Redshift F3F

[Peter Garsden]

Have also realised that I have not inserted some more pictures which pre-date the picture on the hill. If you want to know where I was see our club Flying Sites page - **LINK**

This shows the electronic switch I used from T9 Hobbysport with its tell tale blue on light and an outline of where I am planning to hot glue it into the bottom of the fuselage so that it can be switched on with a magnet from outside the nosecone without having to remove the nosecone, which will be handy. It works too.

Here you can see the hole I drilled so the light shines through. It is so bright one can see it through 2 layers of fibreglass/Kevlar.

Edited By Peter Garsden on 04/01/2019 18:25:24

[Peter Garsden]

Next, how to insert lead into the front of the nose - I usually do a mould of the nose in sand then melt lead and pour it into the sand. In this case however the servo tray formers make that impossible because one could not get the lead into position. It would be too wide.

So I measured the gap and it was 19mm so I used some dowelling as a male former for the mould and made a dowel shaped piece of lead which worked a treat.

[Peter Garsden]

Here are a few pictures to show how I laid out the servo tray - tight squeeze - I used snake outers to position the aerial leads

The battery fits nicely on top of the switch

The gap for the receiver had to be opened out slightly for the FR Sky FASST Receiver

This shows how little room there is to get the ballast slugs in and out. One has to put them in before you attach the wings because you have to turn the fuselage upside down to get them out.

It also shows the Bluebird servos. I had to file away the outer edge of the clevis to stop it fouling on the nosecone

This photo shows how little lead the nose needed - fortunately as there is not a lot of room - only 3oz and it balances perfectly at 98mm from leading edge.

Edited By Peter Garsden on 04/01/2019 18:27:09

[Peter Garsden]

And a final assembled picture with the Great Planes balancing fulcrum in the background - very handy and worth every penny.

[Peter Garsden]

Today was maiden day as the wind was registering 20mph on the Gate slope above Leek, more than forecast, so I assembled without ballast and launched.

Although I had set the C of G at 98mm or so I thought it was ballooning up. I thought it was the elevator not centering but it wasn't that. I was constantly feeding in down elevator. It also needs some ballast, I suspect it will just get faster and faster the more ballast I load in.

I have ordered some brass bars to slide into the wings but they are too large and need filing down. So I put in 4 slugs of brass bar in the fuselage tube. It certainly made difference to the speed.

I also put in a penny weight in the nose which helped considerably. It no longer ballooned and penetrated much better.

It is very responsive to all both elevator and aileron. I used coupled flaps and mixed in rudder with aileron, but I think I will disinhibit it because it made the roll to tortured.

So all in all a brilliant flyer. It rose majestically from launch and flew out of the box. It was a trimming session and will get better the more it is flown.

I had dialled in too much down elevator into the crow brakes which made it difficult to land but landed perfectly safely each time.but adjusted it after the first flight.

It turns very fast and cuts through the air brilliantly. And it looks good, a very hansom plane. Looking forward to flying it again.

I think I will get some heavier wooden blanks for the ballast tube as I used balsa and they are too light.

[Peter Garsden]

I decided to make some decals for the Redshift - difficult to know where to place with the colour pattern what it is - very nice none the less - so I opted for the trailing edge of the flaps and half way along the wings using the white sections of the pattern.

Doc gave me the font he used for the promo literature - Space Age, so I made some decals using clear printable ink jet friendly acetate with a sticky backing - I would have used the vinyl cutter but the lettering is, I fear, too small.

The only drag is that it is not waterproof so has to be sprayed with clear varnish - even then it doesn't last for ever in hillside conditions and vinyl is longer lasting.

[Peter Garsden]

I decided to make some decals for the Redshift - difficult to know where to place with the colour pattern what it is - very nice none the less - so I opted for the trailing edge of the flaps and half way along the wings using the white sections of the pattern.

Doc gave me the font he used for the promo literature - Space Age, so I made some decals using clear printable ink jet friendly acetate with a sticky backing - I would have used the vinyl cutter but the lettering is, I fear, too small.

The only drag is that it is not waterproof so has to be sprayed with clear varnish - even then it doesn't last for ever in hillside conditions and vinyl is longer lasting.

[Andy Brassic]

I'm Intrigued Pete , what difference does a heavier ballast blank make ..?

