ltc

My Feedback: (3)

OK, thanks.
I assume you are using both front and rear adjusters?

I have the metal ones. For some strange reason, they are in their Boat department/section on the Hobbyking website? I assume to hold a propellor shaft?
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/adjustab...haft-pair.html

They are also available here in the USA from F3AUnlimited
http://www.f3aunlimited.com/gwa8mm

Jason Arnold

Yes ITC, I'll be using the widgets on the rear anti-rotation pin and the BJ craft type on the front. I wouldn't regard the BJ units as being totally suitable for the back.

Cheers,
Jason.

Jason Arnold

A little bit of work on the CNC Router (adjuster plates) and the Allure builders kit over the last couple of days. Stabs are now ready for prep/film and the new control horns fit well. MKS Servos are being used throughout this model. In the stabs we'll have DS9660A+ (pictured). The wings will have BLS 950's and a HV1220 will shift the rudder.

Today the wing adjuster plates will be glued to the fuse sides and the control horns will be fitted to the Ailerons.

drac1

My Feedback: (4)

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Jason Arnold

The covering process has begun.

Cheers,
Jason.

Stuart Chale

Jason what are you using for covering? And are you applying both colors before finishing the edges on the bottom of the elevator? Can you explain your technique?

Jason Arnold

The covering is the "Luxurious" Hobby King brand. ;-)

Both colours are applied to the flat surface first one at a time and then rolled around the edges etc as one piece. I am by no means an expert on covering. In fact, this is my first real covering job. I have however been talking to the likes of Hamish Galloway & Chris Swain for help on how to do the job and importantly on the surface preparation before covering is actually applied. The balsa was finished off with 1200 wet & dry paper along with compressed air and a tack rag.

Cheers,
Jason.

Stuart Chale

Always looking for different ideas to make covering easier or better 1200? You got me beat, I stop at 600

serious power

Hi,
I'd stop at 400 for film covering.
600 pre and after primer if painting.
1200 pre clear coat !

Clean dust free surface is key - I use a vacuum cleaner c/w vigorous brushing towards to nozzle. Reduces airborne dust.
Covering in a different room/area to where the balsa sanding is helpful also as removing the backing from the covering produces a lot of static - a dust magnet !!

Brian

Jason Arnold

Hi Brian,

I did some test pieces with hairspray and different levels of sanding. I found that wiping down with methylated spirits between levels of paper and compressed air and a tack rag gave the best adhesion. It's like the covering has more surface area to stick to because the surface is flatter and clean.

Anyway, half a stab is now covered. The top side is next.....

Cheers,
Jason.

Jason Arnold

I went 400, 800 and then 1200 grade. Between each sanding the whole stab was wiped down with a clean rag soaked in methylated spirits. This makes the grain stand up to some extent.

Often with covering you can see a lot of grain through the covering. After sanding with 1200 I have to say the grain is minimal.

As with everything, preparation, preparation, preparation.....

Cheers,
Jason.

kenh3497

I have in the past applied a "white wash" of light weight spackle. I actually sprayed it on. Then sanded to 400 grit. It filled the grain well. I don't have a clue how much weight it added. At the time I wasn't concerned about weight.

Ken

Jason Arnold

Yesterday I started cutting some film templates for the stab top on the CNC. I'm extremely happy with the results and they work very well.

drac1

My Feedback: (4)

You need a vinyl cutter and just cut the film out.

Stuart Chale

Agree, if these are templates to cut out your covering please see

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-p...-covering.html

Stuart

Jason Arnold

Hey Scott,

I have a CNC router so spending $500+ on a Vinyl cutter makes no sense to me. I could put a lesser amount into a drag knife that fits the CNC router to perform the exact same task. This is what Peter Haase is doing.
These templates, once cut, can be used to cut the film parts very quickly and reliably. The weight of the template holds the film nice and flat too. At the end of the day, the templates will do the job asked of them very well. No stuffing about with setting depth of cuts or tacking the film down etc either. They could also be easily used to cut film parts for others if needed too. ;-)

Cheers,
Jason.

drac1

My Feedback: (4)

My hand cut cardboard ones worked OK, just needed to be careful that the knife didn't cut into the template.

