I'm working on some short kits now. Gimme a few days.

Take your time, Summer's still a ways off and I've heard the SD builds pretty quick. Looking forward to it.

Mike Mike Mike guess what day it is...






Ailerons / Tailerons

X-Ray day? I'm stumped.. mind you this was yesterday.. I know it's my kid's birthday. Not the anniversary of the X-29 first flight, that was December '84. Did something obvious go over my head (not unusual)? Are you even talking to me? Am I going crazy?

Lol yes for you Mike...in reference to laser cut short kits = }
Ever fly a forward swept design? Hard to stall them and able to do flat spins with ease.
Also having some fun with a state side Geico insurance commercial.

Don't we have some sort of a national Butterfly Day...?
Here is the Morris Hobbies Spinsation.
It would make a fun 1/2 A project, too.
I gave some thought to building a forward swept to help rake in streamers for RC combat. I'd have to check the rules again, but I think it is legal. Not a gross amount of "advance", but just enough to provide an advantage.

Is it legal to string a piece of fine music wire on standoffs ahead of the LE? Probably not. I wondered about FS wings for combat now and then. I wonder how many scarves it would have around the neck by the time it landed.

Now Skipper - yes, I am picking away at the cutting. I had to separate my parts sets into smaller sets for efficiency - meaning instead of cutting one kit worth of 1/8" parts out of one blank, I am instead cutting each part separately in bulk sets. So I have been plotting those out and cutting test sets. Much more efficient. I need a handful of days before I'm done, but it is happening. I'm kinda easing back into the sideline commitment issue if you know what I mean.

I have been using 1/8" birch 3-ply for all the 1/8" lite-ply parts, and I am still very pleased with it, haven't found any reason not to be. Slightly more dense than lite-ply, big deal, much nicer looking wood, smooth exterior finish. The parts look great to me, I compared tendency to warp (is anything worse than lite-ply?), kerf angles and cleanliness of cut, rigidity and strength bla bla...and decided they were as good as anything other parts I looked over as examples from my horde of unstarted and mostly-ignored kits. It'll work great. 5' x 5' = $12.49 Cdn. That will do 15+ kits. And ther eare a few 1/16" bits to do yet.

I need a modelling buddy to take to the street, so I can put him up in the basement with a bed and fridge, then put him to work building for me while I'm at work. Or give him room and board, and he can pay my bills while I stay home and build. There's gotta to be a way. Oh yeah the lottery.

Well, I managed to get everything to fit, but poor planning and hasty decisions cost a lot of time.
You should always do a full size side view drawing showing all of the on board equipment and linkages before cutting the first rib or fuselage side.
I ended up redoing just about everything that is screwed into place before it all fit.
The control system is sort of Rinky-Dink looking with the .038 MIG wire and 1/16" plywood control horns. It seems stiff enough, we'll see later about that.
Same goes for the fin area. I've misjudged several fin areas before...I like them on the small side for appearance sake. It would be a good idea to outfit the plane with removable tip fins and use them like "training wheels" for the first flights.
It looks like it will end up in the 7 oz range RTF, so this old TD ought to be able to just barely make it airworthy.

Looks perfect. The Blink is a beeyatch to fit everything as well. Underhand launches from the fin worked alright.

Skipper - I'm trying to get my head around the segue from flat spins to Geico commercials.. is there a missing link?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlFg-a1AJCU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjIME2BweZ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmlK6xodMLk Here you go = )

CP the loop trick is new to me I always make a V type. The rudder looks good mucho better. Is that the 200mah Life RX batt? On two servos should be good for 4 flights I would imagine.

MJD...I couldn't get the RX to fit, so after finding out that there is no "end connector" version for the DX6 radio, I tore out the floor and grafted extra material onto the center ribs, then replaced the floor. The covering will have a tougher time conforming to the assymetry underneath, but it's at least hidden undeneath where I won't have to look at it.
The later model Spektrum radios do have end style RXs and they would easily fit, being only something like 3/8" tall.

PS, thanks for your vote of confidence with the fin. This model is built largely out of that punky wood that is as resilient as a graham cracker so the first test hop will be with reduced power.
I got a couple 200 mah LIFEs and a LIFE charger from Tower. The charger output is wired backwards, so I'll either return it or just tell them to send me another one that they've tested.
I used the 200 LIFE already with the TWERP and that really put the vertical performance over the top. It shaved over an ounce off the original weight with a AAA cell pack.

