Hangar 9 60cc Corsair
03-27-2015, 11:20 AM
#1727
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The ends of the control surfaces, I added balsa and shaped/sanded to match the adjacent piece. I will be covering it with fiberglass to match the rest of the plane that I have fully covered in fiberglass. As for the surfaces, that is fiberglass, sanded and spot putty from car finish that fills any imperfections. Next is primer, sanded, then paint.
03-27-2015, 01:58 PM
#1729
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Working on the retracts with a question - with 4 door servos, I feel it would be best to put each one on a separate channel to help with end point settings, etc., however, with the DX18, I'm not sure it will handle mixing the 4 servos with a gear retract valve and the sequencing. I am relatively new to the DX18 and am not totally familiar with its capabilities yet. Any thoughts?
03-27-2015, 02:51 PM
#1730
Ted62-
https://youtu.be/tEBG7SYXBsg Here is a video of my just finished 85" ESM Corsair with 4 servos on the gear doors. I used the EMS gear door sequencer on one channel. I just set up each servo the same from the closed door position. It was nice not using up 4 channels. Good Luck.
https://youtu.be/tEBG7SYXBsg Here is a video of my just finished 85" ESM Corsair with 4 servos on the gear doors. I used the EMS gear door sequencer on one channel. I just set up each servo the same from the closed door position. It was nice not using up 4 channels. Good Luck.
03-27-2015, 03:37 PM
#1732
Ted62, I have a similar setup using the DX18. I use a Y cable on each set of doors, so I only have 2 channels going into the receiver. On the DX18, I just have two mixes. One is the "main" mix that controls one of the gear doors with the retracts, and then the other mix just controlling doors and set to the same timing as the first sequence. Everything fires at the same time as each other... theoretically if you have "10 servos" you just create 10 mixes, with the same timing layout etc.
03-27-2015, 04:26 PM
#1733
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Ted62, I have a similar setup using the DX18. I use a Y cable on each set of doors, so I only have 2 channels going into the receiver. On the DX18, I just have two mixes. One is the "main" mix that controls one of the gear doors with the retracts, and then the other mix just controlling doors and set to the same timing as the first sequence. Everything fires at the same time as each other... theoretically if you have "10 servos" you just create 10 mixes, with the same timing layout etc.
03-27-2015, 04:51 PM
#1734
No need to study Ted! Just pick up your radio and go through it 
The Spektrum radios are about as easy as it gets to navigate and figure out for the most part anyhow. Plus, it's always better if possible to get the linkage equal on both sides.. at least in terms of outer and inner gear doors! Though if it's too much of a pain in the rear, it's not out of the question to setup all 4 independently anyhow Good luck with it all!
The Spektrum radios are about as easy as it gets to navigate and figure out for the most part anyhow. Plus, it's always better if possible to get the linkage equal on both sides.. at least in terms of outer and inner gear doors! Though if it's too much of a pain in the rear, it's not out of the question to setup all 4 independently anyhow Good luck with it all!
03-28-2015, 08:45 PM
#1736
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I just completed my door set up. I used 4 Hitec HS5087MH Micro digital servos. They work very well off of one channel using 3Y connectors. The hinges are Sierra Bomb Door ( small ).since each servo has to be programed individually I used the HFG-25 servo programer. One servo in each bay has to be reversed, and all servos were programed to 180 deg, the end points were set per each individual door.
This required no Tx adjusting and should allow Rx change with minimal adjustment.
This required no Tx adjusting and should allow Rx change with minimal adjustment.
Last edited by DOC; 03-29-2015 at 06:28 AM.
03-29-2015, 11:57 AM
#1737
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Ted,
I used 4 servos for the gear doors also and used the sequencer built into the DX-18 to operate them individually and incorporated the retract (air) valve also. I had used a Spektrum 12120 12 channel receiver with the X plus expander. It WAS a little confusing at first setting up the sequencer, but what I did was set up the receiver on a table, connected 5 servos (4 for the doors and 1 for the valve) and just played with the sequencer until I saw how it all functioned. Nice as you can adjust the direction, travel, and timing of each of the doors and valve. Once installed in the aircraft, it all worked perfectly and haven't adjusted it since. Word of advice, I used nylon geared servos at first and the large surface area of the door and wind blast stripped 1 servo, so I replaced them with metal gear servos.
