FlyerBry

My Feedback: (8)

Thanks for the input! I'll probably go ahead and try them out. I suppose with tape hinge systems you always have that tendancy for the control surface to want to self-center the control surface while at extreme deflection. I ordered an extra set of hardware with mine. Sounds like I may need it!

Bmr4life

My Feedback: (45)

I had the same problem with just one side not centering correctly. Try to disconnect the top ailerons from the bottom ones and see how the servo acts with just the bottom.

GM1

The vast majority of the problems ocurred when the control horn was not drilled. The flashing on the clevis makes it very tight and sticky. I overdrilled mine one size and everything now just falls. The minute amount of slop introduced into the system has noi efect at all on flying characteristics. Hey, it's a freakin' foamie, not rocket science, so don't sweat the slop.
Gordie

stuk_at_work

My Feedback: (111)

GM1,

You must have been reading my mind (or some of the earlier posts ). I'll have some time tonight to remove the ailerons and drill out the hinge "clips". I'll report back to this thread and let you all know how it worked out. Assuming it does (why should in not?), I'll update some of my earlier posts to reflect this modification to keep the thread in the "build along" spirit.

Bmr4life

My Feedback: (45)

I didn't have to drill out my hinge clips, just the aileron link horn. If you drill out the hinge clips, the ailerons may not stay on the wing. I'm thinknig of using hine tape just because the clips are so fragile anyway.

stuk_at_work

My Feedback: (111)

We'll see. I will start out with a bit the same diameter as the hole. That will tell me if I have (had) a flashing issue I overlooked when I initially installed the ailerons. Judging by how tough it was to pop just one hinge clip off and how much pressure it took to press them on, I'm not too worried about the ailerons popping off on their own, even if I do end up enlarging the holes slightly.

GM1

Yes, me too. I drill the control horns, not the hinges. I would suggest you slid a rod into the hinge and then pull it straight out to prestress the hinge but other than that, I have never done anything special.
Gordie

Bmr4life

My Feedback: (45)

I do think i drill my control horns to big though, but I'm gonig to try and make my own linkage out of some .047" music wire. Just slip it through the control horn and bend a small U at each end. The amount of slop I get should be negligible.

stuk_at_work

My Feedback: (111)

I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time looking at my aileron centering problem, as my priority tonight is to get my "wish list" together for my trip to the WRAM show tomorrow. However, this is what my preliminary investigation uncovered:

After removing the linkages between the top & bottom ailerons and disconnecting the control horns from the servo arms, I was able to look at each aileron separately. What I found was that while there was a bit of flashing and a case or two of glue overflow to remove, the majority of the friction seems to be caused by the leading edge of the aileron (foam) rubbing against the carbon fiber tube on the trailing edge of the wing (the one the hinges attach to). I took a small drill bit and ran it down carefully against the edge of the aileron between the hinges to form a bit of channel. Once the aileron was put back on the wing, it moved freely!

In retrospect, maybe a slight gap should have been left when installing the aileron hinges to avoid this situation. I never noticed the problem on the previous flatout I built, but that plane (Flantana) has two, not four ailerons, so the friction was not that apparent. I'll probably go back and redo the ailerons on that plane too!

gpw

It surely is a nice LOOKING biplane .... too bad they made it like all the other Flatouts .... brittle foam , and that somewhat less than innovative hardware doomed to early failure...could have been a really great plane , but they are so pleased with the graphics and themselves , the quality of materials is ignored.......and I built 4 Flatouts allready ..... all went to an early grave.....not from bad flying either.... Better to trace the outline on some Blucor or something more durable ...

Stuk , you must work for them , eh ?

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

GPW,

The flatout can easily be assembled like any other foamy you like with Blenderm tape hinges and Dubro control horns & micro hardware.

Since it's $40 it's not too much more to add to customize your plane with your hardware preferences...

The extra cf tubes left over make AWESOME pushrods... very lightweight and stiff.

The foam is more rigid and therefore less resistance to snapping, but then again the less flex results in less twisting and more authoritative surfaces.

I like the Flatout design... and it seems there is only two camps on that... really like or really not like.

My turmoil is the best foamy I've flown to date, and now that I'm feeling a little better (been sick the last few days) I plan on getting my RCU Bipe built this weekend.

gpw

Maud ... try some of the Blu-cor flatties at www.FoamFly.com/gallery/Glen most can be built for 2 bucks , last forever , tape hinges , and bamboo skewer spars... it's the FUN per Buck Ratio....

stuk_at_work

My Feedback: (111)

I just got back from the WRAM show. I spent about a 1/2 hour talking to Don Anderson. He's really a very nice guy! He acknowledged that the flashing was an issue with the flatouts, and that they are looking into it. Assume for now though, that all moving parts should be checked carefully for flashing (my words here).

