br@m

Check out the Xtreme Battery Straps by Puretech at http://www.puretechproducts.com/products

They are excellent quality.

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Thanks, Those are just the ticket!

Rendegade

Looks good. what are you using for the canopy plug finishing? Are you going to vac-form a canopy off that too?

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Thanks. The canopy plug has been painted with Klasscoat epoxy paint. Very simular to the old K&B epoxy paints. The next step is to wax the plug with Part All wax then apply a coat of PVA mold release. A surface coat of resin with black tint will be brushed on and when dry a layer of 2 oz cloth followed by 4 layers of 6 oz cloth. The mold will then be pulled from the plug and be ready to use for the actual part production. When I designed the canopy I used a canopy off a Comp ARF Extra 330 3M to make what would be the clear section. If I decide to go clear rather then paint I can just order a Comp ARF canopy and fit in the same fashion as they do.

woodie

Home Depot and Lowes carry a nice selection of Velcro straps and adhesive backed Velcro. It is usually located in the hardware (bolts, nuts, fittings) area.

As for your question about material for templates. I use(d) hard balsa with a length of small diameter piano wire ca'd to the edge. After ca'ing the piano wire on, sand the outside edge with very fine sandpaper (600-1000 grit) and the nichrome cutting wire will slide in it very well.

Woodie
Team Acme LG
Team Blenderm

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Not much progress, work has really picked up so models have had to take a back seat. Still hope to have her flying by April. I did manage to get the canopy mold made and laid up the canopy and mated it to the frame.

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Not alot of time lately to work on thew airplane but that changed some this week. My fiancee and I cut some cores and I got the wing sockets installed. Today I glued on the wing root ribs and will be sheeting the wings over the weekend. I will post some more pictures and a bare airplane weight sometime next week. I have been reading that most of you guys are using 3900 to 4400 MAH batteries? Pretty sure I went overkill with my 5000 packs. Need to shave some weight, as of right now it looks like I will be at around 11.5 lbs

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

I realized I hadn't really kept up with this thread. Finished her up a week ago sans color. After the test flight tomorrow I will start adding the trim as time allows. With a 2200 mah RX battery and a pair of Zippy 5000 mah batteries she weighs in at 11 lb 3 oz. Switching out the batteries and a few minor things will get me below 11 lb. So far I estimate I have just slightly less then 800.00 total investment. This includes all the electronics less TX

Stuart Chale

Very cool. You will probably find that you can go much smaller on the reeceiver pack. Most guys (and gals) flying 2 meter pattern planes are using 1 700 to 900 mah lipo or 2 450's on a regulator For a full 8 minute pattern flight a 2 meter electric bird only pulls 50 to 75 mah out of the pack.

Stuart

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Stuart, yes I agree my RX pack is way overkill. What I have found after 13 years of IMAC flying is that the big gassers bounce the control surfaces quite a bit and that is the major power draw. I have a 900 mah lipo RX pack and a couple 5 cell 4500 mah batteries on order and that should get me to legal weight. If the airplane works as designed I will be able to fly a little slower then I have observed some of the newer pattern ships flying. I have seen some mighty thin airfoils out there. It's funny, we have gone that route with the big IMAC types to be better snap performance because the IMAC sequences are full of snaps. In the pattern advanced sequence there are only two snaps and one of those, the avalanche has the airplane loaded positive so poping a neg snap is no issue with the thicker airfoils I am using. The second is on a 45 degree downline so a quick pop of up elevator followed by rudder and aileron will get the job done there too. I'm pretty excited about the test hop tomorrow and will report back with my findings.

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Got in 3 flights today. Needs a little tweaking. The main thing is the CG is a little aft. Other then that and the 19X12 APC prop didn't give the vertical that is needed for the advanced sequence but that was expected. The motor and speed control temp was checked after each flight and were barely warm so the system will handle a bigger prop without issue. Being a 230KV motor, I doubt that it will handle the usual 21.5X14 that most guys seem to be running so I am looking for some suggestions. I was thinking 22X10 or 22X12.


I would like to extend a big thanks to Luke for letting me use 3 of his battery packs to do the test flights!

mithrandir

My Feedback: (2)

IMHo, She needs some taller gear to get rid of the Weiner Dawg look!! lol

Nice to see some handicraft applied though!!

