other reason for covering was purely aesthetics and to add a little individuality. Think I'll have a real good think about it before I rush in. Thanks again. TP
  15. OZ e flyer
    Sorry Matty. Autocorrect error. 😠
  16. OZ e flyer
    Thanks guys, I was worried about putting heat near the foam so I'll check your tips. Never thought about signwriters Marty. Awesome idea. TP
  17. OZ e flyer
    Simply stunning, shocking and amazing images. Thanks for sharing Nigel. We should never forget these brave men and women who sacrificed so much for us. If you ever see a serviceman/woman be they Serving or retired, shake their hand and thank them. I have a brother who served in the RAAF. He makes me proud every day knowing the things he has done. TP
  18. OZ e flyer
    Hi everyone, just ordered a Phoenix Evolution 2 in 1 electric glider and I have a question regarding wing coverings. The plane comes with a bunch of decals for you to fit but I have seen at least one other plane where the foam wings were covered with what appears to be a paper and dope type of arrangement. My question is has anyone else covered foam wings and what did you use? Keen to hear your suggestions as I quite like seeing lovely and different designs used for coverings. TP
  19. OZ e flyer
    Nice to hear from a fellow west Aussie Vince. I'm in Perth but fifo to the Pilbara. I'm much newer to the hobby than you are so it's been a pretty steep learning curve. The guys on this site are awesome and a huge wealth of knowledge. Like you I've been bitten by the building bug. Currently building a sleeker and really enjoying the build process. Next build will be a Ton Van Munsteren design, redwing eagle electric glider. I've had an apprentice for about 18 months now and I gotta say it's been a great trainer, just bought an Adagio as well but I think I now realise it was a step too far for me. It's way more lively than the apprentice and it's proving a real handful for me to control. Big incentive for me to get the sleeker finished so I have another training tool so to speak. I got involved with a local club and I now wish I had done so way earlier. If you are not a member of a club I recommend you check some out, you won't regret it. Thanks to their advice I've ordered a new electric glider and I'm hangin out for it to arrive. It's a Phoenix evolution and it's a really neat unit that is basically 2 planes in one fuselage. 1.6m and 2.6m wingspan interchangeable. If it lives up to expectations it will be a great sailplane. A lot of the guys at the club have Phoenix gliders in different variations and they all rate them highly. You do have to spend a bit of time and effort in the mechanical setup before even contemplating flying but I now am realising that the time spent doing this on any model is where the rewards are reaped later when the flying starts. Kal would be a fantastic place to get into thermal gliding I would suspect. Lots of warm weather and lots of really wide open space. Spent a bit of time there myself and quite enjoyed it. Especially enjoyed some of the pubs there 😉 Anyway welcome to the forum and I look forward to following your adventures. Give Paddy Hannan a high five for me while you have a drink from his water bag. 😂😂 By the way, have you subscribed or got access to RCM&E mags? They are really good and I really love the free plans. Even tho I won't build them all, the knowledge gained from the build articles and other articles is absolutely invaluable. Highly recommend it. TP
  20. OZ e flyer
    Excellent point Simon. If we keep going with this thread we just might find the solution to the worlds energy problems. 😉 Anyone have a perpetual motion machine? 😂😂
  21. OZ e flyer
    Getting back to the original thread line tho, why are they going to impose a burden on Joe public for deisel usage when by far the biggest users are heavy and primary industries? I've not heard of an alternative to the heavy lifting that deisel motors perform. If there was a more economical or powerful alternative I guarantee the big users would be all over it. Trust me, I know how hard those motors work. I drive one of the biggest dump trucks ever produced in the world every day and I definitely would not like to pay the fuel bill for the fleet of them we operate(24 trucks plus a bunch of other HUGE machines). I work at an Iron Ore mine in Western Australia and I drive a Terex MT6300 Dump truck, it has a V20 deisel motor (3,750hp or 2800kW) and carries a payload a bit over 350 tonnes and has about a 5,000litre fuel tank. That's about enough fuel for a 24hr period but only just. Any one know of an alternative fuel/drive train that can work as hard and/or is cheaper to run? Let me know cos my bosses would reward me very handsomely I'm sure if I tell them. I'm willing to share the reward, I'm not greedy..... lol. Let's also not forget the farmers, and the long haul drivers as well. I'm not saying we should keep going using what we do, I'm just saying what's the alternative?
  22. OZ e flyer
    We are pretty fortunate here in Australia because we have huge open spaces, lots of coast line, lots of wind, lots of waves and lots of sun. The Australian public know this and I guess it's the people that are pushing for changes to environmentally friendly alternatives. Our take up of solar panels has been so large that remote towns are now trying to impose bans on any more installations purely because it makes the supply of electricity on the local grid not viable. You have to remember that some of these towns are remote enough that the local grid pretty much only supplies power to that locale Thousands of kilometres of power transmission lines for a very small town is just logistically not feasible. (Look up Kunnanurra, Derby or Broome and you'll get my drift). They often just have a Deisel generator/s run by a private company via a government contract for sale of electricity. As Colin said the power has to be available when the sun can't provide so that means the deisel has to run. But how do you recoup your costs if not enough power is bought? It's just wasted energy and that's exactly why the cost per unit goes up, otherwise, who would bother having a contract to supply a town if it's not profitable? So we have become victims of our own push for change. Bittersweet. I personally still have hope we will find a way to overcome these hurdles. There are some amazing ideas out there. A wave energy power supply (as opposed to tidal) is the latest we are trialling on a large scale and from all I hear it's doing really well. It's not as visually ugly as wind generators because it's under water and the waves roll in 24 by 7 no matter what. Battery technology has got better (Hello Lipo 😁👍 electric motors more efficient (Powerful brushless motors), light bulbs better (yes! LED) and soon maybe we can move further away from fossil fuels (Gotta get past OPEC first😠👎. If California can reduce emissions in as radical a rate as they have, then there must be more lessons to learn. Or am I being naive and too optimistic. I hope not.
  23. OZ e flyer
    We already have a lot of houses with solar collectors on their roof that are used to offset their power bills. We also get a lot of sunlight so it's very feasible. The downside is that the more people that have solar power, the more expensive it is to buy electricity off the grid. Currently most solar power units just put the generated electricity straight on to the grid and you effectively get paid per kilowatt hour you inject on to the grid. Naturally you get paid less than it costs to buy a kilowatt hour but some people are able to almost negate their power bill. It of you you only generate power while the suns up so conventional generation is required at night. This why a storage system is good because you can feed in power as needed instead of only daylight hours. I could explain why electricity costs are forced up but typing it on my phone would take ages. Unless anyone is interested of course in which case I will happily provide the explanation as best as I can.
  24. OZ e flyer
    I find the stuff plaster board fixers use the best. It sands back easily, can be painted and doesn't hardly shrink so easy to sand.
  25. OZ e flyer
    The sales pitch that annoys me is the claim of electric cars being eco-friendly and it's simply not the case. Batteries, plastic and rubber amount to a far bigger carbon footprint than any salesman will admit. It is however pleasing to see some models of car and electricity generation that are getting very innovative. Tesla have a very nice electric car out and here in Australia we are seeing some advertisements on the Tesla power wall (basically a solar collector that stores electricity in a large bank of Lipo batteries). The idea is you store power for when the sun doesn't shine and one of the best ideas coming out and smthat every house should have one and then the neighbourhood becom s a power generator on a pretty large scale. The up side is that as each household is a power generator they are able to sell any excess power to their neighbours. Pretty interesting concept but it will put the big generators out of business and that would take quite a lot of political will power.
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