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Top Quark


Futura57
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 Work has been very slow on my end, only managing a few hours here and there. I have the fuselage sides epoxied together with F2 and F3 however I am going to have to recut F4 and F5 as the ones I have cut seem to be falling well aft of their marked locations. I also have all the wing pieces and tail plane pieces cut.

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On 23/06/2024 at 19:06, Matthew Fulton said:

 Work has been very slow on my end, only managing a few hours here and there. I have the fuselage sides epoxied together with F2 and F3 however I am going to have to recut F4 and F5 as the ones I have cut seem to be falling well aft of their marked locations. I also have all the wing pieces and tail plane pieces cut.

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Do epoxy F1 at the nose before pulling in the tail end and fitting F4 and F5 😉

 

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At last a little progress has been made.  The rear wing is covered now - the colour scheme is largely dictated by the film I'd got in stock and my genetic disposition to chronic thriftiness (meanness).  I shall add some lettering in due course to make it more interesting.  The underside of the wings is white as I thought a contrast might assist in orientation.

 

The fin and rudder is constructed too and the elevon servos installed, so not too much more to do.  A week's break down in Somerset intervenes now but I shall push on with renewed urgency when I return.

 

I dislike covering models and one thing always puzzles me:  Do I dislike it because I'm no good at it or am I no good at it because I dislike it?  There's a philosophical conundrum to tax the grey matter.....

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

At last a bit more progress.  I've covered the fin and rudder and, after a hiccup when my sealing iron conked out, covered the fuselage too, using an iron borrowed from a clubmate (thanks Dave).  Servos are fitted and control horns added to the elevons.  Soooo.... remaining to do is cover the upper wing, sort out the motor and cowl, glue the fin to the fuse, add a control horn to the rudder and sort out the linkages and electronics.  Crikey, it's suddenly not too far off maiden flight time!!

 

A word on the sealing iron issue: The iron that has just failed is a Prolux LCD model and is the 4th, yes FOURTH, I've had in as many years.  All have failed with the same error - Err 2 - and seem to have burned out the heating element.  To say I'm annoyed is putting it mildly.  I will NOT be buying any more Prolux irons.  I'm happy to hear any recommendations or suggestions.

 

A couple of pics attached.  The fin is not glued yet.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

More progress on the TQ to report.  All covering is complete (apart from adding some trim, which might wait until after the maiden).  The control surfaces are linked up; I used ball-links as the hinge lines are at an angle to the line of servo horn travel.  The fin is epoxied in now and the motor, ESC and Rx are installed, though the Rx is yet to be fixed in its final position.  I use self-adhesive hook-and-loop tape quite a bit but I've found that it sometimes doesn't stick long-term to balsa, so I put a skin of epoxy on the wood surface and it seems to adhere much better to that.

The only real job left to do is to form a cowl from a drink bottle.  I've never attempted this, so it may take more than one attempt!

 

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2 hours ago, Tim Kearsley said:

More progress on the TQ to report.  All covering is complete (apart from adding some trim, which might wait until after the maiden).  The control surfaces are linked up; I used ball-links as the hinge lines are at an angle to the line of servo horn travel.  The fin is epoxied in now and the motor, ESC and Rx are installed, though the Rx is yet to be fixed in its final position.  I use self-adhesive hook-and-loop tape quite a bit but I've found that it sometimes doesn't stick long-term to balsa, so I put a skin of epoxy on the wood surface and it seems to adhere much better to that.

The only real job left to do is to form a cowl from a drink bottle.  I've never attempted this, so it may take more than one attempt!

 

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Looking good Tim. You could always maiden without the cowl 😉

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Tim Kearsley said:

That's a very good idea!

Just watch the CG for that maiden. It's likely your Lipo will need to be furthest forward in the battery tray against F3. A spinner may help too. I trust your ESC is in the forward fuselage and you extended the battery leads about 6 inches. Something I neglected to mention in my magazine article. 🤔

Edited by Futura57
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5 hours ago, Futura57 said:

Just watch the CG for that maiden. It's likely your Lipo will need to be furthest forward in the battery tray against F3. A spinner may help too. I trust your ESC is in the forward fuselage and you extended the battery leads about 6 inches. Something I neglected to mention in my magazine article. 🤔

ESC is indeed directly behind the motor with extended battery leads (I thought that was frowned upon?).  I'll be using a 3S, 2200 mAh battery as that's all I have in 3 cells.  I'm always very careful about CG!

