Neurotex

I got a chance this morrning to try out the SW with the
Piper Cub wing. After some trimming I got it flying pretty
good. It won't fly straight up but it will hover vertical with
the wind just right. Not quite enough power to lift that extra
6 grams but at a 45 degree angle it climbs like crazy.

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

using the rudder as an elevator would work for sure, you could probably even use the prop torque to steer a bit.

the wings look great! the 4:1 7mm gearbox at BSD will do nearly 30 grams of thrust with the purple motor at less than .9A. and all for less than the weight of an N20, most thrust than an N20, and at less than of an amp draw. now those are some good numbers

i cant remember the resistance of the stock SW motor off hand, but its probably like the orange or red 7mm, so 15-20+ grams of thrust i'd guess.

the electronics could come to around 9 grams or less...how light can you build a 12-14 inch S&T bird with ailerons, elevator, and rudder?

nick

Neurotex

I would guess the stock SW motor/gears puts out at least 20 - 25 grams
of thrust. The smaller AA motors put out 10 each and the SW seems more
than double that to me.

I'm guessing a S&T with a 12"- 14" wingspan could be made under 6 grams
if you really skimped on the structure and used an airbrush to coat it.
I'll bet even less if you paid attention to every detail in weight as you built
it, using CF tubing and only covering half the tail and maybe the wing.

I was out the other day flying the white wing SW mod and it wouldn't turn
its first minute with a full charge on full throttle. The plane is too quick as
the air flow past the rudder won't allow it to move. I have to slow the plane
down and then turn. This is the actuator I made and not the stock one. I'm
wondering if I didn't coil enough turns to give it full capacity. After a minute,
when the lipo drains off some what and the plane slows down, it turns fine.

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

Hey guys, I have a question. Should I use my 20 watt iron to solder the leads back in my acrobat? Or use the 45w iron I use for my ace stuff? Since my nephew broke the plane I'll fix the up/down issue, during the repair. I am worried about the heat dispersion and melting the leads. This is a splice, not a heat and dip. Tim

Here is a pic of what I'm building now. Radio gear is my hang up

Neurotex

I would think any iron would work. The problem I found
was getting the wire stripped and cleaned properly.
I stripped the ends with a lighter, sanded the tips and
then used liquid cleaning flux to finally get the solder to stick.

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

I thought I hear someone say that the wire would melt if to much heat was applied.

Tim

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

hi Tim,

i use an old Weller 60W iron for 98% of my soldering jobs. i've got a 15 or 20W pencil type iron for the really small stuff. i prefer using a higher watt iron, it melts the solder instantly and only takes a second to make a good solder joint, as apposed to using a lower watt iron that takes longer to heat things up, which eventually heats up everything else. since it only takes a second to melt the solder, i usually dont have to worry about melting the plastic coating.

if its magnet wire with the clear enamel coating, i just get a little blob of solder on the tip of the iron and dip the end of the wire into it for a few seconds. this strips the wire and gives a nice thin coat of solder. works preatty well.

nick

Neurotex

I agree with micro. The low heat iron is more work and creates a mess.
If you get the wire clean from the start it only take a quick dab to make
the connections. Hardly enough time to melt the wire.

Neurotex

I took another SW apart to start another project. Ended up
destroying the stock actuator again because they dump too
much glue into it. Also the wire was so brittle at the rx it just
fell off. I'm postive this is where the actuator wire goes on the
rx- if I'm wrong, let me know. (shown with red dot)

Looks like it's back to brushing up my skills wrapping wire again...

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

hey Neurotex,
the red dot is indeed the placement for the actuator wire.

with the RX, motor, and lipo all together like that, you've almost got a swappable system. if actuators werent so fussy, it would be pretty easy to switch from one plane to another. i'm thinking about using the RX from the Dragonfly onri which uses a 6mm tail motor for rudder control. it seems to work very well and is a lot easier to mount than an actuator!

nick

Neurotex

Thanks, I was 99% sure but wanted to be positive.
This is the same set up I have in the SW mod with the Piper Cub wing
and it works great except, like you say, making and installing the
actuator is a pain.
How does the motor work in the tail? This is on a plane?

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

Guys, you need to check out the pz micro cessna.

Tim

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

hey Tim,
i've had my eye on the cessna since febuary actually, its the electronics i've been waiting for, i've been wanting to get some falcon gear, but its just too expensive for my tiny, little, itty-bitty budget. the cessna gear will make for good competition and hopefully drop the price further on both brands. i've had a few projects waiting in the wings for a long time simply because actuators wouldnt cut it and normal micro servos were just too big. this is the (cheaper) in-between i was waiting for.

Neurotex,
the dragonfly (the one with the flapping wings) doesnt use an actuator/rudder to turn, they went with a bladerunner type deal with a tail motor driving a prop to turn left/right. the RX, tail boom and tail motor/prop are all mounted on one peice, so if i could rig up an easy way to attatch a wing and some tail feathers, i wouldnt have to mess with anything but the motor and lipo. now thats easy building

nick

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

Guys, I just got a shipment of batteries in. All the specifics are on the aeroace thread.

Tim

jeffsimmons

I got one of the Silverlit single wing planes and actually like it. It did take me a little while to figure out how to fly it, but now that I have, I'm addicted. I get about 3 to 5 minutes of flight time as well, which is just enough to make me want to fly it again. I found mine at [link=http://www.brohauns.com]www.brohauns.com[/link] and got what I think is a pretty good deal at around 15.00 and they shipped it to me using priority mail.. I got it in 3 days .. good folks at brohauns.com easy to deal with. I've dug a few holes with my plane and have proven it's nearly unbreakable (at least so far hehe) Anyways, that's my .02 .. I like it, and for the price it's a lot of fun.

Neurotex

If you can get one jeff, install a lipo and triple your flight times.

I'm working on an Intruder for the SW. The guts are in the bottom
fuselage. Now I have to make an actuator (broke the original) and
solder it to the board (broke off both actuator leads). A lot of work
ahead of me on this one.

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

lookin' good neurotex. is there dihedral in the wings? i cant tell from the pic.

you and actuators sure do have an interesting history [

nick

Neurotex

My actuators I make look like a tangled glue glob but they work... some how!
The previous pics show the paper cut out from a 3 view. I built up the wing last
night and am now covering & doping. It has a slight dihedral to it.
The wing looks small for the SW... but seems to fit nice on the AA. I might
strap it on the AA first to test it out.

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

good thing magnetic fields dont care about the looks of coils

i thought those first two pics were foam and printed tissue, but the s&t wing looks really nice. if the wing is the right size for the SW gearbox/prop, you could get some fun aerobatics out of it probably. it has so much prop torque!

keep us posted

nick

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

i got my first SWP on the 19th of October '06, the one mentioned at the very begining of this thread. i had 3 others besides that one, but that first one was always the best of the bunch. that SWP has been shelved for quite a long time now, untill this past weekend. i strapped a 220mah lipo to it and remembered why i think this is one of the best micro RTFs on the market. even with its stock 3 cell NiMH pack you get AA-like flight times, with the 220mah lipo, i must've been out there for at least 20 minutes (when i got back in i checked the voltage and it was at 3.65v). this plane does about 3 times as many neat little stunts and tricks as any of my AAs or other micro RTFs do too. awesome little plane, i suggest it to anyone, and if you get a crappy one, trim it till it flys like its supposed to and you'll love it (if not, its only 20 bucks ).

nick