Am tempted to go for a Phase 6

[PatMc]

I think an AMT would give a softer elevator response & remember mine is the Pro wing so possibly less responsive to elevator anyway.

[Gary Binnie]

The P6 elevator is fine as it is IMO, on high rates it pulls fairly tight loops, it's the ailerons or the roll rate of mine that seems a little bit soggy, might be completely different with the symmetrical wing.

 

I don't think I'll be flying it for a while so I'm going to nick the receiver for something else.

Edited By Gary Binnie on 01/04/2011 21:08:42

[Alex Leigh]

Flew mine yesterday. It's a lot of fun. Fully glassed so heavy but went away without a hint of trim. It's not fast like a mouldie but is brilliant at big aeros and keeps the momentum well.

Good luck with yours when you get it done. Oh and that removable tailplane is genius!

[Peewhit]

Well done Alex.

 

I will get mine in the air one day but no hurry.

 

The good news is that the wings fit in the fuselage space

 

And the fairing sides will need a bit of trimming down but at least they are big enough

 

There are a few things to do before I seal up the nose space.

 

First is glassing the bottom and sides

 

 

 

Then the brace to stop the battery splitting the nose in the event of a vertical landing - epoxied in due to the sides being glassed.

 

And a foam bed for the battery to lie in

 

Then glue it all together

 

And what a right mess it looks.

 

I now need to let all that aliphatic resin set properly and then it's wood shavings and sanding dust galore

[Peewhit]

Masking tape off, razor plane, medium sandpaper on a block and it now looks a bit different.

 

I even remembered to mark out the area for the fin and leave that flat

Cutting off the wing fairing went quite well and I could then access the bottom of the fus in the wing area for a bit more glass.

 

Infill between the sides with 1/8" balsa, grain crossways

 

Sand flat and face with ply

 

The instructions say to face the rear of the wing fairing with ply. I faced the front of it too, and it fits quite well.

 

[Peewhit]

Next bit is to make and install the former under the wing mount

 

This I built in situ with the sides first, and then the top and bottom.

The bottom is not straight but it fits.

 

Then to carve off the hatch

 

I used a junior hack saw to cut through the former and a knife for the rest.

 

And now to the tailplane which I do need to be detachable for transport, and in this respect an all moving tail will be easier.

 

First step is to make a bell crank

 

Crude but effective and then to carve the tail into three pieces

 

The principle is that the bell crank will rotate around a piece of carbon tube in the center section, and that the two tailplane halves will be joined with two lengths of 2mm piano wire, with the front wire being the pivot and rotating inside the center section carbon tube.

 

Two lengths of wire into one half and the carbon tube and a hole in the center section

 

Then two lengths of carbon tube in the other half

 

And it all fits together

 

At this stage, I sanded the tailplane to section and put a slot in the center section for the bell crank

 

Carbon tube and bell crank assembled dry for a trial fit

Except that the bell crank is the wrong way around - the long bit should be horizontal

 

Then attach the carbon tube pushrod and feed it into the fus from the back

 

 

 

[Peewhit]

Then glue on the "elevators" and assemble it all

 

To get the bell crank in, I had to split the rear of the center section longitudinally and then rejoin it afterwards.

Having made sure that the tail was straight and horizontal, I tack glued the center section with CA and then used a fillet of epoxy and micro balloons

 

Will need to fill in the back bit and yes, the bell crank is in there somewhere.

 

Dremel out the slot for the rear wire

 

 

and check that it all fits and moves

 

The quoted elevator movement is 3/16" to 5/16".

On the all moving tail, the up movement is limited by the bell crank hitting the top of the fus.

 

I can get 5/8" movement at the trailing edge which should be more than enough

 

So what do you need those round holes in the rear of the fus for?

Edited By Peewhit on 06/05/2011 18:42:18

[Conwy Soarer]

So what do you need those round holes in the rear of the fus for?

Edited By Peewhit on 06/05/2011 18:42:18

 

 

Clevis access for the standard TP??

[Peewhit]

OK, tail plane sorted and I now need to finish the wings.

