Phil Winks Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Looking good BEB that question of the pilot is also stressing me with the BS63 nothing in my box so I've ordered a few more hopefully something thats coming will fit, With regards to the camera one of us will have to look at it for you at greenacres its not that hard once you find the appropriate part of the setup menu just out of the shed myself, turning 8 cylinders for my dummy engine, I think I must need a new dust mask as I'm coughing balsa dust out every 5 mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecchio Austriaco Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Looking at your pilot BEB - the guy has a painted scarf - we are looking for a fabric version! This is what Lindsay wrote in his article - a scarf is obligatory VA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Sorry VA - no cloth scarfs - its against H&S. We don't want Jean-Claude to suffer the same fate as the famous dancer Isadora Duncan do we? Actually, and absolutely nothing what so ever to do with model aeroplanes, but I do know a great story about Isadora Duncan. Apparently, as you might imagine in an "arty type" she was a bit scatter-brained. The story goes that she once said to that irrasable Irishman George Bernard Shaw: "Oh George dear, we should have a child together. Imagine a child with my looks and your brains." "Aye madam", replied Shaw, "the problem is I'm afeared that it might have my looks and your brains"! Right - onward with the DF - and Phil I've twiddled the knobs, well actually I ferreted in the menus, and we have higher resolution pictures. But if you want any higher than this you'll have to buy me a new camera! Well the tailplane and fin are glued in place. Time for a couple of "all over" shots I think, one from the front,... And one from the back,... Overall I'm quite pleased with that. I need to do the cut out for the cockpit - but its easier to sheet (and veneer) in one surface. The rudder isn't hinged in those photos - its just placed there. Next up, having stained the elevator control rod we can fix that in place. Here's the servo end with both rudder and elevator links in,... There should be room just underneath them for the Rx - I can't be sure because I haven't seen it yet. What? I hear you say. Well in a rush of blood to the head I've ordered myself a new Tx today. After am R/C flying career devoted to Futaba - I've just bought a Taranis! Comes with an 8 channel telemetry enabled Rx - total overkill for this - but the DF will be my Taranis testbed. Here's the elevator control rod at the other end - the staining was worthwhile as it does make it blend in nicely,... As you can see the framework is still patchy - but there isn't much I can do about that Moving on, we need a control horn for the elevator - here is another of my home made specials,... The hole in the tab is to provide a key for epoxy when I fit it. GRP is very smooth and its hard to rough up a small tab like that. Here is the horn in place on the covered elevator,.. The horn is fitted at a very slight angle - this is because the best run for the push rod is across the fuselage from the port side to the starboard. This of course means that the rod is at a slight angle to the longitudinal axis of the model. If I put the horn straight fore and aft then the clevis will be under pressure to spring open - something we definitely don't want. Putting the horn at a slight angle helps a lot. It doesn't completely remove the effect because the elevator rotates about an axis at right angles to the longitudinal axis - but the elevator rotation is small compared to the length of the rod - so we'll get away with that. Finally, Jean-Claude has been kitted out and is keeping a careful eye on the building to make sure I don't skimp on anything,... As you can see, these early Antoinette engines threw out a lot of oil! Next up its hinging the rudder and elevator. BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Looking good Dave and the bigger pictures certainly help to show the detail of better, I think I'll hold of on buying you a new camera for a while now. So you've bitten the bullet and gone for a Taranis, now its me who's jealous, I assume your aware it can be fitted with a futaba module (well I believe so) so all your futaba rx's needn't be redundant. Whith all that oils spatter on Jean Claude your going to have to apply some to the airframe too methinks for those interested with bigger photo's such as BEB is now displaying if you click on the picture your browser display's a near full screen version another click enlarges it still further and the keyboard shortcut back to the forum thread is alt+left arrow, or click on the browser back button well in windows XP and windows 8 it is anyway Edited By Phil Winks on 05/02/2014 08:24:35 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Posted by Phil Winks on 05/02/2014 08:19:22: Looking good Dave and the bigger pictures certainly help to show the detail of better, I think I'll hold of on buying you a new camera for a while now. So you've bitten the bullet and gone for a Taranis, now its me who's jealous, I assume your aware it can be fitted with a futaba module (well I believe so) so all your futaba rx's needn't be redundant. Hi Phil. Interesting comment there. It is, I'm afraid, wishful thinking though. Or I've really missed something, which is entirely possible these days. The Taranis Tx, I have one here does indeed have a module slot in the back, which is in addition to the internal FrSky transmit module. However it is a JR format slot. So, the compatible modules I have found so far, have been JR ones, the DSM2 Spektrum one and the OrangeRX ones that transmit Spektrum DSM2/DSMX. If anyone happens to know of a JR style module that will transmit for Futaba Rx's, I'd be really interested. Meanwhile, could everyone stop buying FrSky stuff so at least the stockists can keep some stock! Oh BEB - Dawn Flyer is looking great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 smashing build BEB. needs finishing though cos the tiffie is calling....... build me, build me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John F Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Great build blog. I am surprised that you are using micro servos on this though as I am worried about using micro's on my Serenede glider but this would go much faster and grenerate more torque through the surfaces! Am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Great build BEB....truly a masterclass in the art of balsa bashing....... I feel you have teased us long enough however.....what are you going to do at the front end....paint? stain? litho plate?? foil? Mmmm be a great subject for Davids next Poll.