Reason for so many channels, is the customer wanted all the bells and whistles on his plane, lights, bomb drops, gyro, etc. Used 17 channels, but everthing is individually adjustable which you cannot do using Y-harnesses. There will be those that say I'm wrong, but I refuse to use Y-harnesses as I have seen a number of them fail (ESPECIALLY the reversing ones) For the amount of money invested in this aircraft, a higher channel receiver isn't that much more.
I used 4 servos for the gear doors also and used the sequencer built into the DX-18 to operate them individually and incorporated the retract (air) valve also. I had used a Spektrum 12120 12 channel receiver with the X plus expander. It WAS a little confusing at first setting up the sequencer, but what I did was set up the receiver on a table, connected 5 servos (4 for the doors and 1 for the valve) and just played with the sequencer until I saw how it all functioned. Nice as you can adjust the direction, travel, and timing of each of the doors and valve. Once installed in the aircraft, it all worked perfectly and haven't adjusted it since. Word of advice, I used nylon geared servos at first and the large surface area of the door and wind blast stripped 1 servo, so I replaced them with metal gear servos.
Reason for so many channels, is the customer wanted all the bells and whistles on his plane, lights, bomb drops, gyro, etc. Used 17 channels, but everthing is individually adjustable which you cannot do using Y-harnesses. There will be those that say I'm wrong, but I refuse to use Y-harnesses as I have seen a number of them fail (ESPECIALLY the reversing ones) For the amount of money invested in this aircraft, a higher channel receiver isn't that much more.
03-29-2015, 05:54 PM
#1738
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Ted,
I used 4 servos for the gear doors also and used the sequencer built into the DX-18 to operate them individually and incorporated the retract (air) valve also. I had used a Spektrum 12120 12 channel receiver with the X plus expander. It WAS a little confusing at first setting up the sequencer, but what I did was set up the receiver on a table, connected 5 servos (4 for the doors and 1 for the valve) and just played with the sequencer until I saw how it all functioned. Nice as you can adjust the direction, travel, and timing of each of the doors and valve. Once installed in the aircraft, it all worked perfectly and haven't adjusted it since. Word of advice, I used nylon geared servos at first and the large surface area of the door and wind blast stripped 1 servo, so I replaced them with metal gear servos.
Reason for so many channels, is the customer wanted all the bells and whistles on his plane, lights, bomb drops, gyro, etc. Used 17 channels, but everthing is individually adjustable which you cannot do using Y-harnesses. There will be those that say I'm wrong, but I refuse to use Y-harnesses as I have seen a number of them fail (ESPECIALLY the reversing ones) For the amount of money invested in this aircraft, a higher channel receiver isn't that much more.
I used 4 servos for the gear doors also and used the sequencer built into the DX-18 to operate them individually and incorporated the retract (air) valve also. I had used a Spektrum 12120 12 channel receiver with the X plus expander. It WAS a little confusing at first setting up the sequencer, but what I did was set up the receiver on a table, connected 5 servos (4 for the doors and 1 for the valve) and just played with the sequencer until I saw how it all functioned. Nice as you can adjust the direction, travel, and timing of each of the doors and valve. Once installed in the aircraft, it all worked perfectly and haven't adjusted it since. Word of advice, I used nylon geared servos at first and the large surface area of the door and wind blast stripped 1 servo, so I replaced them with metal gear servos.
Reason for so many channels, is the customer wanted all the bells and whistles on his plane, lights, bomb drops, gyro, etc. Used 17 channels, but everthing is individually adjustable which you cannot do using Y-harnesses. There will be those that say I'm wrong, but I refuse to use Y-harnesses as I have seen a number of them fail (ESPECIALLY the reversing ones) For the amount of money invested in this aircraft, a higher channel receiver isn't that much more.
Last edited by Ted62; 03-29-2015 at 05:57 PM. Reason: spelling
03-29-2015, 06:13 PM
#1739
Can't help you out then, 95% of my servos are Hitec. Been using them for about 10 years now and have well over 50 of them; never had a problem with any of them.
