RE: Nuance
 

Here's a picture of my final firewall with motor installed. I opened it up a bit with my dremel. Everything fits fine.

Next is the tail ring mount.

RE: Nuance
 

For the tail ring installation I used the template that was uploaded here:
http://rcone.kr/board/index.html?id=bjreference1&no=13

I downloaded the zip file version for the Neu motor. Even though this drawing set is for a hard mount installation, the tail ring support will be the same no matter what mount you use. It is a .DWG file so you need a viewer to open it. I prefer to use this rather than the JPG file that is also uploaded. If you want to get the viewer, go here and download the e-drawings viewer. It will allow you to open and view most CAD drawings, including Solidworks and Autocad. http://www.edrawingsviewer.com/pages/programs/download/ Its Free.

Once you have the JPG or e-Drawings file on the screen, then zoom the picture so that the tail ring opening is about 47mm on your screen. That's actual dimension of the tail ring opening, without the tubing, for the Neu motor housing (new version).

I taped a piece of paper on the screen and traced the shape of the tail ring support brackets.

I cut them out from the paper and did a fit check in the plane. They fit great.

I traced them onto a piece of lite ply and cut it out. It fits. I just need to trim them down a bit where they mate with the tail support ring.

It only took me about 15 minutes total time to do this. I would have been having fits trying to get the complex shape required to fit the tail ring supports, but the template made it very easy.

Next, I'll open the support brackets up a bit then laminate them with CF. Then glue in place and DONE.

RE: Nuance
 

I still has no time build my Nuance,My Friend just finish his Nuance today and I total weight with 2 Tunergy 5s 5000mah battery was 4835g......................Wow......amazing!!!!!!! !!!!
he use Hacker C-50 14XL.CC 80HV,Savox servo !!

RE: Nuance
 

Here's some quick updates. The build is going well. In general, everything fits and lines up straight.

I decided to make the rear motor mount support from FR4 rather than CF laminated ply.

I used the stock rudder horn included in the kit and used the slot jig that was supplied. I had to widen the slot because I chose not to use the supplied linkages which have a Z bend. I used a DuBro JR extended length arm to get the specified 20mm servo horn length to go with the 25mm rudder horn length per the kit spec. There's not a lot of throw when its done, so I am curious how it will work out. If it needs to change then I'll have to move the clevis attachment on the rudder horn.

I put the servos in the stabs. Pretty straightforward except that the mount was sized for a JR servo and I chose to use the BLS153 in the stabs so I had to widen it slightly, no big deal. I cut the hole without the use of the jig. Once again, I decided to use my own linkages and opted to use the MK style control horns. The horn location is solid balsa in the mount area so you can just drill through and screw it in.

RE: Nuance
 

The stabs mount with the two supplied carbon rods. They fit very snug and seem to be very straight. They attach to the fuse with two screws. I think I'll use hex head servo screws, but I might change to 2-56 screws with lock nuts. There is very little slop or play so I think the servo screws will be OK.

The only thing that didn't line up well was the landing gear mount. The Right side took just a minor bit of fitting. The gear have pre-drilled holes that line up with the pre-drilled holes on the gear mount plate. They are secured with two screws and a pre-fabbed blind nut plate. The left side was way off and I had to enlarge the holes in the mounting plate so the screws could engage the holes in the gear. I chose to enlarge the plate holes because the gear had brass inserts in the pre-drilled holes. It fit OK when I was done and the extra hole size didn't require any additional rework.

RE: Nuance
 

The wings fit very nicely and the pre-drilled locations for the anti rotation pins are accurate. There was very little (less than 0.1 degree) variation in incidence from left wing to right wing. I mounted the rear anti rotation tube and used the ply rings that are pre-cut (as part of the battery tray cut-outs). I used the rings for support of the front anti rotation pins. The front pins are mounted in the wing and the rear pin stays in the fuse.

I decided to start out with the stock wing mount method which uses a 4mm bolt and blind nut. I'm not a fan of using a bolt and blind nut for wing attachment. If you accidentally cross thread it you are pretty well screwed. I may change to a 1/4-20 nylon bolt, but I got lazy and decided to start off with the stock setup.