 

Having already fitted and sanded the leading and trailing edges to section, the next job is to glue the square balsa to the tips

 

 

The instructions quote it as 3/4" square, in which case it would have fitted beautifully.

In actual fact it was 11/16" square and will need some filler at the top of the wing.

 

A highly technical template for the rear of the wing tips

 

 

It is the same one I used for the bottom of the fus, then glue on the wing mount spreader plate

 

 

and sand everything down.

The quality of the veneer is not very good with lots of splits

 

Two coats of lightweight "spackle" filler were needed to get a good finish for glassing.

Glassed, sanded and ready to paint

 

 

Then to fit the wings to the fus.

Drill a 5.5mm hole in the spreader plate to take the 5mm wing bolt

 

One day I will get it in the middle, and a 5/8" hole for the front locating dowel

Thankfully, this one is in the middle.

Then mount the wing on the fus and check that it is square by measuring from both wing tips to the rear of the fus.

Drill through the hole onto the fus wing mounting plate, trim down the spikes on the captive nut, and furkle those ply break out plates

 

Then put it all together and check the fit, which was pretty much spot on

 

It's all starting to look a little bit familiar, and don't you just love that classic fin shape.

 

The instructions say that you can achieve perfect wing seating using cataloy body filler.

Protect the underside of the wing using plastic (in my case cling film) apply the filler to the wing mount, mount the wing and trim down when set.

I didn't have any body filler. Epoxy thickened with micro balloons seemed to do the job nicely

 

Now, to glass the outside of the fus...............

 

 

 

[Tony Smith 7]

Can't wait to see it in the air ....

[Peewhit]

Don't know if that is important or not Tony.

 

It is just great fun to build, but of course I will fly it.

 

Bought the paint today

 

[Tony Smith 7]

Posted by Peewhit on 23/05/2011 19:44:56:

 

It is just great fun to build, but of course I will fly it.

 

Am I mis-remembering, or is this a lot more work building than the Middle Phase (one of which I built many many years ago)?

[Faez Khan]

Hi Peter,

 

Looks like so much fun to build! An impressive work of art indeed! I have already complimented the all moving tail- elegant.

 

Thanks for invaluable myriad of tips on the build here!

See you soon.

Faez.

[Peewhit]

Back again.

 

Have been glassing and sanding, painting and sanding, and sanding, and even more sanding.

 

Painted the wing first.

 

A coat of filler primer

 

 

This was sanded off almost completely with its task to fill any low spots.

Then primer, sanded down and topcoat.

I can feel this thing getting heavier and heavier, and the cost of the paint is approaching that of the model kit.

 

Glassed the fus with the fin first

 

Then cut the flaps and ailerons to length.

They are going to be hinged with silicone with the ailerons hinged at the top and the flaps hinged at the bottom to allow sufficient down movement for crow braking.

I therefore need a bevel onto one edge and 1/8" seemed about right

 

Note that the outer edge of the ailerons is not square therefore left and right are not interchangeable and the bevel needs to be onto the top edges

 

Have also looked at a ballast tube and worked out that with the C of G at 4 1/2", I could get 80mm of ballast both front and back of it.

This gives a 160mm length of 50mm diameter brass rod which will be in five 32mm slugs.

 

Each slug weighs 80G which will give a ballast capacity of up to 400G or 15oz.

Should be enough to hold it steady in a good blow!

 

I don't want to have to take the wings off to add ballast therefore the ballast tube will extend into the hatch area from where it can be loaded up.

 

 

The cut down loading bit is 35mm long and has a small "eject" slope at the front so that the slugs will come out easily.

A chunk of Elapor foam at the front should keep the slugs in place at the back of the tube.

 

 

Ballast tube installed with epoxy and micro balloons and just for good measure, I glassed it along the whole length to the bottom and side of the fus.

 

Back to painting..................

[Peewhit]

Thankfully painting now finished - should have bought some shares in Halfords first though!

 

I have hinged the ailerons and flaps using Geo-seal aquarium grade silicone sealant.

 

The ailerons are top hinged and the flaps are hinged at the bottom to allow for the down movement of crow braking.