Last edited by Cpig; 03-29-2015 at 06:16 PM.
03-30-2015, 06:43 AM
#1740
Good information - I also set up a retract door + air valve mock system to experiment with and learned a lot. My choice of receiver is also the AR12120 since it can be expanded and has provisions for 2 battery inputs. The advantages of putting each door servo on a separate channel became very apparent since all parameters can be individually adjusted without worrying about servo direction, end point, etc., and the DX 18 will make sequencing icing on the cake. I am putting a small fortune into this aircraft and will cut no corners when it comes to the electronics. I still have a long way to go before finishing the plane - but, getting the landing gear and the doors along with the control surfaces finished is a big step. I know the tail wheel doors will also be a challenge - but, gotta do it! Btw, I am using the recommended servos for the doors - they contain metal gears so should be good - AR7020's. The AR7010's have been super-ceded.
Are both of you using the AR7020's? Have you noticed strange flutter on the servos at all? I have a servo tester and when quickly opening the gear doors they flutter like crazy in the opening position, as well as through the main receiver and trying to operate them linearly through the transmitter. They haven't shown any signs of flutter at all as long as I have them on a switch/sequencer just giving the command "full open, full close". I've read in another thread where these servos were used and caused an amp overload and crashed the plane - in that case however they were used on a large glider as flap servos with potentially the travel too far, but the guy did mention the fluttering I saw.
Rslsft, any issues at all since switching servos? I'm thinking of re-enforcing the back of the doors a little with some thin balsa as well as they seem like they could be a little flimsy and cause some oscillation. Might help things to give them a bit more weight as well to fight the wind on their own.
03-30-2015, 06:51 AM
#1741
Thought I'd post some photos of my build earlier on in the process. I'll post some pictures of the finished plane a bit later on as I'm still not finished. Have a bunch of touch-up/final little things left to do like painting inside the gear doors, cowling installation, paint the ignition door hatch (not seen in these pics), mount the canopy and mark/tidy all extension leads etc. Almost there! One thing I didn't do even though I did make the main gear doors operational, was to forego the tail gear doors. IMO it became just another point of fuss and potential failure while flapping around in the wind, plus with how I store and move the plane I often put pressure on the tail of the plane around/over the area where the tail gear is and by keeping the tail gear cover in 1 piece it provides some extra rigidity in the area. Also saves a little weight in the tail in comparison to adding functional gear doors. Main gear doors were enough for me!
Couple things done a little different from suggestions/instructions in the manual which seem to work out better such as the outer gear door servo mounting method, and hinging of the strut cover panels etc. as well as I've seen a few others do, in cutting a hole in the centre wing section. I've made a nice tray in the cutout which is an excellent place to keep the Robart electronic gear actuator box and coil up the leads, as well as in my configuration mounting a G370A MEMS gyro in there for the ailerons. Also adds more of the weight upfront vs. in the back that you'll need, so hopefully when all is said and done no extra weight is needed with the EVO7-777 up front on CDI. Now watch... I'll need some tail weight! haha
Couple things done a little different from suggestions/instructions in the manual which seem to work out better such as the outer gear door servo mounting method, and hinging of the strut cover panels etc. as well as I've seen a few others do, in cutting a hole in the centre wing section. I've made a nice tray in the cutout which is an excellent place to keep the Robart electronic gear actuator box and coil up the leads, as well as in my configuration mounting a G370A MEMS gyro in there for the ailerons. Also adds more of the weight upfront vs. in the back that you'll need, so hopefully when all is said and done no extra weight is needed with the EVO7-777 up front on CDI. Now watch... I'll need some tail weight! haha
Last edited by chorner; 03-30-2015 at 07:04 AM.
