These are supposed to be pretty good and inexpensive. I'll know better soon enough - I should have one in a week or so.

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...dProduct=10080

Aren't we always...

BTW, what are you doing for paint? Is it still (Latex) white per the prototype? Decals or painted lettering?

Yes, house brand latex, Home Hardware Beauti-Tone to be exact. Murdy's scheme! I have the stock decals, but we do have a wicked sign shop here that could cut me stencils if needed.

With the weather improving, my other ARF taking center stage and life in general has kept me from starting to finish it, until today. I started the fiberglass sanding outside along with the first blemish fill with micro balloons and epoxy on the fuse. Its 95% prep, 5% paint!

I had been approached for the instruction book. Rather than taking money for a set, I thought I would post it free. A few minutes scanning and...

I don't know if you know or not but Lester and steve do this all the time. they can cut for u too...

[/link]

Our field is officially open as of today.  A little snow blowing a couple of days ago helped out huge. Limited to 40 size aircraft for now until the one end firms up after the thaw. If the weather holds that'll change quick!!

First coat of paint revealed some not so nice spots.

[8D]Still peckin' at it when I can.

Some progress. I got a lot of the filling (I hate hangar rash) and the main coat of white done. I also go the under side of the wings done in base coats as it's trim is only in blue. The pin striping with paint is a PITA so far, but I had some bad 1/4 inch tape that just didn't cut it. It bled out and it wasn't a pleasant task to have to 240 grit it off. Got some new 3M stuff and it werks well soo far, keeping it kleen in a baggy, lol. I have also come to a conclusion that water works just fine as a thinner, just it takes longer to dry. I did find I could accomplish more quicker with the Windex as a thinner. It flowed and remained more consistent through out the mix. Smells better too!

Base coats are done! I applied the transfers/decals prior to topcoat so not to loose any. Twenty plus year old stickers, I'm sure, wont last long if left unprotected.

As for the paint, I was only worried about the red. It goes on pink! I was soo nervous when Iput the first couple of coats on. The white base, even with blood red is a little pink at first, but this was a bit different. The paint itself looked pink. The paint person at Home Hardware told me it "should" darken as it dries. I began to doubt their experteese after the first couple of coats. Sure enough after the 4th coat it was as red as you see.

Pinstipes are a PITA if you don't keep your edging tape clean. Keep it in its bag when not using it and don't lay it down on a dusty/dirty surface as it'll pick up everything and ruin the edge sealing qualities. I had to sand off the ones on the wheel pants because of that. 240 grit took a bit to get it off carefully, but was worth it.

Clearcoat is next, followed by control surface attachment with 30 min epoxy. Ordered up a Dubro pull pull for the rudder. I basically have an ARF now. I can see a maiden soon!!!

99% complete! I am only missing my Dubro518 pull-pull to arrive and it can comfortably go for its maiden.

I placed the arming plug along the blue stripe right behind the cowl on the starboard side. A bit of a wart, however there was no other safe place to put it and still look good. When I plug in the shunt, inside the EC5 connector jacket emits a cool blue/white spark ! Then the ESC/motor chimes in and starts to count the cells...goes on for a bit, lol. Everything centered nicely and remained quiet for the most part.

Control surfaces exceed the Byron specs for movement, save the rudder but it deflects at least 50 degrees each way. I had some paint build up in between some joints that rubbed, easily remedied with a bit of 120 grit until they freed up acceptably.

Then I held on to it and pushed the throttle forward. The Xoar 20x8 in a polished Tru Turn spinner torqued the fuse in one direction and then it spun in the opposite. I had programmed it after the first test and had to reverse it because I hate a white wire plugging into a red wire and visa versa. So far so good at idle...slowly increased to full throttle and WOW!!! There is wayyyy more than enough power to haul this around! 37v x 245Kv = 9065 rpms I figure. Didn't have my tach handy but will report back. Oh ya, it sounded like a huge foamy on steroids! KEWWL!

The clear coat didn't exactly come out the way I wanted. I think I made my mistake in putting too much down at a time <u>and</u> not waiting long enough in between coats. The result was a wrinkly texture which produces no shine what so ever. The fiberglass parts came out nice but all the foam parts have the wrinkle effect. I will be able to fix it with some elbow grease (cut n polish), but I'll save that for next winter, lol.

Camera is charging, pics tomorrow.

Edit: Just weighed it...AUW w/ batteries...14.75 lbs.

As promised...

And a video of the initial RPM test.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4a7EoPQSAw[/youtube]

Jason,

outstanding!

Very nicely done finish. So what's the AUW?

I have a 79" CAP 232 which I was planning on gearing up with an 18x8 prop and 12s but your setup seems to be pulling about the same as a 50cc gas engine - 7200 on a 20x8 is pretty impressive! Are you using 25C or 30C batteries?

I look forward to hearing how she flies.

David.

Thanks, Doxillla!

AUW is 14.75 lbs...a little shy of what Byron had you shoot for, 15-15.5 lbs. I am itchin' to get'r in the air, waiting on the Dubro pull pull.

