ram3500-RCU

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You are very welcome.

The video is very cool. Looks like the conversion is working perfectly. The flaps are working nicely as well. I have them just a tad bit slower (virtually no pitch adjustment that way), and then faster going up, in case of the need to dump them in a hurry.

Note, keep the servo wires well away from the folding mechanism. At Top Gun, on our first round flight, we had a flap wire that had become chaffed, make contact with the hinge structure, and the right outboard flap deployed, acting like an aileron, rolling the plane inverted!!!!! The sudden roll broke the contact, and the flap went back up. Dino rolled her back over safely, but we didn't know at the time what had happened, so the flight was aborted and we had to call the round. A round that up to that point was scoring all 10s.[]
Got her back to the pitts, and Brian went to work diagnosing the problem. Only took him a few minutes as I recall to find the problem and correct it. No more issues, but we made sure our wires were well away from moving parts.

As for Top Gun, I would love to return with another Corsair, but the next trip will probably be with a Meister Zero.

MRadu

Gary,
Thanks for your experience. I run my wires through conduit in the aluminum tube. I will have to relocate when you make the gun smoke kit for me and others to buy.

ram3500-RCU

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Sounds good. You can't tie them off or down because they need to move and expand as the wing folds up.

ram3500-RCU

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For those who have placed orders for our exhaust, please be patient. We are working around the holidays to get those first orders out.

I made a slight change to the appearance for scale purposes, and those parts are now made. I'll post a picture of the finished product ASAP. I think it looks a little better than the prototype, and it looked pretty good, so I know you guys won't be disappointed.

ram3500-RCU

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Thought you guys might enjoy this. This is the little guy I have mentioned a couple times in my threads. My oldest son Tom was flying a little helicopter I got them and Jackson was enjoying it.

The caption my daughter-in-law put on the picture she had posted on face book......"Ahhh. The love of all things aviation is passed on to yet another Prince boy."

I love it.

We now know that he has Ostioimperfecta #6 (not sure on the spelling), and only 20 kids in the world are known to have it. He has had over 40 broken bones already, and as you can see, he is in his apparatus to support another broken arm right now.

He has an appointment Feb 5 2013 at a facility in Omaha to have rods inserted in his Femurs. This will make them strong enough to support his weight and make it possible for him to walk,we hope.

I hope to be able to take him to the field in the future. I know he will enjoy this hobby, and it will be something he can participate in.

glazier808

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A future Top Gun contender in training!

Best wishes to you and yours Gary, we miss you around here.

PS. I have a bunch of awesome pics of a Miester Zero I took this summer. I will post them in your Zero thread for you when you start it up again

Casey

panhandler

Dido on the Top Gun contender.

Jackson looks like he is realy enjoying the flight . thanks for sharing Gary .

Wishing you and your fam a very merry christmas.

Dan

ram3500-RCU

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Thanks guys. I feel the same way about you and yours.

Hopefully, the coming year will be a good one for all of us.

saramos

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years Gary. I hope all the best for you and your family.

Scott

Chris Nicastro

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@Ram
Are the flap hinge fairings vacuum formed covers or built up? They look good.

ram3500-RCU

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They are vacuum formed. Same material as the gear door inner skins and gear bay liners. All parts of the Graeme mod kit.

ram3500-RCU

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Here is the mount Brian makes for the gun speakers. It is glued to the front of the spar.

The bottom hatch is a must for this installation.

ram3500-RCU

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We use Meister medium size piano hinge, and a Shulman hatch latch.

ram3500-RCU

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I use our Steel Powder in the epoxy when doing any work on the front. Makes the epoxy even stronger, and adds weight where you need it.

ram3500-RCU

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Making progress on the lighting system. We decided that it would be best to use standard servo wire and plugs, and LEDs that are matched to the RX batt voltage. This way, a guy has the choice to plug the system into a RX channel, and turn the lights on and off with the transmitter. One can also add a switch and separate batt for an isolated system if he likes.

As for the system itself, we will produce it in two styles, a 'builders' style kit will have the bulbs and resistors assembled to the leads, but some soldering will be needed to complete the connections to the harness. A 'plug-in' style kit will have all assemblies complete with plugs for easy installation. The three formation lights on the bottom of the wing will each be assembled to leads so they can be installed from the outside. These than then be either plugged into a 3-way, or soldered together, depending on which style kit is chosen.

Each light or group of lights will have a price, so a guy can mix and match and put together the package to fit his desired degree of scale, or budget.

For instance, the formation light group for the bottom of the wing will be $100 for the (3) assemblies with their lenses (custom made), and will include some aluminum foil to make the bezels with.

