RE: Turbinator-E
 

Larry

I have to agree with you on the plans. They are the worst set of plans I have seen.

Sam

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Hi guys,
What brushless motor are you looking at and a good battery.


Thanks

RE: Turbinator-E
 

I finished mine a couple of days a go. This particular plane is not an easy build. The effort was worth it. I did deviate from the plans a bit.

I am a bit lazy, and so I ordered the short Kit From Laser Design Services. All the parts were very accurate. Shipping was reasonably quick and well packed.

I don't like the idea of the aileron servos on the bottom. I have this issue with electronics and dirt. They were moved to the top. It is something I have done on other planes, and noticed no difference in the way they fly. I happened to have EPF retracts. Installing them was a bit of a trick, but with a little ingenuity and some careful surgery they fit fine. I didn't care for the canopy shown on the plans. After roughing out the fuselage, it seemed that it would look tacky. This fuse has such elegant lines that I elected not to install the canopy shown. I used some trim Ultracote and got creative.

The hatch as shown would not have worked for the setup I use. I prefer to build planes to suit the batteries I have. My current favorite is Zippy 1450 3s 30-40c. These will power everything I fly from a GWS Slow Stick to a Stryker with a WM 400 fan drawing 49 amps. I have paralleled these with great success. With this in mind I set up my Turbinator using two of these batteries in parallel. The fan I mounted is a HET 6904 with a 2W motor. On my test stand this combination provided 42 ounces of thrust at 52 amps and around 490 watts. The hatch has been extended one former further forward. (Starts of F-2)

CG as marked on the plans came out with the plane balancing slightly nose heavy when the landing gear is in the up position. Weight came out at 49 ounces. I haven't had the chance to get a maiden flight on it. It strated raining here a week ago, and as usual it is still raining. I tried to post the pictures of the finished bird, but was unsuccessful. If I do rekit this one, I will have to build another. It is a very elegant plane that was well worth the effort to build.

RE: Turbinator-E
 

There were some other deviations I forgot to mention. The plans call for a 3/32 sq balsa spar on the leading edge of the wing, and top and bottom of the main spar. I installed .157 carbon fiber tube that is available locally. I had a carbon fiber tube from a helicopter that I failed to fly. It just happened to be the right size and length. I don't remember what helicopter it came from.

The graphics were pretty simple. I just used Microsoft Word, and went into Word Art. A friend of mine turned me on to a sheet of Avery Full Sheet Clear Labels. Simple and clean seemed a better solution for the graphics.

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Definite improvement in looks! Great work

cooper998

RE: Turbinator-E
 

I finally got a maiden flight on my Turbinator. I found no nasty tendencies. It flew very smoothly with little trim needed. (dumb luck.) It did seemed to be a bit underpowered. With that in mind I installed a WM 400 fan using a Mega 2 motor. This particular combination draws 39 amps. I will have to recheck the wattage. The switch in fans was very simple due to Mr. Zirollis design. From what I see, this is a very well designed plane. I will still need to tweak it out a bit, but I can see where this will be a very good flying airplane once all the final adjustments are made.

RE: Turbinator-E
 

tcuster11, have you flown the plane with the WM400 fan and how did it work. I am just about ready to start building this plane useing the same short kit, and am going to use the WM400 fan and Hoffman Beast motor. I like your canopy mod.

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Here are pictures of my launch ramp and Turbinator-E Due to lousy weather here in south N.J. I haven't tried rither one yet

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Hey rcpunk, I think you did something wrong, no pictures.

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Crash, the WM 400 fan works fine. The plane seems to have a bit more power. I have tested the thrust using my test stand. I was getting 2 lbs, 4 ounces of thrust at 39 amps. The motor I used was a Mega 2. I do have other thoughts on that subject. I have a modified fan that is getting almost 3 lbs of thrust at 65 mps, 670 watts. Keep in mind that this set up is using two Zippy 3s 1450 30-40c batteries hooked up in parallel. If you can get your hand on the parts, it should work better. I used a RCLander 68 mm fan housing, a HET 2w motor, and a HET four bladed rotor. It is a bit heavy, but much lighter than the stock RCLander setup. The sotck fan weighs eight ounces, and the modified fan weighs 5 ounces. I am using this same fan on a RCLander F9F with a flying weight of 42 ounces. Trust me there is more than enough power. Flight times are around 3 1/2 minutes. I could probably get more flight time, but there would be a sustantial weight penalty. Mounting the WM 400 fan is easier, and one would have to get creative to mount the RCLander fan.

