vmsguy

Date: June 23, 2008

Not too much work tonight. I managed to drill the mounting holes for the main power switches. First I clamped piece of scrap stock under the fuselage, and drilled an extra hole for a bolt to to hold it in place. (Pictures 1 and 2) I bolted it into place to protect the balsa from blowing out when I drilled through. Next I drilled a small pilot holes, followed by a the apropriate sized larger holes. (Pictures 3 thru 6) Then I removed the scrap and revealed nice clean holes on the bottom. (Picture 7)

Next it was time to test-fit the switches. If you look in the pictures, you'll see there are barely enough threads for the nut to connect. (Pictures 8 and 9) I will need to shave down the surface a little more so I have room for a washer. On future versions I'll put the plywood on as part of the bottom piece, thus making it thinner. Oh well, live and learn...

Picture 1: Screw placed through mounting area. Holding scrap stock in place.
Picture 2: Scrap stock in place, from underneath. Will protect from blow-outs.
Picture 3: Main holes drilled.
Picture 4: Main holes drilled.
Picture 5: Main holes drilled.
Picture 6: Main holes drilled.
Picture 7: Hole cleanly drilled.
Picture 8: Switch test fitted.
Picture 9: Switches test fitted, notice just enough space for threads.

vmsguy

Date: September 25, 2008

Another long break doing just about everything except flying or building my airplanes. But I'm getting back to them again.

Back to this telemaster, I decided to get back into it by mounting the motor, or more specifically, the ESC and the wires for the motor.

First I needed to decide where I would mount the ESC. At first I thought to mount the ESC onto the bottom of the sub-firewall. But there didn't seem to be enough area. But I still wanted the ESC out in the open, near the motor, for better cooling. I decided to mount the ESC onto the firewall, under the sub-firewall.

First, I mounted the motor and sub-firewall. (Pictures 1 and 2) Only a couple screws to hold it in place. I drew a line on the firewall for a guide, and removed the motor. I placed the ESC in place, and marked the upper and lower location for the mount holes. (Picture 3)

I drilled the holes and fed a zip tie through the firewall and back out. It sits in place quite nicely. (Picture 4 and 5)

Next to put the motor back in place and zip tie the excess wire so nothing bad happens. I decided to drill two holes through the bottom and lower front of the sub-firewall. The picture is a little fuzzy, but you can see the wires are neatly coiled out of the way. (Picture 6)

Finally, almost a year in the making, I could actually test spin the motor. I never done it before. I connected the ESC to the receiver, and a couple batteries. The power switch worked as hoped. Even without the propeller attached, I could tell this motor has some power. Hitting the throttle the torque made the elevator and rudders twist a little.

If I haven't already... The drivetrain for this bird is as follows. The motor is Rimfire 50-65-450. I plan to spin a 15x8 APC electric Prop. Providing the juice is an 80Amp ESC connected to a 6S2P battery setup of GP 3200mAh LiPo batteries. According to MotoCalc, I should get about 100w/lb. The plane should weight about 209 oz.

Next up... balancing the plane and mounting the batteries.

Picture 1: Motor partially mounted. There's room for the ESC under the sub-firewall.
Picture 2: Motor partially mounted. There's room for the ESC under the sub-firewall.
Picture 3: Motor removed, ESC placed were I plan on mounting it.
Picture 4: A couple holes later, and a zip tie, And it's ready.
Picture 5: A couple holes later, and a zip tie, And it's ready.
Picture 6: Another zip tie holds the motor wire snugly onto the sub-firewall.

vmsguy

Date: September 26, 2008

Now I can start with the balancing. I plan on doing the balancing in two phases. The first phase is to determine the location of the main batteries. Once I build a mounting bracket for them, then I can rebalance, using the receiver battery, if needed, to get a final balance.

First I assembled the bird, and put it on the balancing stand. The CG is underneath the main wing spar. When it first set on the stand, it was tail heavy. But I only had two batteries in it. I plan on using four. So I added two more batteries and started to slide them forward. I didn't need to go far, with the front of the batteries about 3-1/8" inches from the firewall, the bird balances perfectly. (Pictures 1 thru 5)

Next I removed the wing and proceeded to build a battery mount. After thinking through alternatives, I came up with a simple box. The box would be open in the front and the batteries would stack on top of each other. A velcro strip will wrap down the front of the box, holding the batteries in place. In the picture you can see the open front of the box, currently a scrap is being used to help clamp, but some of the top will be open too. (Picture 6)

As I think about it, I like this idea more. I can rebalance the plane, shifting the box forward or back, to get a better balance. I will need to find some velcro strip material.