03-30-2015, 10:03 AM
#1743
My Feedback: (1)
Thought I'd post some photos of my build earlier on in the process. I'll post some pictures of the finished plane a bit later on as I'm still not finished. Have a bunch of touch-up/final little things left to do like painting inside the gear doors, cowling installation, paint the ignition door hatch (not seen in these pics), mount the canopy and mark/tidy all extension leads etc. Almost there! One thing I didn't do even though I did make the main gear doors operational, was to forego the tail gear doors. IMO it became just another point of fuss and potential failure while flapping around in the wind, plus with how I store and move the plane I often put pressure on the tail of the plane around/over the area where the tail gear is and by keeping the tail gear cover in 1 piece it provides some extra rigidity in the area. Also saves a little weight in the tail in comparison to adding functional gear doors. Main gear doors were enough for me!
Couple things done a little different from suggestions/instructions in the manual which seem to work out better such as the outer gear door servo mounting method, and hinging of the strut cover panels etc. as well as I've seen a few others do, in cutting a hole in the centre wing section. I've made a nice tray in the cutout which is an excellent place to keep the Robart electronic gear actuator box and coil up the leads, as well as in my configuration mounting a G370A MEMS gyro in there for the ailerons. Also adds more of the weight upfront vs. in the back that you'll need, so hopefully when all is said and done no extra weight is needed with the EVO7-777 up front on CDI. Now watch... I'll need some tail weight! haha
Couple things done a little different from suggestions/instructions in the manual which seem to work out better such as the outer gear door servo mounting method, and hinging of the strut cover panels etc. as well as I've seen a few others do, in cutting a hole in the centre wing section. I've made a nice tray in the cutout which is an excellent place to keep the Robart electronic gear actuator box and coil up the leads, as well as in my configuration mounting a G370A MEMS gyro in there for the ailerons. Also adds more of the weight upfront vs. in the back that you'll need, so hopefully when all is said and done no extra weight is needed with the EVO7-777 up front on CDI. Now watch... I'll need some tail weight! haha
03-30-2015, 10:06 AM
#1744
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When I purchased my plane from Fred C. it came with a pint of blue and a pint of catalyst. He had it specially made for the plane to match exactly. I am changing color schemes and no longer need it, but don't want to throw it out. If there is anyone interested in the paint, let me know and we can work something out (close by delivery is free, sending to China isn't). I am sure I can figure this out.
Andy
Andy
03-30-2015, 11:02 AM
#1745
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Chorner,
I used different servos than the manual recommended. I used Spektrum A5040 servos. A little bigger, but the outer one fits into the opening on the wing panel when you slide it on, so no issues there. As far as flutter, they just seemed a little jerky when opening or closing, but I also had them slowed way down via servo speed on the transmitter, so that might of had something to do with it. I don't think he's (my customer) had any problems with the doors as I'm sure I would have heard about it from him. I didn't do any reinforcing of the doors at all, just CAREFULLY heated them with a hot air gun to get them to conform to the shape of the wing.
I used different servos than the manual recommended. I used Spektrum A5040 servos. A little bigger, but the outer one fits into the opening on the wing panel when you slide it on, so no issues there. As far as flutter, they just seemed a little jerky when opening or closing, but I also had them slowed way down via servo speed on the transmitter, so that might of had something to do with it. I don't think he's (my customer) had any problems with the doors as I'm sure I would have heard about it from him. I didn't do any reinforcing of the doors at all, just CAREFULLY heated them with a hot air gun to get them to conform to the shape of the wing.
03-30-2015, 06:55 PM
#1746
When I purchased my plane from Fred C. it came with a pint of blue and a pint of catalyst. He had it specially made for the plane to match exactly. I am changing color schemes and no longer need it, but don't want to throw it out. If there is anyone interested in the paint, let me know and we can work something out (close by delivery is free, sending to China isn't). I am sure I can figure this out.
Andy
Andy
03-31-2015, 05:09 PM
#1748
The ends of the control surfaces, I added balsa and shaped/sanded to match the adjacent piece. I will be covering it with fiberglass to match the rest of the plane that I have fully covered in fiberglass. As for the surfaces, that is fiberglass, sanded and spot putty from car finish that fills any imperfections. Next is primer, sanded, then paint.
03-31-2015, 07:46 PM
#1749
03-31-2015, 07:57 PM
#1750
p.s- your flaps look good so far. Got them, finished yet?
Last edited by chorner; 03-31-2015 at 08:07 PM.