Weston UK Capiche 50cc Revisited

[Adrian Smith 1]

After a couple days flying I managed a bit of work shop time to lay out my elevator bits before starting on the same.

 

 

I dry fitted the parts and I have managed to line up things as I want. The geometry works using 140 mm turnbuckles. It is always fun trying to establish which way the threading goes each end as one end is counter clockwise. That done the coupler was test fitted to the servo arm - all good here. I think I can safely go about hinging the elevators on the bench and drilling out the elevator horn holes as per the excellent method on Gary Manual's build thread. I have used all the kit supplied parts apart from the turnbuckles and horn rods.

 

 

[Adrian Smith 1]

Next I sourced the HobbyWing OPTO ESC I intend using. I have these is my other 50-60cc aircraft and find them reliable on the motor I intend using.

 

 

Interestingly I was about to purchase this one from 4-Max for £189, but in browsing through Model Shop Leeds pages I found the same thing for £139, fifty quid cheaper!! That was a close shave. Pays to shop around. As far as motor is concerned I think it will be one of Dualsky's GA series outrunners.

 

 

[Adrian Smith 1]

Bit of thought to be had over the business end of the Capiche. The ESC fits fine on the base of the motor box and there are apertures for the power pack, throttle wires to feed into the fuselage.

 

 

I am going to use some hardwood dowel the plug the holes in the motor wall as the bolt centres of the motor I intend using do not match. I have used 30 minute Bob Smith epoxy for this. That's clarified that job when I get to it. I will need stand offs and the correct measurement will be posted here when I mount the motor. 

[Adrian Smith 1]

Back to some routine work on the working surfaces. I am doing the hinging and lightly oil the pin hinges before assembly. I also need to drill out some of the pin holes to allow then to fit properly.

 

 

 

As can be seen I use Gorilla glue which I find very efficient.

 

 

[Adrian Smith 1]

So elevators, ailerons and rudder all completed.

 

 

 

Also put a dab of oil on the hinge line to keep the surfaces running freely.

 

[Adrian Smith 1]

To be safe I am going to need two servo lead extensions of around 36" for the elevators and to extension leads of 18" for the ailerons. I have the bits in stock to make these up, but I need a bit of motivation to do that (because it's fiddly to do properly) or whether to buy them ready made up...........

 

The clear cockpit cover will need to be glued on. Weston suggest using odourless cyano and accelerator for the same. I have these on the shelf, but have never done it this way. I have always used canopy glue, but I dislike it really as it's messy, takes ages to cure and and I always miss a bit of the joint. Anybody done it the cyano way? Be interested how you get on with it. 

[Adrian Smith 1]

Marking a bit of time today because of grass cutting jobs, but I made sure that the dowel inserts are flush after gluing yesterday.

 

I got lazy and bought the extension leads of 1000 mm and 500mm from Nexus which arrived this morning.

 

My next job will be to fit the aileron and elevator servos plus leads now that all surfaces are hinged. That will be done on the next visit to the work shop followed by drilling out of the holes in the working surfaces for the horns to be lined up with the servo arms positions.

 

[toto]

Hi Aidrian,

 

I'm beginning to like the look of these pin hinges. Did these come with the model ?

 

Toto

[Adrian Smith 1]

Yes they did Toto, but you can buy them separately in different sizes. The bigger ones are used in large scale models although the smaller ones can be used in less large planes. I will post a link when I find a reliable outlet. They are really good as they allow a more free movement compared to  felt hinges that are used in smaller aircraft.

[Adrian Smith 1]

Just one example below midway down the page, but they are a common accessory.

 

 

https://www.nexusmodels.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/index/?p=2&q=hinges

[toto]

Thank you kind Sir. 

 

I take it that way ir your model came with the usual slotted felt hinge, you would just install the pin hinges a bit of a distance away from the slot cut be the manufacturer to prevent weakening the control surface? 

 

5oto

[Adrian Smith 1]

Either that or just dribble cyano in the slot and use an accelerator to harden it then just drill the hole for the pin hinge and glue in with a dab of gorilla glue. It depends on how big the slot is as you might require a gap filling cyano to be safe.

[toto]

Thanks adrian ..... thats what I was wondering ......