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Well, whilst everyone else is having a go I might as well chip in with my two penn'orth - thank you BEB for a truly informative step-by-step blog. Personally, I don't see how you manage to build and keep us updated, in such detail, with your progress. As I understand it, you've made reference to a daytime job but, speaking for myself, I don't believe you have another job. I think you do nowt but build models and write blogs - oh, and moderate on this website - oh, and add posts to other threads on all things rc model related. Phew! Ian PS and fly, for goodness' sake!!! Edited By IanR on 05/02/2014 17:17:41 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Posted by Steve Hargreaves - Moderator on 05/02/2014 16:54:13: Great build BEB....truly a masterclass in the art of balsa bashing....... I feel you have teased us long enough however.....what are you going to do at the front end....paint? stain? litho plate?? foil? Mmmm be a great subject for Davids next Poll.... I already know Steve (where's the smug smiley?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Posted by Chris Bott - Moderator on 05/02/2014 18:04:40: I already know Steve (where's the smug smiley?) Now as a mod you really should know Chris Coming along nicely Dave but yes we all wait with bated breath for the details of your treatment of the cowl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thanks for the encouragement and kind words lads - much appreciated. Re the servos - well yes they are quite small - but I've used these for example in my P2000 "warmliner" and they stood up well. With just over 1kgcm of torque - they should be plenty for this - its a fairly sedate flyer - or it will be in my hands! Except for the odd snap roll! Ian - that's what I see the Mass build as being about. If we are going to encourage folks to have a go and as part of that we promise support and guidance then I think its up to us to deliver that. Yes I'm sure there is stuff in here folks know - but we might as well be comprehensive because sometimes its the bits we think are easy and don't need explaining that actually fox people! Ah, the front,...well - watch this space! OK, hinging the elevator and the rudder. I'm going to use fuzzy CA hinges and as we sometimes get questions about the best way to do this I'd thought I'd show it in some detail. I'm not claiming this is the "best way" - but its my way! First, I stick a pin in the middle of each hinge - like this,... Then cut a slit for each hinge in the trailing edge. This is the tricky bit. Use a new blade in a scalpel and take your time. Make the first stroke a gentle one, just enough to cut the covering, concentrate on keeping it straight and in the middle of the thickness. Then gradually deepen the cut until you're done. Then insert the hinges up to the pins,.. You might find the slots are very tight - possibly too tight. If so reinsert your scalpel, I find it helps to just twist the knife very slightly and run the back of the blade along the inside which widens the slit. You want these to be a good tight sliding fit - it should take a little effort to get them to go in, but obviously the slit must be wide enough for them too get right in up to the pin. Now cut the matching slots in the control surface. Use a spare hinge to check that the slot is not too tight and the hinge will go in,... Once you are happy offer the control surface up to the hinges sticking out of the trailing edge - leave the pins in at this stage. It can be a bit fiddly getting all the hinges started in the slots at the same time - just persevere! Once they get started push the control surface right up hard against the pins. These pins will act as spacers - giving you just that millimetre or less you need. Now flex the control surface back which will expose a tiny bit of the hinge. Carefully put 3-4 drops of CA right onto this bit of hinge. The glue will sit there for a second, then apparently disappear! That's Ok, it means its gone were we want it to - into the slits. That done we turn it over and do the other side the same. Take the pins out and hey presto, job's done,.. Just flex the control surface up and down a few times to check movement is Ok and that there is no rubbing. Next onto the rudder, this is basically the same of course but there is one small problem - the fin is very small and you can only fit two hinges in. Now its a pretty big rudder to hang off just two hinges, so I've added a third in the tail post,... But the stern post is not very deep so I had to trim the hinge shorter, but a short hinge is better than no hinge at all! As you can see here I'll have to trim a bit more off as well as its still slightly protruding inside - but no big deal,... The rest of the rudder fitting is just a replay of the elevator and we end up with this,... Everything waggles nicely - so we're good to go. Some folks now pin these hinges using say cocktail sticks. I must be honest and say I don't and never have. And altogether I've only ever had one hinge come loose - and that in a very old model. So I believe they are fine as they are - of course you do check the security of your hinges at the start of every flying session - don't you! Next we turn out attention to the front end! First I want to build a small extension onto FC as a nose ring. So I marked this out on some 6mm balsa sheet,... Its only done very roughly - and slightly oversize - as it will be sanded to fit precisely. I've cut out two of these.... And that's where I'm up to! Next up, continuing the "nose saga". BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 looking nice now BEB. final straight in sight we hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 Yes, not far to go now Tony - finishing post in sight! OK, control horn made for the rudder and installed,... Back to the front end. Here are the two nose ring pieces roughly cut out,... They are deliberately cut slightly oversize so the exact profile isn't too important at this stage. We take one of these and mark a boundary 3mm in from the inside edge,... Next we cut along these lines - just a shallow cut, a couple of millimetres deep. Then make radial cuts, every 5mm or so, around the inner perimeter from the cut line to the edge, again