David Hayward. Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 I am in the process of making the final linkage connection to the ailerons and I am wondering if I should build in some mechanical differential by offsetting the control horns. I have used a central servo and of course will not be able to do this via the tx; be grateful to you get some suggestions on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Well I didn't and I am happy with the way it flies. If you are a pecision aerobatic pilot you will know what you like but Ballerina is not meant to be such and aircraft. I just throw mine all voer the sky. Usualy the only time she is flying straight and level is when she is inverted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hayward. Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Thanks Peter, I'm sure that will be good enough for me then and I could always add a little later if I felt like experimenting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hayward. Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 Finished building the tips, added sheeting to tips and underside of wing, also added leading edge cap strip... Next I set about hinging the ailerons and I notice most builds I have looked at are using flat hinges but I had already decided to use pin hinges (do they know something I don't?). What attracted me was the apparent ease of installation, just drill a hole. So used the Robart hing jig to drill holes in the ailerons for the pin hinges and then made up three small pieces of piano wire to pass through these hole to mark position for the hinges on the wing itself; hopefully this picture will make that clearer... Ailerons then dry fitted so I could finish link from bell crank to aileron horn. I have glued a 1/16 medium balsa filler piece on top of the ply horn mount to bring the level of the horn flush with the bottom of the aileron. Having formed a 'z' bend in the wire to locate in the bell crank I then formed a second 'z' bend to lift the wire out of the wing so I can keep the slot in the 1/16 sheet fairly short and close to the bell crank to enable removing/replacing the wire link if necessary... Using a temporary card template I marked out the potion of the slot... Then used this to mark the 1/16 sheet before fitting... For the keen eyed I will fit retainers to the clevis's on final assembly, this is just for me to test the operation of the aileron linkage before moving on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Looking good. Nothing wrong with pin hinges. I just tend to be lazy! but, thinkingaboutit, I might just use them on the current model Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Yep nothing wrong with Robarts, the flat ones need less accuracy is reason I fit them, I don't bother with keepers on steel clevises myself you can't get em off when you want to John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hayward. Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 That made me chuckle John, I know what you mean; sods law says you struggle to get the damn thing undone when you want to but it will happily disengage during flight all on its own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I never use keepers on metal clevises. I never use plastic clevises. Having said that I do use keepers on American clevises as they seem to be made from much less springy metal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I use keepers on metal clevises but then I don't use Sullivan metal clevises, I've had too many where the pins separate from the fork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I don't use any US fitting with threads. I stick to known metric threads then there's less chance of errors with ill fitting parts. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hayward. Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 Now preparing the tailplane/elevator and fin/rudder, sanding to shape and fitting hinges prior to gluing tailplane to the fuselage. I marked the positions of the hinges on masking tape on the top surface and then used a square to mark the edge. I found the hole in the Robart hinge tool too large for the size drill I wanted to use (I thought they were Robart hinges and expected the drill guide to be the right size) to inserted a piece of brass tube with one layer of masking tape wrapped round to form a snug fit in the guide; now the holes for the hinges will be centred accurately. This all worked out well plus I chamfered the rudder and elevator as required. Next came the task of fixing the tailplane to the fuselage which for some reason I find a bit stressful, making sure that it is positioned correctly and level. For level I sat the model on a flat table and with the wings level, checked the tailplane and found I had to sand the fuselage a little before it was right. I measured from the wing to the tailplane on each side to ensure it was straight; hopefully all this will work out right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Yep I've just glued t/plane and the fin on, makes me a gibbering wreck as well John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hayward. Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 Thanks John, glad I'm not alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 I'm usually fine with that bit until I mix the glue! Even after checking and re-checking, measuring and planning the procedure I still get that feeling of trepidation and paranoia! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Hofman Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 This is the way to do it gents, so your planes should come out fine like most of the others. And remember that a mm more or less will not be noticable and not be visible as soon as you take the ruler away. And if you botch it up: you can take it apart. I once bought an ARF with tailplane that was glued in a seat that was very much not level with the wing. Took not more then 15 minutes to cut it loose, and then half an hour to adjust the slot and reglue. So breath deep, measure 3 times, glue and measure once more while the glue is still soft to confirm it is ok. And then make a cup of tea, a gin and tonic or what you deem suitable to celebrate yet another job done! Edited By Lucas Hofman on 22/02/2016 20:44:03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 I d0n't know what you guys are worried about .My tailplanes rarely line up perfectly with the wing. No one notices and they still fly beautifully! I do worry about the fin being pretty well luined up with the centre line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hayward. Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 On another topic.... rather than mounting the switch on the outside of the fuselage, is it still acceptable to mount it inside and operate the switch with a short length of piano wire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Yes, but why not in cockpit ? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hayward. Posted February 22, 2016 Author Share Posted February 22, 2016 Yes I was thinking of the cockpit floor as another option, but I did wonder about the inside with piano wire option as I don't see that done much these days? Edited By David Hayward. on 22/02/2016 21:50:03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devcon1 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 I sometimes think it's a shame to cover all that lovely carpentry work up, especially the spruce stringers. Maybe one day a completely clear version would be interesting. I would always worry about transferred vibration passed into a mechanical switch from a length of piano wire. There was an interesting article in , I think, in RCME recently about switches with some interesting options. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 I often use Dubro switch mounts that have the wire through the side with a neat knob on the end. I also use the cockpit floor as a good switch location. I once desiged a model for the other side called "Size Zero" That was done in transparent Solarfilm. Looked great in flight. I have recently done an enlarged version but that is in normal colours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hayward. Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 So fin is next, have shaped the two parts either side, whatever they are called? They are just very slightly oversize so I can sand to final fit once the glue is dry; as there is plenty of surface area I just used PVA, trust this will hold ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Hi David. They are just called fairings. PVA or Aliphatic is what I use for most of the construction. If that fin comes loose it will be the least of the damage, after all, it is farthest from the impact!! My current model (Super Marauder) does have a verzy weakly mounted fin as it is butted on top of txhe tailplane with very tiny fairings. In this case I have used two 1/4" dowels into and very thick tailplane platform right through the tailplane. Possiby a bit overkill but fins falling off are very bad news indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hayward. Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 Oh thanks for the re-assurance Peter. Fairings! not difficult is it; blonde moments are gaining in frequency the older I get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devcon1 Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Hi David, Is it me or the plan, looking at yours you've placed the horizontal stabiliser right against the last former leaving the hinge line forward of the vertical stabiliser hinge line. For some reason I placed mine so the both hinge lines ended up on the same axis lined up with the very rear of the fuselage. It's not a problem as I guess you've got a built in slot ready to marry up the elevator and that's how you've planned it anyway, or I have got it wrong. Just curious as with the plan not to hand I'm not sure which is the correct placement. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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