8178

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rainedav

When I finished the build on my Tiporare last year I decided it was time to upgrade my radio gear. I’d been flying for decades with my narrow banded Kraft 77 Series seven channel AM TX with RCD dual conversion receivers and using Futaba servos. Because I had a number of flight packs with Futaba servos it seemed like it would be best to go with a Futaba system.

I first ordered the Futaba 7CAP PCM system that came with S3151 digital servos and I really liked they way they worked. But before I could install the system I discovered that the TX had the count down timer software problem so I sent it all back to Tower to get a new system without the software problem. The new system arrived and it had a piece of plastic floating around inside the display.

I was starting to get discouraged so I sent that system back and ordered the Futaba 9CAPS PCM system that came with the R149DP PCM nine channel receiver and digital servos. It worked perfectly, so I started upgrading six of my RCD AM flight packs to Futaba receivers using four R138DP PCM receivers and two R127DF PPM receivers. They all have worked flawlessly.

It has taken awhile to become comfortable with the Futaba TX because it has a different feel than my old Kraft TX but I like all the programmable features. I still use the Kraft system with my Kwik Fli III and two other classics.

The Futaba coreless servos that you are considering seem like a very good value and were the hot thing with all the pattern flyers. My friend used them in his Blue Angel. I noticed today, that Tower shows the R127DF as discontinued. That’s odd because at $59.99 it seemed to be a great value for a seven channel PPM receiver.

rainedave

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Good info. The 127 is being replaced with the 8ch R168DF dual conversion FM. Somebody somewhere said the FCC type acceptance is only good for 10 years and that it's easier to release a new product than to renew a type licence. Tower is selling it for $59.99.

The 3151s are only $5 more than the analog 9001s, so it makes more sense to just go digital now that I think about it.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

For $5 they might be better and the S3151s use the standard wire size unlike the S9252 that require the heavy duty large wire and large switch harness.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

I completed more work on the vertical stab assembly. The stab frame had been covered on both sides with 1/16" balsa sheets.

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

After the main part of the vertical stab was complete, I shaped the leading edge and the marked the top of the block that is under the stab so that I could carve away some balsa. This carving was done to start the shaping of the block so that the shape will flow into the bottom edge of the stab. The shape is very complex and is dictated by the taper of the fuselage tail and the shape of the vertical stab. After some rough shaping I decided to glue the stab onto the block so that I could sand the final shape. Before gluing the stab to the block I did a lot of checking to make sure that the stab was exactly aligned to the nose of the fuselage and 90 degrees to the fuselage wing mount.

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

The sides of the block must be sanded so that it makes a transition to the stab at the same angle as the stab sides but also continue the taper of the fuselage top and sides. To keep from sanding away the bottom sides of the stab, the front of the block where it meets the fuselage and the sides of the block that will hold the horizontal stab, I used masking tape on the edges. Still more sanding to do but I’m making progress.

To be continued…

Jim_Purcha

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Forget posting this thread under Pattern planes or even RC Universe for that matter. Let's get it posted under the website of Fine Woodworking. Looking great Mike. Beautiful carving on the tail.

vasek

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I have to agree, it must be preserved as a sculpture... not sure if it should be covered with plastic

BTW you are keeping the shavings, right? you could build another .40 plane from that....

roncoleman

My Feedback: (14)

Outstanding workmanship. Would you say the fin to fuse area was the
hardest part of this project? I bet some of the ARF guys are still trying
to close their mouths after seeing this latest bit of your balsa wood magic.

Ron

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Definitely falls in the category of artisanship. This is above and beyond cutting out parts and glueing them together. Maybe you should cover the fuse with silk & dope so the wood shows through.

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

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Receivers are not type accepted in the usual sense, just transmitters.

There are regulations regarding spurious emissions from the digital portion (microprocessor) of receiving devices, but no one is going to come after you if your receiver violates the 1998 rules regarding the power level of the emissions, etc.

While the 127DF is a fine receiver, I have always found the Hitec Supreme 8 channel receivers to be a bit tighter. No, I have not using test equipment to form this opinion, just flying experience over multiple seasons. Still, the 127DF worked just fine.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Thank you all for the wonderful comments. You guys are making me “blush”!

