Diamond Dust Lives!!!
 

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Hi All,

I was asked to make this post buy a forum member. As most know the Diamond Dust are no longer produced. But in Georgia, they live.

These were the last two kits I was able to purchase form Tetracam Inc. about 2 years ago. My brother Bill wanted Batman, and a Family friend wanted Robin. I was already Captain America, and my other Brother Mike was the Green Lanturn. Batman, Robin, and Captain America are outfitted with the Evolution 40NX. Captain America has a Jett Tuned Muffler. The Green Lanturn is running a TT Pro 36 on a Jett Muffler.

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My Dad (Dan Stevens) passed away in 2007, and he had and old MVVS 40 that had not been run since a rebuild probably 20 plus years ago. As the Story goes, this was Mac Hodges motor that he used on a Dust until he lost the airplane (Lost Radio) and hit a tree (this motor has no throttle, therefore wide *ss open). (After 5 agonizing days of pain, the tree died:eek:). Well I just had to put this motor on another Dust! However Tetracam Inc. stopped selling them. Since we are doing the Super Heros, this Dust could only be "Flash." I started cutting parts by hand from a plans set and before you know Flash lives!

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That's an awesome collection of DD's....!!
What fun it would be to see that whole squadron in the air all at the same time.
The only deltas I've ever seen flown [in 25 years of flying RC] were mine..so I've only been able to see 1 in the air at a time.
[What a bunch of wild and crazy fun in this neck of the woods.:eek:].
Mac Hodges is a familiar name..IIRC he is / was a record holder in C/L speed and also flew C/L combat..?

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Flash Died a horrible Death at a Fly-In @ Gray Ga. Why Not everyone else was tearing up thier stuff too. I thought I had mid-aired someone only to find out after the explosion, Flash was the only Fatality. Flash had a structural Failure. I am currently re-building Flash. Because of the failure, the New Flash is a foam core using a pylon racing airfoil. After testing the new delta with the same motor and prop, against a Dust with the same motor and prop, If things go well, I have a Jett Fire 50 Rear Exhaust NIB waiting for it.

Meantime, at the Hall of Justice, Brother Bill started complaining he couldn't see Batman. I warned him of the colors but he was geared up on the 60's style Batman. Now I have to Give Batman a Face-Lift. I enlisted the help of one of my daughters friends to strip Batman for me while I was working on something else.

In the middle of all of this Robin crashes completely. It just doesn't get any better than this. Like Captain America, I laid on the wire so my friends could get through this. Robin was one of my first Laser cut deltas. Tetracam Inc stopped selling them, Diamond Dust RC is unresponsive, and I was tired of hand cutting these simple parts. I had the parts I needed put into a CAD program (It will Cost me a Delta, Aquaman I think), and took the program to a guy I know with a Laser Cutter. Life is good again.

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Batmans Face Lift. Just a Few Shots. Before and After.

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The New Robin! Keep in mind Robin is a fresh build. The old Robin is Dead. I did save the fins though.

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Would you believe that Bills first time out with Batman's new Face Lift he flies the thing through some trees! OMG, first a build, then a Face-Lift, now a Re-Build? Really!!!!! I had to repair the right tip, completely replace the left tip and partial spar. Bandsaw out the chewed up portion of motor mount (found the motor 30 yards away from the aircraft), and replace with good wood, fiberglass and epoxy.

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Recover. Just waiting on Graphics.

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I did build one for my Graphics guy. He Decided to be the Martian ManHunter. He debude it at the Hilltop Fly-in a few weeks ago and it flew well and Don flew it well. Don Grisson is pretty big into RC Combat (He does Combat write ups for AMA Magazine) and he took to the Delta like a Duck to water. Martian Man Hunter is also powered by and Evolution 40NX. Don also had me build a battery Box with a hatch in his so he could use a LiFe battery. He Wanteed to be able to pull it out for charging. Sorry, but the group picture at the Hilltop Fly-In was the first time I saw it with the graphics. I need to get some better pics of it.

On a Side note, while at the Fly-In, Brother Mike Sold his Green lanturn to Richard "The Lying" Heart. Now Mike wants me to build him an Iron Man!!! Does this ever end? I'd go crazy if it did. I haven't even started on that. I'm in the middle of Magneto!

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So I was typing about Magneto. Super Villian. Can you guess the powerplant? Another friend of mine is into electrics. As soon as I was asked if I could build him an electric Delta, my first question was, "Will you be Magneto?" To me, electrics are the Dark Side. Killer of the Glow engines, and Catalist for RC as a whole. More members than ever, but few who build. If you can buy it, you can fly it. Clean, no fuss no muss. I hate electrics, but I now have a few. I have givin in to the Dark Side.

