Graham Davies 3
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Posts posted by Graham Davies 3
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Interesting though the cost comparison is, I think the OP was asking about the relative flight performance...
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This flew today.
Fantastic afternoon in great weather and in great company.
56" span CAP232, built from foamboard, ply and B&Q pine (6mm sq, for the spars). A bit porky by my standards at 5lb, and flies on 4S 3700 on a 4250 500kv motor and a 14x6 prop.
Undramatic maiden flight, with just a few clicks of aileron. It flew really well, although some spurious issue (as yet undaignosed) prompted an emergency landing off the strip. No damage though, and she'll fly again...
Graham
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Mick's Daddy-O is one of the nicest models I have seen for a long time. Wonderful.
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That's a great idea Peter. Nicking that!
Graham
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If you click on the pictures, the price changes. For £1.38 you get a "12mm to 10mm strut adjust ring"
A retract unit is 40 quid...
See my comments above!
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Hi Tosh,
Be careful of the low priced parts. I ordered some retracts and got just the mounting plates! I was about to get righteous with AliExpress, but when I re-read the listing it did say what they were, but it certainly wasn't obvious.
I'd check and double check, and if it looks too good to be true, well, you know the rest!
BTW, I have some mounting plates if you need them...
Graham
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9 minutes ago, Peter Miller said:
I know that it is worth nothing but my FF 6 would work with your 35 Mhz rx. If you want it it is yours for nothing. I could post it to you unless you live within a reasonable distance of the Suffolk Essex border.
I have a few 35MHz receivers you can have if we roll them all into one parcel!
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Not tried the standard ones, I'm afraid but I do like the CNC ones on my TX16. The feel is very good.
Are they worth £120? The difference was nothing like that when I bought it, and I maybe would have thought twice had it been.
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21 hours ago, Don Fry said:
Can’t you build a half profile as Eric’s design, turn it over, and build the other half profile on the other side of the flat.
Might work Don, but I think it will be tricky. This technique locates the spars to the lower skin, so unless you retain the lower skin to build the other side onto, which may be a bit heavy, there's not much to locate everything.
I think it's certainly possible to make a LD wing from foam board, but maybe in a slightly different way..
Graham
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Depends. If I can line everything up, definitely preferable to use as a contact adhesive. If I need a bit of wriggle room, apply wet.
I'm sure you've seen, the issue with hot melt is you can't be certain it stays melted until you have contact.
Graham
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Hi, I had similar issues on 30" runs. In the end I decided UHU POR a better bet! It's also loads lighter. I now use a combination of both POR and hot glue, but certainly for applying a wing skin, the extra working time is invaluable. Or, used as a contact adhesive if you are confident...
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Maybe Don.
Limbo dancer has a very thick airfoil, which may make it hard to use a flat bottom design at this thickness. It is possible to use a similar idea and presume it to be flat from the spar backwards. I have done this on the CAP232. I built it flat on the board and curled the skins ahead of the spars by dragging over a table edge. Once the rear section was glued, I pulled the front section up to some ribs.
Eric's method is simpler as you don't need ribs, but use the various spars to create the profile. You can't really do this with semi or symmetrical sections because there is nothing to locate the centre line. You need a few ribs, or at least half ribs ahead of the spar. But yes, a variation on this would be possible.
Graham
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I've done both David. I prefer a cradle, or at least a platform and use a little bit of velcro to prevent it sliding about, and a velcro strap to keep it in contact. I find that to be practical at the field.
I have velcro'd to the fus floor if it's sturdy enough, but it can be hard to get your fingers under the battery.
Graham
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Looking great Eric.
Is that a single 5mm sheet for the tailplane? Have you added any stiffeners?
I used one sheet for the Ki45 with balsa LE/TE, but it's a bit floppy. I use 2 thicknesses since with inner skins removed, but it's a bit heavy. Somewhere, there's a compromise!
Graham
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That's where I started Steve. Swapping out balsa for foamboard in obvious places such as those Don mentioned.
Take a shufty at Flite Test's videos on Youtube. They have a certain load of techniques that are a good starting point. Personally, I think we can do a little better as many of their designs are a bit 'angular'. The lobster tail fuselages don't do it for me! BUT; they do make it incredibly accessible, and it inspired me to have a go.