Keep us posted on the flight test and maybe a vid??

woodie

Congrats on the first flights. My guess is the 22x12 will be a pretty big load on the motor/esc combo. It was the prop of choice several years ago when the lure of electric was the very slow flight with great braking on the downlines. However, for the outrunners in the 225+ kV range it is a lot of amps. You might consider the 20x13 or 21x12 props. More load than your 19x12 but shouldn't be too much for your motor.

Good luck, hope to see you at BARCS.


Woodie
Team Acme LG
Team Blenderm

Anthony-RCU

My Feedback: (2)

Very nice work! I have been following your progress eagerly. Love when someone takes the path less travelled.
I missed what motor you have. It looks like an Axi F3A. Many have used an APC 20.5x14 very succesfully on that motor. It will draw around 90A but it can handle it. They recommend a 20x13 which is a little slow on most airframes. I would try the APC versions of both and then order the one you like best in carbon to help you make weight. The Falcon CF props are very nice but a little pricey to experiment with.

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Anthony, here is the link to the motor I have.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=2129



I picked up a 22X10 at the local shop but will order a 21X12 to try. I'm thinking the 21x12 will work the best. For the most part I had good speed at level but not quite the vertical I wanted. Being all white it was a bear to see so I think I am going to pass on the BARKS contest and go to Fresno in a month. That will give me time to get some color on her and get everything dialed in.

tewalker01

My Feedback: (5)

Sean,

Congratulations on getting your design in the air. I've always been impressed with those people in the hobby who create the designs that the rest of us fly. If you would like to experiment with props, I have some spare APC e-props sizes:20X13, 20.5X12WE, 21X13 that you can use. If you are interested then contact me offline.

Terry

jrpav1

My Feedback: (17)

Nice work! If you're lookng to save some weight definitely (as a few people have suggested already) use a smaller Rx pack. What are you using for bracing on the tail? I hope it's not music wire. Maybe you could use Kevlar thread or something similar. Or even some C.F. rod. Weight in the tail is always bad even in a short-coupled plane.

John Pavlick
Team Black Magic

rcpattern

My Feedback: (45)

Very nice. Also keep in mind that the new weight limit for any classes, but Masters and FAI is now 11lb 4oz, so you are technically under.

Arch

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

I have on the way a 900 MAH Lipoly RX pack that will go up into the motor box as I need a slight CGshift forward. The tail braces are .070 CF tube with nylon clevises CAed in place, can't get much lighter then that. They attach to a nylon fitting but the fittings are attached to the surface with 3/4" 4-40 screws . 10 total so I may be ordereng some aluminum screws. Other then that I can drill the spinner backplate and there is a fair amount of glasswork inside the cowl that can be feather sanded to drop a few grams. I also have replaced the sullivan tailwheel with a plastic hubbed wheel. I am more interested in getting the CG correct then anything else really. She was hands off inverted and was carrying some down trim. She was pulling to the gear on uplines and in knife edge. I would estimate I have to move the CG between 3/8 and 1/2" forward before any other real trimming can begin. I'm not worried about being under 11 lbs other then being able to say I was able to do it with standard building techniques and budget equipment. My goal for this project was that and being able to be in the hunt for some wood at the local level.

Anthony-RCU

My Feedback: (2)

The Kv stated on that is 235 which is a little higher than the Axi I mention. My Pletti has the same and I love it on a 21x14. Amp draw is high on static but in flight average is fine. Sounds like tewalker01 can help out with some other props to try. Definately, try something with more pitch to help your speed over the tops of maneuvers. Most are running 14" pitch and using diameter to control amp draw.

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

I just got home from flying with a 22X10. The difference was amazing! Level was at about 2/3 power and uplines are now unlimited. I will still try some smaller dia props with more pitch just to see if I can get any better but to be honest I am very happy with it as is. The first flight of the day I went through the advanced sequence once and landed. When I pulled the batteries one was puffed. I hooked them to the charger and the good one read 18.8V and the puffed one 15.3V. Definitly an issue there. The second flight I just fooled around and landed after 11 min. The motor was just barely warm as was the speed control. Batteries were maybe 120-125F so I'm pretty sure I'm not pushing anything very hard. It needs a touch of upthrust as uplines are tucking towards the gear but CG is now where I want it. Not sure what mixing will be needed yet until I get that squared away. Always best to adjust one thing at a time.