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The Top Quark had its maiden flight today, on a very warm, sunny day with only very light, rather variable winds.

 

What an absolute beauty!  I launched the model on a slightly upward trajectory while clubmate Jeff manned the sticks.  The only trim needed was a couple of clicks of up-elevator and she was soon eating up the sky.  There's no shortage of power on a 3S, 2200 mAh LiPo and loops and rolls are no trouble at all.

 

I took the sticks for the second flight and I can confirm she's a delight.  I used slightly lower throws on elevons than John recommends but that's just a matter of personal preference.  Performance is excellent and you can pull nice, big loops.  Landing is a doddle.

 

All in all I'm very pleased and I can see the Top Quark spending a lot of time in the air.  A clubmate videoed the first flight and I'll try and put some of it online. 

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Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Tim Kearsley said:

The Top Quark had its maiden flight today, on a very warm, sunny day with only very light, rather variable winds.

 

What an absolute beauty!  I launched the model on a slightly upward trajectory while clubmate Jeff manned the sticks.  The only trim needed was a couple of clicks of up-elevator and she was soon eating up the sky.  There's no shortage of power on a 3S, 2200 mAh LiPo and loops and rolls are no trouble at all.

 

I took the sticks for the second flight and I can confirm she's a delight.  I used slightly lower throws on elevons than John recommends but that's just a matter of personal preference.  Performance is excellent and you can pull nice, big loops.  Landing is a doddle.

 

All in all I'm very pleased and I can see the Top Quark spending a lot of time in the air.  A clubmate videoed the first flight and I'll try and put some of it online. 

Now that's what I call a glowing testimonial 🤣 You obviously built her straight and true Tim. Well done. I'm glad it delivered for you. What elevator expo did you settle for?

 

I'm close to completing the Mk2 prototype of my EDF variant with vectored thrust, the Strange Quark. Completely different construction and build materials. It's taking a lot more development effort, being my first EDF model ever. Who knows, maybe an RCM&E plan in 2025 😉

Edited by Futura57
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I kept the expo as you suggested John, just set the throws to 75% of what you recommended on the plan.  I was impressed with how well it flies and it has such a striking silhouette in the sky when seen in plan-form.

I was pleased personally at how little trimming it needed - I must have built it reasonably true. 😀

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On 05/06/2024 at 20:54, Matthew Fulton said:

And we're off.

 

Wood package appeared on the doorstep this afternoon and I didn't have much time this evening but had to at least make a start. So 2 Fuselage sides cut out was as far as I got.

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@Matthew Fulton How is your Top Quark build progressing?

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I had two more flights with the TQ this morning.  I like it more and more!  We use the term "flies on rails" a lot but this one really does.  I like pulling up vertically and then a half-roll to inverted and back down.  Beautiful! 😄

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  • 4 weeks later...

I finally got round to fabricating a cowl for the TQ, from a tonic water bottle.  It was the first time I've used the technique and the result wasn't too bad.  I roughened the surface with some 600 paper and then applied several coats of Plastikote.  I've also added some vinyl lettering to the wing and fin.  A few shots of the finished model attached.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey guys, sorry it's been so long. Well done @Tim Kearsleyfor getting yours finished it looks awesome and would still love to see some flying footage if you ever get a chance. I'm getting things moving a bit here now although I'm doing a few jobs out of order with careful consideration as to whether doing one job might shaft me somewhere down the line. The reason for this is that some jobs can be done when I have half an hour here or there where others can't. So as you can see from the photos, I have finished and mounted the front wing and then sheeted the top and half way down the bottom leaving the rear wing for when I get a bit more time. Feels like it's taking shape a bit which is good for motivation. Quick question for either of you, in Johns plans there are a couple of Skids on the underside of the rear wing but looking at most of your pictures they have been omited just curious why? 

 

Thanks

Natthew

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I'm glad you are back on the build Matthew.

The skids were not on my original prototype. However, on one landing, an elevon horn fixing on the underside caught the grass. So on the plan, and the second prototype, I added the skids to mitigate any servo strain or gear stripping. If you have a smooth underside to the rear wing, including a recessed wing bolt, then you can omit them.

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Looking good Matthew.  You'll be rewarded with a really lovely model to fly when you complete it.  I'll try and get a clubmate to take some flying video when I next go to the field.  Although you can't see them in the pictures I put online I did add the skids.  On my version the rear wing bolt and ply washer stand a little proud of the wing, so it seemed worth doing.

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  • 1 month later...

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