Jason Arnold

Hi Guys,

My Episode has finally flown. All went reasonably well.
One question though.... Has anyone else's Episode got a canaliser out of alignment with the wing/stab? I'm yet to measure my one but to the naked eye it's out by quite a way. The stab/wings are spot on to the naked eye. From the cockpit view, the LHS is higher than the RHS.

Cheers,
Jason.

underdw

My Feedback: (2)

My ARC version shows where someone at the factory sanded/ground in an attempt to get the canalizer level. However, it's still way off. Shimming should be easy, assuming my shims don't throw the incidence out of alignment. I'll measure from the wing TE up to the canalizer TEs.

Jason Arnold

Thanks Steve, good to know I'm not seeing things... :-)

Cheers,
Jason.

rcpattern

My Feedback: (45)

I noticed that by simply tightening one side down more than the other it can change that. You may slightly back off one of the screws and then tighten the other that it will fix it. With the width of the support being so small, it is very easy to adjust to one side or the other.

Arch

Jason Arnold

Hi Arch,

I had a good look at it last night. I had the model in its cradle and used a spirit level to set the wing tube level to the table. Then I measured from the table to each canaliser tip. From cockpit view, the LFS measured 554mm and RHS 545mm. The TE of the canaliser is also bowed. With a straight edge on the TE I can see a 2mm gap at the centre / root. May be able to fix that with an iron on the covering.

I can see why backing off a screw might work. The canaliser doesn't actually fit to the canopy seat too well which allows it to move a little. This gets amplified at the tips.

Will try a few things to resolve the issues. Really make me wonder what Chip meant when he said he fixed the canaliser… Did he fix the mounting or the models proverse roll coupling in KE by lowering the canaliser?

Cheers,
Jason.

patternflyer1

My Feedback: (11)

If I remember correctly in talking to Chip, I think he lowered the canalizer to match the same distance from the wing to the can that the Axiome has.

Chris

Jason Arnold

Hi Guys,

I have just spent a fair bit of time working out what the problem is with the canaliser.


1. The TE of my canaliser was slightly bowed on each side. With a straight edge on the bottom TE, there was a 2mm gap between the straight edge and canaliser at the root. Heating with a covering iron on a flat surface has more or less eliminated that problem for the moment.


2. The canaliser is secured with one nylon pin at the front into the canopy. This allows lateral movement to occur. The chord is 9" and 3 1/4" from the LE are two M3 mounting screws which go through the canaliser into blind nuts in the canopy. Placing the screws more aft would be better as would two pins at the front. The blind nuts have pulled the glass up a little after being possibly overtightened.


3. The front bottom of the canaliser (near the pin) fouls a little in the saddle which results in the TE sitting up by about 3mm. This could cause unwanted issues when the screws are tightened down.


4. The saddle is a very poor fit which allows the screws to pull it any which way. I think this is the biggest issue. If I tighten the LHS screw and leave the RHS loose, the canaliser lines up nice.


I think the easiest and best fix would be to relieve some material at the front of the saddle or canaliser & use epoxy and micro balloons between the canaliser and saddle with all aligned properly. This would then provide a great saddle to match the canaliser and maintain alignment. Another option may be to permanently attach the canaliser....

These are my findings and I post them to potentially help others and just maybe BJ might be watching and taking note for future product improvements.


Cheers,
Jason.

EHFAI

Jason

Pretty much the same observations on both my Episodes. I oversized both bolt holes, removed the front pin, sanded the saddle as necessary, then applied an 1/8" bead of silicone rubber (RTV) around the saddle and in the bolt holes. I then attached the canaliser and aligned in the various planes my moving and tightening the bolts as needed. After the RTV cured I redrilled the front pin hole (from inside the canopy) and epoxied the pin in place. This provides a semi-permanent mounting and has remained solid for 800+ flights.

One can work a string under the canaliser to cut the RTV if there's a need to remove it for some reason. I suppose some sort of release film could also be used during the original assembly.

Jason Arnold

Actually, the RTV trick is a great idea. Used to do that years ago on wing saddles to take out any irregularities. Very easy and quick to do as well!

Cheers,
Jason.

blake26m

Hi All,

Got a nice bit of work done on the Episode over the past two days. I got the Hacker C50 fitted using the mountings provided by Chris from Bondaero. Also got the air intakes cut. I have the air outlet ready to cut next.

blake26m

Got a lot of work done on the Episode. Servos next to install. I made a rudder servo tray from some light ply with two cross braces underneath. very happy with it and it is very strong and light. Ply will be doubled were servo screws insert. Also the Carbon spars for the Stab half's each had to cut down by 10mm as they were to long.

