dubd

Alex, that video of the touch and go was insane!!! Awesome build on Ali's 104.

smooth sailing

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The wings are definitely small enough

Alex48

Thanks dubd... Cant wait to see it fly, I'm more nervous than usual with this one for some reason...

I've been adding a few extras onto the build, here's another.... (720p looks better) The green in the display is much more vibrant in real life so video doesn't do it justice but you get the idea at least.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9RKlqP8dog[/youtube]

Alex48

Ali came to pick it up last night, its the first model I haven't been sick of the sight of once the build was finished. Fingers crossed for Wednesday...

Springbok Flyer

Alex,

So give us a summary;

Engine installed, total empty weight, c of g? Did you use the 40mm engine mount spacer in the end. If so, obviously no bypass.

Thanks,

Jan

Alex48

Its an awesome model It flew beautifully, I'm sure Ali will chime in with his thoughts at some point.

Alex48

pic

Alex48

For some reason my picture isn't displaying, my next build will be purely on my FB page. Look here for the latest photos.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

Perhaps Ali will have more luck uploading them through photo bucket or whatever he uses.

anyway I was a very happy man yesterday

etibedossa

Hello Alex and Ali,
Were you happy with the throws and CG ( 120 mm from LE) given by Roland ?
Many thanks in advance and best regards.

Ali

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Ali

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Ali

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Ali

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marc s

Great result guys, super looking rocket

marcs

Ali

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I am really over the moon with how this plane turned out. Of course. Most of it is due to Skymaster making what has to be one of the most impressive arfs that I have ever seen. But also Alex for going so many extra miles to add those finishing touches to make this model that little bit extra special, and more importantly well built and functional.
As happy as I am. The day was not without it Dramas. We managed 4 flights in total, but two of those ended with flame outs. Both pretty exciting. Not that a flame out with a F-104 is ever going to be a dull event [X(] This situation was made worse by the fact that the model was nose heavy on the first flight, but all came good in the end. I actually managed to over flare just at the last point and I seem to remember a really high alpha moment, which it coped with perfectly.
We found an issue with what we thought was the lead that went from the ecu to turbine and made plenty of test runs on the ground without issue. two flights then went ahead without issue and gradually Alex added 300 g's of weight to the tailcone area. The plane was flying much better although still heavy on the elevator and landing quite fast. Although thats fine by me because I am really anti scale jets that land like vintage models at the moment [:'(]
In the air the model is just stunning. Rock solid on all axis. We have an I gyro fitted but didnt even switch it on once. It just didnt need it. It will be interesting to see what its like on a windy day, but I guess we can tackle that when it comes to it.
Control throws felt good. I flew full rate elev and mid rate Ail. Take offs are just gorgeous. The model just soars off the ground with a lovely shallow angle of attack after a few moments on the mains with nose high.
What I am really impressed with is the colours. Not only because I know its the best F-104 scheme ever! but also because how well it shows up in the air. This is the first 104 that I never once had any feeling of disorientation. Skymaster did a great job all round. The gear is the usual work or art.
I could go on for much longer, but there is work to be done, so thats it for now.
Regards Al

P.S Thanks to Steve J for yet another great day up and "The bury"

Geoff White

Good to hear it all went well Ali. Even better to hear that it does infact glide.

Interesting to hear that you flew it with the Igyro turned off. I did the same on my test flights but I flew it in windy conditions and thought it would benefit from the gyro. This ties in with your experience.

How far back did you go on the CG? I am planning on flying mine again this weekend and based on your advice, I may move it back.

Geoff.

Ali

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Thanks Geoff.
I wouldn't call it a glide. To quote buzz lightyear.. "It was not flying. It was falling with style" My plan is to fit a new Kingtech 180 in it tonight and fly it this weekend coming, and looking at the forecast, I get the idea the I gyro might be getting a work out!
Not sure exactly how far we moved the C of G back to be honest. What I can say is that in flight it felt to be balanced really well. Rolls were axial and inverted was just a little bit of forward stick pressure. I would not really expect a plane such as this it sustain inverted without a certain amount of forward stick, so with that in mind I get the feeling it is balanced about right. I have the two RX packs which are small 2250 Lipos under the cokpit. The ECU pack and on the ECU board which is behind the cockpit. Right up front is just the I gyro and Power box. Then under the tail cone ( inside the fuselage ) I have 300 g of lead strips.
Yet it still felt pretty dead on the elev stick when coming into land. I have a suspicion that I have too much flap/ slat so we backed that off somewhat but had another flame out so I landed clean and did not get a chance to check it.
Regards Al

Geoff White

BTW did you find a 180 enough? On the 'other' forum Dustin found a Rhino not enough and replaced it with a Mammoth but he was flying off grass so I guess that didn't help.

Alex48

Hi Jan

I moved the turbine up 40mm and didn't use a bypass, there's a few flying and both setups seem to be giving good results, I was astonished just how well Ali's flew! It really was on rails! It didn't shimmy one bit. Very rewarding to watch.

Al, when you re turbine it perhaps put the ecu and batt in the turbine area? The rx batts could be moved back if you have some Heavy Duty JetCat MPX extensions. We could then get shot of the tail weight.

The throws were as suggested by Roland although I had more slat but we started to reduce this. More flights are required before and definitive recommendations could be made.

pilot tw

Hi Ali, Congratulations!! for your F-104 maiden, and Alex great works,

Ragz

Alex, great build thread. Nice video with the gears in operation.  How do they move so smoothly?  Looks almost like electric.

jetpilot

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Nice job Alex and Ali!
Really tempting model.
Scott

Alex48

Thanks guys... Its a lovely model to build/assemble Anton so well done!

Hi Anurag the main gear is Hydraulic with the doors and nose gear using air.

Hi Scott, I think you need one why not have a full turnkey build

jetpilot

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I was thinking this very thing Alex!!
Scott

Alex48

pic test...