RE: 1/2A trainer anyone?  
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Tower Hobbies
Enter up to 4 keywords or Tower stock numbers
Logged in as Guest



Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
       



All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> "1/2 A" & "1/8 A" airplanes >> RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? Page: <<   < prev  22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 [31]

Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 11/7/2007 2:36:25 PM   
Yuu


 

Posts: 303
Joined: 9/4/2006
From: Shawano, WI, USA
Status: online 		There was an article in Model Aviation...or somewhere... where the builder took the $4.00 foam glider and made the rudder a full moving 'fin' for the slow speed rudder, and made the stab and elevator a 'full moving elevator" as well. He used wooden dowels and just glued a servo arm to it. With Lots of control, he didn't have much trouble with the foam, but he did wrap the fuse in clear packing tape, and the wings had packing tabe on the top and bottom.

(in reply to David Ingham)
       Post #: 751

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 11/13/2007 1:52:28 PM   
avroarrow


 

Posts: 28
Joined: 9/27/2003
From: peterboroughontario, CANADA
Status: offline 		Hi Dave, I was just thinking, maybe I'll build a plane for my cox 020 ...I't doesn't have a home and it's fresh with new glow head just sitting in a box....and spec's on your little plane like wingspan, fuse length. I can draw something up and cut balsa from there. I will add carbon fiber to the center spar as this will add tremendous strenght to a model of this size and add practically nothing to weight.I've used some 8mmx2mm carbonfiber ribbon on the spars of my 2 meter sailplane with very favorable results.You can get hollow carbon fiber tube that works well also.

(in reply to Yuu)
       Post #: 752

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 11/13/2007 2:09:49 PM   
avroarrow


 

Posts: 28
Joined: 9/27/2003
From: peterboroughontario, CANADA
Status: offline 		oh yes i forgot, i built a couple of those foam gliders, using a cox o49 black widow on the nose,2 futaba 3003's for the rudder elevator and it flew okay but needed to be a lot lighter as by the time I got everything epoxied on, fiber taped the fuse and wings, it flew but was a hand full, ended up to heavy. I'd now like to try a few projects of these now that lighter equipment is much cheaper and my knowledge of building and flying has increased greatly. This was only my second plane I'd ever tried to build and fly in my earlier RC days, trying to build a cheap plane,re-using what I already had.It worked but not well.Actually I still have the plane stuck in the rafters of my shop as a momento of when I first entered this hobby back in 1990. I've looked in hobbyshops and Walmart for these cheap foam gliders, but they have kind of disappeared from the shelves around here.
Don

(in reply to avroarrow)
       Post #: 753

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 12/1/2007 3:13:17 AM   
David Ingham


 

Posts: 166
Joined: 8/22/2007
From: , CA, USA
Status: offline 		I added a little carbon fiber to my Push Up when I re-built it after diving onto the street, but I have little experience in using it. It worked fine fixing my prescription glass diving mask.
The other thing I did was to start making spinners of cork or silicone glue, when I don't have Cox rubber spinners that fit. One of these might have saved the crank shaft and greatly reduced the damage to the model. A rubber spinner was also useful when I forgot to step back after holding the tail of a C/L plane and it hit me in the knee.

(in reply to avroarrow)
       Post #: 754

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 12/2/2007 10:15:57 AM   
avroarrow


 

Posts: 28
Joined: 9/27/2003
From: peterboroughontario, CANADA
Status: offline 		Hello Ozmo, ...yes the Gentle lady plans did show a cox 049 on the nose as I built my first one that way, but soon built a pod to attach to the wing because I bought every plastic 6x3,6x4 prop with in a hundred miles , needed a new prop almost every landing when the motor was on the front of the glider.I have built 3 lady's, all were powered with an 049, but I converted my last build to an electric, tower Pro combo, graupner 9x7 folding prop and 3 cell lipo. It works very well, with long flight times, averaging 30/45 min as when you loose altitude, just hit the throttle and back up we go, something the cox could never do in the air, restart!....but I did get some great long flights when "d get into heavy thermals and the set up doesn't break the bank account.

(in reply to OzMo)
       Post #: 755

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 12/3/2007 8:35:07 PM   
Yuu


 

Posts: 303
Joined: 9/4/2006
From: Shawano, WI, USA
Status: online 		Avro... Saving props on the nose of a 'Gentle Lady' is easy.... look at the prop, and pretend the prop is being blown in the wind ....when the engine stops ....on the 'next' compression stroke. This 'position' is where you set the prop before you tighten it. Then, when the engine dies, the prop rotates to the "counter-clockwize" position in the wind.... to the "horizontal" position... and you land with a good prop. [ I learn't this from 'somebody' ....not Raymond...]

