micronut

Hello,

This will be my first build log in a while, so stick with me.

Equipment;
Bare airframe = 40g (1.4 oz)
CDROM outrunner + aluminum mount = 12g
2 X GWS pico servos = 16g total
GWS pico Rx = 4.4g
CC Pheonix 10 = 6g
TP 2S 860mah = 45g

Total = 125 grams(4.4oz)

micronut

I'll start with the elevator, as per the instructions(which are very nice, BTW).
I used the supplied torque rod to connect the two elevator halves and added a control horn to the middle of the rod.

All controls will be internal on this model(nothing exposed but the antenna).[8D]
I wasn't over impressed by the way the elevators were cut from the stab, but its minor.
I would have preferred to cut them myself for a cleaner look.

micronut

Here is a pic of the motor mount.
It is made from 1mm aluminum stock and weighs next to nothing.

I added a carbon spar to the nose which runs from behind the motor mount to over the top of the wing.
May be excessive, but with the 200g's or so of thrust I'm going to put in her, I wanted to be safe.

micronut

On to the main wing...

First of all, that crazy dihedral has to go.
There is a lot![X(]

I started by removing the belly pan from the wing very carefully with a sharp pocket knife(I feared that a razor would cause more probs than its worth).
I came off fairly cleanly with little damage to the foam.
I then slit the wing down the middle, leaving a bit of foam uncut at the LE and TE to keep the wing in one piece.

Next, I cut small slots for the 2mm carbon wing spar and epoxied it in flush with the wing.
I left a few degrees of dihedral in(about 1cm elevation at each tip from level) for some stability. I also had to insert a shim between the belly pan and wing since I removed so much of the dihedral.
Likewise, the fuses wing socket had to be altered(sanded) to accomodate the new wing.

micronut

My camera crapped out on me, so I apologize for the webcam pics to come.

For the ailerons, I opted for torque rods as well.
Nothing fancy here...just the same type of setup others have used.
The TR tubes are flush with the underside of the wings...nothing exposed.

Here are some horible pics...sorry.

micronut

Almost done!
Motor is mounted, elevator servo is in place, batt tray installed.

All that is left is rudder installation and cutting the battery/electronics hatch before attaching the two halves.

micronut

I will try to replace these photos asap.
Until then, I hope they will do.

These pics show the battery/electronics hatch that I cut.
Used a very sharp xacto knife and cut slowly.
The batt tray has been converted to rails on either side of the fuse to allow for the removal of the motor and pheonix 10(which rests under the battery).

The hatch is retained at the front and rear.
The front has a horizontal cf rod which mates into a piece of heat shrink tubing(red in pic) mouted in the nose of the fuse.
The rear uses a custom made spring clip mounted onto the canopy which latches over a cf rod on the fuse.

micronut

All done except for decals!

packyj

Nice thread, good looking build. Hopefully the zero cg is a little closer than my brothers fw190. At the designated cg it was way too tail heavy to be controllable.

micronut

As promised...

Here are some finished pics of my Zero(notice the lack of control horns or rods).
I have some bench test video as well, but I cant seem to get it off my new camera.
Need to download some codecs

AUW 130 g(4.5 oz)
TP 2S 860mah
20mm CDROM wound 12t, 26g, "Y"
WOT = 210g of thrust at 5.5 amps, 7.4v for roughly 40 watts(128 w/lbs)

Have not maidened yet...I'm too scared.

micronut

Here is a video shot today...by me...while flying.
Hope it stays up

[link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=669369#post7244928]vid[/link]