Lockdown 3 has eased, who's been flying?

[Dwain Dibley.]

John, Amazing to see that wing and still landed !!

I like strawberries.  ??

D.D.

[Stephen Jones]

Well I took 3 auto gyros to the field today the weather was warm but muggy with a nice scattering of clouds ?

I wanted to test my Auto G and my new Prize Jumper T Lite.

I set my Auto G up the nite before using a Rx battery all set up fine.

When i got to the field decided to to a range test 1st but could not get my Rx to work then i noticed smoke coming from my Esc so that put a stop to that then.

No idea why it happened i can only assume the large Servo was drawing to much current. 

I had a Frsky V4 Rx two 9 gram servos and as you can see the Tower Pro MG995.

So I could not test the T Lite radio or my Auto G ?

So i flew the Mk1 Lidl Autogyro which would not track straight along the ground Although i managed two flights with it i broke the undercarriage of due the hard ground and rutts ?.

So next was my Mk2 Lidl Autogyro which does track well across the ground and get airborne fairly quickly despite their being no or very little wing today , I did discover i needed to pitch down and applied more power due to the lack of wing. 

The hazy conditions did make it a little difficult at times to see the model.

So two broken models and a warm day out with a little more practice under my belt so can not complain.

 

Steve 

 

[GrumpyGnome]

Landing the Spit must have been scary! 

[GrumpyGnome]

Currently all alone at the flying field with my Ultrastick, Viper, Wots Wot foamy, and PT17. Blazing sun (shorts & t-shirt), gentle NE breeze, many twittering birds. Bliss!

[Tim Crow]

The strong breeze today was up the local shallow but useable hill so I had a nice 30mins or so with my Reaper flying wing - very turbulent but that adds to the fun. Warm enough these days to dispense with most of the winter gear which is another bonus. 

Edited April 24, 2021 by Tim Crow
Typo

[Tom Flynn 1]

I went out last week. I thought I was novice as I took off. I had 6 flights, and only broke 1 prop. Which thinking back I was lucky,

the other guy at the field wrote off a very expensive model.

So now I have the old trainer I was teaching my grandson to fly on, ready for my next outing. Best to get back into it Slowly.

I took my ballerina up for my first flight, in the past I always said it was under powered and slow, on day one, to me, 

it went like a jet.

so much for not flying for 17 months. 
Flying My Wot 4 seems to be several weeks away.

[John Stainforth]

On 18/04/2021 at 23:56, Stephen Jones said:

Well I took 3 auto gyros to the field today the weather was warm but muggy with a nice scattering of clouds ?

I wanted to test my Auto G and my new Prize Jumper T Lite.

I set my Auto G up the nite before using a Rx battery all set up fine.

When i got to the field decided to to a range test 1st but could not get my Rx to work then i noticed smoke coming from my Esc so that put a stop to that then.

No idea why it happened i can only assume the large Servo was drawing to much current. 

I had a Frsky V4 Rx two 9 gram servos and as you can see the Tower Pro MG995.

So I could not test the T Lite radio or my Auto G ?

So i flew the Mk1 Lidl Autogyro which would not track straight along the ground Although i managed two flights with it i broke the undercarriage of due the hard ground and rutts ?.

So next was my Mk2 Lidl Autogyro which does track well across the ground and get airborne fairly quickly despite their being no or very little wing today , I did discover i needed to pitch down and applied more power due to the lack of wing. 

The hazy conditions did make it a little difficult at times to see the model.

So two broken models and a warm day out with a little more practice under my belt so can not complain.

 

Steve 

 

I don't think the geometry of the push-rods between the servo arm and the bellcrank can quite work. It's subtle, but the distances between the ends of the bellcrank and the servo arm change slightly with rotation, whereas the push-rods can't, so the servo is over-stressed.

[Chris Walby]

Had a few flights since coming out of lockdown with my Focke Stick (wing of a TN Ta154 - the rest me)...its built for one thing only.....speed

 

Really getting the hang of this rather fast model until the battery retaining system failed resulting in a vertical decent and abrupt stop

 

Nothing that can't be fixed....

 

 

[John Stainforth]

Stephen,

 

I realise that my comment was not very well expressed. I think I can explain better what I meant with a rough sketch. In my sketch (which is not to true scale), the right-hand pushrod is shown in green, and I have kept this attached to both the servo arm (black) and the bellcrank (blue) as the servo arm is rotated. The left-hand pushrod (pink) then falls short of the bellcrank as the rotation occurs, or tries to occur! I made two alternative sketches because I was not 100% sure where your bellcrank pivot point is relative to the bellcrank arm. 

The problem arises because the servo arms and the bellcrank arms are of different lengths, so that symmetry is lost when the rotation occurs. My sketch also shows the extreme case of 90 degree rotation, simply to make point clearer.

The problem is solved by making the servo arms and the bellcrank arms the same length. 

I came across this problem when I set up a pull-pull rudder with different length servo arms and rudder horns. I managed to bust a pull-pull wire that way!

Edited April 24, 2021 by John Stainforth

[Tim Crow]

8 hours ago, John Stainforth said:

Stephen,

 

I realise that my comment was not very well expressed. I think I can explain better what I meant with a rough sketch. In my sketch (which is not to true scale), the right-hand pushrod is shown in green, and I have kept this attached to both the servo arm (black) and the bellcrank (blue) as the servo arm is rotated. The left-hand pushrod (pink) then falls short of the bellcrank as the rotation occurs, or tries to occur! I made two alternative sketches because I was not 100% sure where your bellcrank pivot point is relative to the bellcrank arm. 

