Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Just ordered one of these for work! Its called a Skua and its specifically for FPV etc. We will be using it for some agricultural surveying work we are doing. At 2.1m wingspan its quite a large aircraft for FPV. OK - it'll win no beauty contests - but it is very practical! I am consoling myself with the thought that if I'm flying it FPV at least I won't have to look at it! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slickriff Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Truly hideous BEB. Looks like the offspring of a James Bond gadget and a cyclops. I remember the days when you used to turn up at the strip with pretty planes... Edited By Pete B - Moderator on 14/03/2016 19:06:49 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon barr Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Its not that bad.... Well, ok, maybe it is...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Yep,that is ugly. Whats the motor set up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder....Ray Charles must have bought it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Agricultural work eh ? only thing that could make that uglier, is if it was my money ploughed into it John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iqon Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Ugly planes always fly well...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 ... if that 'thing' eventually flies... ... I still might have some luck with the Bella Ballerina... On the other hand, what about a biplane version, BEB? Could be even slower and give you the possibility to 'see' the plants GROW? And of course, you could call it "Gro-Wings Bipe" Hakuna matata Chris BRU - BE / CTR Gro-Wings Control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Privett Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Wow, that is spectacularly ugly! I'm surprised that the seller didn't force you to sign a non-disclosure agreement forbidding you to tell anyone where you got it from! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy48 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Seeing work is paying and it is so ugly, I hope you've ordered a Horus as well to balance things out a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I think you've just come up with a very good reason for shooting drones down...... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 14/03/2016 18:46:32: Just ordered one of these for work! Anyone else see what I see {ignore the arms} Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Ah, but in the world of the land-bound mortal, the one-eyed drone is king... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 14, 2016 Author Share Posted March 14, 2016 I really can't defend its looks can I - I can only agree! But it does have a few virtues - for those interested in this sort of stuff: 1. The dual pods means the upper is used for the radio gear while all the FPV and "drone stuff" (GPS etc) goes in the lower - less interference and neater. 2. Those side doors drop right down so everything can be reached really easily. 3. With a 4s 10,000mAh battery the flight time will be over 2 hours! The FPV kit will be mainly Fat Shark: (video Tx and Rx) with Immersion RC circular polarised attenae. Sony CCD cam with pan and tilt stage. Fat Shark Dominator V3 goggles with head tracking. The auto-pilot/OSD will be Eagletree vector. So, it may be as ugly as sin but it will be a very well equiped ugly duckling! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mowerman Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 The looks are less important than meeting the performance requirements. You pays your money ............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Depron Daz Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Yep, ugly! So long as it works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josip Vrandecic -Mes Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Dear Professor, if you do not have footage and clips from modeling events, especially the Greenacres.... it never happened... so I welcome your new acquisition Yes you did... and please go ahead. Joe Note: Information for above aestheticians .... a FPV models must be efficient..... and beauty is in the third plan... Edited By Josip Vrandecic -Mes on 15/03/2016 21:19:58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 Well having owned up to it - I thought some folks might like to see it all go together. So, although its really work and not hobby realted, the fact is we don't get many build blogs of large FPV aircraft so here goes. It all arrives in a big box form HK... Nicely packed inside and following a quick stock take we can established that all is present and correct - at least as far as the basic airframe and power system etc. The FPV stuff is coming separately.... The "instructions" are minimalist - just a picture sequence really showing the main assembly steps. We start with the upper pod which will hold the radio gear and ESC etc. This has the tail attached via a CF tube. Note the blue plastic cradle towards the back of the tube, this holds the rudder and elevator servos... Below is a close up of the cradle with the servos I will be using there. These Turnigy S306G servo are very good solid units - metal case, over 3Kgcm of torque, very high speed and metal gears - £16 buys a lot of servo on HK! And here are the two servos in place.... Next we turn to the lower pod that will house the FPV equipement.... Note