Picture 1: The plane balanced, the batteries in approximate location.
Picture 2: The plane balanced, the batteries in approximate location.
Picture 3: The plane balanced, the batteries in approximate location.
Picture 4: The plane balanced, the batteries in approximate location.
Picture 5: The plane balanced, the batteries in approximate location.
Picture 6: The beginings of the battery box. The front and part of the top is open.

vmsguy

Date: September 27, 2008

My work started today with continuing the battery box. As I feared, I couldn't wiggle the battery box through the hatch. (Picture 1). So, I removed the top piece and cut down the sides a little on the front half, and continued to fit it into the fuselage. (Picture 3) I eventually had it positioned, and I thought it would be good to test a battery. It was a tight squeeze, but the battery fit. Too tight, in my opinion. (Picture 4) I want something where I can easily swap batteries while at the field.

To fix this, I decided to use thinner balsa on the side walls. I was using 1/8" sheeting. I build a new box, using 1/16" sides. This will gain me 1/8" total width for the batteries. Once the box is properly in the fuselage, I can add extra thickness to the outside if I feel I need it. Thinking it over, I really doubt I'll need to. After all, I have the main bulkhead holding this box in place.

One thing I noticed with the first box in position, was the side of the box covered the access to the receiver. (Pictures 5 and 6) I haven't decided how I'll handle that little surprise. I might just move the receiver a little. I don't know yet.

I went back to the drawing board, or in my case, the band saw, and cut new pieces. This time, the sides are 1/16" thick. Otherwise the box is the same as the previous verstion. It fits in the bulkhead quite well, and the batteries slid into place easily. (Pictures 7 and 8)

Now that I have a working battery box, I started to think about how to secure it. I also needed to think about what to do about the receiver battery. While some ESC have battery elimination circuits (BECs) I prefer to have a separate battery for the receiver. This allows me the safety of having radio control, even if the motor/ESC/battery fails.

After some thought and looking at the plane, I believe the best place for the receiver battery is under the battery box behind the second bulkhead. Then the idea struck me, why not make the battery box removeable. All the problems the box introduced are solved. With the box removed, I can access the receiver wires, And I can access the receiver battery. Once the battery box is in place, I can swap batteries through the hatch.

I guess I'll be reinforcing the thickness of the battery box in the front after all. I started by adding a bit of basla the bottom/rear of the battery box. Next, I figured I really didn't need the first inch or so of the box. It doesn't matter if the batteries extend a little from the front. The velcro will hold the batteries from sliding forward. So I removed that inch. (Picture 9) The box goes into the fuselage a lot more handily, but upon testfitting, I found the small tab I glued onto the bottom and made the box too tall to fit through the bulkhead.

Oh well, onto version number three. This one, I built a bit differently, I included the mounting tab into the bottom piece. I also made the bottom piece narrower, and glued the sheets to the side. The first to versions had the sides butt jointed to the top of the bottom piece. This will be a stronger joint. While the glue dried, I started work on the battery box mount. First, I cut a cross brace. In the picture, pointed to by the red arrow, you can see the cross brace sitting in place. Behind it, you can see the receiver battery sitting in place. (Picture 10)

Next, I continued on the cross brace. I doubled the thickness of the cross member, then drilled a 1/4" hole through it. On the bottom, I glued a block of threaded wood. (Picture 11)

Finally, the glue dried and I can shoot pictures of the completed battery box. You can see the mounting tongue out the back, as well as the glued together top. (Pictures 12 and 13)

Picture 1: Battery box going in through the hatch opening.
Picture 2: First attempt of battery box. (Kinda fuzzy)
Picture 3: I lowered the front of the box so it would clear the windshield. I Still need to cut the far side.
Picture 4: The battery box in place. But battery is a tight squeeze.
Picture 5: The battery box blocks access to the receiver wires.
Picture 6: The battery box blocks access to the receiver wires.
Picture 7: The second battery box, with thinner sides, fits just as well.

vmsguy

Date: September 27, 2008

Part 2.

