GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
01-17-2012, 12:03 PM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Back and building.....
The stabs have the servo case extending outwards from the root face so a cut-out is required in the side of the fusealge where the stabs fit, a quick dremmel and sand with permagrit files had two holes made to suit the servo dimensions. The forward carbon pin is close to the edge of the hole but when I started to file I realised there was a very good amount of carbon in the structure around this area and up into the tail so opening out these holes will cause no issues in terms of structural weakness.
Mounted the rudder servo, this I fitted to the back of the cover which is ply and very stiff, there is a mounting plate frame supplied but I found this a little fragile so opted to mount the servo to the back of the cover and used a few ply blocks to restrain the servo from moving and added one of my servo dock FR4 braces to hold the servo in place, this required me to drill through the cover so two bolt heads are visible on this, for me its no problem and the whole unit is very sturdy.
Cut the final set of slots in the rudder for the three hinges, used the same method as all the other surfaces and used the trimmed Graupner flap hinges. Cut two slots in the rudder for the horns to fix into, milled them out and trimmed the horns to suit the slots. Scuffed the sections that were going to be glued and assembled with Aeropoxy.
I had a spare few minutes around lunch time today so slapped some grey paint inside the fuselage around the nose wheel area, just to make it look more presentable (you know me!).
The fuel tank which is supplied with the kit is a Kevlar 2.5L unit, really nicely made, a Dubro aluminium ring is pre-fitted so all the builder has to add is the bung device and pipe work. The tank shape fits exactly between the ducting, at the front end it is supported by pre-fitted ply formers, at the rear you are supplied with three ply parts which assemble to make a rear support. I got a bit over zealous with a dremmel and mucked up the formers so ended up making a single former from some ply. To make the resting points less damaging to the tank I slipped a few pieces of rubber edging over the front and new former so as to give the tank a softer base on which to sit.
The tank is dropped into place, needs no bolting down.
To hold the tank in place a long and huge equipment plate is supplied, I'm itching to make a 'custom' jobbie but have promised myself to keep it simple so I might just cover the tray in some profilm or give it a coat of paint to bring it to life a little. The ply plate straddles the tank and is fixed into place by 4 x M4 bolts, these bolts fix into pre-fitted blind nuts that are mounted on two gantry type fixtures, one at the front and one at the rear, when bolted in place the tank cannot move - very neat and very simple.
Next will come working out the equipment layout and fitting the turbine (B100F - BF Turbines).......
marcs
The stabs have the servo case extending outwards from the root face so a cut-out is required in the side of the fusealge where the stabs fit, a quick dremmel and sand with permagrit files had two holes made to suit the servo dimensions. The forward carbon pin is close to the edge of the hole but when I started to file I realised there was a very good amount of carbon in the structure around this area and up into the tail so opening out these holes will cause no issues in terms of structural weakness.
Mounted the rudder servo, this I fitted to the back of the cover which is ply and very stiff, there is a mounting plate frame supplied but I found this a little fragile so opted to mount the servo to the back of the cover and used a few ply blocks to restrain the servo from moving and added one of my servo dock FR4 braces to hold the servo in place, this required me to drill through the cover so two bolt heads are visible on this, for me its no problem and the whole unit is very sturdy.
Cut the final set of slots in the rudder for the three hinges, used the same method as all the other surfaces and used the trimmed Graupner flap hinges. Cut two slots in the rudder for the horns to fix into, milled them out and trimmed the horns to suit the slots. Scuffed the sections that were going to be glued and assembled with Aeropoxy.
I had a spare few minutes around lunch time today so slapped some grey paint inside the fuselage around the nose wheel area, just to make it look more presentable (you know me!).
The fuel tank which is supplied with the kit is a Kevlar 2.5L unit, really nicely made, a Dubro aluminium ring is pre-fitted so all the builder has to add is the bung device and pipe work. The tank shape fits exactly between the ducting, at the front end it is supported by pre-fitted ply formers, at the rear you are supplied with three ply parts which assemble to make a rear support. I got a bit over zealous with a dremmel and mucked up the formers so ended up making a single former from some ply. To make the resting points less damaging to the tank I slipped a few pieces of rubber edging over the front and new former so as to give the tank a softer base on which to sit.
The tank is dropped into place, needs no bolting down.
To hold the tank in place a long and huge equipment plate is supplied, I'm itching to make a 'custom' jobbie but have promised myself to keep it simple so I might just cover the tray in some profilm or give it a coat of paint to bring it to life a little. The ply plate straddles the tank and is fixed into place by 4 x M4 bolts, these bolts fix into pre-fitted blind nuts that are mounted on two gantry type fixtures, one at the front and one at the rear, when bolted in place the tank cannot move - very neat and very simple.