I find it reasonably easy to build from a 3-view now, and whilst we lose in some areas such as stiffness, we really gain in others. Look at the fuselage on the Reggie and imagine making that from balsa! And the cost is so low we can afford to experiment.
Good luck Steve, you're about to open a whole toy chest!
Graham
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4 hours ago, Steven Hurd said:
Don.
Have you any further breakdowns on this type of construction. I’m really interested in using alternative materials, and would like to have a go.
But I would like to see a few flying examples to give me the confidence to try it out. Like what do you use for the fuselage sides, and what is used for sheeting the wing areas, wing spars etc. Balsa is king here in my book, but I’m open to trying new ideas and suggestions.
thanks for your help
Steve
Steve, there's a load of us making good, viable sports and scale models with greater or lesser amounts of foamboard. If you look in the foam models section, you'll find various builds. FWIW, I am currently flying a Regianne RE2005 at 55" span with full retracts and flaps built entirely from foamboard, and a Ki45 twin which has a tiny amount of balsa. Both fly really well. I have a CAP232 at 56" ready to maiden. Eric Robson and Martin Collins have both built some amazing models, and it really shows what is possible. Some have quite different structures to conventional models, my CAP232 would be very easy for a traditional modeller to digest.
Drop me a line if you want to chat about this; we're all quite enthusiastic about the possibilities.
Graham
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A fine role model Peter!
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Thanks for the warning Peter. The dogs usually use my carpets to clean their feet. Little darlings...
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A bit more feckling done.
All the radio gear is fitted and linked up.
Balance is a bit rearward at about 29%. I will try to shuffle some things around, or add an ounce or two of 'insurance'.
Power is a 4250 540kv on 4S, spinning a 14x6. It's giving me over 700W of electrical neddies. It feels OK rather than sparkling, partly as the model is a bit heavier than I'd hoped at 4 lb 13 Oz. Still, should be fine for a 56" span model.
Just need some decent weather now.
Graham
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Well, there's paint on it. I can say that.
Not my finest work. As long as I can keep anyone with DVLA standard eyesight to a respectful distance, of, maybe half a mile, it looks fine...
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Started spraying her today. With rather mixed results. Honestly? I half expected this...
I'm going with a bright, stark scheme that is befitting of a CAP232. Red and Blue and of course the base white. I have been concerned about the backing paper on the HobbyCraft foamboard as it is really easy to split off the glossy top surface. With that in mind, I used the low tack blue masking tape, which has worked for me in the past.
Sprayed watered down emulsion from my little HVLP touch up gun, which went on OK. However, as feared, removing the masking was a problem. There was some splitting, but not too bad. The bigger problem is that removing the tape 'loosens' the backing paper and makes it baggy. I have tried to re-tighten it with a bit of heat from the iron, but it's only partially successful. Second side I minimised the pressure on the tape. This meant slightly less bagginess, but also a bit of leaching...
So people, little to be gained in leaving either inner or outer skin on! I shall be fully denuding my foamboard in the future; I know where I am with brown paper...
Less of an issue with the warbirds as I don't remember using masking tape.
Still, it is what it is and will look fine at 50ft...
Graham
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Just weighed up.
4lb 12 Oz with everything except paint and elevator/ rudder horns. Span is actually 56" and total area 3.9 sq ft. So loading is just under 20Oz/ sq ft.
No featherweight, but fine. Similar size to my old acrowot, and that was 6lb fuelled up.
Interesting though; if you use foamboard as a replacement for conventional materials and use a conventional structure, you don't get the big weight savings. This model is about 8Oz heavier than the Reggiane, which includes flaps and retracts!
Graham
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Sorry Martin, 55".
Power is a 4250 540kv on 4S 3700 packs. I'll probably use a 14x6 or 14x8, so it will have plenty...
Graham
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Thanks Gents.
Cheers for the suggestion Eric. I'll do some experiments before the next one.
Not sure Martin, not weighed it yet. It's not super light, but that's fine as it will cope with a breeze. I suspect it will come out around 4lb. I'll weigh it tomorrow if I get a second.
Graham
Forum members' new models: Let's see them.
in All Things Model Flying
Posted
Thanks Martin,
Some of Peter's excellent photos of it in action...
Graham