The set of (2) wing tip nav lights will include the lenses, but the structure to mount the bulbs will need to be made by the builder. We will provide instructions.

We will have a central harness with provisions to either plug into a RX or separate battery and switch. Any or all of the different lights on the Corsair will plug into it. I believe this system will be adaptable to other aircraft as well because of the use of standard servo leads. Lead length will be easy to change.

The gun light system will be completely separate from this system. The 'firing' is done from the transmitter, but the power is from it's own batteries.

MRadu

Gary,

Merry Christmas Eve,

I would like the processor to fire them, however, I do not want the sound at this time. As I do not wish to cut the bottom. Do you really think I should?

The lights I have are from Electro Dynamics and I have them plugged into my receiver and on a switch. I have the two wing tips (red and green) the tail (white) and the flashing one on the top of the fuselage (red). Can your recognition lights (forward to aft Red, Green and Amber) and the top formation light (I believe is Blue, however, not sure) be plugged into the receiver?

I have the Spectrum DX18 and a SmartFly power panel. I'm powering the main receiver (10 Channels) 6V 2400 Mah directly. These are for main control surfaces. The expansive receiver has 8 channels. I power expansion receiver via the SmartFly and with another 6V 2400 Mah. I use the SmartFly for the flaps connected to the main receiver as it has double ports.

My wing folding is a Life 2 cell 7.4 to the Down and Locked system that is plugged into the expansive receiver on the Knob.

If your with me so far (as I get mixed up myself) that is three switches with charging jacks.
One to the main 10 Channel receiver
Two to the SmartFly that then powers the Expansion receiver
The 3rd to the wing folding power.
The 4th switch (with charging jack) is for the Ignition
The 5th switch is for the external fuel pump.
And 6th if I require it for the guns.

The above is why I plug everything up first and test before making the switch panel and hatch. It looks like I'll require more than one hatch for all these switches.

Thank you for working with me and others. Today I'm working the wing tip lights.

ram3500-RCU

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Sent you a PM Michael. We can do it.

ram3500-RCU

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I have been asked about the cowl flaps. I will post some additional pictures and explanation on this in this thread. When I was doing this on the Top Gun plane, I was having problems logging on RCU, so most of that explanation was posted on RCSB. I'll get it posted later this evening.

Pictures of the cowl flaps in this thread can be found on page 46, post #1135.

The way I did it kept the flaps permanently attached to the fuselage, as the full scale is, and worked very well. It made the cowl very easy to remove as well. This is very handy for Corsairs equipped with the Moki, as access to the valves for adjustment is very important, during the break in period. The valves should be adjusted after each run until, when checked, they need no adjustment.

The retaining screws for the cowl are inside the cowl flaps and accessed from the back of the cowl, instead of through the front. The baffles make it difficult to go through the front, and I highly recommend the use of baffles. Overheating is an issue without them.

ram3500-RCU

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BTW, Hey John, do you want the cowl flaps?

JSZ

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Yes I do, thanks bud. Merry Xmas to you and your family.
Oh and Brian to lol.

ram3500-RCU

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Why did I know you would say that.

looks like I will have a fresh set of pictures to post.

Thanks buddy.

ram3500-RCU

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Michael, here are some pictures where you can see the formation lights on top of the wings and the nav lights on the spine and tail.

MRadu

Gary,
Those photos are great. That is what I want to reproduce on mine. That looks fantastic. They will assist me while I work.

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

Michael, I didn't address this part of your previous post.

"I would like the processor to fire them, however, I do not want the sound at this time. As I do not wish to cut the bottom. Do you really think I should?"

My personal opinion is, the sound is as important as the lights for a good affect. On a strafing run, the sound of the guns is maybe even more evident than the gun flashes. The sound can be heard no matter what angle you are to the flight line, and it can be heard for some distance.

Now here is the rub. Yes, the bottom hatch is essential to the installation but just as important is opening up the intakes. A more scale intake, with open louvers, is what makes it possible to get that wonderful sound out.

If you don't intend to open up the intakes, it makes little sense to add the sound. So you see, the intakes are a bigger issue than the hatch IMO, when it comes to the gun sound.

As for the hatch itself, this is a movable part on the full scale Corsair anyway, and works much like the cowl flaps do. It opens to the rear, but we swing it down from the side for an easier hinge set up. Cutting it open has absolutely no affect on the structural integrity of the wing, in fact, it may even add to it as you gain access to inner places to add epoxy around spar. Not absolutely necessary, but can't hurt. That big carbon fiber spar is what holds this bird together, not the wing skin.

ram3500-RCU

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Here are some pictures of how we use the various hatches.

The bottom hatch in question is made good use of. After the intakes and sound are installed, a removable plate is installed. Here is what is on that plate.