Picture 8: The batteries slide into the box nicely.
Picture 9: The second battery box, with bottom front cut, and mount bracket attached.
Picture 10: Battery box mount, cross member.
Picture 11: Mount cross member, with threaded block attached.
Picture 12: Final version of battery box. Mount tongue and top added.
Picture 13: Final version of battery box. Front view.

vmsguy

Date: September 28, 2008

I didn't do too much work today. I glued the battery box mount in place. (Pictures 1 and 2) Then did another test balance. The plane balances wonderfully. Even after I added the receiver battery, the plane balances well. The receiver battery is very close to the CG, so it's weight was not going to affect the balance much. I have not balanced the plane laterally yet, but I will...

I only have a little more work to do before I can say the plane is structurally complete. And that is securing the hatch. I first tried gluing a mounting block onto the back of the first bulkhead, (Picture 3) but that got in the way of removing the battery box. I will glue it to the front of the bulkhead instead. I've been looking for a good system for holding hatches in place, but none I've found look good. The hatch is large, and about 3/8" thick. (Picture 4)

Picture 1: Battery box mount glued in place, the box screwed down.
Picture 2: Battery box mount glued in place, the box screwed down.
Picture 3: First attempt at gluing hatch mount block onto firewall. It was in the way of removing the battery box, so I removed it.
Picture 4: The hatch sitting in place. I really want to find a nice hatch holding system.

vmsguy

Date: August 20, 2009

Guilty as charged.. I've been walking around this airplane for nearly a year. Now I'm back to it, trying to cover it.

I got sidetracked with a couple other planes, an UltraSport 60, and a Sig Hog Bipe. But I'm back to this one.

I chose to continue my red-white-blue theme on my trainer. But with a twist. I chose transparent red, pearl white, and transparent blue. I discover that working with transparent covering has it's challenges. When you overlap pieces, the tint gets darker. There isn't much you can do about it, so it's there. I did try a couple techniques that lessens the double-tint impact. When I put the trim piece over the hinge joint, I trimed it back even with the trailing edge and moving surface. Then, when the other pieces overlap it, the overlap will be in the hinge joint, not on the open surface. That seems to help. It's one thing to have overlap in an out-of-the-way corner, but another to have it on a long line of an aileron or elevator joint.

Tonight, I have the tail feather all but finished. I only need to add the white leading edge. But tomorrow I can start on the long fuselage pieces. Once I open the roll of white, I'll add the leading edge piece.

Picture 1: The blue on the rudder, and top of elevator.
Picture 2: The bottom of the elevator. Covered in tinted red, seam piece also installed.
Picture 3: The bottom of the tail-feathers
Picture 4: I need to cover the rudder hatches, and connect the rudder control arms.
Picture 5: The top of the tailfeather. Need to install white leading edge yet.
Picture 6: You can see through the build up tail fin.

vmsguy

September 18, 2009

Basic covering of the fuselage in nearly complete. I had a heck of time getting the covering to shrink, especially along the long narrow pieces of the fuselage. I eventually tried a second covering iron, the first would still have the temp set of adhesion, the second would have the temp higher for shrinkage.

It worked like a charm. The blow gun would create such an force of wind, that it'd strech the covering out, and the covering wouldn't stretch back far enough before it cooled, leaving it saggy. In large open spaces like wings the gun would work, but small narrow it would be more of a hinderence.

vmsguy

December 31, 2009

Another few months hiatus.

I added some trim pieces to the fuselage to help give it more visibility.

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Your vertical fins look small. Does their area add up to what the single fin-rudder had?

vmsguy

August 2, 2010

I've been working on covering the wings. I wasn't sure how I wanted to do so, but I eventually reverted to the same scheme I used on my LT-40.

Red on the bottom, Blue on the top, White leading edge, and a White star on the bottom and tailfin for accents. Actually, because the Tele is so big, I opted for a pair of stars on the bottom of the wing.

I got the wing covered, and started mounting the aileron servo. It took a while to hunt down the control arms I wanted, but I eventually found the Sullivans I wanted. (Picture 1)

But I did discover a problem. The slot I made in the servo tray is too narrow. (Picture 2) So out came the servo, off came the covering, and a little careful drilling with a 3/8" forstner bit, and some filing, and I now have a 3/8" slot. (Picture 3)

vmsguy

August 8, 2010

Finally, the day has arrived. The plane is complete and ready to fly. Time for some pre-maiden pictures.

First, I wanted to show the strut attachments. (Picture 1) In this picture, you can also see the second servo mount. Both wings have the servo mount, and tubing in the wings, so the camera can go in either side. For initial flight, I'll leave the camera off.

