Hey guys,
IM building a 3dfoamy edge 540 and right now im in the process on installing the elevator halfs. I have the horiz. stab glued in place allready with the ply center hinge in place. What is the best way on glueing the 2 halfs on? Should I bevel the elevator hinge line before glueing the joiner on one half? Looks like the cut outs for the rod on the elevator are cut deeper than the rod is itself. So when sliding the the joiner rod through the hinge plate, the elevator will hit the stab. I dont know. What did everybody else do?

Bevel the Elevator side first (before joining) that little gap is to compensate for the bevel. Then glue the joiner rod to ONE of the elevator halves.... Let is dry or cure.

Then slide it through. TAPE the elevator halves inline with the hor. stab and glue the other side to the joiner rod.

Should be perfectly in line with it taped. You can then permanatly hinge the elevator halves with hinge points or just tape it.

Does that help???

Ill try it that way.. See if that works.. Thanks!!! If not ill let you konw

I used 4 CA hinges on each aileron. Do you think it will have flutter unless I seal the hinge gap? I'm not worried about the aileron coming off, but I don't want to shake the servos loose.

I repaired the CA damage to the rudder of the plane, but I wasn't able to use CA hinges. I used packing tape instead. Here is the latest pic. All it needs are the servos and power system now. Nothing fancy with the paint job. I just hope she flies right!

-Clay

You should be fine, just keep it under mach .57

I flew around with half a stab (powerline won) and it still flew great....

In the plans for the 3DFoamy Pitts, does the black and white circle represent the recommended CG?

Does it look like I have the battery and receiver in approximately the right position? It balances where the trailing edge of the center strut enters the upper wing (which is in line with the black and white circle, and practically in line with the leading edge of the lower wing).

I'm going for my maiden flight this afternoon, I hope.

I found out that I really had to tighten up the pull-pull lines if I wanted to get 3D travel on the tail controls. This makes it hard on the elevator design if you just use packing tape and light ply for the hinge. I plan to use CA hinges on all control surfaces next time. They really worked well on the ailerons and they help zero the control surfaces perfectly when you release the sticks.

Thanks,
Clay

Yup, CG is that checkered circle. Batt location depends on your paint, motor, batt..etc... so just put it where you need to in order to balance. Good luck on the flying!

I will say this about the 3DFoamy Pitts, it flies more like a large plane than it does a foamy. With the carbon fiber gear installed and 2.5" Eflite wheels, I took off and landed on a basketball court with no surprises. If you didn't know any better, you would think it was a full scale plane during take-offs and landings. I was very pleased at this. I'm even thinking about removing the tail skid and installing a steerable tail wheel so I can taxi the darn thing just for kicks.

Although I didn't crash, I didn't keep it in the air long. Something wasn't quite right. I think it might be the way I had the motor mounted, but I can't be sure. I didn't have any right thrust built into the motor mount, and it was a little off center. Even though the air frame is straight and the control surfaces were all perfectly zeroed, it wanted to turn and roll left the entire time. It didn't like to turn right at all. I kept it on low rates the entire time and just did a few slow circles. It did fly level, with no tendency to climb or dive.

Anyway, I modified the motor mount tonight and gave it some right thrust. I hope to fly it tomorrow and see how it responds. Does this sound like a 'lack of right thrust' issue to anybody? If not, does anybody have any suggestions?

-Clay

I went with some very thin music wire. I then cut up a small control rod tube and glued four 1/4" pieces of them in line back to the rudder. Same thing as the elevator. It seems to work out just fine. I set my Edge up the same way. I'm just waiting on a motor before I maiden the Edge. I used some CA hinges on the Edge and my Citabria. I've used the packing tape and found myself taping more than flying.

I have to agree with you on the way you described the Bipe. The Citabria flies alot like a full scale plane. I love the way I can turn it on a dime with rudder. I can't wait to try the F-18..

--Scott Fuller

I have some spare music wire that I thought about using instead of the pull-pull lines. I may go back and change it, but for now the pull-pull lines seem to be working. I tightened them up enough so that I'm getting 3D travel rates now.

As for the way my Pitts keeps banking left, I figured out that it wasn't due to a lack of right thrust. I'm almost positive that its due to my batter location. I put the battery exactly where the plans dictate, and the CG is where its supposed to be front to back. However, it isn't balanced right to left because the battery is on the left. I'm going to try moving the battery to the right side and see if it straightens out any. If not, I may have to move it further towards the top of the fuselage. I don't know about you guys, but I like having my planes perfectly balanced with the control surfaces at zero. I don't want to have to add right trim to the ailerons just to make it fly straight.

