Guys if you are mounting the pushrod exits this far aft in the fuse then no wonder some people are having trouble with friction in the system.

The servo to pushrod exits to control horn need to be a straight line. This means the pushrod exits are much further forward in the fuse. Here are some pics of my Pinnacle setup. I will write up something on how I did it. I also will have some documentary pics on a Genesis I'm finishing up for a friend.

In the picture below the servo is at the rear of the canopy area. The pushrod are an absolutely straight line to the horns. This model had the system installed after the fuse was paint, even after it had flown almost 100 flights.

In the case of a fuse that is already complete and painted the teflon sleeves work the best and you can see a little of the sleeve hanging out about 2"....This is a fairly clean look although may not be as clean as the sand flush. The plastic tubes that come with the DEPS system work well in the building of a new model and can be sanded flush easily The teflon tubes are smaller diameter and work way better in the already painted fuse. Some guys really like the teflon tubes all around, and other like the plastic tubes. I have used both with good success. The key to success with it is the exit hole locations. If you are driving this all from one servo they have to be in the right spot. Every model will vary a little bit.

Stay tuned for some detailed pics on how to install the system and get the exits in the right spot. It is a very simple and you need a metal yard stick about 36" long (or other straight edge) a dremel tool and some masking tape....Its very easy and can be done in about 15mins total.

Troy,

Which tubes does central give you with the setup ??? Plastic ??? If so, where do you get the teflon tubes ???
Looking forward to your pics and info !!!

Bill

I talked to Todd today and what you are seeing is not the same DEPS system. Todds system uses 2 seperate 9650 servos mounted side by side under the rudder servo and driving 2 separate pushrods that actually crossover one another in the fuselage and exit straight out of the fuselage as shown in the pictures.

We talked about it and Im still going to use the single servo DEPS setup, so I will be watching to see how Bill does it. I have already read Troys guidelines on Central Hobbies website and I think I have a decent feel for it but Im going to watch your progress pictures Bill to see exactly how it goes in before I start assembly.

I added a couple of pics on page 1 towards the bottom of the thread that show the insides of Todd's setup to make things a little more clear to everyone.

I'm with you Mike......I'm waiting to see what I'm going to do as well !!! Seriously though....it's probably the one item that I'm hesitant on starting, so I'm going to wait for some more photo's and instructions from troy before I proceed. I've still got plenty to do !!! :-)

Bill

Ok, so far tonight (from 7p-830p) I got the wings hinged and I've finalized the mounting of the nose ring, by applying some Plexus (hysol) between the front of the nose fuse ring, and the Carbon nose ring. This should give me some good solid adhesion to the fuse while still looking very clean. The masking tape on the front (in the pics) was just to make sure I didn't dribble down the front. The last thing I'll try to do tonight is to trial fit the hacker and start building a rear ring support. I also weighed each wing panel and they are both 352 grams on the nose !!!

Bill

Ok....I'm done for the night. I managed to get the Hacker in and trial fit. As you can see in one of the side shots, it looks like I have a little "up thrust" but that's easily adjusted by tightening down on the interior mount bolts. (The addition of the rear support will help this as well.)

Tomorrow, all of my Horns, axels, wheels, and tail wheels should arrive from Central Hobbies, so I hope to get all of the landing gear installed over the weekend.


Bill

That's a nice setup, but I'm curious how you get the motor in and out once you have the back plate and air ducting installed?

Off topic but what is the stand that the palne is on in the last picture

RM,

The Engine will come out by taking the screws out from the front ring mount, and the rear mount will be attached to 3 "Hard Points" with 4/40 screws and blind nuts. The Hacker will pull straight out. (I'll take some pics of it's removal after it's all mounted)


Bill

I've got a buddy in town that made the stand for my 40% IMAC stuff.


Bill

Ok.....so I'm working kind of slow tonight....and I think it's because I know I have the whole weekend to play with !!! :-) I got home this evening, and had a package from Central Hobbies and from APC. Knowing that the Axels, & wheels were in the Central order I thought I would start there. I ordered the 3/4" NMP aluminum axels, and the Dave Brown 2 1/4 light wheels.

The first problem I run into is the fact that the 3/4" axel just barley pokes through the other side of the wheel hub, and there's no way I can get the retainer clip on.......crap. After poking and prodding at the wheel for a couple of minutes, I discover that the wheel hub splits in half, which allows me to sand both sides of the joining tube, and when I put it back together it's thinner, and fits the axel just perfect !! (See pics) Im going to try to get the Gear and tailwheel finished later tonight, but it will probably be late.


Bill

Central set me up with 2 3/4" Dave Brown light wheels ( I hope they fit), but it sounds like I should trade them in for 2 1/4" and try to save a little weight. Also, I bought the longer axles just in case I needed it, if not I can always grind off the 2nd snap retainer groove. I got 4 boxes from UPS tonite after I left for work, that should complete my orders. Tonight I got props from APC, micro fasteners stuff, a Triton Charger from Tower, and my Lion Battery/switch and tailwheel and wheel assemblies from Central. If I havent somehow damaged my DEPS tubing to the point I can pull it off of the balsa and refit it onto a new ladder with the right exit holes I shouldnt have to spend anymore money.

