MJD

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I'll be setting up the linkages with lots of reduction to keep the percentages as high as possible.

Pond Skipper

Yea I learned my lesson just like flying on a ball bearing rolling off left and right too easy;
I just looked at the transmitter rates
Elevator 45%
Ailerons 30% left and 37% right more for right due to fighting prop torque.

MJD

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Progress..

- stab hinged and covered
- fin covered
- aileron linkages installed without gluing everything together
- ailerons bonded to torque arm, ready for film hinging next
- lower front hatch (tank/battery access) complete
- firewall glassed to fuse with 3 layers 6oz cloth and epoxy
- not really, I used poly mat and CA

It's starting to click now, i.e. I'm not vacillating over details all the time..

Pond Skipper

Awesome Mike your good news!.. what color did you do up the tail feathers with?

MJD

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Since I have Microlite in red and white, a good Canadian assortment, I was going to do the fuse white, wings red with white blaze out towards the right tip with something like a racing number or whatever on it. Bottom needs contrast, not sure yet. The fin and stab are red, and I realize I should strip the fin and make it white with a red instead so I can see it against the stab.

I realized last night that covering with Microlite over sheet surfaces is wayyyyy easier if you mist the covering lightly with 3M77 first, let it dry a little, then smooth it down before tacking the edges and finishing the job.

MJD

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The airframe alone is 29g as you see it, no hardware except strip aileron linkage. Wing is done, the torque rods are glued in but the ailerons are loose, waiting for film hinges, which will be installed like tape with a bug-fart's worth of 3M77 top and bottom, and allowed some time to gas off before ironing down. Then cover over it and cut the ailerons free.

I put this, the kludgy balloon tank from the test stand, an HS 35 and an HS 65 lying conveniently nearby, a 250mAh SmartLipo, and two pennies on the scale and came out at 67 grams. Holy crap, this thing is going to end up light, I think it could squeak in under 2.5oz dry. The 6g of pennies are for "misc". The covering for the wings works out to about 1.5 grams, add some trim, all of 2g or so to spray gloss white KlassKote on the fuselage - which is already sanding sealed. Small slimy open exhaust engines and film on the fuse don't work for me, oil creeping under the edges gives me the heebie-jeebies, like the end is nigh.

Now I'm getting stoked. The wing came out satisfyingly stiff and light. The tips are nice and tough.

Pond Skipper

Nice Mike should be fast! The stock prop will give you a great maiden flight with enough speed to keep you
on your toes. The red tail should save you when its getting out on the cusp of your viewing range.
Perhaps a tad rich on launch to keep things slow enough to orientate you to the size and flying capacity.
Yellow shows up great in the air under any sky condition. My white wings get blanked out and only the pink
pattern shows 100% of the time, white shows up about 50% of the time. The chrome wings on the NANO
blend at angles, the teal green blends in the sky at a distance. So far the best colors have been the Neon
pink and yellow for me. The yellow and black checker pattern shows up great on the NANO. Numbers and
letters pop on a white wing. White on a grey sky tends to blend white on a blue sky pops. White under low
light tends to capture light and show. Looking forward to your finished plane. Mine came out dry at 87g.
Your efforts should show some awesome performance with a 2.5x3 at 2.6oz RTF. If with 35% the engine
should bust 41K!

I used balsarite to seal and help aid in holding down the covering. Latex kind of sealer dries fast at minimum
weight. When razor trimming seams I tried to insure a good amount of overlap to avoid oil creep, insuring
there was enough material to bind on the overlaps is key. The wee TD .010 leave oil spray over the entire
plane there is no stopping it. I use soft napkins at the field between flights to wipe off the oil weight. It would
be worth having a exhaust deflector to keep the goo weight off the frame for more speed. A C shape shroud
about 1.5 mm from the ports would still let it breath yet the goo would drip down and clear some of the plane.

All the same it's not so bad as you will have your hands full with the speed the lil beast can provide.
You will have the fastest TD .010 in plane ever flown in Canada and must capture it on vid to post on
Youtube for all to see for years to come.