They did have the RCU Bipe on display, and one thing I immediately noticed was that they had about 1/16" inch of space behind the hinges, i.e., the hinges stick out more! This sort of supports my foam rubbing on the carbon fiber theory. Since I still haven't "fixed" two of the ailerons on my plane yet, I think will try to extract the hinges from them and offset them the same 1/16" and see which fix works better. That will be tomorrow though.

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

Well I've made a lot of progress now that I'm feeling a bit better...

I did review of the Turmoil Flatout a while back and really liked it so when the RCU bipe came out... well I had to give it a try!

The elevator and fuse is built first...

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

Next we put the wings together... some people don't like the hinging system...a nd you do have to read the instructions because it's different... but once you get the tirck to it, they are real nice... you can always mod and use tape hinges...

heck out the cool logo in the center of the wing...

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

The the wings and fuse are mated... Since I am going to go without gear (fly alot off grass) I'll have to come up with some bracing modes...

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

For the bracing I used some extra CF I had handy and a little bit of 1/4" tristock... I simply put one rod each side going from the bottom of the fuse up to the strut on the top wing.

I just drilled the tristock and glued the rod in place with the tristock. Nice and sturdy...

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

I went with the entire Electrifly package... I think the RimFire is a good value and powerful for this size aircraft. Instead of the BL-8 which I used before without trouble, I ended up trying the SS-08... some have reported issues wiht a batch of BL-8's and there's no reason not to try the SS... this is the 2nd SS ESC I have and I like them alot... Basic, but very functional and priced right.

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

unles syou swap out the control horns with DuBro or other design, you are stucj using their clevies... They are nice, and designed to be adjustable... but what I found later is that they are either too tight and therefore nearly impossible to adjust on the plane... or too loose and slip after a few bumps...

My answer? USe the control horn end, but change to ez links on the servo arms... still adjustable, and no hassles.

On the ailerons, I glued two 1/32" aircraft ply rails underneath teh servo bay and screwed my Futaba 3110 servos in place... I just hotmelt glued the tail servos in.

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

The receiver is the Electrifly 4 channel single conversion... nice priced and small... I'm not worried about range at all because this thing is gonna be within arms length most of the time... (I hope)

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

All I have left to do is attach the pushrods and set my throws... I'll be using the ElectrFly 11.1 volt 640 mah pack good for 15c and an APC 10x3.8 slowflyer prop. This gave good performance on my Turmoil.

A quick weigh in puts me right at at 11 oz even all up... Sounds pretty good for this big bipe...

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

BTW anyone whose getting ready to build this plane should be aware of a tech notice on the manual... the clips are aweful hard to clip on and off the hinges, so they are recommingding trimming them some...

See here the addendum:

http://www.electrifly.com/manuals/gpma1117-addendum.pdf

Here is a revised manual with all changes:

http://www.electrifly.com/manuals/gp...anual-v1_1.pdf

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

Well it's completed and maidened! 10.9 oz all up with a 10x4.7 GWS slowflyer prop and ElectriFLy 640mah 11.1 volt pack...

What a ball! I really do like these Rimfire's they are really powerful for the size. Hovers about 1/3 or less throttle and skyrockets at full.

Had a little wind... 4-5 mph... flew pretty well in it...

Hovers and harriers are rock solid... Rudder is very authoritative and pinwheels can be done.

A little roll coupling, but that's ot be expected, but not near as much as other bipes I've flown... very mild.

I look forward to getting more time on it... but it's a keeper for sure. That is til I beat it all to pieces... which I eventually will trying to learn the torque rolls down low...

Chasing Fear

My Feedback: (1)

Hi all,

Also building the bipe and have run into some confusion over the bottom ailerons and hinging/control horns.

My understanding -- the slot closest to the wing on the leading edge of the aileron should be the "standalone" control horn. The next slot over is sized for a hinge, but if you put a hinge in it will hit the the brace support.

So currently, I have the 4 outer hinges in place and the standalone control horm in the inner most slot. The inboard edge of the aileron just doesn't seem to be supported right. What am I missing here?

Thanks,
Allan

Pistolera

J. David Johnson..I noticed you put the aileron servo with the arm and links ontop of the bottom wing. Any reason why? It does kinda clean up the belly, but would make it difficult to remove the arm from the servo if needed.

Great pics BTW

Earle