Glen's Models 35% Extra 330 electrification

[Adrian Smith 1]

Cheers, Rich. Having used Pacer Canopy Glue for the first time for years & years on this I still don't rate it. It's messy and too thin and takes ages to dry under the masking tape. That's really why I used screws while the glue was still wet and hope the glue has stuck the threads in the process.

Also I need to get wiggle on and make a new cradle for transporting to the field as the one I made a while earlier for my 60cc jobs is too small. So until I have done that there will be no maiden. Still got a few little jobs to do on the plane left too.

[Adrian Smith 1]

Managed to get the elevators set up this afternoon. The Futaba RX I am using is the R7008SB with CH2 & 7 the elevator CHs (AILEVATOR setting). I used the SUB TRIM to centre the servos and made sure the push rods are of equal length - in this case 70 mm. The 100% throw looked pretty fierce for first flights so I reduced this to 70%. This equates to 25 degrees +/-. Hopefully that will be okay to start with. Just little jobs left with the cowl to be refitted now I have put heat shrink on the motor connections to the ESC. I have tidied up the internal wiring for safety. Just waiting for the decal set from Glen's Models then on to the new cradle building work..........

[Rich too]

Do you set throws yourself? Didn’t Glen provide the numbers?

Like you, I have a habit of setting the throws on the trans, however I read recently that it is much better to keep the trans set at 100%, and set throws using the control horns....

getting close to maiden 😉👍

[Adrian Smith 1]

Glen didn’t provide any numbers for throws Rich, and also very little by way in instructions. All my settings are basically guesswork based on the percentages I use for my 60 cc aircraft. Time will tell if that is the right set up. Old habits die hard and I do settings from the TX, but yes I have heard the alternative method. Computer radios are so sophisticated these days that I don’t see too much of a problem of doing the setup from the TX.

 

Edited By Adrian Smith 1 on 06/11/2019 18:40:14

[Adrian Smith 1]

Made a cradle "dolly" today such that I can pull//push along a ramp onto my trailer. I found a few odd bits of wood, just had to by some pipe insulation and 4 trolley wheels with brakes - all under £20.

Not too bad and I glued the pipe lagging using Gorilla glue.

[Adrian Smith 1]

I decided, having retested the motor, to reprogramme the ESC's "start up force" from the low setting of 2 (from 7) to 6 purely because when opening throttle the pick up felt a bit "spongy". I will rejudge it after first flights. The higher the value, the larger the start up force.

While I was at it I altered the throttle response time. The higher the value the slower the response so I adjusted the setting to 1 out of 5. Same applies.

Edited By Adrian Smith 1 on 12/11/2019 16:29:39

[cymaz]

Posted by Adrian Smith 1 on 12/11/2019 16:22:52:

Made a cradle "dolly" today such that I can pull//push along a ramp onto my trailer. I found a few odd bits of wood, just had to by some pipe insulation and 4 trolley wheels with brakes - all under £20.

Not too bad and I glued the pipe lagging using Gorilla glue.

I cheated....used cable ties through some holes

[Adrian Smith 1]

Bit of a disappointing day after a promising start! lovely sparkling day albeit with a stiffish crosswind on the strip so decided to do a bit of testing at the field. Started well enough as all loaded up.

Started to deteriorate after that. Down at the field I inverted the plane on the cradle to get to the equipment compartment to fit the batteries. Well, because of the limited room in the fuze it took me the best part of 10 minutes to do that little job. I am sure I didn't have that trouble on the workbench. Hey Ho! That done fitted the wings and plugged in the ailerons. In the process of turning her upright I cracked the cowl .

Well at that point I started to take the fatalistic approach and fitted the prop to test the motor live. I did a ground test and taxi test and all seemed ok (you will see from the video link here of my travails) . Steered her back to me only to notice the tail wheel assembly had pulled out. Grrrr. In hindsight there is a good reason for that. Firstly the ply plate at the rear of the fuze is too short for the tail wheel assembly supplied therefore the I screwed it into a less that secure part of the fuze.

Nice C/F tail wheel assemble - shame it doesn't fit properly I which I acknowledge is my fault for not spotting it. By this time come what may (where have I heard that before?) I was going to get her into the air.

**LINK**

The best bits are the take off and landing! I only had a very short flight as I didn't want to push my luck. Something that would not have occured had I been at a club field. Out in the middle of nowhere I decided to give it a go.

The flight report and conclusions follow in the next post.

[cymaz]

Oh hell, that would test the patience of a Saint.....my sympathies

[Gary Manuel]

Shame about the cowl Adrian.

It's an awfully big plane to be inverting to fit batteries. Pity you couldn't find a way to fit the batteries from the top.

PS - when I invert my Cap after fitting the wings, I put the weight on the spinner (on a towel) and rotate it end over end rather than trying to lift it off the ground to turn it over.

Edited By Gary Manuel on 29/11/2019 17:33:21

[Bob Cotsford]

What remarkable verbal restraint on your way to the toolbox and back, and in an empty field too!

[Adrian Smith 1]

First the pros.

The CoG at the main wing spar seemed to work ok and indeed I didn't have to undertake any trim inputs. She wallows at little though, but I think that says more about her AUW, but I may be wrong. Whilst the motor comfortably pulled her round I think a little more increase in timing may be on order. It is only +5%. The roll and loop, which were the only things I tried were less than sparkling and I need a bit more throw here and there. Landing was interesting and I needed to watch carefully given 10 mph crosswind. All I needed to do was fly her in with a reasonable 1/4 of throttle.the two aileron servos per wing worked well too.

Cons.

Had I known the hatch was underneath I wouldn't have selected the plane as it is too much of a faff to set up at the field. I understand why Glen designed it this way, for IC use, but it is clearly not ideal for an electric conversion. It would have been nice to have better accessories that are actually usable with the plane and indeed a more generous specification of fittings. But I realise you get what you pay for. What to do next? I think I probably realised that electrIfying this plane was going to be problematic, but Hey! when has realism got in the way? I need to think about that one and I am certainly not put off by the experience. An Extreme Flight airframe is still a fantasy of mine. Oh dear!

Anyone fancy and airframe used once with cowl damage for IC use? Answers on a postcard ...........!

Edited By Adrian Smith 1 on 29/11/2019 17:40:04

[Adrian Smith 1]

I agree Gary, but to fit from the top would have been a major rebuild which I sort of didn't want to do.

Yes Bob, but I did let rip back at the work shop I can tell you.