Posts: 87
Joined: 8/4/2004 From: Sayville,
NY, USA Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: Galloping Ghost
Ken, that is looking very good. I like where you put the servo better than mine. Also, I did not have the neat steerable nose wheel. I had to rig up a pivot for the entire servo. Nice work!
One little problem I had with the AeroSport retracts. I mounted the gear pretty far aft of the CG, and the plane did not want to rotate on takeoff. In hindsight, the gear should have been much closer to the CG. I overcame it by putting a couple small clear plastic deflectors on the canards to help lift the nose.
I don't think the AeroCat will have the problem because it has a much longer tail moment and the elevator should have plenty of authority to lift the nose.
Thanks on the compliments! I did not think about the rotating on take off, I was actually concerned with prop clearance on take off. I've got it set so as the the tail of the plane may hit the ground, the prop won't strike. I may adjust the front gear so that the nose has a higher angle of attack.
As far as the rear "pivot" goes, I simply used a servo mounting screw along with a brass servo mount bushing and two washers on the base. I added a two pieces of balsa, re-connecting the fuse to the motor mount. (see pic)
The Aerocat feels much heavier now, I'll have to put it on a scale later. Routing all of the wires was a trick with the gear. Will I need a separate BEC due to the five servos on the plane? I'm almost thinking of figuring on how to attach the steering to an aileron servo, to save the weight and headache of adding more equipment to the plane.
I'm waiting on a pair of new wheels to complete this project. I still need to consider the servo slow down module...
The steering is tricky as it sometimes binds when the gear goes up...all these bugs to work out!
Posts: 314
Joined: 7/3/2003 From: Napoleon, OH, USA Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: ckoerner
I currently have the parkjet motor on mine. I want more speed. Which motor do I need? Thanks, Craig
Hi Craig,
The fastest motor and best value I have found is the 2212-6 I sell under the Spin Max name and they also are sold under the Suppo, Welgard, and a couple other names (mine are from the Suppo factory).
I clocked 75 mph with it on an AeroCat. You can't beat it for the price. I know some here on the forum are running the motor, maybe they can chime in.
Posts: 87
Joined: 8/4/2004 From: Sayville,
NY, USA Status: offline
Forgive the pun: It's a jet with the 2212-6. Literally out of sight vertical flight in 10-12 seconds (3S 2100)...don't fly on a cloudy day with low lying clouds!
Scott: Can I run 5 servos on the ESC that came with the 2212-6?
quote:
ORIGINAL: Galloping Ghost
quote:
ORIGINAL: ckoerner
I currently have the parkjet motor on mine. I want more speed. Which motor do I need? Thanks, Craig
Hi Craig,
The fastest motor and best value I have found is the 2212-6 I sell under the Spin Max name and they also are sold under the Suppo, Welgard, and a couple other names (mine are from the Suppo factory).
I clocked 75 mph with it on an AeroCat. You can't beat it for the price. I know some here on the forum are running the motor, maybe they can chime in.
Posts: 87
Joined: 8/4/2004 From: Sayville,
NY, USA Status: offline
The "retract project" has hit some bumps. The nose gear is a weak link in the system. The turning mechanism is poorly designed with weak plastic. It's got too much flex. Being that the battery is located right over the front gear, there is too much give in the gear as it wobbles around. This is also due to the flex of the fuse as it was not designed to hold a wheel along with a battery out front. I would roll the plane out and the front gear would just walk around like a broom in a barrell. I ended up breaking the front gear from hitting a bump on take off. I need to rethink this whole project. Maybe move the nose gear further back from the battery, not sure. I've got a lot of time in it and hate to give up now. I removed the retracts, pulled the two extra servo plugs, just so I could fly and enjoy the Aerocat today.
Posts: 145
Joined: 10/21/2005 From: Columbus, GA, USA Status: offline
An air retract system. I assume air for one direction and springs for the other, but how does it maintain air without a compressor? That's too high-tech for me
Posts: 87
Joined: 8/4/2004 From: Sayville,
NY, USA Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: Crash One
An air retract system. I assume air for one direction and springs for the other, but how does it maintain air without a compressor? That's too high-tech for me
Oh yea, it includes a small tank that needs to be pressurized with an air pump...
Posts: 87
Joined: 8/4/2004 From: Sayville,
NY, USA Status: offline
Mission aborted.
After spending many hours on the work bench getting the retracts to work, real world testing revealed that this gear set up is not practical for this type of plane.
A few problems surfaced: 1. The nose of this plane is not designed to support nose gear with a battery located directly above the gear. This resulted in a "floppy" nose gear that flexed the nose as well as the gear itself. 2. The added weight of the system significanly impedes the performance of the Aerocat. Although it looks way cool watching the gear go up and down in flight, it's not worth the loss of speed and agility of this craft. 3. I need a paved runway for tricycle gear! I'm always flying in the park or at the school yard! What was I thinking! During the second flight test, I bend the front gear wire and then broke the front gear linkage as a result of hitting a patch of grass...
It was an interesting project to fabricate a retract system on this craft. I learned a good deal. It was a real work for me considering that I'm a pure ARF guy!
Now I have gear mounts epoxyied onto the bottom on the plane. They will have to stay there. They don't look to good. I also beat up the bottom on the plane from all of the work I did. I'll just have to fly this plane at a distance, oh I forgot, it flies at 70mph...I won't see a scratch or dent!
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RE: AeroCat Fast Pusher *70 MPH* - 