Seriously, if it wasn’t for the generosity of Ron Ellis providing the plans and canopy, Dan Hines at Carolina Custom Aircraft [email protected] providing the wing and stab cores and Tony Howard at Howard Engineering making canopies this project would not be happening. So many thanks go to Ron, Dan and Tony for making my dream of building a Blue Angel possible.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

I did some more finish sanding on the vertical stab base block and then started on the stab top and the rudder. The first step was gluing the hardwood edge on the rudder and the trailing edge of the rudder top piece.

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

More work was completed on the rudder and vertical stab top. It’s odd that when Yoshioka modified the tail on the original Kato Blue Angel design to make it narrower he made the back of the fuselage wider than the lower part of the rudder. The very back edge of the fuselage is still squared off and the edges will be rounded as per the plan.

To be continued…

rainedave

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Mike, I'm a bit confused. So the MK plans you're building from have the Yoshioka tail? How did the FK SBA Speeda differ from the original Kato design and the MK kit?

I'm looking forward to your canopy arriving so we can all see the great work you'll do on the nose.

David

8178

My Feedback: (17)

The original Blue Angel Kato variants had a wide area at the tail like a jet exhaust. Yoshioka redesigned Kato’s design to make the tail narrow and eliminated the exhaust area along with a few other changes. Yoshioka’s improved design became the MK Blue Angel kit and then FK copied the MK Blue Angel shapes and called it a SBA Speeda. The FK kit had a glass fuselage and a foam wing. Only the MK wood kit uses the plastic canopy.

As a side note, after redesigning Kato’s design Yoshioka then beat Kato in competition and went on to win the world championships.

See the image below that shows Kato’s variants on the right and Yoshioka improved design on the left.

The canopy should be available soon. Tony discovered he was out of large size plastic sheets last week and had to drive from north of Seattle to south Seattle today to pick up more.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

More images of the tail assembly. What an amazing bit of design work!

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Like many R/C builders I always love it when I get to the point that I can tape parts together to see the big picture and make OS 61SF ABC-P running with a tuned pipe sounds.

To be continued…

grotto2

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..................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMmmmmmmmmm.............

rainedave

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Nice doppler effect grotto2

vasek

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even I am starting to salivate & it's not my plane.... [X(]

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Great news! Tony has the canopies done and I should have some in a few days! It was quite a project and Tony will be updating the Blue Angel canopy thread soon at http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4107817/tm.htm .

To be continued…

8178

My Feedback: (17)

While I’m waiting for the canopies I started some planning work on the wing. The wing airfoil is about 15.5% at the root and tip making it very thin compared to the typical 1974 pattern ship. Originally I hoped that Dan could cut the wing cores so I could cover the wing and cutout the ailerons but the wing shape is too thin at the tip and root so Dan had to cut the trailing edge off. The taper of the wing and sweep back makes the cutting process very complex. Dan’s cutoff location prepared the wing so I could easily add the ¼” balsa cap that goes in front of the aileron hinge line.

Because I could not use the foam trailing edge for ailerons I ordered custom cut balsa aileron stock from Dynamic Balsa. The stock will be 1 1/2“ wide and the length of the wing panel. The leading edge of the taper will be 5/8” and 1/8” at the trailing edge. Those measurements take care of the wing root with a little extra to be planed off. At the tip, the leading edge will be planed down to less than 3/8”. The 1/8” trailing balsa edge will have my usual hardwood and will be planed down to a fairly sharp edge. I’m really impressed that the folks at Dynamic Balsa would take time to cut some custom ailerons for me. Only $10 each plus shipping.

I found an interesting note in the Blue Angel article that impactiq sent me. Yoshioka said that the thin ailerons were designed to flex a little at the tip at high speed, reducing the aileron sensitivity. Sounds like a formula for aileron flutter to me. To reduce the flex I ordered medium weight balsa for the ailerons.

To be continued…

FSFLYER

My Feedback: (12)

8178, why did you go with the foam cores as opposed the the built up wing?

8178

My Feedback: (17)

I enjoy building built-up wings but this Blue Angel will be much faster than the original that was powered with an un-piped lower power engine so I wanted a really strong and true wing. I also wanted the lightest wing structure possible. Dynamic Balsa has some good comparison information on wing construction http://www.dbalsa.com/foam_wings/foamwingmain.htm