Stephen Belshaw

Thank you Peter. I have to say that, so far, it's been a really enjoyable build (wire hassles aside).

Quite a bit of bending, twisting, fettling and wastage of wire went in to forming the undercarriage, after which the binding and soldering was, in contrast, something to be enjoyed! A 100W iron and plenty of flux made for a quick and neat job, the whole was then epoxied in place. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that the forward bottom sheeting has the grain running the wrong way: I'd previously added 1/4" balsa doubles between F2 and F3 these were further reinforced with 1/4" gussets making for a very solid box around the undercarriage: The rear upper deck formers were located using the stringer and pinned in place before glueing with Rocket Hot CA: The battery tray was then epoxied in place and the forward formers were then dry fitted, additional formers were made up to create the battery hatch: After building up the formers, adding the stringer and framework for the hatch the whole front end was sheeted using Super Phatic and being careful to leave the hatch area unglued:

A little more progress to update. After a lot of checking, tweaking and double checking the 8swg cabanes were fastened to the formers using copper wire and soldered in place. I dry fitted them to the fuselage for yet more checks, more fettling and, as a final check, fitted the brass tubes and root ribs to confirm alignment and incidence: The two formers were then epoxied in place, first to one side before joining the two together, followed by F1 after cutting a slot to allow for the battery. I've adopted the suggestion by EarlyBird which will enable the battery to drop in through a hatch, feeding it rearwards through F2 before pushing it forwards through F1 by the requisite amount. I think Peter designed this model for a .40cu which, I gather, weighs around 300g. My motor and LiPo combo come in at well over that, so I'm hopeful that will be enough to not need any nose weight: Next job was to glue on the 1/64" ply sides using aliphatic and, after leaving overnight to dry, pull in the rear end adding the fin, top in-fill and underside balsa/ply support for the tailwheel assembly: Finally, with the addition of the cross supports we have something that looks like a fuselage:

Gary Binnie, what a lovely looking glider - what is it?

More thoughts on the battery placement. The original idea I had of accessing through the cockpit floor is not going to be practical, it would necessitate removing the wings to gain access which means taking off four struts, disconnecting servo leads and then unscrewing the cockpit floor. Far too much faff so I'm looking at alternative options: Option 1 The original design powered by IC utilises Peter's "patented" slot screw cowl removal method, ease the cowl slightly upward, pull forward and "et voila" off it comes. I could stick with this and move the battery forward through F1, making a snug fitting box behind FI and extending the floor of the box through F1 to give me a projecting tongue to strap the battery down to: I would need to cut out access through F1: Option 2 This idea was mentioned earlier in the thread, put the battery vertical up against F1. This would mean dispensing with the removable cowl and cutting a hatch between F1 and just in front of the windscreen but it would be a very tight fit: Option 3 A variation on option 2, angling the battery backwards to give a little more room for manoeuvre: The cowling, as drawn on the plan, is quite rounded so limiting the available space. I am modelling mine on G-BZLK which has a more angular nose and should give me a little more to play with. The flat front is also slotted which will help with the cooling: Option 1 would require removing the prop for a battery change, option 2 would be a simpler swap but the space available looks very tight. Option 3 is a simple swap and has no problem with space but does it get the battery far enough forward?

I was thinking that Peter, once I've got the fuselage together I can jiggle around and figure out what works.

Thank you. As it's on the plan yes, unless advised otherwise! Edit: just seen PM's comment so will eliminate the side thrust.

Two fuselage sides completed, very straightforward, one built on the plan and the other built on top whilst leaving the original in place: The next job was to form the undercarriage and wing supports from 8swg wire, these need to be added to F2 and F3 before the formers are glued in place. This was the first time I'd attempted such heavy duty bending, a fair amount of trial and error resulted in wasting wire but I finally settled on reasonably accurate knowing I can fettle the formers and bend the wire a little when all is in situ: This is the tool I used for the job, I found it very hard to judge exactly where to place the wire in the bender to get the correct position of the radius, experience is everything with this job I think: Next was to attach the strut mounting points to F2 and F3, made up of clevises bound and soldered in place: Thinking a little further ahead about where and how to locate the battery, it just squeezes between F1 and F2 and would drop in through the removable cockpit floor. However I think because of the enclosed and confined space I think it might be difficult to then strap it in place which would leave me relying only on velcro. That's assuming of course that the battery needs to go all the way forward, which I think it will. Located further aft would be much simpler:

Not got far enough in with the build to fine tune battery placement but will hopefully update later with current state of build. I'm working on the assumption that as Peter's prototype was designed and built around IC our EP versions will be nose light which I'm hoping can be addressed with battery/equipment placement and very little if any lead. But, as mentioned in my OP, I'm coming from a glider background so somewhat in unfamiliar territory!