Next will come working out the equipment layout and fitting the turbine (B100F - BF Turbines).......
marcs
01-28-2012, 12:54 AM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Hi Marc S,
Do you mind if other Gryphon builders add in their builds with posting and photos?.... I too am putting one together, but will only start adding to your thread if your cool with it. If you just want to keep it your own, thats cool too, up to you budd. By the way, yours is coming along great so far. Mine is at roughly the same stage as yours, mabee a bit further along, but not much.. GREAT kit so far!!
Do you mind if other Gryphon builders add in their builds with posting and photos?.... I too am putting one together, but will only start adding to your thread if your cool with it. If you just want to keep it your own, thats cool too, up to you budd. By the way, yours is coming along great so far. Mine is at roughly the same stage as yours, mabee a bit further along, but not much.. GREAT kit so far!!
01-28-2012, 01:13 AM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Scott no problem, mine was on hold for a while as I had to complete the last and final batch of Habu Conversion kits - all I can say is there are loads of turbine Habu 32's flying around the world!
I will post some additional updates shortly, one thing I have done is have made up a replacement thrust pipe, the original is well made but seemed heavy at 312g, the revised version I have is 164g so a fairly big weight saving at the back end of almost 150g!
While I am on hats off to GJC for the Eclipse 400 which is under development, this is one cool executive jet and I for one cannot wait to see it ready and flying
Hope the CAT's are working well.
marcs
I will post some additional updates shortly, one thing I have done is have made up a replacement thrust pipe, the original is well made but seemed heavy at 312g, the revised version I have is 164g so a fairly big weight saving at the back end of almost 150g!
While I am on hats off to GJC for the Eclipse 400 which is under development, this is one cool executive jet and I for one cannot wait to see it ready and flying
Hope the CAT's are working well.marcs
01-28-2012, 03:55 AM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
I really love this jet. What engine are you going to fly it on?
Hopefully by early summer, I can get either the yellow, or the white/gray/red version.
Hopefully by early summer, I can get either the yellow, or the white/gray/red version.
01-28-2012, 06:21 PM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Thanks Marc,
The one i'm building will have one of the just released Jets Munt VT-80s, I just received the turbine and the kit retracts yesterday. This was perfect timing on Mikes part as I had gone as far as I could without those two items... We are sticking with the stock pipe and by-pass, This was not my choice, but I was overuled
The rundown on ours so far is as follows= All servos and control linkages are installed, (except the steering cables since I did'nt have the gear), All hinging done, Stabs mounted, and the three tail servo leads are run to the front and heat sheilded, fuel tank is finished and installed. And during this process is where I ran into the one and only problem so far!.. The three parts that make up the air/fuel tanks supports were "dyecrushed" to the point of non usable, so they became templates and I made new ones from scratch. On our control horns, I elected to go double and run 3mm ballinks between threaded into h-9 ty 4/40 prolinks with FB clevis's at the servos.
Thats how far i'm at at this point, I'm just starting to set up the pipe and by-pass tonight, and should have her on her wheels monday or tuesday..
The one i'm building will have one of the just released Jets Munt VT-80s, I just received the turbine and the kit retracts yesterday. This was perfect timing on Mikes part as I had gone as far as I could without those two items... We are sticking with the stock pipe and by-pass, This was not my choice, but I was overuled
The rundown on ours so far is as follows= All servos and control linkages are installed, (except the steering cables since I did'nt have the gear), All hinging done, Stabs mounted, and the three tail servo leads are run to the front and heat sheilded, fuel tank is finished and installed. And during this process is where I ran into the one and only problem so far!.. The three parts that make up the air/fuel tanks supports were "dyecrushed" to the point of non usable, so they became templates and I made new ones from scratch. On our control horns, I elected to go double and run 3mm ballinks between threaded into h-9 ty 4/40 prolinks with FB clevis's at the servos.
Thats how far i'm at at this point, I'm just starting to set up the pipe and by-pass tonight, and should have her on her wheels monday or tuesday..
01-29-2012, 02:04 AM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Scott, interestingly the same parts that you found crushed were ditto'd in my kit, will feedback this to Redwings - like you it was easy to remake using them as a template.
Double horms is the way to go and the horns are supplied in this format in the kit.
Am playing with the bypass at the moment too, started to apply some BVM heatshield to the inner face of the carbon bellmouth as I think it might get a little hot. Removed some of the ducting around where the turbine starter pod will fit so as to get the turbine location as far forward as needed to fit into the bypass etc. Made up some turbine mounting plates to suit.
Pics to follow a little later.....
marcs
Double horms is the way to go and the horns are supplied in this format in the kit.
Am playing with the bypass at the moment too, started to apply some BVM heatshield to the inner face of the carbon bellmouth as I think it might get a little hot. Removed some of the ducting around where the turbine starter pod will fit so as to get the turbine location as far forward as needed to fit into the bypass etc. Made up some turbine mounting plates to suit.