the ply hangers built in to the top of the lower pod. These insert into the upper pod and the whole lot is held together via the carbon fibre tubes. The two front tubes are structural - in that they pass through wooden formers in the upper pod. The rear most rod is not structural, as far as the pod location is concerned, as it only passes through foam. Its purpose is purely to help accurately locate the wings.... The photo below shows a close up of the inside of the upper pod, note the square cut-out in the centre, this matches a similar cut down located under the rear servo cradle - this will provide a conduit along which we will be able to pass the rudder and elevator servo leads along the CF tail boom. The thing about this sort of build is you just have to see things like that for yourself - remember there is little in the way of any instructions! Next we can fit the main undercarriage - er, a bit agricultural to put it mildly! But maybe that's appropriate under the circumtances!... One of the less impressive features are the "main" wheels - tiny aren't they! But we do have a few spares in stock as alternatives!..... And here we are with an overview of the progress so far, now the right way up! OK, that progress so far. More soon. BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 19/03/2016 23:03:39 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Those wheels will transform its looks BEB John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Now seeing the build,BEB, it doesn't look that bad.First photo doesn't do it justice.. It does remind me of this though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Actually I don't think it looks that ugly. Certainly not when compared with a lot of models that I have seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 A bit more progress today - one of the disadvantages of combining your job and your hobby, you end up "working" on Sundays! Next up is fitting the aileron servos. Here is the kit they provide "dry fitted"... Yuk! Oh dear. Coincidentally there is a thread running at the same time as this on these push-rod style connectors here. As can be seen opinion is divided - some against, some for. I haven't posted but if I did it would be very definitely in the against camp - I just don't trust them, they feel all wrong to me. So, its raid the supplies of spares and accessories and a couple of nice quick-links found and some 2mm end threaded rod. Out with the Z-bend pliers and we have this: Which is much better in my opinion. A few more safety features to add to that - but we'll do that in a minute. Next up we need to deal with the control horns. This is how they are supplied... Well good luck getting that to glue securely into the foam aileron - no key. So I drilled two 2mm holes and textured the blade a little giving me this.... A bit of 5min epoxy - which will flow through those holes - and the control horn is firmly embedded into the aileron. Now we can run the servo lead and its extension - making a little rebate in the foam at the appropriate place so that the extension connector can be let in flush with the wing... The whole of that run is now covered with a narrow strip of tape to hold the servo lead in place. Now we can add the two more safety features to the aileron linkage, just to be sure; first a plastic tube keeper and second a nut tightened up against the clevis... Once all settled a drop of blue Loctite will be added to the nut. The servo is held in on a bed of double-sided tape and then taped over as shown. OK, its not pretty - but this is not a hobby build, this is working aircraft and utility, combined with easy "in-flield" maintenance, is very much the order of the day. The last job today has been the fitting of the fin/rudder and tail plane.... This is proving to be a right faff! Basically you have to align three tubes (the tail boom, the fin inset tube and the tail plane inset tube) so that a M3 bolt will pass through all of them - so that's effectively 6 holes lined up! After 1/2 hour of trying - involving lining up by eye, measuring it and marking, using a guide-rod to get the rough alignment etc - but with no success I decided to give up for tonight before I threw the damn thing across the workshop! Tomorrow is another day and I often find that when faced with a tricky, fiddley job like this I often struggle, give up then go in the next day and do it first time like there was no problem! Well - I can hope can't I? Looking at the tail plane the elevator seems very large whilst the rudder seems tiny! Given that the nose wheel is not steerable such a small rudder does not bode well for trouble-free straight take off runs! I might have my work cut out here. So that's it for now. Final sorting of the tail and then start the installation of the c2c (UAV speak - "command and control" what we would call the radio gear - ie the Rx etc.) next. BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hopkin Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Sorry BEB but no matter how much I squint at it, it still looks like it fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down and then caught fire and someone used a shovel to put it out............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 LOL very good Dave! It ain't pretty is it? But hopefully it will redeem itself with its capability to do the job - fingers crossed. Because if it can't, then the really isn't much down for it! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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