Anyway, if none of that works, I might try adding a counter-weight on the rear half of the fuselage. I hate to add weight, but I will if necessary. I haven't tried any 3D yet, cause I want the plane to fly straight first.

Just an update to my situation. I moved the battery to the right side of the fuselage (viewed from the cockpit) and this solved the balance issue completely. The plane now flies totally straight with no trim needed anywhere.

Whats more, I finally got to play around with this thing on 3D Rates. This plane is awesome. I have to admit I had some frustration with the assembly, and its taken me a while to get the pull-pull lines worked out and the CG where I need it. However, after finally getting this plane dialed in, it flies amazing. You seriously cannot tell that you are flying a piece of foam. It really is that good. I can't speak for the rest of the 3DFoamy line, but the Pitts has an awesome design.

This thing will hover and torque roll on command. Very slow and low knife edges are easy - very little rudder or speed is needed. It tucks towards the belly like most planes, but its easy to mix or fly out. Elevators are THE BEST! I swear I have never had a plane do elevators as good as this plane. There was absolutely no wing rock and it dropped with the nose just barely high! The plane was almost parallel to the ground and it slowly but steadily dropped straight down (virtually) just like an elevator is supposed to look! Harriers are beautiful, although I still haven't perfected them. I also haven't learned how to do rolling harriers, but I tried today and came closer with this plane than any other I've had. I didn't try any flat spins or blenders yet, because I didn't have the battery strapped on good enough for something that violent yet. I hope to do those tomorrow. The plane flies inverted with just a touch of down elevator (the way I like it). Rolls are very axial, and stall turns are beautiful.

I don't know what else to say, the plane just flies perfect now. It almost makes me want to completely forget about ever flying glow or gas planes again. I hope to get some video soon.

When you don't follow your own advice, bad things are bound to happen. I was trying to show my father-in-law how good this bird flew. Well, it was a small parking lot with light poles and a few cars. I was just going to take off, circle around a few times and land. Right when I was bringing her in for a landing, the cell phone on my hip rings and a car drives into view right next to my landing area. I had her on low rates for a smooth landing, and didn't have the control throw I needed when I realized I was going to smack a light pole. I usually have no problems flying in small areas, but the combination of the distractions (cell phone and car) plus the fact she was on low rates was enough to seal my fate. Another factor was that I was trying to land on the edge of the parking lot because most of the lot had small gravel covering the surface. I wasn't sure how well the 2.5" Eflite wheels could take that.

Anyway, not sure how well she will fly after the repairs. After hitting the light pole, she dropped 30 feet nose first into the pavement. The entire nose broke off completely right behind the motor mount. I was really ticked off at myself. It was one of those situations where I was telling myself before I took off - I really shouldn't fly here...

If only I had listened.

-Clay

Good story... Make sure to look at the very last page in the manual, and also the printed sheet that was in the kit... That Crash Coupon may come in handy!

Yep, I placed the order as soon as I got home. I hope it gets here soon.

I ended up taking 2 pieces of carbon fiber rod (from an old plane) and running them along the fuselage. I glued them to the motor mount ply and the fuselage. It should provide plenty of stiffness, but I'm not sure if the thrust angle on the engine is perfect anymore. I flew it yesterday after repairs, but I couldn't tell how straight she flew because I was flying in 10-12mph winds. At least I can keep flying until I get the new one assembled.

I wish I would have taken a picture of the damage, but I was so eager to get it back together, I forgot. Here are pictures of the repairs. Keep in mind that the nose was completely broken off. The break went from the top (right in front of the center strut) all the way to the bottom (right in front of the gear ply). The motor mount ply was undamaged, the fuselage broke right behind the end of it. With my next plane, I may actually glue a carbon fiber spar along the side of the fuselage before I even fly it. If I ran it from the motor mount all the way back to the tail of the plane, it should prevent anything this catastrophic if I ditch her nose first again.

By the way, one thing I didn't mention yet. I bought the Du-bro Micro Pushrod System for the aileron servos. They work awesome and the kit is less than $5 at Tower Hobbies. They are fully adjustable and re-usable. Very easy to install and light weight. I recommend them to anyone building a foamy or lightweight electric plane.

Levi, I really like the setup you provide for the aileron joiner rods. That makes installation easy and they should be re-usable for the next plane. The carbon provided for the aileron pushrods looked a little flimsy, though. It would probably work fine, but I just opted for the ease and strength of the Du-bro system.

-Clay