This is what I have:

No need to apologise Peter, but given the other comments should I incorporate the side/down thrust or not bother with it?

Just back from checking the plan: Now what?!

Yes, full of character. I wonder where I got the side thrust idea from - I'll go back and check the plan ............

As a perennial "glider guider" and principally slope, encompassing sport, scale and PSS I now find myself with flat field flying as my only option. On paper Peter's T31M fulfils all my new found requirements in being a scale glider, but with a motor and of a size that should suit my smallish airfield. I bought the laser cut kit, wood pack and plans from Sarik Hobbies and sourced the remaining bits from multiple sources to give me the following specification: 4-Max P0-3547-800 brushless motor 13 x 6 wooden prop YEP 40A ESC 2200 3S LiPo Hi-Tec HS-81 servos for ailerons, elevator and rudder HobbyKing micro servos for air brakes The construction of this, to me, looks more like a powered model than a glider so it'll be a bit of a learning curve with undercarriages, steerable tailwheels and dummy engines all unfamiliar territory. I also intend deviating from the plan a little by mounting the aileron servos outboard in the wings, moving the rudder servo under the cockpit and utilising a ball link connector for what will be a removable tailplane ( the accompanying photo should explain). I've started by separating the laser cut parts from the sheet to make a "kit", laying everything out on the plan to understand the construction and will be using Peter's magazine article as a build guide. I have also knocked up a motor mount incorporating the required side and down thrust. Kit of parts: Motor mount: Proposed elevator linkage, this will be inside the fuselage rather than the outboard ones in the original design: I've made a start on the fuselage sides, this will be followed by the forming of the undercarriage and wing supports, not a job I'm looking forward to!

Thanks Bill and David, just what I needed to hear.

Thanks Tim, I had already come across that, sadly not a lot of useful information in it. I was hoping to hear from someone who had built one, with a view on the quality of the kit, ease of build etc. Looks like I may be the guinea pig!

Anyone made any progress with one of these? I'm thinking of having a go at the HobbyKing version.

Flashed both receivers successfully this morning. I needn't have worried, it was a far quicker and simpler process than I feared and of course gives me options for future Rx purchases. Many thanks to all who chipped in, especially MattyB!

I think twelve receivers in total, one of those runs on D8 which I guess I would lose in a switch to V2? It's not a large amount to process, it's more the hassle of digging them out of models and also updating the Taranis, whereas converting the two new ones should be quick and simple. I fly mostly alone so I never considered the rogue servo command issue a problem for me.

Thanks MattyB, that's reassuring and the video was very helpful. I've gone to the FrSky website to find the appropriate firmware, the X8R download is offered as V2 which obviously I don't want: Then below that in "History Firmware" I find these files (two of each kind): So I'm a little confused as to what I need, presumably one of the "files" (listed as documents} in the above screenshot??

Having posted recently about the potential pitfalls of upgrading OTX and deciding to stay with what works I now find myself with anther dilemma thanks to my lack of awareness regarding FrSky ACCST moving to V2. I've just taken delivery of two X8R receivers, same as I have previously used, or so I thought. Tried to bind with my X9D+ and neither would have it. Digging around a little it seems the problem is new Rx's are shipped with V2, whereas I'm running everything on V1 and wasn't intending to update. Can I "flash" these X8R's back to V1 without updating the Tx and without too much difficulty?

I was wondering the same. My understanding of MattyB's process is that the version updates of OTX are done on the computer, step by step, making sure all the model files are complete and unchanged. Only then flash this over to the Tx. Then do the SD card??

A strong consensus for staying as is rather than updating. I'll hang fire for now although I'm a little surprised (but relieved) as I expected "oh no, you must upgrade to the latest version"!

On the basis of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" and it being a process I dread I've put off updating the firmware for my Taranis X9D+. However I'm mindful that I probably should bite the bullet at some point but unsure which version to leap to. I don't won't to have to update my receivers so I guess that means NOT the latest version? Is it worth updating, and which version do I need, also I'll be doing this on a Mac so is there anything I should be aware of?

Scheibe A-Spatz from the Chris Williams plan, 3.5M wingspan 5.25Kg AUW modelled on a Danish registered full size: