Holy Smoke revived
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Holy Smoke revived
Well I had this delta a few years now, I snagged it at a swap meet for $25 back then. Finally got around to getting it ready to fly. I don't know if it's my kind of delta yet so I wasn't going to put too much time into it just yet. Taking off and lading on wheels is kinda novel for my delta flying. I opted to use a new in the box YS-45 RE, it seemed a natural because of the low fuel tank relative to the carb. I was originally going to use a YS 60(short stroke) but the dang thing is heavy and that means that I'd need to cut a hatch at the rear top for batteries to counter balance. The mounting beams would need some major mods too, I cut out as much as I dare just to get the 45 to fit. After all the 45 is plenty, it's not a super fast delta design to begin with. I used the cable aileron/nose gear servo (JR8611) and and separate elevator servo as originally designed, I may go elverons with servo hatches later so tell me what you guys think. Other things I may change, a strait or lower rise header and the color, YUCK. I added the stripe to differentiate the top from the bottom.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
Back in the late 1980s I took a delta like that to the field and all the local know-it-alls swarmed around it like flies on you know what. Most of the comments were negative, foreboding, ominous...one guy said, "There's probably only a handful of guys in the USA capable of flying this plane"......
Of course it flew like a dream, half those guys were gone by the time it landed and I had a chance to turn around and walk it back to the pits....
FF, looks like a steal for $25. See if it's more aerobatic with the seperate elevator....see if you can spin it. Of course, try this at the end of Summer after you've had your fill of it....
Of course it flew like a dream, half those guys were gone by the time it landed and I had a chance to turn around and walk it back to the pits....
FF, looks like a steal for $25. See if it's more aerobatic with the seperate elevator....see if you can spin it. Of course, try this at the end of Summer after you've had your fill of it....
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
I should scan mine in just to give a few laughs over the color scheme; I built him in 1987. Ran him with a piped Como 51 with a perry backplate pump. I still can't get over how fast he was with that fat airfoil, even got into a high speed stall from a dive(that was fun). Somebody here at RCU set one up with elevons and that seems like a good idea. Interesting ship.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
ORIGINAL: combatpigg
See if it's more aerobatic with the seperate elevator....see if you can spin it. Of course, try this at the end of Summer after you've had your fill of it....
See if it's more aerobatic with the seperate elevator....see if you can spin it. Of course, try this at the end of Summer after you've had your fill of it....
I wanted to fly it today, but the wind for the last few days has been 20mph with gusts to 30, just real turbulent. Even the vultures being knocked round up there.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
I miss my HS. Lost it to a bad elevator servo. HB 40 PDP in the nose and it flew nicely, fast enough to make the guys at the field take notice (not as fast as the DD but still made them take notice) and landed like a trainer.
You'll enjoy the plane. A company called Four Pi is selling them these days if you want to find another one.
You'll enjoy the plane. A company called Four Pi is selling them these days if you want to find another one.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
ORIGINAL: petec
I miss my HS. Lost it to a bad elevator servo. HB 40 PDP in the nose and it flew nicely, fast enough to make the guys at the field take notice (not as fast as the DD but still made them take notice) and landed like a trainer.
You'll enjoy the plane. A company called Four Pi is selling them these days if you want to find another one.
I miss my HS. Lost it to a bad elevator servo. HB 40 PDP in the nose and it flew nicely, fast enough to make the guys at the field take notice (not as fast as the DD but still made them take notice) and landed like a trainer.
You'll enjoy the plane. A company called Four Pi is selling them these days if you want to find another one.
I may get another one to build from scratch, it may be a lot easier to make some cool mods like retracts, cable ways, wing servos and rear hatch.
Why on earth did the guy name his company "Four PI" the name of satanic cult.
Another reason I want to get this old dog in the air again is to see if it's docile enough to get my son hooked on deltas, he flies very good, but a few years back he tried a ARF Outlaw and that lasted about 5 seconds when he didn't get off the throttle and got disoriented(the red, white and blue looks the same top & bottom). So his ego got popped.
The wind is totally gone, it's a go for today.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
Well it flew, It's quick, but not fast. Roll rate is so, so. Hard up elevator is fair. I almost killed it at first takeoff..... don't use full power or it'll toque roll...yahoo! I managed to get it into a flat spin but it took some work to do it, much harder to do than an Outlaw. Too stable, nose heavy, and of course no movable rudder to readily spin. All and all it's a fun plane, yet here's room for improvement. The the engine was flawless and never sucked air regardless of what I did to it thanks to the pressurized fuel system, OS bubbless clunk and foam rubber around the tank. The engine liked the my first choice of a 10-7 Master Airscrew S-2 series rather than an APC 10X7 or 9X9. I may try a APC 10X6 next time.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
I remember having lots of trouble with the cable runs to the ailerons, binding and such. I ended up cutting them out and going with bellcranks. Would think the elevon with dedicated servos would be the way to go since, if I remember, I put tail weight in mine. Was really cool to bring him in nose high for landing with that delta flair.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
ORIGINAL: freakingfast
Well it flew, It's quick, but not fast. Roll rate is so, so. Hard up elevator is fair. I almost killed it at first takeoff..... don't use full power or it'll toque roll...yahoo! I managed to get it into a flat spin but it took some work to do it, much harder to do than an Outlaw. Too stable, nose heavy, and of course no movable rudder to readily spin. All and all it's a fun plane, yet here's room for improvement. The the engine was flawless and never sucked air regardless of what I did to it thanks to the pressurized fuel system, OS bubbless clunk and foam rubber around the tank. The engine liked the my first choice of a 10-7 Master Airscrew S-2 series rather than an APC 10X7 or 9X9. I may try a APC 10X6 next time.
Well it flew, It's quick, but not fast. Roll rate is so, so. Hard up elevator is fair. I almost killed it at first takeoff..... don't use full power or it'll toque roll...yahoo! I managed to get it into a flat spin but it took some work to do it, much harder to do than an Outlaw. Too stable, nose heavy, and of course no movable rudder to readily spin. All and all it's a fun plane, yet here's room for improvement. The the engine was flawless and never sucked air regardless of what I did to it thanks to the pressurized fuel system, OS bubbless clunk and foam rubber around the tank. The engine liked the my first choice of a 10-7 Master Airscrew S-2 series rather than an APC 10X7 or 9X9. I may try a APC 10X6 next time.
Right On!
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
ORIGINAL: petec
Do you think your son will fly it? It really is a docile delta.
Do you think your son will fly it? It really is a docile delta.
Roary. I think I will be going with separate servos and move the CG further aft, right now it's about 1/2" forward of recommendation. The plane did not seem to like the high alpha approach but rather fly it down so CG shift may make that happen.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
Man, that's a great flight report..!
I'm jealous, we just had one of the first nice days around here all year and I'm sanding drywall mud.
I remember those Holy Smoke!! advertisements when I first got into the hobby and all the warnings and negative vibes from the old fogies that hung out at the field when the subject of deltas came up. Hearing about guys running them with Comos and Royals brings back memories too.
The only delta I could get to spin would only come out of the spin if it wasn't spinning too fast. If the SPMs were too high, it was just gonna have to be landed like a Frisbee.
I'm jealous, we just had one of the first nice days around here all year and I'm sanding drywall mud.
I remember those Holy Smoke!! advertisements when I first got into the hobby and all the warnings and negative vibes from the old fogies that hung out at the field when the subject of deltas came up. Hearing about guys running them with Comos and Royals brings back memories too.
The only delta I could get to spin would only come out of the spin if it wasn't spinning too fast. If the SPMs were too high, it was just gonna have to be landed like a Frisbee.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
I would like to suggest two things; first, if the engine will handle it, a 10/8 prop. Secondly, if you haven't already done so is to bend the outrigger gears so that the ship is facing slightly nose up. Will make it easier on ground handling and take off.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
ORIGINAL: Roary m
I would like to suggest two things; first, if the engine will handle it, a 10/8 prop. Secondly, if you haven't already done so is to bend the outrigger gears so that the ship is facing slightly nose up. Will make it easier on ground handling and take off.
I would like to suggest two things; first, if the engine will handle it, a 10/8 prop. Secondly, if you haven't already done so is to bend the outrigger gears so that the ship is facing slightly nose up. Will make it easier on ground handling and take off.