Next up is to install the hinges and servos in the wings. Then, its just a matter of final fitting the wires and electronics and its ready to fly. If the wind stays calm today then I'm heading to the field so I won't get it done. If it blows like it has for the past week then I might just finish it today.

RE: Nuance
 

Hi Steve, I've just got a couple of questions to ask about your Nuance. With the rudder servo arm/linkage modification you installed, how much rudder throw (degrees) did you end up with and where can I purchase the FR4 material you used to fabricate the rear motor mount support? It appears to be a really nice plane at a great price. Thanks, Everette

RE: Nuance
 

Hi Everette,

I'll measure the travel on the rudder. It might be a bit before I do it since I moved the fuse aside and am working on the wings now.

As for the FR4, I can't remember if I got it from CST sales or ACP. But I'm pretty sure it was the 0.060" Fiberglass plate from CST http://www.cstsales.com/fiberglass_plates.html. I probably got my latest plate from them at the AMA show. CST usually has a booth there.

There are other ways to get the material as well. Old Printed Circuit boards can be used since its the same thing but they have added copper plating.

RE: Nuance
 

Thanks Steve, I've been looking for a source. There are many of us out here waiting for your initial flight results and opinion. I can hardly wait! Wish you future success and a Happy Holiday___Everette

RE: Nuance
 

With things set at 100% I get about +/- 20 deg travel. I can easily get it to +/- 30 by cranking up the rate. That should be fine.

I am going to try and get it done this weekend. I should be able to make it. Monday's weather looks good so I'll be shooting for that. All flying surfaces are hinged and all servos are fitted. I just have to final glue the pushrod ends tonight and then run some extensions. Then I'll balance it and find the spot for my rx gear and battery tray. Nothing much to take pics of at this point. I'll shoot some when I get the rx gear and battery tray installed.

As far as hinges go, I used aftermarket hinges (I like the Great Planes CA hinges). Things lined up very nicely and hinging was very simple. The ailerons were already hinged and they had 4 hinges installed but I was happy to see that they had actually cut 5 hinge slots so I used 5 hinges on each aileron.

I used MK style contol horns on the stabs and ailerons. I found the balsa wood in the control horn area on the Stabs to be hard and dense. The balsa on the aileron area was a bit softer and as I tightened the control horn screw I could tell it would crush. So I soaked it with CA and also inserted a dowel to help in preventing the crushing. The soft wood would be fine for the stock horns and I would probably install those if I were doing it all over again.

RE: Nuance
 

I cut out the air inlet and exhaust holes. This is certainly a step which I wish the factory had performed. Its a pain, but with the provided templates it isnt all that hard. I traced the template outlines and used a small dremel cutoff wheel to cut to shape. The chin cowl cutout was a bit more challenging, but the templates help.

I just mounted the battery tray and receiver,batt, regulator tray. I positioned the tray so I can get a CG range of 260-275mm easily. That covers the range of factory spec 260mm to Andrew's 275mm location. The tray is basically centered over the landing gear mount.

I am shooting for maiden tomorrow, hope I make it. All those small little final tasks seem to take forever.....

RE: Nuance
 

I received my Nuance model Xmas day and the all up weight (as in the post from Shannah) is 2260 grms Very consistent with the weights Shannah posted.The only minor problem I have spotted so far is the Tabs for the canopy hatch are small and fiddly when putting it on the fuse. One of the tabs is already broken. I will put very light formers in here to make it more rigid and so easier to mount.The pictures on the net don't do the model justice, it looks much better in reality. I will start work on the assembly later in the week.

RE: Nuance
 

Flew it three times today, before I ran out of daylight.

I was very happy with the way it flew. In fact, I was pretty impressed. I set the CG between Andrew's and the factory spec at about 270mm. I had a very nice straight upline and just a hint of pull to the canopy on downline. I added 2.0 elevator to low throttle and that cured it. I had no rudder to elevator mixing. I flew it knife edge for a while one each side and I couldn't see a noticeable pull. Granted, I only have a couple flights so we'll see how things end up.

It rolls very, very nicely. It presents well. And it has a nice pace.