The problem arises because the servo arms and the bellcrank arms are of different lengths, so that symmetry is lost when the rotation occurs. My sketch also shows the extreme case of 90 degree rotation, simply to make point clearer.

The problem is solved by making the servo arms and the bellcrank arms the same length. 

I came across this problem when I set up a pull-pull rudder with different length servo arms and rudder horns. I managed to bust a pull-pull wire that way!

Doesn't it only get overstressed if the servo arm is longer?  Seems to me the shorter servo arm can quite happily move +/- 90 and the bellcrank less, whereas if it were reversed with longer servo arms then the bellcrank would potentially lock.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Tim Crow

[Nick Cripps]

No. John is right, the arms* need to be the same length for rigid pushrods to work.

* distance from the centre of the bellcrank/servo arm to the point at which the pushrod attaches.

Why does it need 2 pushrods?

[Stephen Jones]

Thanks for the replies guys, 

I tested on a Rx battery before going to the field and all was fine I did not test using the Esc as it was late at nite and did not want to disturb anyone with the beeping and motor noise.

A retest at home have discovered that my Esc has burnt out.

And i have retest the system on a battery and checked for voltage drop all is fine also changed the servo arm position .

The reason I did it the way I did first time around is to reduce the amount of movement mechanically. 

I now have to solder some connectors onto a new Esc and test the motor.

 

Cheers Steve.

 

 

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

There's probably enough accumulated free play in the joints and flexibility in the pushrods to accommodate the shortcomings in the geometry but a true parallelogram would be better.

[Stephen Jones]

My Auto G is ready for a test flight now the old Esc for some reason burned out on the motor side and not the Bec side. 

I have fitted a new Esc and tested motor and all servos running no problem i can only assume the bullet connections shorted out on the wire undercarriage so i have added extra heat shrink.

Steve

 

[GrumpyGnome]

I have been out this morning.... few lovely flights with my leccy Corsair and then 9 uneventful flights with my Ultrastick (no noise restrictions at club). Then caught the tailplane on a rapeseed plant just a few feet short of runway and broke fuselage in half just ahead of the tailplane ?

[Eric Robson]

 Re John Stones post. I have had a similar experience with a Kyosho Spitfire I bought from someone who was giving up, it had been in a loft for many years and the covering was slack and when ironed it became brittle as when I picked it up I put a finger through the covering. it had never been flown and had all the radio and engine in. the RX was 35mhz so I changed it for 2.4. I put some Sellotape over the hole. After checking over the engine and fuel system I flew it, it took off no problems and after 10 mins flight I brought it in as it was on approach the covering started lifting and on landing it had split behind the leading edge where the open structure began and peeled back over, the Sellotape held the part that had been holed. I have stripped it all off the top and covered it with laminating film curtesy of Ron Gray. 

Edited April 26, 2021 by Eric Robson

[Tim Crow]

Something different from the Easyglider today! Still easy with 6 gyros, although definitely not when they're turned off! Not easy grabbing phone pics single handed either.

[GrumpyGnome]

Out again yesterday. The weather forecast predicted rain from 10:00 so I was there chucking a variety of leccy models about at 7:00. 

 

As more company arrived, the wind increased and swung around to it's worst direction, a Northerly, forcing either a cross wind landing on the main runway, or using the shorter, narrower downward sloping alternative.  No serious mishaps.

 

I was home by 12:00 having had around 30 flights.  Flying continued until about 18:00. No rain!

 

Nice to see so much activity at the field. I really must start taking more piccies.......

 

GG

[kevin b]

Not me !

Today we have rain as well as wind, so playing on the computer (trying to avoid ebay).

[GrumpyGnome]

Ditto. Wet, windy, cold, miserable. At least it gave me time to fix a servo (cables came adrift), change the antenna on my rx (ta FrSky), and set up some better flight modes on my Ultrastick..... 

 

Oh, and binge watch some TV!

 

GG

[leccyflyer]

Club breakfast fly-in today and first opportunity for me to get together with my modelling pals for a blether, bacon roll and some flying. The forecast wasn't the best, but the day turned out much nicer than was forecast. Had a couple of successful maiden flights  and saw some marvellous model that I hadn't seen before. Plus I came home with more aeroplanes than I left home with. My clubmate Jim's lovely Gloster Gladiator and Bf110 are joining my fleet  and ticking two of the boxes in my Battle of Britain bucket list.

[Matt Carlton]

Went to the field at 6:30am this morning before the wind got up. But chilly and grey but all good, peaceful and a great start to the day. 

 

When is your favourite time to fly? Early morning or evening for me. A cold, frosty morning is hard to beat, or a warm, windless late summer evening. 

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Evenings, shirt sleeves, most have gone home and you can let your hair down.

 

[leccyflyer]

Used to be the calm, late evenings for me, but anytime the weather is co-operating works for me now.

[GrumpyGnome]

Early morning - often the best of the weather......... and as I am on my own, I just get to fly, fly, fly!  Although we have no noise restrictions (lucky us!), I don't fly noisy ic stuff until 9:00. I generally have a further hour or so before anyone else turns up. Quite often nobody does as we're a small club.

 

I tend to avoid weekends, leaving them for the workers who struggle to fly on weekdays. Not sure why I don't make use of the evenings.

 

GG