 

cheers

 

toto

[Adrian Smith 1]

Obviously, for foamies you will need foam safe cyano + accelerator while with wood a standard cyano + accelerator will suffice. 

[Adrian Smith 1]

Bit of a pig to thread the elevator servo wires along the fuselage, but managed using a  thin piece of rod to pull the wire through..

 

 

Both extension leads pulled through and taped/marked so I know which channel in the RX is which!

 

 

 

I also installed the rudder servo which was a much easier job.

 

[Adrian Smith 1]

Next up the aileron servos. with the extension wires pulled through using an auto mechanical grabber. Brilliant piece of kit.

 

 

 

I have started to draw a template to use when drilled the stand off holes in the motor walls for my intended motor. 

 

 

I will cut it down to size and transfer and tape the template to the motor wall prior to drilling the holes. I will have to check the length of stand off required. However I know I am aiming for a total distance between motor wall and prop driver to be about 170mm.

More of that later. 

[Peter Jenkins]

Do you need to off set the centre line as you will have to put in some right side thrust but will want the spinner to emerge in the centre of the cowl opening.

[Adrian Smith 1]

Correct, Peter. The offset centre line is pre-scribed onto the motor wall already (see above with fuz on its side),  all I have to do is line up my pencil centre line with the scribed one when I tape the template to the motor wall. I will just rotate the template to suit the motor lugs with all the centre line angles on the template. And yes, Peter the scribed line is offset.Works for me. 

 

The other thing I should have checked earlier was the space for the power packs. The fuselage width is 10.5 cms not large by modern standards, but I can position two 6S 5000-6000 mAh lipos side by side or one in front of each other lengthways should I need to. So there is room for flexibility.

 

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Adrian Smith 1

[Adrian Smith 1]

I had a bit of time to start on the modification of the elevators. First I made sure the elevator was in line with the tail plane by drawing a line and using a level to check it prior to drilling the horn. It needs to be perpendicular to the elevator.

 

 

A bit more adjustment required to level using a wedge.

 

After correction I weighted the elevator prior to drilling to keep it stable.

 

 

The measurements for the hole were 20 mm from the elevator join and 30 mm from the elevator edge. The elevator bolt was approximately 4mm, but plastic hole insert tube (cut to shape and size) is around 7mm. Therefore the enlarged hole was drilled out as the reinforcing insert tube stops wood compression when the horn is bolted on.

 

 

 

All I had to do was ensure I drilled at right angles to line up the marking points! 

 

[Adrian Smith 1]

The top of the bolt on the elevator is as shown.

 

 

 

I added the horn accessories and turnbuckle with the nuts being blue thread locked later.

 

 

 

 

The ball link above is fitted to the wrong side, but I corrected that subsequently.

 

Lastly things look as though they line up nicely.

 

 

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Attention to detail as always Adrian. 👍

[Adrian Smith 1]

No flying today as it's raining (again). I decided to sort the rudder controls out at the rudder end.

 

Levelled the fuselage on its side first.

 

 

Taped up the rudder in the neutral position.

 

Measured where the horn will sit, 26 mm in this case from the rudder edge on both sides.

 

 

Perpendicular drilling to accept the studding for the horn assembly.

 

 

[Adrian Smith 1]

Loose fitted the coupler assembly both sides prior to final adjustment and blue thread locking.

[Adrian Smith 1]

I just had time to mark out the aileron positions. I loose fitted the coupler assemblies prior the measuring.

 

 

The distance back from aileron edge was at 20 mm. However, there is a slight snag. My alloy servo ares are a bit too long to give the correct right angle geometry.

 

 

The indent in the servo arm for a second hole to be drilled is still not at the right distance. I will have to look in my spares box for something around 20-25 mm for accuracy. I did think of using the plastic servo arm supplied with the servos, but I am not sure they are robust enough. Some more thought required here I think.

 

 

 

 

[Adrian Smith 1]

In the meantime my chosen outrunner motor from HobbyPlastic turned up on an overnighter via DPD.

 

It's Dualsky GA6000.8 /60cc class. peak power on 15S 6800W KV180 with a weight of 1020g. I have used this motor type in my other 60cc electric conversions and is well up to the task. Probably going to use a 23 x8 or 24x8 prop and see how she goes.