In the search words will need to use:
TD .010
Tee Dee .010
Cox .010
Micro RC Plane
Race Plane
Pylon Racer
Should insure the right folks spot your vid down the road.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

I was hoping it would be the fastest in the continent...

But second is fine too.. it's all good fun.

I'm not sure I've ever heard of anyone over-revving and breaking an .010. All the abuse I've ever seen or heard of involves oversize props and weak fuel.

With an epoxy fuse and good overlaps on the flying surface covering I'm happy. I always hit the seams and any exposed parts like aileron ends with something to seal them up. IPA cleans the oil off perfectly, I usually have some of that on hand because we keep a gallon in the hangar for various cleaning jobs.

Pond Skipper

Lol mayyybe it is going to be light you will need an edge that is one for sure.

I checked my current weight after cleaning it oil spray free 88.17g is mine with 5g fuel.
I would have to clip the wings to the ailerons that is good for 1.5" per side and swap out the MPI switch hardness.
3.2g harness another 1g off the wing. I have a piano wire push rod to the elevator could do carbon rod .5g
Say 5g less at best isn't much would have me at 83g. RX is 2.7g could source a 1.7g servo for the elevator
and a 1.8g RX. Less 3.8g would have me at best 79g. I carry 5g of fuel so 84g RTF. 15" span wing should
be good for another 7 mph or so. I have a 2.4 x 3.75N ready if need be heheh.

Your Scat Cat will be flying in colder dense air, as a comparison I fly in Texas Silicon you fly in Canadian 50 Weight.
About a month back I flew mine in 52 deg weather during the evening right after work the sun was just above the trees
it was visibly slower by around 15%.

The rod hasn't broke yet on mine, so far about 26 flights now at 3.11oz RTF. I think you can do 44k all day long.
My best rpm read is 41,985 rpm / 3x1.25 and 40,641 rpm 2.5x3N

MJD

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Hopefully I'll get to fly in 70F weather before too long. Our local Toronto classic rock station has a "Suck it, winter!" promo going on since everyone here is sick of it. I left for a meeting this morning and got hit by snow squalls and freezing rain.. 25 mph down the freeway. Yippee fun.. It would help if I hadn't tore most of the tread off my snow tires on the mostly dry roads all winter.

I'm sure there are some grams I have not accounted for. Take all my weight figgerin' with suitable skepticism until proven otherwise.

The 6.25% airfoil should help with the viscous arctic air.

Pond Skipper

Viscous for sure right now but in time you will have a warm day least by then the plane will have been tested
and already tuned up for a grand performance.

Pond Skipper

Mike have you sent the donor parts to for the TD .010 aluminum back plate to Mike in Canada?
How goes with the project?

MJD

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We talked, I will lend him some parts, and we'll hook up sometime soon when I have a meeting in the city.

I'm getting there, filddly farting with little details, got the wing covered in Microlite, red bottom white top. Finished the hatches, I'll spray the fuse this weekend. Then trim.

Forced to go to a different aileron servo arrangement due to balance - the nose needs to be a bit shorter. I think it will work out well.. the aileron servo is mounted in the fuse behind the wing compartment. Once I get the pushrods set up, to remove the wing I will open the rear hatch, and unscrew the servo arm, then pull it out forward with the wing. The wing does not need to come off except for maintenance or repair.

Did your wing magically put on the pounds in the last steps..?

Pond Skipper

NANO wing with German Oracover 18g / less two nylon horns, servo / 2 screws, and piano wire push rods.
Looking forward to see what you have done to the beast.

Completed ready for fuel came out to 83.8g / add 5g with fuel.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

I think it will end up ~2.6oz at this point. I'm a bit lazy on pics, will get a few this weekend. With luck and a tailwind it'll be ready to go in roughly a week.

I need a subscale magnetic balancer with 2-56 shaft.. seems there aren't too many on the market.

Pond Skipper

Mike you are slow lol of course at first the fever had you going fast at first.