Useless information. Im overseeing a turnaround on one of my units at the refinery where I work. I'll be on 7-12's night shift until FEBRUARY!! But I'm so excited about this build that I am depriving myself severly of sleep by waking up with only 4-5 hours of sleep trying to chip away at it when I get up around 11am.

Well....just like Mike, over in the Genesis build thread in the pattern forum....I had my first boo boo tonight as well. In looking at gear plate inside the fuse, I noticed that the 3 holes for the gear were already marked with indentions....this must be pre-aligned right ?????........NOPE !!!. I think my gear plate was actually installed upside down, because the gear ended up mounting too far back, and once I had the gear on the belly pan wouldn't even come close to going on correctly. So now I did what I should have done in the first place which was to mount the belly pan, and then slide a gear half in and mark it !! You'll see in the pics below that the marks (with the holes) are to far back, and the one side that has the forward marks are actually the correct location for the gear !! This pics from inside the fuse show the blind nuts in place, which makes it kind of obvious that the gear plate was just mounted upside down !! :-( No biggie...just a waste of about an hour, and some minor frustrations.......no build ever goes perfect the first time !!!! :-)


-Bill

Dang Mike......that's harsh !! Dont deprive yourself of too much sleep !!

-Bill

Well, So far this has been a pretty un-productive weekend !! (At least for the Genesis) I spent most of the day today at an air show which kind of wore me out. Laugh it up....but watching Jim Leroy and Sean Tucker and the Thunderbirds always seems to wear me out !!! :-)

I started to work on the design and build of the rear motor support for the Hacker. Todd had sent me a bunch of pics of the inside of Chip's Genesis, So I basically just copied what he had done. (only right now...my support will be made out of thin ply). I'll take some pics of the unit installed later tonight, but for now, here's a pic of the AutoCAD drawing.

Bill

Bill et al,

I posted up the some good pics and instructions in the main pattern forum on the DEPS system in and already painted and built model.

Troy,

Thanks a bunch !!! I just read through the thread, and it makes much better sense now !! I'm still not anxious about cutting into my fuse, but at least I understand it better now. Thanks again !!!

Bill

Finished the Motor Rear Support and Rudder Installations.

Ok...The hard part of the DEPS stuff is finished, and it's not really hard at all......it's just stressful when you cut into the fuse !!! :-) As you can see from looking at the pictures, my left side rail looks like its bowed, but it isn't affecting the CF rod, and there's no bind at all. The funny thing is that when I pull the installation out and place it on the glass table next to my ruler, it's straight as an arrow. My 2 ladder supports are glued in, but everything else has just been trial fit pending the building of a servo support for the elevator servo. In the electric version, the floor behind the wing tube does not exist, so I had to take some 1/16 balsa, and laminate it with 3/4 fiberglass cloth and some Z-poxy finishing resin to build my floor for the servo. I just made it large enough to mount the servo, and have room for the receiver, regulator and battery, as everything forward of the tube will be isolated off for heat protection. I'm Gonna take a break for a couple of hours now that all of the stressful stuff is done !!


Bill

Pretty work Bill and GREAT pictures.. What camera are you using?

Now Im definitely going to have to straighten that forward support. Mine looks terrible compared to yours. Did you use CA or epoxy to mount the supports to the fuselage. Like Ive said Im not an experienced builder so I used epoxy just to be safe but I sure wanted to use Medium CA.

Mike,

Camera = Cannon Digital Rebel......absolutley my favorite camera to date !!! ( you should see the Hi-Res copies)

I used Foam safe CA to tack them in place. I'll lay the fuse on it's side tommorrow, and drop some epoxy and micro-ballons to secure them.


I got the servo mounted and just put the JB Weld on the Servo side peice of Titanium. Should be able to finish the elevators off tomorrow !!! (Yippie !!)


Bill

Oh that brings up an interesting question... Does this plane have foam layering sandwiched in the fuselage? I swear Im seeing a honeycomb like styrofoam when Im looking inside the fuselage with light penetrating from the outside. Are you using that foam safe CA for that reason? Yikes, if so I will break out my foamy repair kit if I need to tack anything to the fuselage.

Bingo....that's exactly why Im using the FS CA. Plus I remembered something about Todd mentioning that the Regular CA would burn through if you used accelerator.

Bill

Hmmm, he didnt mention that to me. But I havent used CA on the fuselage yet except for at the rudder post which is just composite and balsa it appears.

Ok, So now the Elevator servo is mounted and the DEPS stuff is all glued in and set. All that's left to do is size the carbon rod ends, and JB Weld the ends on, but I'll do that at the end of the evening since I like to let that stuff setup overnight.

As you can see in the last couple of pictures, I placed my elevator servo a little farther forward that you might expect. I knew that the CG would be easily adjustable since I have a couple of big batteries that I can shift around :-) so I placed the servo where I could use the Aileron servo lead hole to access the Elevator servo screws through the fuse. ( I know it's pathetic...but...what can I say !!)


More Later........


Bill