Magneto is still being built. It is Ready for covering and Graphics. The center section has been narrowed, and the front has been re-engineered completely. Therefore it is a smaller aircraft. I used a mount he requested, and made the housing area large enough for a 4 cell battery. He is going to run a 28 something, 60 amp ESC on 14.8 volts swinging a 10x7 prop. I don't have a clue what this will do.[:-]

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My ideas for Magneto's graphics. I was thinking of using the Helmet below as a key Graphic and using the Deltas fin as eyebrows to the helmet.

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Now Some Holloween Party Pictures, and Yes, I am a the Priest. LOL

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Yes, we do fly them all together and it is a blast. Mac is the Man, and I would love for him to do delta as Superman. I've been trying to get someone to join us as Wonder Woman. I was thinking of a Delta covered in clear, and running a Sport Jett 40. it would be the "Invisible Jett!"
No takers. I was even gonna pay for a plus size Wonder Woman Costume to go with the plane. Kinda Wonder Woman 40 years later kinda thing. Costumes are about 90% off right now. Still, No takers.

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Man, you build almost as fast as CP! Your covering jobs are great too.

I'll be WW LOL.:D

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The electric option looks great with the way you did that fairing.
This "Super Hero" theme could practically go on forever. Batman was always my favorite as a kid growing up in the 1960s...but I bought an issue maybe about 20 years ago and could not figure out what the heck the story was about. The whole issue was so littered with numbered references to things that happened in past issues that all I could do was flip through the pages and admire the art work.

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Magneto is coming along. I did get it covered today, but I don't want to post pictures until I get the graphics on it. I hope you understand, but rest easy knowing they will be coming soon.

In the mean time, my Brother Mike and I were toying around with some ideas & concepts since we needed another Delta for him (Iron Man). We decided to call this series of Deltas the Hell Raiser. We did complete the basic Fram-Up today.

This Delta spans 32 1/2 inches. 2 full inches shorter in span than a Regular Dust reducing the wing area by at least 48 square inches because we took the 2 inches from Center rather than tips. I predict a fun time installing servos outside of the main ribs and a whole bunch of other problems along the way.

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DOUBLE D's

JETT FIRE .50 and 70% Dust K&B.21 FIRE

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I love your Dusts and color colors. How does the 70% do? BTW I just got these photos from our Fly-In....I see your two DD and raise you two DD. Also, a Classic pic of my Brother (Mike) landing at his feet...LOL

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have not flown it,
1st it had a venturi no throttle, It took a long time to find and buy the right carburator.
2nd now have carple tunnel problems, left hand still need surgery.

and next spring if I feel the need to go ABSOLUTE BONKERS with the Dust....

the JETT FIRE .50 will be replace with my JETT FIRE .60LX that was on my Phenom

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C4f, Diggin the old Revver sticker:D

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I've got Magneto Covered and Vinyl applied. Still have to hinge ailerons. I had another idea for the fins, so they are not done yet iether. Wont be long now. For power, I'm gonna try a Monster Jett 2200kv motor with a 70 amp ESC on 4S Battery with a 7x5 prop and see what happens.

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Also got some pics of the Martian Manhunter. It came by to see me today for a tear repair on the bottom.

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With the Diamond Dust no longer being produced, where can anyone get plans? Or did I read through this thread too fast? I already have a BTE Delta Vortex (Love it!!) but was curious about how something smaller would fly.

What kinds of speed are you guys getting with a sport .46 or .55AX engine?? Or is that too much power?

Thanks,

Bob

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You are correct Bob, The Diamond Dust is no longer sold. I have a set of plans that I have digitized and have been working off of for years. As far as power I prefer a light set-up. The bigger and heavier motors get you more top-end, but they are not as maneuverable, crisp or fun (IMHO). Large motors increase the wing loading.

Like I said, I prefer a light set-up. Someone who is new to deltas, I recommend an O.S. 25FX or TT Pro36. As they progress, I encourage them to pipe the motor they have. Personally I like the New Evolution 40NX with a Jett Pipe. Believe it or not the Evolution is less expensive than iether of the other motors I mentioned and stronger rated at 18000RPM. The best part is they have the same footprint and bolt into the same holes as one another. I'm guessing I'm getting 130-140 out of the Evolution. My Brother Mike has had great success with a Pro-36 with a Jett Pipe swinging an 8x7 APC prop.

If you need some help with a Dust feel free to email me: [email protected]

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For cheap power, shop ebay for guys who are getting out of ducted fan planes, pylon racers with engines that have little or no time on them, even Control Line Speed and Control Line Combat flyers. These engines only need a fuel shutoff to make them safe.

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I thought I would post an update. I didn't like the way Magneto's top vinyl looked so I tool it off and got new for it. I will post pics of it soon, but she's not ready yet. Magneto is still coming alone nicely.

I've been doing some work on the Hell Raiser. This is the one we took 2 inches out of the middle and decrease the total wing area by 48 square inches. Because of this we are not only having to install the radio gear diffently, but also having to do install all of the gear prior to covering and seal it all up inside. What joy.