Then the rest of the pictures speak for themselves.

vmsguy

A few final thoughts:

A recap of power train:

Rimfire 50-65-450 outrunner motor
6S2P 3200 mAh LiPo batteries.
CC 80 ESC, not using BEC: separate Receiver battery
15x8 APC electric prop

Construction thoughts.
If I were to build this plane again:

1. I'd substitute spruce for the center fuselage piece. There is some twist to the tail, but the cross pieces I put in help eliminate much of it. Spruce would add a little weight, but hopefully eliminate some twist.

2. I'd mount the servos further back in the cockpit. I mounted them as far forward as I could to keep from being tail-heavy. As it turned out, I didn't need to worry. Mounting the servos further back would make access to the receiver and receiver battery easier.

3. I would mount the aileron servos another bay or two inboard. Just to eliminate the servo extention. But that's trivial. When I use servo extension, I hold the extensions together with heat-shrink tubing. Works like a charm.

4. I would probably go with a simplier motor mount. I sometimes get too clever for my own good, and over think/engineer something. A simple flat piece with stand-offs would have been better and faster.


Covering thought:

I will NEVER cover an entire plane in transparent covering again.. I will probably use it for trim effects, but never an entire plane. I can understand what people say about seeing through the plane. I caught a break by using red and blue on bottom/top of wing. I can see into the wing, but I really can't see thru the wing. Which is kind of cool. I wanted to show off my building skils, and transparent (should be called tinted) covering allows that. It's just not good for an entire plane.

And finally, Pearl White.. yuck. I won't use that again, I should have just used solid white for the edges and trim. Oh well. I had it on hand.



Now... If I can only find somebody willing to maiden it....

Hmm.....

PropSpinner

My Feedback: (15)

Great Job! I like your modifications and personal touches. I converted my kit built Telemaster to electric using a Rimfire 42-60-480 on 6S lipo and have never had so much fun with it. I might have to build another Telemaster some day.

vmsguy

Actually the two fins and rudders have about 1/3 more area than the single rudder.

Single fin: 50 squar inches
Single rudder: 29 square inches.

Double fin: 85 square inches
Double rudder: 44 square inches

See Post 71 (I think)

I had been reading STM threads and many people complained about not having enough rudder authority. And had how many had extended the size of both the fin and rudder. The double rudder was my way of increasing rudder authority without increasing profile. Plus.. I was tinkering with the idea of making an STM twin, but I wanted to get my feet wet with a twin-tail first.

rambler53

My Feedback: (494)

Oy. I was too exhausted to read this battery box nightmare in it's entirety, just skimmed through and started to get tired. Imagine, throw in a fuel tank, wrap it in foam, add a throttle servo and rod and you're done in 10 minutes. So much for how sweet EP is in the prevention of a chemical fire. I'll never go EP, never.

Nice build though.

oliveDrab

Since converting 3 of my 60-size planes to electric I've become an avid supporter of electric power. Quiet, hassle-free, plenty of power. My taildragger King Kobra is the fastest plane I've ever flown. The whining sound it makes when doing a low, fast, flyby with retracts up is incredible.

Is it possible to purchase the Senior Telemaster as an ARC (almost ready to cover)?

-oliveDrab

vmsguy

For what it's worth, some planes convert to electric more easily than others. This one had it's challenges. My Hog Bipe.. was a dream to convert.

vmsguy

I know that sound...

The first day I went to the local airfield (I hadn't built anything yet) A guy had a Shrike. tuned pipe. Wickedly evil fast. On one pass I could hear both the engine scream, and the sounds of the wind passing over the surfaces. That sound, is incredibly cool. With electric, I can hear that sound even on my LT-40.

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

I am pretty sure Hobby lobby sells the Seior Tele as and ARF. In two schemes even.

Here it is http://www.hobby-lobby.com/ready_bui...59061_prd1.htm

If it were me, I would throw a new, smaller gasser on this one. Very nice plane

oliveDrab

They sell the Senior Telemaster as an ARF already covered in either yellow or red/white. I want to cover it myself in some other color so I would prefer an ARC instead (uncovered ARF). Oh well - yellow will be fine. If I discover I can't stand their decals I'll just remove them.

superstick60

I have never seen this thing before and now I have one, how do you mount wing onto Fuse??

Pitts532M

My Feedback: (1)

disljenko

Hey there you have awesome build here, nice job. I'm interested of making one for my self, can you tell me where you get short kit for this telemaster? And that kit all wood/balsa needed for finishing plane or just ribs and other small parts. Thanks for your support.