Pics to follow a little later.....
marcs
01-29-2012, 10:03 PM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Hi Steve,
The retracts apeer to be from eurokit modeling, made specificly for this plane according to the plan sheet that came with them. their a brand i'v not had the pleasure of trying out before so this should be a fun deal.
I'll start to upload pics as soon as I can, i'll edit the first batch into the last post that described where i'm at so far, and then try to add pics as I go, but this build is on a tight time frame, so I may run behind on the pics, but I'v taken a ton of them so far for our tech tips page on our web site, I'll get some of them in this thread asap.
Marc, My kit came with only enough horns for one on each surface, but fortunitely I'v been building for Mike for a few years now and have a good stock on bits like that, so I mixed in some FB (Fei Bao) ones I had in stock and used them. I got the bypass cut and fit into the plane and the pipe installed last night, nothing today as we had an informal jettogether at a local dry lake, but I'll hit it hard tomarrow..
The retracts apeer to be from eurokit modeling, made specificly for this plane according to the plan sheet that came with them. their a brand i'v not had the pleasure of trying out before so this should be a fun deal.
I'll start to upload pics as soon as I can, i'll edit the first batch into the last post that described where i'm at so far, and then try to add pics as I go, but this build is on a tight time frame, so I may run behind on the pics, but I'v taken a ton of them so far for our tech tips page on our web site, I'll get some of them in this thread asap.
Marc, My kit came with only enough horns for one on each surface, but fortunitely I'v been building for Mike for a few years now and have a good stock on bits like that, so I mixed in some FB (Fei Bao) ones I had in stock and used them. I got the bypass cut and fit into the plane and the pipe installed last night, nothing today as we had an informal jettogether at a local dry lake, but I'll hit it hard tomarrow..
02-02-2012, 02:39 AM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Latest on the build now that I have had a small window to progress this build.
I trimmed and fitted the lower section of the supplied carbon bypass, the moulding is very nice, light and just requires notches cut to allow it to sit on the ply rails and not snag with the supporting formers. I may opt to leave to top section off for the first few runs just to make sure all is good and no issues with heat and flames!
I applied 4 coats of the BVM Heatshield to the carbon bell-mouth, this will fit over the pipe and be bolted to the carbon bypass when the time comes.
The equipment installation was really easy, the ply plate supplied with the kit holds everything needed for the Gryphon, it sits bang on top of the tank (actually holds it in place) and makes all the equipment easy to fit and get to. I sprayed the plate black, worked out where to position everything, drilled holes and fixed the items with small brass blind nuts so the underside of the equipment plate was smooth with no sharp items sticking out that could make a hole in the tank below. I might add a slither of something to help further protect the tank, like a piece of the non slip draw liner rubber you get.
The equipment tray has the Rx (Futaba 14c) Medium GBRJET (naturally) CAT/UAT, pump which I found a mount for which was too big so added some rubber shims to get it to hold the pump nice and secure, valves, ECU and IO board which I mounted on a lite ply plate on two balsa standoffs so it was easy to get to and clip in the connection cables.
The only item still to go on is the GBRJET Module for the electric gear/brake control, its tiny so will fit next to the Rx unit.
marcs
I trimmed and fitted the lower section of the supplied carbon bypass, the moulding is very nice, light and just requires notches cut to allow it to sit on the ply rails and not snag with the supporting formers. I may opt to leave to top section off for the first few runs just to make sure all is good and no issues with heat and flames!
I applied 4 coats of the BVM Heatshield to the carbon bell-mouth, this will fit over the pipe and be bolted to the carbon bypass when the time comes.
The equipment installation was really easy, the ply plate supplied with the kit holds everything needed for the Gryphon, it sits bang on top of the tank (actually holds it in place) and makes all the equipment easy to fit and get to. I sprayed the plate black, worked out where to position everything, drilled holes and fixed the items with small brass blind nuts so the underside of the equipment plate was smooth with no sharp items sticking out that could make a hole in the tank below. I might add a slither of something to help further protect the tank, like a piece of the non slip draw liner rubber you get.
The equipment tray has the Rx (Futaba 14c) Medium GBRJET (naturally
) CAT/UAT, pump which I found a mount for which was too big so added some rubber shims to get it to hold the pump nice and secure, valves, ECU and IO board which I mounted on a lite ply plate on two balsa standoffs so it was easy to get to and clip in the connection cables.The only item still to go on is the GBRJET Module for the electric gear/brake control, its tiny so will fit next to the Rx unit.
marcs
02-02-2012, 02:47 AM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Carried forward £225.97
Futaba Rx 14ch (R6014HS) - £149.00
GBRJET Medium CAT - £39.95
Tygon and pipe - £10
Clips, fittings & misc - £10
BVM heatshield - £2
Running total £436.92
marcs
Futaba Rx 14ch (R6014HS) - £149.00
GBRJET Medium CAT - £39.95
Tygon and pipe - £10
Clips, fittings & misc - £10
BVM heatshield - £2
Running total £436.92
marcs
02-07-2012, 05:52 PM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
170-200mm from leading edge at root..gear down, UAT full...