 

I wanted the servo arms as long as possible to give better definition of movement.

 

The aileron servo arms are vertical whereas the flap ones are angled to the rear to give more down flap than up

 

In addition, I have set the flap servos with an offset on the transmitter to once again give more down movement than up.

Aileron travel is fine and the flap travel for crow braking also works

 

Control surface movement is fine, so time to pot in the servos using epoxy mixed with micro balloons.

 

For the electrics I used two sets of multiples six pin green connectors.

I even remembered to mark them left and right - if only they would make these things in two different colours.

Might have to beg some red nail varnish from the other half.

 

Servo covers on - Typhoon ones from Phoenix Models.

 

Held in place with four strips of that lovely Cellophane ultra clear tape

 

The wing was heavier on one side than the other so had to spoil the paint job by inserting a small chunk of lead.

 

A bit of lightweight spackle filler and just a touch more paint.........

 

Finally glue on the wing fairing

 

 

The hole is for access to the wing bolt, and wings finished.

 

Now, where did I put the fus?

 

 

[JIC_Phil]

Looking very smart Pete!

Phil

[Peewhit]

Thanks Phil.

 

Thought you were going to tell me that Sellotape is spelled with an S and not a C

[Peewhit]

Have found the fus and the instructions say that this bit goes on the back

 

From experience with the Midddlephase, rudder hinges do tend to pull out therefore I have used three instead of the specified two.

I have the ballast tube installed with access from the front so the last thing I want is to have that access cluttered up with rudder cables.

I managed to slot the rudder servo in above the ballast tube underneath the wing.

 

What a job it was trying to get those two rudder cables through the fus.

I attached them to piano wire yet it was still difficult to thread the piano wire through.

The former at the rear of the wing is the problem and I would strongly recommend that the rudder cables are installed through the fus before that former is added.

 

Next is a foam bed for the receiver

 

 

and a battery retrieval " handle" of CW tape

 

[Peewhit]

On to the elevator servo.

 

The bell crank for the all moving tail does not need a lot of movement.

 

Options are to dial down the servo movement (not recommended as it will give poor elevator (AMT) definition of movement), or to use a very short servo arm and grind one half of the clevice so that it clears the servo spindle.

This still gives 1/2" AMT movement up and down which should be more than enough.

 

The elevator servo needs to be as low as possible so that the pushrod clears the former at the rear of the wing

It was still not low enough so I had to put a kink in the threaded rod.

Then it cleared things nicely

 

 

Add the switch

 

and a little bit for the canopy latch to latch onto

 

 

Time to balance up.

Mr Foss states C of G at 4 1/2" behind the leading edge.

I have heard that 5" is about right so I went for 4 3/4", erring on the side of safety.

This still needed 4oz of lead in front of the battery.

 

Finally, a bit of high res Profilm so that I can see it in the air

and we're ready for the slope and retro sloping..................................

 

 

[Phil Cooke]

Model looks great Peewhit!

You say youve hinged your ails and flaps with silicone top and bottom respectively - can you shed a little more light on how you did this and what the finished result is like - im impressed with the actuation youve got on teh flaps, with zero gap I presume, would like to learn a little more about the silicon hinge and how you apply it.

 

Ive just finished a P6 too, another one with a 4 servo wing, but I went with conventional hinges on both ails and flaps, and I dont have as much movement as you have got here,

[Peewhit]

Hi Phil,

 

Silicone hinging is easy and you can do it after the surfaces are covered.

 

I now have silicone hinges on two and a half models (repaired some of the hinges on my moulded Typhoon) and I have not had one let go yet.

 

You need to chamfer just one side of the control surface so that you have a triangular profile with the pointed bit where you are going to hinge.

 

With the P6 a chamfer of 1/8" off one side was enough.

 

There needs to be a gap of about 1mm which gets filled with silicone.

I use the width (or more correctly depth) of a steel rule as a gauge.

 

Clean everything down with meths or isopropyl alcohol and set up the surfaces with that 1mm gap.

 

Apply masking tape so that it attaches the control surface to the wing.