Faster to just make your own U shape aluminum with two small neo magnets.
Glue the magnets on the aluminum providing you line them up perfect.

Can use 2mm or even match up with piano wire even carbon tube with pointed
steel stock on the ends. I use fuel tube to shim the prop hub. E-flite prop is so small
and light weight. I didn't bother to balance mine.

Of course two razor blades and a balsa sheet footing will get you in the ball park.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah, come to think of it I have some light gauge Al. But it is quite easy to whip it up in CAD and make one from ply with a little pocket for the magnets. Those I already have, I got a few to play with from Lee Valley Tools.

One of the modified 3.75x3 versions I bench ran, looked pretty even but it buzzed a bit. I realized I could never tell on a really light thinned prop. I'm a bit paranoid about prop balance, but give it time.

I'm usually pretty bagged in the weekday evenings, I pick away more enthusiastically some nights than others.

Weather just turned nicer yesterday.. I recently got a Whipit, and lo and behold this afternoon there were a bunch of vultures circling around the place. After about 20 launches, I finally whipped it into a flock of four vultures that were down low just climbing aboard a turbulent little thermal.. managed to climb out to about 300' before getting tossed out around the same time the vultures bailed out and headed for the next patch. This DLG thing is a drug.. must find lift.. must find lift.. liking it. Got a 1.2m Zuni kit in the cue, after a couple of priority projects that is..

MJD

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I got over it.

Ran up the .010 on a 2.4x3.5 narrow blade.. boy do they ever needle nicely on the lighter props. Steadied at 33,700, peaked briefly around 34,100. Man it sounds smooth and happy at the higher rpm. The pull on my plywood dummy fuselage was decent, seemed like plenty to me.

Pond Skipper

Nice do you have a pic of the prop?

Who would have thought the direction that has been
made with the TD .010. A few months ago I would have never thought 42k + was possible.
Best so for the NANO is 41,985 rpm. I feel 46k would be nirvana. 131 mph.

I have not bench tested my prop just field run up the day I flew 32,219 rpm per the vid.
I would imagine a tach would be the best way to eek out what you cant hear. The field
runs tend to be a bit richer for insurance.

MJD

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MJD

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Pond Skipper

Nice Mike!!!!

I don't use the spinner as mentioned the trick for more rpm is to tap for 2/56 thread and have a short coupled
wobble free short bolt set up instant extra rpm gain. I took the stock TD .010 spinner and tapped it for the TD .020
rock solid no wobble.


I see you prepped the prop tips for snickers worth of extra rpm and it paid off in fact the top end will benefit even more gulp...

Example with my prop - 2.5x3N no tip prep / static 32,219 rpm / unloaded 40,641 rpm (increase 8,422) / Doppler 110.63 mph.

Your prop had a steady 33,700 so in the field perhaps:
33,500 x 1.261 (ratio per NANO increase) should see a minimum 42,244 rpm if it was square tips/ yours could see 43k+

Where you have your servos I have a 2.7g RX.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

I think you can see in one pic I have mounted the battery to the wing over the CG. The Rx will go in the fuse above that, I'll run one antenna forward and one back - this cuts off 10-15% range apparently, but I have a feeling I won't be climbing out 1500' and gliding home. The stepup reg may go under the tank.

Who's gonna be the first to overrev and break an .010? Sacrilege... snicker..

Pond Skipper

I have my antenna running forward and back no issues with both the .010 and .020 planes.
I trimmed down my control horn for the elevator to 1 hole. What is the weight of your wing less servo?

Snapping the con rod may not happen the rpm is there but the drag load is less then typical of .010 projects and speeds.
Going from level to vertical could do it over time or using 50% Nitro whaa whaah.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

That's a stout looking prop..!
That needle is the most glaring thing now that would be nice to hide behind the engine.
I don't know how much it would be worth for the amount of effort.
It looks like the .010 and .020 don't tend to pull / pound themselves apart at high rpm like the .049s do.