Lucas Hofman Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 At least one is still making progress!. Will your wings be black and red too? Regards, Lucas Edited By Lucas Hofman on 28/04/2017 14:07:49 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwain Dibley. Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Very tidy job Tim ..Cockpit is nice too. D.D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 Current plan is dark blue ( only looks black in the pic !) undersides and a sunburst red and blue on the top. Tailplane the same. Not sure about the fin. Making it up as I go along really. Fus has some white trim lines now as well. I'll take another pic when I have screwed the windshield back. First time I've covered anything since the early 70's and I really don't remember it being as stressful as this was. Must be an age thing ! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 Went a bit mad with the photos..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 1, 2017 Author Share Posted May 1, 2017 Tail fixed on now and fus just about finished. Edited By Tim Ballinger on 01/05/2017 08:57:26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 6, 2017 Author Share Posted May 6, 2017 Bottom wing finished now. Saw your post Lucas; will see how it compares to the last formula we used in due course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Hofman Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 This is a great scheme Tim! Maybe I should reconsider mine.... Lucas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 8, 2017 Author Share Posted May 8, 2017 Thanks Lucas. More sport than scale but it fits the bill for me. After the detail of measuring, cutting and fiddling the top of the wings in different colours it was great to use a single piece of film on the undersides. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 8, 2017 Author Share Posted May 8, 2017 Covering finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Hofman Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 Looking really good! And strikingly different in appearance from Tim's orginal with this sunburst scheme Tim. Waiting for nice weather to maiden now Tim? Lucas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 9, 2017 Author Share Posted May 9, 2017 Lucas, I guess so but that's always the nervous bit. Might take me a few months to install the motor and find a spare Rx !! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 15, 2017 Author Share Posted May 15, 2017 Radio installation complete, motor installed and waiting for weather now. Tried the cg formula that Lucas posted and I got 8cm from upper L.E. Measured mine and it came out at 8 cm. 1cm further back than the plan original of 7cm but I am happy and will not be adding any lead. Final numbers are:- Weight: 2.35kg or 5 lb 4oz I have set deflections to : Elevator: 3.5 cm Rudder: 3cm Aileron: 1cm Can up by 25% using dual rate if needed. That's about it ,as I say waiting for weather now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Hofman Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 Tim, Unless you are very glad in spins the elevator deflection seems very high to me. I remember about 1.5cm from the Ballerina (except for the flight mode I use for spins). What does the drawing/article say? Anyway, gratulation on having finished your Skywriter! Lucas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 Lucas, could not find any info on control deflections. Given no data I would rather have too much and reduce later. Equally happy to go with numbers that have been used on Skywriter before. Anyone ? Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Hofman Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 The nasty thing about to much is that you may stall her when you do not want to, 2 m over the ground for example. There is a picture on page 5 of the article which points towards big deflections, so you are maybe right here. Dial in a good amount of expo, so you can give small amounts of elevator too. Have you tried sending Todd a message? Good luck with the maiden, Lucas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 Good idea about the expo, a function I have not used yet . Looking at the weather forecast ; flight is not going to happen any time soon. Just rain and wind forecast for the next week. Still we needed the rain. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsay Todd Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 All original movement correct I always use about 25-30% expo so that's a good idea, beautiful scheme and build good luck with the maiden. Linds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 Linds, Many thanks. Good to have the designers view. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 19, 2017 Author Share Posted May 19, 2017 Pilots notes. First Flight and landing...... Still all in one piece However the cg was too far back and it was an interesting ( == scary) ride for the first couple of minutes. Dual rate gave me a set of reduced control throws which helped . Moral here; stick with Linds plan position of 70mm from LE and ignore the clever formulae ! Power as expected was way over the top coupled with forward cg gave an almost vertical climb out but throttled back she flew really nicely. Been having an intermittent issue with the radio whereby the tx switches either stay on or come at will. Guess what in the middle of the maiden flight the throttle lock came on. Got rid of it but this was also a bit scary ! Being holding off sending it back until it stays in a 'failed' state as intermittent faults are a real pain to sort. I think its going back anyway now as I can do without that . Landing was smooth and uneventful once I had calmed the nerves ! Would like to change the cg and go back out while the weather is good but it will no doubt take some time to get the the radio back and I can not risk that happening again. Ace model though ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Hofman Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Good to hear all ended well! And thanks for the heads up about the CG. Lucas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 19, 2017 Author Share Posted May 19, 2017 Thought a pic in the air was worth a post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 No flying yet as waiting for radio to come back. Hopefully this week so I cut the field in anticipation. Was nearly long enough for silage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 Well pretty pleased with the 4 flights today. The new cg position has cured the bucking bronco i had on the first flight. She flys really nicely and is very responsive, may even cut the aileron throw down a little but I'll wait its quite nice to have something with a bit of zing. Hardly been above half throttle yet so plenty in reserve. Got as far as 1 loop and 1 roll. We came back in one piece again albeit I had a mixture of landings ! One was just too short and I clipped the long grass which tipped me over but all was well. Next was a little too fast and fairly firm as I did not want to run off into the long grass the other end. Not sure if this site takes videos so I loaded a clip on to utube .... **LINK** warts and everything. One landing was a perfect three pointer right on the spot but my other half did not have the phone recording for that one. ( You'll have to take my word for it) Really pleased with the way she looks in the air. Need some practice now. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Hofman Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 Hi Tim, Thanks for the video. The roll rate (assuming that was with full aileron) looks fine to me. But the plane is "hunting" in the up/down direction. Both during take off and approach to landing. That could be due to: - thumbs on the sticks instead of having the stick between pointing finger and thumbs. Especially then spring tension on the stick is low this leads to jerky movements (ever tried writing with your thumb only?) - too much elevator movement (if you need it to prevent nose over you can tame it with more expo. 40% is acceptable) - a CG that is too far back. A plane become less stable when you move the CG backwards. You can always some lead taped on the nose to see it flies better. Or a combination of the above. Aim for a slightly longer take off run followed by a shallow climb i a straight line to circuit height. Same for landing - long straight approach til flare. If things become unstable abort and go around. Good take offs and landing are very satisfying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Ballinger Posted June 1, 2017 Author Share Posted June 1, 2017 Lucas, Thanks for the thoughts. Nerves responsible for most of it. Subsequent takeoffs were better. That undershoot was caused by that excessive pitch down on finals. That elevator is very powerful so I might dial in some more expo like you suggest. I had all the deflections at a reduced rate compared to the numbers I started with, I think the Aelerons were at 75% of what I posted before and on reflection they feel about right. I'll measure them all again when I get where is comfortable for me. CG feels right now it's just the pilot to sort out ! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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