Two of these is what I'm using, muhahaha...


http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...00mAh_5S1P_40C

That is a GREATA weight. Most of the g-38. Q-35 powered versions came out to be around 18lbs , econokoted.

That’s AWESOME Jason! Nice finishing man! Should be fantastic at that weight!! I’ll film the maiden!!!

Sorry I took so long to check out your work. I have had my nose to the grind stone selling off my unused rc stuff to get the new yak. But I’m finally there. I have just and mean JUST enough to get the plane, dle55, canister and header. OMG I sold A LOT of stuff!! I still have to sell the spe26 NIB (now at $220 shipped) spe43 NIB (now at $240 shipped) and magnum 1.20 NIB (now at $240 shipped) Goldberg Extra 300 KIT NIB (now at $220 shipped) Reactor and king kobra… They will all move I’m sure, I hope. Need space.

Without further a due, my choice of YAK, Lester is checking Chief and Troybuilt tomorrow. 2 thumbs up from both Stacy and Geno on this plane.

That's a kewl lookin' bird, man.

I have a bit of a CG issue. After all is said and done, I had to add almost a pound to the nose to get the CG pretty close to where Byrons suggests. I am now just over 15.5 lbs AUW. I have had to lighten the rear as best I could and the only solid thing I could comfortably attach to the motor box were...a couple of hockey pucks! They extend past the box and just about touch the cowl inlet on a couple of metal tabs screwed into place.

Unorthodox, I know but it werkt! The Quadra motors for that thing were heavy. Currently they are close to 4lbs and that is at the nose!  I was way under weight there. Now my confidence is back into flying it finally.

Revymaxx,
Just giong to let you know. A cheap and easy way to add weight to the front is with BBs. I mix them with epoxy to hold them in place. You could probably build a little box on you motor box to keep them together while the epoxy dries. And all that is if you need the hockey puck back for the next hockey game. I have tied a bunch of different types of nose weight on, but never a puck.
Good luck
Alan

Thanks for the tip, but I had tried that (my sheeting bags have BB's and each come in at a little different weight) but the total weight had to be increased. Having the pucks hanging out front allowed less weight to be added. They are secure and I'm not worried about them ripping off.

I guess we can call it "Flyin' Pucks"! LOL.

Castle Creations BEC just let go...doing a preflight for the maiden and POP. Took out three out of the four Hitec 5625 MGs too. All brand new...grrrr. That suct.

Sent an e-mail to them, lets see where that goes.

I have heard of the Castle HVs letting go way too much for the money they cost. Most of the time, they seem to let go at startup or while taxiing back. Never heard of one letting the smoke out in flight.

Well after a couple of e-mails and phone calls, Castle Creations staffers are among the best out there! I explained the scenario and they were more than happy to replace the BEC. They can't do anything about the servos, however they offered another product in compensation. I was offered another 110 HV!!

Wendy and Clint are awesome!

I replaced the burnt out 5625MGs and put the remaining one on the rudder. Two 5965MGs are on the ailerons and my Supermaxx's 985MG is on the elevator running off thier own Rx pack snagged from another plane. MPI switch is now in place on top of the fuse trying to hide it in the black. All set for tonight or first thing in the morning!

I got the maiden in! Took it easy on the throttle advancing it initially. At 3/4 power it lifted off by itself! Climbed about fifteen feet, banked it to the right and away I went. A couple of clicks for the elevator, one for the ailerons and three for the rudder she was trackin' straight as an arrow! Nice flying machine! Vertical isn't foamy like but it is descent. Had a taste of the snap on some low speed passes, nothing too crazy that I can't handle with good throttle management. Landing was uneventful as I flew it in with descent speed. Three take offs and landings later I packed it up to head home to see what I used out of the batteries. Video tomorrow!

"Flyin' Pucks" it is!

Woo Hooo! Happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy....

Not the best but as promised...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUPuUBWiaXQ

Thanks for coming out to film, Tom.

Revymaxx,
Congrats on your maiden flight. And might I add I love the background at your field!
Alan

Jason,

outstanding! She sure looks pretty ballistic in the flats!

Great day for a maiden too. Your field does get busy... that's Canada for us.

It sounds amazing turning that huge prop. Are the 40C's still pumping out 7200 rpm after the flight? Still using a Xoar 20x8? Tried an APC, an Evolution or a Vess 20B or 21B? Might be interesting to compare - electric motors are so "elastic" it might feel all together different. By the way, do you have any figures on amps and watts? Are you on the line or is there still some room with the motor and esc? If there is, a 21" might be interesting or a 20x10.

Can't believe the BEC Pro blew your servos . Castle sure sounds like the right kind of company to do business with though - good service on their part. I take it you decided to pull the BEC and just use a separate pack? Probably not a bad idea given the circuitry (wire gauge and such) with the Lipo's in the chain.

It's probably overkill but a Smart Fly board (or the like) might give some peace of mind and insure the beautiful CAP has a long life. You could use two smaller packs to keep the weight in check and the board will pull evenly from both packs and offer some protection and delivery to those big servos.

Maybe you're already using one - can't remember.

Great build - thanks for the video and thread and enjoy her this summer.

David.