KenChoo

It is a little concerning that there are more comments recently about the build quality of the Episode (from poor canalyzer saddle fit to overlong stab tubes)...I hope this is not an indication of a slip in the quality of the product?

Please don't take this as criticism though, as I actually have no first hand experience with the kits, I am simply wondering based on the recent posts above...

Brenner

I thought the build quality on my Episode was excellent...

Compared with my Wind S Pro, my assessment is that the build quality of the Episode is considerably better. The wing and stab fit with the fuse was better, and the fit between the canopy and the fuselage had no gaps at all to speak of.

My canalizer also fit the canopy quite well, but I did notice that the plywood crutch inside the canopy that supported the canalizer was actually quite flimsy, so I reinforced it with some carbon fiber/nomex laminate, and now it's solid as a rock.

Other than this I thought that the landing to fuse attachment could have been beefier, but so far it has been holding up well.

Brenner ...

Jason Arnold

I'd have to agree Brenner. The build quality for the money is very good. Not perfect, but very good. As described earlier in the thread, my only real issue is with the canaliser mounting. This is an easy thing to fix however.

It's probably fair to say that any ARF on the market today has one issue or another.

For example, the Wind S Pro has a fin straightness issue where the rudder/fin post is not square to the wings. They also seem to be very liberal with the epoxy glue joints. The composite kit had issues with the wings failing. This has now beed rectified by going back to built-up wings. Having said all that, the design is obviously pretty good because of the success people have flying them.

Cheers,
Jason.

KenChoo

Hello Jason, Brenner Thanks very much for your honest input and the edifying clarification! It's great to have access to opinions from people with first hand experience.

TonyF

My Feedback: (92)

Here are some pics of my newest Episode and the canalyzer fit. My first one was the same way. The only work I had to do on both of them was to work on the bolt holes to get them to align with the holes in the canopy. I think the pics show how good the alignment and the fit is on this plane. The top view pic shows a little mismatch in the front. But I consider this pretty minor.

Maybe there are some issues, but I have built 4 BJ Craft models. My Nuance, my Episode, a Prolog for a friend and my second Episode. I did have to work on the slot where the LG leg inserts into the fuse. But that has been it. As for the stab tubes, what is supplied can be confusing where they all go since the stab tubes are the same diameter as the wing pins. But I have never had to cut any.

Hope this helps!

Jason Arnold

Hi Tony,

Have you measured the canaliser? I levelled the wing tube and measured from each canaliser tip to the bench. It was 9mm out. Yours may be better.

Cheers,
Jason.

TonyF

My Feedback: (92)

Hi Jason. Nope, just put the Mk.II eyeballs on it. Looks pretty close to me but it might be off a bit. But I can't see any problems in the air. Now I do recommend putting some Hysol 9462 on the glue joints of the internal supports. I had those break away when I was flying in a lot of wind and went full power in the F-13 rolling loop. It was going pretty fast!

Jason Arnold

Hi Tony,

It was my MkII eyeballs that picked up the issue initially. Decided to fly it anyway. That was just impatience... lol
Also, as Arch points out, tightening one screw more than the other upsets the apple cart too.

Cheers,
Jason.

rcpattern

My Feedback: (45)

I completely agree on the Hysol inside. I had a similar issue. Also, on my first ARC there were no nuts on the back side of the canopy hold down pins and I had one come out. Pulled through the block. Was an easy fix, but hard to see it wasn't there. Number 2 had them. These were both ARC versions.

Arch

HotFlyAlex

Hello everyone,

Can someone tell me where these parts belong? (First picture)
How is the standard battery board attached?

Flies someone the Hacker Q80 in the episode? Pictures of attachment would be great!

Thanks for any tip!

Brenner

There are parts in the kit to make two jigs for aligning the stab fences. Some of those parts are probably for that.

Brenner ...

rcpattern

My Feedback: (45)

Mounting the Q80 is very simple. We used a plywood ring and attached it to the front with epoxy. Then we used countersunk bolts to attach the F3A Unlimited Q80 mount to the ring, then used the rear support that comes with the mount. I personally used the Gator RC trays in mine, but you could use the stock tray with carbon rods or whatever you want.

Here is a link to the mount. http://www.f3aunlimited.com/webstore...roducts_id=334

Arch

HotFlyAlex

My Episode is now complete, except the stickers and the RC-settings. Take-off weight with Q80-11s and 10s 5000mah is 4747g. Hope I can test it this weekend. Here are some pics:

blake26m

My episode is also complete apart from control throws and general setup. Im using a Hacker C50 14XL with a PT 21X13 prop.
I like your receiver tray setup Alex. Are you worried about signal fades with having your antennas close to carbon or is that not a problem with Multiplex? What length straps did you use Alex to secure your 10s packs?