PS, I have uploaded pictures of where I was at relitive to my posts, a few posts back. So now I can start uploading current pictures as I continue to post my progress. I must say, it's been a fun build so far with really no drama.
PS, I have uploaded pictures of where I was at relitive to my posts, a few posts back. So now I can start uploading current pictures as I continue to post my progress. I must say, it's been a fun build so far with really no drama.
02-08-2012, 12:41 AM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Just by way of information this jet the Gryphon was born out of a design originally called the Sheliak, the rights for this design were retained by the owner of Redwings Composite who has re-engineered this jet making modifications to the structure and design to achieve a stronger yet much lighter end product.
The original Sheliak can be seen here [link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsmpZ3ZCJn4[/link] and I have no doubt that the Gryphon which shares the same overall shape and wing section will fly as well if not better with a potentially lighter wing loading.
marcs
The original Sheliak can be seen here [link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsmpZ3ZCJn4[/link] and I have no doubt that the Gryphon which shares the same overall shape and wing section will fly as well if not better with a potentially lighter wing loading.
marcs
02-08-2012, 04:27 AM
#145
RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Marc
At least the distributor has made no claim to the original concept unlike the Falcon's next generation, I have to say the sceme makes a lot of differenct to the overal apperance the white sceme did not look that good to my eyes, then I saw this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkJzp...eature=related and liked it all over again.
Mike
At least the distributor has made no claim to the original concept unlike the Falcon's next generation, I have to say the sceme makes a lot of differenct to the overal apperance the white sceme did not look that good to my eyes, then I saw this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkJzp...eature=related and liked it all over again.
Mike
02-08-2012, 06:03 AM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Agree was going to post this video too but the flight takes ages to happen as the taxi run is half of the video
marcs
marcs
02-08-2012, 07:57 AM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Marc
I don't know how some peoples minds work thinking that starting up and the taxi out are an interesting part of a vidio, I suppose its like those chaps who try to put music to their vidio's as well, all we want to see is the take off a bit in between and the landing, but we do want to hear the turbine as well, IMO.
Mike
I don't know how some peoples minds work thinking that starting up and the taxi out are an interesting part of a vidio, I suppose its like those chaps who try to put music to their vidio's as well, all we want to see is the take off a bit in between and the landing, but we do want to hear the turbine as well, IMO.
Mike
02-08-2012, 07:58 AM
#148
RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Marc
I don't know how some peoples minds work thinking that starting up and the taxi out are an interesting part of a vidio, I suppose its like those chaps who try to put music to their vidio's as well, all we want to see is the take off a bit in between and the landing, but we do want to hear the turbine as well, IMO.
Mike
I don't know how some peoples minds work thinking that starting up and the taxi out are an interesting part of a vidio, I suppose its like those chaps who try to put music to their vidio's as well, all we want to see is the take off a bit in between and the landing, but we do want to hear the turbine as well, IMO.
Mike
02-08-2012, 01:55 PM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
Marc,
I just did a mock setup, to get an idea where I was C/G wise, and I can not get even close[
] Mind you, I have the stock pipe and stock by-pass. Even with NOTHING on the tray, and everything piled on top of the nose retract, and three batts in the extreme nose, I am 2 (two) inches aft of 200mm[X(] Not sure what to do other than to start throwing lead in there, so i'm kinda sitting back to see where yours comes out with your current layout.....
PS, does anyone know if the Jets Munt fuelpump can be mounted verticle, or does it need to be horizontal like the others??.
I just did a mock setup, to get an idea where I was C/G wise, and I can not get even close[
] Mind you, I have the stock pipe and stock by-pass. Even with NOTHING on the tray, and everything piled on top of the nose retract, and three batts in the extreme nose, I am 2 (two) inches aft of 200mm[X(] Not sure what to do other than to start throwing lead in there, so i'm kinda sitting back to see where yours comes out with your current layout.....PS, does anyone know if the Jets Munt fuelpump can be mounted verticle, or does it need to be horizontal like the others??.
02-08-2012, 02:13 PM
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RE: GRYPHON - build thread (sports/trainer 2m composite jet)
I will try to get a mock up done too over the weekend, I have no gear at the moment as will be putting in our own electric system, my pipe is half the weight of the original which will help a little.
Can you let me know roughly the weight of the mains so I can add the equivalent of lead in the wheel wells?
marcs
Can you let me know roughly the weight of the mains so I can add the equivalent of lead in the wheel wells?
marcs