Jason Arnold

All the tedious tasks are now done.

1. All surfaces have been hinged.
2. Elevator extension cables made.
3. RX and RX Battery trays mounted to fuse.
4. Battery/ESC tray completed and mounted.
5. Elevator servos fitted along with Control horns and linkages.
6. Carbon stab incidence pin glued into the fuse. Important step. You do NOT want any slop here.
7. Elevator servo extensions run in fuse paper tube. About 1.5" had to be cut off the paper tube in the fin.
8. Stabs mounted to the fuse.

There's just a few more small tasks left to do and then it's time to program the JETI DC-24.

Cheers,
Jason.

bem

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Jason,
When You have time could You tell us little more about the battery tray solution You made. The thinking behind the design, weight, function etc.
/Bo

Jason Arnold

Hi Bo,

The thinking behind the battery tray was to provide a larger range of adjustment for different weight packs and eliminate Velcro straps. It also incorporates the ESC mount under the front which makes the whole assembly modular and easily removable from the model. This tray design is an evolution of previous designs which were all cut by hand. The CNC machine opens up new possibilities in this respect.

The main plate is secure to the fuse with six 100mm cable ties and two slots at the front. The battery plates can move up and down the main plate which provides quite a big range of adjustment. I have found that moving between a 485 gram pack to 600 gram pack results in a mounting difference of about 1 1/4" to maintain the same CG.

The weight is somewhat more than expected at 117 grams complete. The weight estimates in Fusion 360 must be slightly out... The main plate and ESC plate weigh about 36 grams which is reasonable. Anyway, this is a prototype so weight savings are definitely possible. For starters, the battery plates and clamp could be made out of 1mm Carbon instead of 2 and 1.5mm respectively. The structure as it stands is very rigid. Thinner material and more lightening holes will reduce the weight to good levels.

Cheers,
Jason.

Jason Arnold

The aileron horns have now been glued in with 30 minute epoxy although in this cold weather, its probably closer to two hours or more.

Tonight I'll cut some 2.5mm Titanium to make up the linkages. Then the wiring and soldering party commences.

Cheers,
Jason.

Jason Arnold

After many late nights and long days in the shed, my Allure Builders kit has finally flown. This is a whole new model, radio and contra. I'm glad that I did a range check and pre-flight check before the maiden. My Ailerons were reversed! That could have got messy!

Anyway, the model flew nicely out of the box so to speak. It flys straight and is very close to what my previous Allure ARF was. Slight pull to the belly in both KE (stab inc is right) and slight pull to the canopy in the downline. The upline has no pull.

Not sure what the final weight is yet but will get her on the scales sometime this week.

Cheers,
Jason.

Jason Arnold

Last night I put the Allure with built-up wings and stabs on the digital scales. Without flight batteries, the total weight was 3,577 grams. With Hacker TopFuel 4600 batteries the RTF weight is 4,574 grams. I'm very happy with this weight. 🙂

Jason Arnold

In my haste to get the new Allure in the air last weekend, I neglected to cut some holes up front for cooling the ESC. Given the ambient temperature is low in Sydney this time of year it was not considered a big issue. However, the ESC did get a little hot regardless so some ventilation holes were cut on Saturday. The ESC now barely gets warm after a P17 flight.

The trimming process is progressing well too. The upline is dead straight and a small down elevator to low throttle mix has been added. Knife edge has a small pull to the belly in both directions so the CG will be moved a fraction more forward.

Cheers,
Jason.

DRC1

My Feedback: (10)

Selling my Allure on RCU...

Click Here for RCU Listing