(in reply to avroarrow)
       Post #: 756

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 12/17/2007 4:16:49 AM   
David Ingham


 

Posts: 166
Joined: 8/22/2007
From: , CA, USA
Status: offline 		I lost another airplane! My Keith Laumer Pushup flew away again, and this time we didn't find it.
I took my grown son to the field that skaliwag showed me. I was starting and launching and he was flying. Though it was afternoon, the wind was very light and variable. After several tries, it flew. He was able to turn it up wind, I think, but not until it had blown quite a distance. I think the white speck got larger, until the engine quit. Then, because I had the rudder wrong, he was no longer able to keep it flying straight, and it went farther down wind. We looked until it started getting dark.
Anyway, the airplane was not as important as my getting back with my son.
So I need either to get a whole new set of radio equipment or to buy another RTF (whose equipment is likely to outlive it) or to replace the Rx and servos, with identical or compatible ones so I can use the same transmitter. I have more engines and wood.
I am still thinking in terms of a Pee Wee trainer and don't have any throttled 020s, so I don't need more than two (or three for expansion) channels, but even lighter weight would be nice. The Cox µ Warbird servos seemed to have plenty of force and speed, for this larger airplane.
The rudder horn broke on one crash. As I remember, it was the one from the µ Warbird, and therefore overstressed. There was some problem with the engine, probably due to stuff stuck in the intake. Otherwise, it took crashing into small bushes without complaint.

(in reply to David Ingham)
       Post #: 757

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 12/18/2007 6:44:15 AM   
David Ingham


 

Posts: 166
Joined: 8/22/2007
From: , CA, USA
Status: offline 		Another problem about building on such a small scale is that when I drop parts on the rug I often can't see them.

(in reply to Bipe Flyer)
       Post #: 758

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 12/20/2007 8:04:18 AM   
BMatthews



Posts: 8796
Joined: 10/4/2002
From: Burnaby, BC, CANADA
Status: offline 		I hate to say this guys but this thread is supposed to be about Bipe Flyers' trainer and discussions about building and flying that one model only. All this recent stuff should have been in a new thread of it's own.

I'm going to have to delete all the posts that don't relate to the original design. Unfortunetly I can't split this recent part away into a new thread. I don't have the tools to do that at RCU. I'll leave it for a day or two so please finish up any last points or better yet re-ask any questions in a new thread. Then I'll run through this and purge all the stuff that's not pertinent to the original topic.

Or perhaps I can just cut and paste it all into a mondo quote and start a new thread with the mega quote. There's some good stuff in these posts and it would be a shame to loose it. But it's got to go from here in order to help keep the sticky on topic.


< Message edited by BMatthews -- 12/20/2007 8:09:55 AM >


_____________________________

Bruce-
Proudly wasting balsa since 1965.

Free Flighters go that extra mile........

(in reply to David Ingham)
       Post #: 759

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 12/21/2007 4:57:56 AM   
David Ingham


 

Posts: 166
Joined: 8/22/2007
From: , CA, USA
Status: offline 		Sorry, the title and especially its being sticky lead me to think it was a general discussion of 1/2A RC trainers. Don't worry about saving my posts, I will know more later.

(in reply to BMatthews)
       Post #: 760

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 12/21/2007 6:07:39 AM   
BMatthews



Posts: 8796
Joined: 10/4/2002
From: Burnaby, BC, CANADA
Status: offline 		No problem David. I figured that it was something like that.


_____________________________

Bruce-
Proudly wasting balsa since 1965.

Free Flighters go that extra mile........

(in reply to David Ingham)
       Post #: 761

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 12/21/2007 10:11:48 PM   
hogflyer



Posts: 1391
Joined: 3/23/2005
From: Wichita, KS, USA
Status: offline 		Bruce,

It may be helpful to rename this thread more specific to Bipe's trainer and start a general 1/2 Trainer thread (stickied at the top) for general questions. Just a thought.....

Hogflyer

_____________________________

Flight Training Coordinator - Wichita Radio Control Club - AMA Intro Pilot
www.wichitaradiocontrolclub.org AMA 4731

(in reply to BMatthews)
       Post #: 762

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 12/22/2007 12:57:37 PM   
avroarrow


 

Posts: 28
Joined: 9/27/2003
From: peterboroughontario, CANADA
Status: offline 		Sorry to guys, I was under the same impression as Dave thinking this was a 1/2a general Thread.

(in reply to BMatthews)
       Post #: 763

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 1/21/2008 7:42:36 AM   
David Ingham


 

Posts: 166
Joined: 8/22/2007
From: , CA, USA
Status: offline 		Why is this thread sticky?

(in reply to jboy381-RCU)
       Post #: 764

RE: 1/2A trainer anyone? - 1/22/2008 9:22:32 PM   
Mooney_driver


 

Posts: 57
Joined: 3/22/2004
From: Ellensburg, WA, USA
Status: offline 		Please excuse the intrusion into this thread. I was directed here in a quest to find out how to make my own leading edge stock since there are not a lot of sizes offered these days.

I am looking for a trainer and a 1/2A trainer would be ideal due to size. I am trying to get back into actually flying and want something simple, cheap, small and easily repairable or rebuildable if it should become kindling.

I got a bit lost in the thread but early on it was suggested that a printwood template be included. I really like that idea and it would make it very simple for us newbies as I am not always sure which direction to cut since it would be more efficient use of the balsa slab if the rib was cut across the sheet but that is not the best way to cut for stuctural integrety! It also helps in trying to figure the cost that will be incurred when buying balsa. I tend to buy the 4" wide stock but 3" is very common even in craft and office supplies and with a printwood drawing it helps us with the bill of materials. It is also helpful if there is a bill of materials to use as a shopping list.

I see in a lot of the 1/2A threads that the tendency is toward 2 channel birds. I think this is a mistake. Planes can be made into 2 and 3 channel if the original calls for 4 channel but it is much harder (for us newbies) to take a 2 channel and add ailerons (although throttle is mostly a no brainer).

The idea of no landing gear also has merit but I think the plane sh