As you can see from the pics we are going with a single fin with rudder on this one. The rudder will swing behind the elevons. More to come soon.

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Had two DDs with a K&B 28. Plenty fast for me (senior senior citizen). Easy to build, easy to fly. One thing I noticed was they both more or less exploded in the air. I think the covering got a small rip, allowed the high pressure air in, and The End. Should have checked them carefully after each flight. Nice airplane though.

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Wow, your are right, those K & B 28s are great motors for the DD. Very light weight and strong! You are also right about the DD exploding occasionally in air. It happen to me once as well. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it the pilots fault, not the planes.

The DD was designed to be a simple, easy to build, combat plane in the 80s. As a side note to the point: In the 80s, if you flew, you built what you flew, and the DD was about as easy as it got. As a builder, you had to be carefull not to build in a wing twist, and if you did, you had to have the covering skills to untwist what you built. By the same token, if you built it straight, you had to be carefull when you covered, not to twist the airframe. In the 80s covering was Monokote or Monokote. Monokote is not the easiest covering to work. It wasn't very strong iether. But they got some great colors don't they?:D

Ultracote is a much better covering to work with, stronger and more durable IMHO than Monokote. The DD airframe is light and strong. The covering is a key element of the airframes strength. The covering is also "The" flying surface. Because the covering is so important, it is the responsibility of the pilot to take care of it and maintain it properly.

I am sorry you had a bad experiance with them. If you are interested, maybe I can help you with a third that won't explode (providing you do your part and not land on asphault or gravel:D)

I am working on a more build freindly version that will help the builder assemble the aircraft easily and square.

Send me a PM if your interested in another.

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DO NOT USE MONOKOTE !!!!

The DD assembly instructions call for Ultracote.

The reason is that it is stronger (thicker) than monokote.

Over those large open bays moneycote tends to tear.

And it is best to seal all the edges, I used monokote's TRIM SOLVENT.

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I don't remember what I used to cover my first Diamond Dust....but it sounded like a snare drum at certain speeds. Never have duplicated that sound, it was like the covering was echoing the vibrations off the pipe.

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If anyone is interested in one of these Deltas, I got plenty of laser cut parts and can put some short kits together. Send me a PM.

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I have been trying to locate a good source for the carbon fiber, and epoxy glass tubes used in building the Diamond Dust.
I would appreciate a lead to a supplier of the tubes needed for DD construction. Maybe different tube sizes must be substituted.

.300 OD X .250 ID Epoxy Glass Tubing
.350 OD X .250 ID Carbon Fiber
.350 OD X .300 ID Carbon Fiber

I have found suppliers that had one size but not the others.

Greg

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MJD was kitting his Screamin' Demons with arrow shafts.
I used to buy my tubes from a kite supply shop.
Aerospace Composites might be worth a look.
Midwest Balsa and Lonestar Balsa carried tubes IIRC.

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I use these guys. http://www.goodwinds.com/index.shtml I like using the FL 370 which they are out of at the moment:D and the E-40 for the L.E. and main Spar tips. The FL 370 comes 54 inches and they cut it for me 18 inches each. I get 1 1/2 birds per rod. and two E-40s per bird. you gotta sand the E-40 a little bit to get it into the FL 370.

You probable are not gonna find an exact match to what the plans call for.

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Screw,

I have all my tubes ordered, and got the unpleasant task of cutting a set of ribs out of the way.

Thanks again for your help,
Greg

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Update! Magneto is ready to fly. This DD was a challenge for me because this was my first Electric Scratch build, and my first attempt to Electrify a DD. Magneto is following the Superhero/Villian Theme and is Electric....Of Course. It has a MonsterJet Motor, 70amp ESC, 14.8 volt Battery, and a 7x5 prop. It weighs in at 1.9lbs (no Battery) and 2.5 lbs flying (with Battery). We will test fly tommorow.:D

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More Photos... Btw, Up next.... Finish Iron Man, and start Aquaman!?! I know right! This is getting good, still looking for Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Green Arrow ect.

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Very nice!
The pinstripe effect really brings the design to life.

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Well I've got two DD kits cut up and ready to go. Right now I'm just waiting for my rod order to come in.
The OS 32SX in the kit picture hasn't been run since OS did a piston, sleeve, and front and rear bearing overhaul. It has never seen fuel. It is so tight of a pinch at TDC, you would need a prop to turn it over without a glow plug.
The older 32SX on the test stand has many gallons of fuel through it. I ran it with an APC 8X8, on the Ultrathrust muffler, and tacked out at 17500. Sweet engines.

Greg

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Update!!! Magneto has test flown. Success!!! After a quick trim flight (Cause I build Straight), we put Magneto up against our glow powered Dust and to my Surprise, Magneto was faster than us...But not by much. I'm very pleased with the combo, and I'm guessing 140mph on the pucker factor.

Here is a link to a flight video of it solo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E-NVjjkHfw&feature=plcp

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