RE: Turbinator-E
 

I thought I'd bump this thread.

I just spent money.

I ordered the plans.
I ordered a lasercut kit.
I ordered a edf/motor HET 6904 and 2W25 motor
I have a few ESCs and batteries on hand.

Just gotta get retracts. That's where I have questions...

Nick's build article calls for Robert 601P 85-degree mains, and 602 nose gear.

From the pictures in the build article, the wing doesn't look to have much of a dihedral. I'm thinking 90-degree mains might be a better idea.

Has anybody built this plane with retracts? And are they using 85 or 90 degree mains...????

I'll shoot an email to Nick when I get home... But if someone has experience... I could possibly order the retracts sooner.

I'm also considering going with with 604HD/605HD mains and 607 nose.. just to have the slighty larger wires.

Thoughts???

RE: Turbinator-E
 

I'm assuming you knew about this beforehand?

http://www.shulmanaviation.com/produ...turbinator.asp

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Yup.. I saw the ARF...

But I like to build.

I have another question for anybody that has the plans handy.. (Mine haven't arrived yet.)

The build article mangled some of dimensions.

I would like to order the wing joiner tube. But from the article, I can't tell the dimensions or material. From the pictures it looks like 3/8" aluminum. But I'd like to know for sure.

Could somebody that has the plans and/or build the plane let me know?

Diameter, length, material... Thanks....

RE: Turbinator-E
 

my plans show a 3/8" alum tube, K&S #3033

cooper998

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Dang.. I guessed good! Thanks!

RE: Turbinator-E
 

The tube is the correct size, however the tube needs to be 14". The LHS had nothing usable in aluminum, so I used a brass 3/8"x 12" and used the next smaller size to be used as an extender that is buried in the fuse to make it the needed 14". A bit heavy but worked out just fine. I purchased LJE's landing gear I had to modify the the nose strut to make it a pull pull as the one that came with it is not workable. I haven't flown it yet, but hope to maiden it sometime this week.

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Check out an ACE hardware store, they carry the 36" length of K&S tubing. At least the ones around here do

cooper998

RE: Turbinator-E
 

I've started receiving goodies.

I have recieved the landing gear, and the short kit. (Thank-you Laser-Design).

I verified with Model Airplane News that they got my order for the plans. (They shipped them on the 21st). While I had them on the phone, I bought a 2-year subscription, and the back-issue with the build article.

I'm just waiting on the motor and the plans to show up on my doorstep.

I'm thinking of doing a build thread. But... Should I post it here? Over in the "Kits" forum? In the scratch built forum? I'm not sure which is the best forum to put the thread.


Another question. The wing joint tube has proven allusive. Fleet farm had 3/8" SOLID aliminum in 3 foot length. But not tubing. LHS didn't have 3/8" AL. But they did have brass. The local hardware store (admittedly a very small one) didn't have any aluminum at all.

So... I'm thinking Carbon Fiber. For all you enginerring nuts out there.. What size carbon fiber rod would be equivelant in strength to the 3/8" aluminum tubing?

Thanks in advance...

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Hi guys
Has anyone got an idea of the finished AUW iI have a set of mini retracts rated to 3.5 pounds that I would like to use

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Hi,Snappy,I built a Turbiator for a 90 mm fan , model is 130 per cent in size to origonal drawings and has regular spring air retracts and final weight is 4.5 pounds ,so i am sure your retracts will cetainly be ok in the smaller version .Hope this helps regards Ken Jack

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Well I made the plunge. I need to know where I can get the canopy. I will have the plane and plans just need the canpoy. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

RE: Turbinator-E
 

I've started the covering process. I'm kind of up in the air what design I want to use. I'll post pics when I'm done.

RE: Turbinator-E
 

Bumping this thread to see if I can get any information.

Called Larry, but he's currently out of short kits and is hoping to get back to me within the week, to determine if he's going to make another run of kits (or at least one for me). In the meantime, with those having bought from L.D.S. were you happy with the kit?

Does anyone have one of Larry's kits they like to impart with, or will I be okay with L.D.S. if he can't come through?

Simply want the short kit.

Tks