[Peter Garsden]

Re heavier ballast blank- the difference is that the balsa versions will not drop down the tube to get them out as they don't have enough weight or momentum whereas softwood versions are better.

[Peter Garsden]

I was tempted to go up Bosley Cloud today to give the Redshift a blast as the winds are topping 48mph but am feeling a bit delicate after last night. Shame

This being a double carbon light version, the more ballast you use the better it goes I have no doubt.

So the brass bar which is meant to be 10mm x 15mm is too big and I have spent about 15 minutes filing down each one on the sanding disc. Have gone through one disc already. They all now fit, however.

[Peter Garsden]

Finally got the Redshift sorted today. The last few flights had produced an over sensitive elevator which didn't seem to centre properly, which I thought was down to stiff carbon rods, but that was not it.

I detached the tailplanes and realised that the incidence pins had been pushed back into the tail plane - it uses a central long carbon rod and 2 outer shorter pins. They arrive already in the tail planes.

I realised that they had not been glued in place and were being pushed back into the tailplanes.

I thus removed them and glued them in place and the flight was transformed.

What had been happening was that when I moved the elevators it was moving the position of the whole tailplane!

Still it flies like a dream now.

Result!

[Callsign Tarnish]

More problems Peter? The price of this kit really is undefendable with so many factory created defects. I hope you don't find any more...

[Peter Garsden]

The problems I had with this kit are really very minor. The main points are:-

1. The quality of manufacture is superb.
2. The design is exceptional.
3. It wins F3F leagues because it is very fast.
4. The design and colourway is great.
5. The price is much less than other F3F planes like the Shinto.
6. It justs gets faster the more ballast you put into it.
7. I can land it safely each time.

I now enjoy flying it and it is a different plane to my other F3F model, which shall remain nameless.

I agree that there are some faults with the tailplane but they were both easily correctable and very trivial

 

Edited By Peter Garsden on 21/02/2019 19:59:43

[SR 71]

But could the tailplane faults have caused the total lose of the model

How would that have stood with the manufacturer

[Peter Garsden]

As we lawyers say politely, I hear what you say.

[Callsign Tarnish]

Point of order Peter, the faults were not minor, they were numerous and several of them could have caused the loss of the model. How many people didn't spot them like you did ended up with hill confetti?

"1. The quality of manufacture is superb."

With respect Peter the manufacturing flaws have been laid bare for all to see in this thread, why such a resistance to acknowledge the seriousness of them? Priority should be given to structural integrity not a pretty, shiny, pattern.

[Andy Brassic]

Pete , what F3F leagues has the Redshift won ........or even races .......?

[James Hammond - Aeroic]

Hi Lads, Normally I don't get into this type of witch hunt because I really cannot understand why people would want to waste their time on such things. I don't know about the rest of you but I fly my toys to have FUN and not to make unqualified comments about other people's choices.

But anyway, lets take a look:

Manufacture: YES Peter did have some problems with his Redshift. Its was one of the first to be produced and one of the first batch to leave the factory. Honestly I thank hi for being so brave as to illustrate the problems he had and to say how he fixed them. It was big help to me at least.

I listen to people like Peter and I take action to cure the problem and to make sure they never happen again. Because of this simple policy I fin that I really don't have occasion to listen that often at all.

Design: This is NOT a "me too" - I do this for a living and on projects far more advanced than these model planes. The time has come for F3f to go forward, to make progress and for different designs to emerge. I'm not saying that the design is the "be all and end all" - but it might be one step forward.

Flying: That much is simple - its fast, its easy to fly and its easy to land. it will fly as fast as the conditions and the skill of the pilot will allow.

Competition: Redshift has not been flown in many competitions let alone Leagues. It's a new model on the competition scene. But it does show promise and did the get the fastest time at one of the Eurotour events in the face of some stiff European/UK opposition. In subsequent outings it has not finished at the bottom of the list either. Hopefully the development programme will lead to more improvements.

General: As I have said, I listen to you guys. I constantly try to improve what I offer, not only in model performance but also I what you get for your hard earned cash. Things like the single carbon wings that are standard on ALL of my models, and and the included wiring harness that is standard this year - also I hope to include wing bags etc form mid year too.

Cost: I try to keep costs down and charge what I think are realistic prices for my models. As you well know there are many who don't.

So there we go.

Thanks again to Peter for making is findings public.

James Hammond.