I never tached the MAS 10X7 S-2, it just sounded so good, yet when I put the APC 9X9 on I had to lean it out a tad and it did rev out about 1K more. I did tach the 9X9 at 16,000 rich, that's about 500 low from a good engine with the right header length on 15%.
I think that a 10X8 will load the engine too far off this engines power band, even with a longer header. Next time out I will tach the 10X7 and try an APC 10X6, 9X8 and some pre-cut headers, that is, if I don't have too many chit-chat lookie loo's, I don't multitask well. I have a feeling I'll end up with the first prop and header length, one has to at least try tho.
It presently has a nose up stance, and I was actually going to take some of it out to get it to stick to the ground better. Unless you grease the landing, it has that aggravating, oscillating bounce like a high wing trainer with main gears that have squatted. I have a shorter nose gear on hand, but before I do that, I'm going the move the CG further aft, perhaps a bit of both will git-er dun.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
ORIGINAL: combatpigg
I'm jealous, we just had one of the first nice days around here all year and I'm sanding drywall mud.
I'm jealous, we just had one of the first nice days around here all year and I'm sanding drywall mud.
The funny thing is, of the ten days, I only got one to do what I wanted to do. Things came up or the weather didn't cooperate.
Picture: Rancho Seco during decommissioning, severing primary coolant loop, at top of #1 steam generator. Explains my glowing personality
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
The engineering that goes into that big stuff is amazing. Consider all the things that the engineers need to consider.
I'd think they would have a surplus of personel [with ample time allocated for vacations], basically if they ever needed to man up for an emergency.
I'd think they would have a surplus of personel [with ample time allocated for vacations], basically if they ever needed to man up for an emergency.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
Well, I'm a machinist, not an engineer. Some years ago the only job they had was field machinist. Large, build it in place, portable machining equipment for parts that are just too hard or impossible to move. Now I'm in house making the machines, Just-In-Time needed it yesterday.
That was a perfectly good nuke plant I cut up about 5 years ago, that thing was built like a brick out house. PWR type not a BWR
That was a perfectly good nuke plant I cut up about 5 years ago, that thing was built like a brick out house. PWR type not a BWR
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
I flew the heck out of it today. Almost killed it when it took a while to pop out of a flat spin[sm=surprised.gif] It can flat spin at any point in flight, but the fastest are started from a dive while the right stick is banged into the left bottom corner....just plan on it may take three long seconds to stop after you let go or reverse the sticks. The left aileron hinge started to rip so that ended the day. The push-pull cable is too sloppy, it's got to go. The looseness may have caused the hinge failure from flutter. I'm going to get rid of the aileron/elevator and go with a elveron setup on close separate servos . I wonder if it will still do a flat spin after that? I give it a 70% chance. At least the roll rate will be better for sure. Shorter nose gear helped the landing, no more bouncy, bouncy. The 10X7 S-2 Master airscrew is closer to the ground now, but as nice as it lands, I don't see it a problem. Gezzz is that YS 45 getting strong!
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
Way to go, they are a blast. I was wondering if anyone here had flown both the Smoke and the Mach Delta Racer(HobbyPeople)? I got the Racer but haven't pulled him out yet.
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Sounds like you could charge admission..! Nice catch on the hinge failure. It will be interesting to see if it still spins after you re-rig it.
I've had a thick airfoil delta that was a good spinner. I think the key is having the CG as far back as you can stand it. This plane was a coin toss as far as recovery goes. If the spin rate was too fast, it was like a runaway flywheel that I doubt a rudder could have stopped.
I've had a thick airfoil delta that was a good spinner. I think the key is having the CG as far back as you can stand it. This plane was a coin toss as far as recovery goes. If the spin rate was too fast, it was like a runaway flywheel that I doubt a rudder could have stopped.
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RE: Holy Smoke revived
ORIGINAL: Roary m
Way to go, they are a blast. I was wondering if anyone here had flown both the Smoke and the Mach Delta Racer(HobbyPeople)? I got the Racer but haven't pulled him out yet.
Way to go, they are a blast. I was wondering if anyone here had flown both the Smoke and the Mach Delta Racer(HobbyPeople)? I got the Racer but haven't pulled him out yet.
Would love to have another if you are thinking of selling.