about 3mm deep. Now we just flick out the resulting little squares leaving a rebate all around the inside,... Now we take some Isopon aluminium mesh (used in car body repairs - Halfords sell it),... Cut it to the shape of the rebate. Now cut a hole for the prop shaft, fill the rebate with epoxy and lay the mesh in there,... Now "make a sandwich" with the other nose ring on top,... Break out the aliphatic and clamp that up,... And we'll leave that to dry overnight. BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 07/02/2014 21:51:57 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 nice job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Looking interesting, and so the plot thickens here's wishing you a productive weekend so we can solve the mystery, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 BEB, may I add to your hinge pictures and postings that it is a good idea(if you are able because of suitable frame covering) to put a blob of Vaseline on either side of the furry hinge to stop the cyno running down the hinge line and going all over the place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Ah yes, Vaseline is your friend when you want to be sure the glue won't go there! Been a busy weekend, no chance really yesterday - and only limited time today. Although I am happy to report that I managed to get the Taranis successfully set up for the DF - with ailerons on separate channels as well. Well chuffed with that. Back to the build, the "nose ring sandwich" is dry so we can fix it in place on FC,... I had a careful think about what adhesive to use here. CA is out, aside from it being in the doghouse its not particularly good at this sort of job - you have to feed the glue in from outside, not good. Aliphatic is a potentially good choice, but aliphatic works best if allowed to set under pressure - but its hard to apply pressure to this joint. We could use impact adhesive, but its a bit of a "one shot" process, even with "Timebond" - and I really want to have a bit of time to get the position of this right - especially to ensure that the cut-out in the middle is centred on the motor shaft. In the end I settled for aliphatic - and just pressed it home firmly! While that is drying we can make a bit of progress with the U/C. First we need to solder a couple of 3mm washers on the inside of the axles,... These are intended to stop the wheels from riding up the axle and jamming on the bend into the leg. I've seen more than one model do a dramatic ground loop because one wheel has locked on the bend in the axle. Next up I made some of these little brackets from 1mm sheet brass,... With these we can fix the U/C in place,... Now you might think that 1mm brass held in place with servo fixing screws is a bit of a flimsy way to fix an undercarriage on. But the reality is these brackets are only there to hold the U/C in the grooves in the hardwood bearers. Its the bearers that are providing the strength here - not the brackets. If you look carefully at the photo you might be able to spot that the grooves under and around the U/C wire have been stuffed with slivers of foam. The foam was cut from a piece of pipe-lagging and is a fairly dense material. Its there for two reasons: firstly to pack out the groove so the wire can't slide fore and aft, and secondly it gives us just a little bit of "cushioning". OK, the nose ring is dry, so we carve/sand it to the shape of the nose and try the prop on to check the clearance,... The masking tape around the nose is to protect it during the sanding. I then moved on to finishing this ring, softening the inner edges with a radius etc.,... More work to do here profiling this and neatening it up, then we can stain it. Then we move on to dealing with the rest of the nose area! Ohooo, I am a tease! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 so the nose job is looking good young man, whats next..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Winks Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Very nice Dave, though I should've known I'd not be the only one with a beech prop, that is such a touch of class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devcon1 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 It's looking good. Are you able to remove the motor if needs be ? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Yes John - I'd have to undo from the back then wiggle it out backwards through the battery hatch. The problem would be putting it back in again! It would be possible I think, but very fiddly to get the top screws back in! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Presumably plastic undercarriage saddle clamps -flat type-would work just as well. Or is there some other reason for using brass ones apart from the antique look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 Purely aesthetic kc - I just thought it was a bit more "in keeping" with the period look. Yes plastic ones (flat bottomed not ridged) would work fine. But they tend to be white and a bit intrusive. Also I quite like making bits and pieces that you can buy - there's a sort of satisfaction to it. Its the same with the control horns, I could just buy plastic control horns but its nice to have your own "bespoke" ones! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 Back late from work - so not a lot done tonight. I've made a couple of ply hooks to hold the battery hatch on at the front,... I've also found a couple of magnets (knew I had some somewhere, only took half an hour to find them) and I've fitted them to the tail end of the battery hatch,... John - regarding your question about being able to remove the motor - you can see what I mean about it being relatively easy to get out - but a bit of a swine to get it back in again! So the problem I'm contemplating at the moment is, given that space above, how am I going to get all this in there,... The red unit on the right is a current sensor - have Taranis will telemetrise! - so the idea is I'll get voice feedback on remaining battery capacity - in flight! How cool is that. Dug out a couple of vintage wheels that I've used on a previous model,... Mmmm, at 41/2" I think they're a bit big,.. almost comic perhaps? What do you guys think? I'll tell you one thing, the track on this bird is damn narrow - ground handling is going to be fun! BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 10/02/2014 23:00:39 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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