 

Fold the control surface right back onto the wing and apply about a 2mm bead of silicone (Geocel aquarium grade from Pets R Us is the best one) all along the hinge line.

 

Smooth it fairly flat with your finger then put the control surface back to neutral position, tape it there and leave for 24 hours.

 

The hinge may need that initial bit of freeing, especially if you apply too much silicone.

 

Try it with some bits of scrap first.

 

Regards,

 

Peter.

[SlopeFlyer]

Great job. Enjoy the balsa bashing? Good to go retro once in a while.

[Peewhit]

Balsa bashing and retro is exactly what it was about, and now to the flying bit.

 

I "finished" (set it up for normal flight mode) late on the Friday night and took it out on the Saturday.

 

Rule number one - do not rush the setting up of a new model.

 

At the slope, I realized that I had not set up any crow elevator compensation - so a quick furkle with the 7 point programmable mix and sorted!

 

The first flight was a hoot as it is always difficult to set up an all moving tail.

There was so much up trim that it was untrue so flying with nearly full down trim and needed to land and sort it out. Also the crow braking elevator compensation was not enough.

 

Adjusted the linkage, dialed in more crow braking elevator compensation and threw it off again.

The second flight was a repeat of the first only worse.

Surely I had not adjusted the linkage the wrong way?

Landed and deja vue, adjusted the linkage the other way and dialed in yet more crow braking elevator compensation.

 

Third flight was just the same with way too much up trim so landed for investigation.

Three flights with reasonable landings and three ply break out plates broken with no more replacements, so I packed it away and flew the Typhoon.

 

Did I mention that the ply break out system works?

 

Well so does the "dowel break out" system

Epoxy with micro balloons used as filler, yet more paint and fixed good as new, only stronger.

 

I also strengthened the ply break out system to use 1/8" ply instead of 1/16", and two small washers to spread the load on the plate.

 

 

Now the post mortem-

 

On the DSX9 multi point programmable mix, point 6 represents the top stick position and point 0 is the bottom stick position.

I had only set it up backwards!

This meant that with the stick at the top it was giving up elevator, and the more I increased the crow braking compensation, the more up elevator I got!

 

Rule number two - do not set up anything crucial in a hurry on the slope.

 

Rule number three - double check everything before throwing the model off on that maiden.

 

Edited By Peewhit on 28/09/2011 19:38:10

[Peewhit]

And now the real flying bit.

 

Sorted out the crow elevator compensation properly, at home

 

I also weighed this beast.

According to Chris Foss, typical weight for a P6 is 42oz.

Mine clocks in at 60oz.

I suppose that all the fus reinforcement, glassing and paint, plus four wing servos, all adds up.

This gives a wing loading of 16 oz per sq ft so it may not need much ballast! - didn't want to fly it in a light breeze, anyway.

 

Hole of Horcum with a 15mph SSW wind forecast.

Got to the slope and the wind was straight onto the slope, only it was 30mph on the edge.

 

Threw it off and this time it just flew, with only a touch of down trim needed, and penetration in that wind was no problem at all.

 

It is not as fast as a mouldie yet still has a fair turn of speed from a dive into the compression layer.

 

It keeps momentum very well with loops, bunts, rolls, stall turns, and inverted flight all very easy.

 

This is the most well mannered and forgiving plane that I have ever flown.

 

I deliberately did a three quarters bunt and kept it flying upwards until it stalled.

It recovered very quickly on its own and just continued flying.

 

Whatever you do to it, it recovers and says "So OK, what do you want me to do next?"

 

I had five really good flights and five landings with only one 1/8" ply plate broken, and the wing dowel intact.

 

I am starting to fall in love with the Phase 6 and can't wait to get it in the air again.

 

ps don't tell the Typhoon, Wizard, or Missus!

 

Horcum is calling for Saturday

Edited By Peewhit on 28/09/2011 19:34:59

[Peewhit]

Forgot to mention the C of G.

 

Chris Foss says 4 1/2" from the leading edge.

I set it up at 4 3/4" and on that, it does pull up in the dive test.

 

Will set it to 5" for the next flight and see.