I do need to increase rudder throw a bit. It does nice stall turns but I would like just a bit more. I will also work on the snaps. It snaps very well but I would like to speed them up a bit. I guess I am used to the explosive fast snaps of my Visa. However, the Nuance does a very pretty snap as it is and it is very accurate. The 45 upline 1-1/2 negative snap is much better than my stock Visa and as good as my Contra Visa.

So, as far as maiden flights go, this was great.

My final weight is 4720 with my ThunderPower G6 4400. My SkyLipo's are 100 grams heavier so even with the cheapo packs it still makes weight easily.

Neu F3A-1 motor
Budd Soft Mount
APC 20.5x14 prop
Airborne Models CF spinner (heavy...)
Jeti Advance Opto 90 ESC (I had the Castle in it but it went up in smoke this morning....)
PowerBox Digi Switch regulator
Futaba BLS153 elevators
JR 8411 Ailerons
JR 8411 Rudder
Stock Wheels and Axles
MK linkages and control horns (a bit heavy)

I could easily chop more weight off, probably at least 50 grams. But, there is no need to break a sweat on this, it is very light.

Here's pics from a lovely day at the field. Sorry, but it was dead calm, 75 degrees and bright blue skies.....

RE: Nuance
 

here's another pic

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sorry, but it won't let me upload more than one pic at a time.

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one more. By the way, the colors show up really well in the air. It is very visible. I love the bottom scheme as well. I agree with the previous post in that it looks much better in person than in the pics.

RE: Nuance
 

Great to hear as I have one coming. What does it look like for installing the Contra?

RE: Nuance
 

Hi Tony,

The only issue is that the spinner size is pretty far off from the required 82mm. Its a 70mm spinner. If you cut back the nose then you'd have about 1/4-1/2" clearance to the top of the chin cowl. I think it will fit but you would have to trim it back a ways. Here's a picture with my 70mm spinner.

The fuse is thin and the rudder TE is very wide so it would probably be a pretty good platform for the Contra.

RE: Nuance
 

On the topic of Contra's for this plane, it would be neat if they made a lower profile canopy as an option. That would be better for the Contra drive. The Prolog canopy is interchangeable I believe but it is too far back, and is still pretty tall. I'll ask Alex Shim to pass the word to BJ Park.

RE: Nuance
 

Congratulations Steve! I felt certain the Nuance was a winner from the start. Good Job!___Everette

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aaarrrrrgggg, it was good reading until this line. We will have to wait at least four months till we get that kind of weather again! Congrats on the maiden, it is all looking very good! The designs of BJ Park are excellent, I still have fond memories of my Fliton Infinity..

Volkert

RE: Nuance
 

Is it possible to Contact BJ Craft directly?

If so please send me a pm or post here.

Chuck

RE: Nuance
 

Is this a trick question Chuck? The answer is yes, it is possible. haha...


My (horrible) cold is finally getting better so I got out in the garage last night and mounted the nose ring plywood for the Pletty Advance. Went in good. The F3A Unlimited front mount doesn't fit in this plane which is a bummer. Not sure why they chose such a small spinner/nose.. I also started mounting the aileron servo plates and I had to make some plates for the elevator servo's as my servo's are smaller than the holes (Airtronics 94761)... I'm going to go with the dual ele servo's for now. Going to go out and mount the rear mount for the motor, and try to get the elevator servo's and aileron servo's in tonight.. Hoping to maiden it early next week.

Everyone is right though, this plane is pretty light.. Kinda shocked when I pick it up still.

Tony, I think you will be able to get the Contra in it. You will just have to modify the chin a bit for prop clearance. I was looking at it last night to see if I think it would work and although I haven't seen one, I have read the thread and I think it will.

Chris

RE: Nuance
 

Tony

Do you think the contra would be a good fit for the plane? From what I have been reading on the contra thread. I would think a smaller fuse would be better. It has a big fuse like the dajavu. Someday I would like to try the contra, just right now it would make my plane to long.

RE: Nuance
 

Hi Rick,

I'm not sure it is optimal, but it will be fun making it work. I may be doing a little testing for BJ Craft, so maybe I will have some input on design. It's been fun getting the Onas right for the Contra. It's just too bad for me that happened after the Nats!