Jason Arnold

I was going to do a similar thing but then thought stuff it, I'll just cut the templates direct on the CNC. Eliminate the possibility for error. The material use was 3mm PVC sheet from Bunnings. They could also be made out of Lite Ply or MDF too but I hadn't machined plastic on the CNC so decided to have a whirl at it.

Cheers,
Jason.

nonstoprc

My Feedback: (90)

I have used the cardboard template approach myself and it worked great.

I do need to make sure the templates for top film pieces are sized about 2-3mm larger on all sides.

Jason Arnold

Yep, I allowed 3mm extra on all joins and 25mm overhang where there are no curves on the edges and 150mm overhang on the tips where some yanking material is needed. These templates are 3mm PVC so the knife doesn't worry them at all. I was going to go down the cardboard path as this was suggested by others. Doing it on the machine is so much easier and the Curves are perfect. Curves are hard to do freehand as you would know.

FWIW I did consider the vinyl cutter option as this is what Richard Hirst is using.

Cheers,
Jason.

Jason Arnold

Well, the first stab is completed. I didn't quite get the alignment perfect but I'm sure the next stab will be better. The weight came in at 93 grams which is within the target range. This stab is actually the heavier of the two as I was more liberal with the polyurethane glue during skinning than I should have been. We live and learn... lol

Cheers,
Jason.

Jason Arnold

Both stabs are now complete. The second stab came out at 90 grams. Adding a servo, linkage and horn should have the RTF weight at less than 130 grams.

Now to start on the wing film templates.

Jason Arnold

Hi Guys,

Not much progress on the builders kit due to the heatwave downunder. Bring on winter!

Anyway, I did manage to figure out how to cut all film templates in one go. In Fusion 360 I copied all the colour components to a new drawing and then positioned them to allow enough gap between each part. The run time on the router will be 2 hours and 6 minutes!

Another thing slowing me down is surfacing the whole bed of the CNC. So far I've only been making small parts and just surfaced a 2' x 1.5' piece of MDF. My surfacing bit does a top job but the dust is way to much so the extractor needs to be fixed before I proceed with surfacing the whole table.

I've started fitting the Ralph Schweizer CRS to the fuse as well. The phenolic nose ring fell victim to a Dremel party held at my place last Sunday. The nose ring must be removed so the Ply firewall can be mounted as far forward as possible. Not a fun job but it's done!

I used both ply spacer rings (4mm AC Ply) on the CRS to get the drive poking out the nose of the model. The 85mm spinner is being used here which matches the Allure nose nice. The backplate however is recessed by about 6mm hence the drive needing to poke out the front.

The firewall was aligned on the outside of the nose ring first to make sure it's centred and then drill the three M4 mounting holes.Once the firewall is aligned and glued in the fuse will be trimmed to match the firewall. This allows the whole CRS to be removed from the front of the model for maintenance.

The last picture shows the alignment/drilling jig for the CRS. An 8mm threaded steel rod or carbon rod can be inserted into this to align the firewall in the fuse. Down thrust is easy with the Wixey placed on the rod. Side thrust can be set a couple of ways. Either place the rod in the middle of the fuse or measure with the wing tube as a reference. A combination of both may be useful too to confirm alignment.

Cheers,
Jason.

Jason Arnold

I finished fitting the new V2 stabs and put five flights on them this afternoon in strong straight in your face wind conditions.

All went very well. Not one click of elevator trim needed either which was somewhat surprising.

Not sure if it's the stabs, new MKS servos, Precision Aero Product control horns or all three but the elevator feels much more precise and soft. It's most noticeable at the radius on the bottom of a down line.

The spins seem more consistent with regards to stopping the spin where it's supposed to stop.

Snaps seem faster too. Consecutive KE snaps held their line very nicely in the strong cross wind.

Overall 34 grams was saved with the new stabs and shortening the adjuster pin by 4".

The trimming continues but overall the V2 stabs are an improvement...

Thank you to Bryan Hebert of CK Aero and Aun at Xtreme Composite

Cheers,
Jason.

jonathan7x70

My Feedback: (1)

Hey guys,
I bought my first pattern plane. The CK Allure. Are there any more cost efficient electric motors that will work besides the $200.00 + F3A motors?

Thanks!