CP: Thanks for the heads-up on those batteries. The smallest I've been able to get from HK are 600mah. Those are fine in a normal 1/2A, but not something like the Blink. I quit buying "can-batteries" over a year ago in favor of LiFe packs. I love 'em.

These don't have a balance wire, but the idea is that they ought to provide decent service for their size and cost.

How many flights on a single charge did the 200mah manage with the Twerp?

I put a few flights on it and didn't notice much drop off between readings. The charger isn't working right, so I've got no idea what the state of charge is. To put in 3 or 4 full flights the battery is plugged in for about an hour typically.
With just 2 or 3 of these batteries ready to go, that equals a pretty satisfying session of flying with the smallest planes.

The Blink got treated to the finest cellophane covering money can buy. About 30 cents worth, plus 10 cents worth of 3M77 to apply it and 25 cents worth of clear packing tape to seal the seams.
Tissue and dope would have been much nicer, but I'll reserve that method for when I get the urge to slave over a "proven" model someday.
Before covering it weighed 6.4 ozs and it weighs 7.0 now.
If the weather is decent tomorrow, I'll give it a toss but I don't want to get the camera any wetter than it already is.
There is usually a break in the rain drops some time during the day.

The HK LiFe packs I am using (20+) never seem to need balancing. I never charge at less than 2C, either. The discharge of LiFe cells is so flat that even a load-tester is useless for checking the state of charge. All you can do is keep track of how much it takes to top them off versus how many flights you made to determine when you HAVE to charge them.

I have read some of these blinks came in the 8oz range one builder stated he was in the 7.5oz range so this one at 7oz may very well be the lightest on record. The red and white will pop in the sky for chur...should be 2:1 + thrust to weight. Typical 12oz to 18oz depending on prop with a TD.

Is that a 5 x 3?

That ought to make launching it fairly easy.

Yes, I'll almost always use a rubber 5 x 3 for the first flights of a plane like this. I'm only worried about the fin being too small.
I had one scratch design launch OK but it "fish-tailed"...it just needed a wee bit more fin.
Some designs would just do a flat 180 at launch and "pancake in".
There is an invisible line that cant be crossed and I'm hoping that this plane is sleek enough up front in the side view to not need much help. It would be nice to have a simple fixture that could cradle the plane and allow it to pitch and yaw while safely suspended. All I can visualize involves impaling the plane at it's global [plan view] CG and suspending it on string inside an air handler unit.
That might test yaw stability, but it would impede pitch movement. For pitch, the plane would need to be skewered at the side view's CG [like corn on the cob holders] and allowed to swim in a bath of moving air to test pitch stability.
IIRC, the most thrust I ever measured from a TD was 16 ozs with a 5.7 x 3. I made a test stand that was pretty close to a miniature "Universal Gym" bench press station and had the engines "helicopter" weights off the floor. By tapping the slide guided engine mount I ensured that the engine was getting full credit for max effort. The only casualty was smoking a new AP .061 because the forward end of the crank ran dry after prolonged vertical running with no real break in.

http://youtu.be/9SYpNi-2DJE Today was just too nice to not maiden The Blink.
It was over 60 degrees this morning and sunny..a very unusual combo for January.
The engine of choice was a TD that runs well, but it's not a screamer. The first flight had a little too much elevator, but the launch was pretty solid and the controls were set within the limited range of the trim buttons. With a 5 x 3 turning less than 20,000 it was slow but just effortless during the climbs. I had the roll rate set so low that it was like flying a Q-500.
The fin proved to be adequate.
I returned to the field this afternoon with a AME .061 / 4.2 x 4 combo up front and got some video. The camera still has blurry spots that could be moisture under the lens.
The engine has too much fuel demand for the very small bladder tubing I chose for this plane. To go up to the next size, I'll need to remodel the fuel compartment and make it taller.
At least there is a few seconds of good running on the video to give you all a taste of it. I would have loved to show off the vertical climb, but the engine went too lean and a gaggle of full scale planes clogged up the sky over head.

Your data file can be best viewed at 480dpi per youtube maybe its time to get a 1080p head cam they are cheap these days and compensate for low light levels and faster moving objects year round.

I noticed it tried to torque off a tad on luanch the rudder took grip as the speed went up all was well.

The delta was flying great and you know you have something here!! Tach out 80 + ish mph so far there is enough prop thrust so its all gravy time in speed.

It was like the good bad and the ugly movie going on here, the good at first the bad lil fuel draw issue than that ugly fat arse plane flying over lol...