sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

I'm actually going to use an Airwild tray (lighter) with an SWB 4.5" bellcrank just like yours. I will be using the SWB hardware I have lying around to make a self-adjusting setup... don't tell Scott!

I was just going to use the Airwild Tray complete, but when I got the tray in the mail the bolt that holds the bellcrank on was stripped... not to happy about that. Plus, it was so short that it barely got into the threads of the nylock nut underneath, much less getting into the nylon. The tray was not tapped for the 8-32 bolt... the little nylock was the only think holding the bellcrank on. Not a good setup. I drilled and tapped the 8-32 hole up to 10-32 and I'll use an SWB bellcrank as noted.

Panzlflyer

My Feedback: (15)

He got a bit grumpy with me as he said it fit all the others. I pointed out that the rear fuse is very wide on the Panzl and there was no way you could get full throw with a little over 1" sticking out the side. The extra 1/4 inch makes all the difference,
Looks like my 33%s demise was a reciever problem so Im definately going 2 this time and the self adjusting setup seems the way to go.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Yeah... he's a nice guy though. He's been good to me.

I am using Multiplex IPD synth RXs. They have a really neat feature... when you program the channel, it also samples your TX and remembers the number of channels your TX has and some other stuff. If it gets other chatter on the same freq, if it doesn't match your TX it just ignores it!!! I programmed the RXs with my 10X and then tried to run them with my 8103 on the same freq... they completely ignored it!!! I turned the 10X on and i had control! To be sure it wasn't a fluke, I turned the IPD off on the RXs... then the 8103 would work. With the IPD back on they stopped listening to the 8103. Pretty sweet, eh?

Last night I installed my Madison Quality Products quarter-turn fuel dot, as well as the ignition switch and charge jack. The switch has a really neat feature... good for a gasser ignition. It's the SuperRocker switch with LED from Madison Quality Products... when the switch is on the LED flashes... kinda cool so I don't forget to shut off the ignition! The switch itself has a limetime warranty, handles 16 Amp switching loads (higher continuous), self cleaning contacts, etc... very nice unit. I will cut off the RC plugs and use Deans Micro plugs (good for 10 Amps) just so every last .1V from my 4-cell ignition pack makes it to the spark plugs. Power is good!

I'll install the motor when I get back from Denmark. It sucks doing this thing 20 minutes at a time.

Cheers!

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

OK... back in town, a little more accomplished.

Firewall is glued in. I used T-88 Epoxy (Good stuff for birch ply and other oily woods). I used balsa tri-stock top and bottom and 1/2" hardwood squarestock on the sides... will run some #8 woods screws through the sides and firewall into the hardwood after I do a light fiberglass per Al's recommendation. Need to fuel-proof anyway.

The motor is mounted... sits a little low on the firewall... better thrustline!

Glued the vert stab per the instructions. Required a little sanding to get it straight.

I drilled the holes for the control horns on the elevators... 1/2" aft of the bevel and 1" out from the inside leading edge of the bevel. Should be about perfect. Will hopefully get time to hinge the elevators today, family coming to town.

Pics coming when I get time.

Cheers all,
Jason

Panzlflyer

My Feedback: (15)

Is that 1/2 aft of the hingline or the ply plate? What horns are you going to use? I broke down and got the rudder setup from SWB seems to go good.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

1/2" aft of the bevel (ply plate). It puts the hole right in the middle of the play plate. This is per the instructions and I didn't want to deviate because I have no idea what is under that ply plate... I don't want to weaken the bevelled cap that distributes the load throught the length of the elevator.

I am using Rocket City hardware... yes the pivot point will be in front of the hinge line, but that can be adjusted out with proper mechanical setup. I have the same deal on my JTEC Extra. I don't believe in using those long Dubro horns for push-pull they can swivel on the bolt and cause trim changes and/or flutter.

I got the elevators and rudder hinged. I love the strength of Gorrilla Glue, but hate the mess, so I used a new technique this time which will be my permanent technique. I used blue painters tape and small garbage bags and covered the entire surface, just leaving holes for the hinges. I used small peices of tape near each edge of the hinge that overlaps the bevel by about 1/8 -1/4", then ran long pieces down the length of the bevel that left nothing but the holes exposed. When hinging, just rough wipes of the excess/foaming glue work. In about 1 hour when the foaming stops, carefully remove all the tape. DON'T LET IT SIT LONGER or you'll never get all the tape off. The result was perfect... less swearing, perfect joints, not a drop of glue on the covering. SWEET! I'll post pics of the taped elevator later.

I hope to get the elevator servos (5955s) soldered and installed today... will take a little whittling. Family is in town though.... being pulled in different directions.

Panzlflyer

My Feedback: (15)

thanks, there is nothing under the plate other than the Balsa Tri and foam, So go easy on the wrench GG should fill any voids.
I found another poly glue at Lowes that a local Carden builder uses for the whole plane, foams a little less the GG but is more like the Pro Bond poly, cheaper too "Nail power power poly"

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

OK... I got some more done.

Elevator servos are soldered (36" Airwild Ext soldered to the servo) and temp installed. To mount the servos I cut out the holes (w/ exacto knife) until they were big enough for 2 pieces of paperboard plus the servo on each side (like the pics). I left the paperboard jammed in there to hold the servo in place whle I marked the mounting holes... best I dea I've had yet... perfect mount.

I am using SWB 1 1/4" arms on the elevators with the last hole cut off... the 1 1/4" inch arm wouldn't fit under the stab. By cutting the last hole off I can still use the 1 1/8" hole (vice using a 1" arm).

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Forgot to mention... in the previous post you can see I replaced the stock servo arm screw on the 5955... it is a 2.6mm x 8mm from Microfasteners.com. Works like a champ.

Got the 8-32 x 2.5" bolts in the elevators for the Rocket City hardware. Don't drill the holes out any bigger than 9/64"... you want the screws tight. I exopied them in with T-88 and just used a nut on the bottom... I hate the A-nuts than come with the Rocket City stuff. The nuts are only on finger tight so as not to compress the ply/foam sandwich. There is a small bead of epoxy under the nut and bolt head that acts as a shim since the bolt head/nut are not flush with the top and bottom surfaces.

Below I posted a photo of the elevator right before I hinged it. You can see how the taping went. It is an awesome system. After hinging I get around 60 degrees of throw on the elevators... it's more than my throw gauge can measure.

Here are some pice of the motor mounted and the cowl on. The spinner is a 5" Pete's Model Extra (Bullet) shape. VERY light.

I got the cowl cut out tonight... cooling hole, exhaust holes, and holes for the front of the cans.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

More Pics

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Believe it or not, that "little" cut-out on the spinner is PLENTY big for a 28-10 prop... the spinner is huge!!!

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

OK… more done. This firewall will never come out, and I believe it is light… much lighter than angle iron and bolts/nuts. Instead of using hardwood tri-stock inside, I used hardwood square-stock. Then I marked out locations for bolts and drilled 45 degree angled holes for 1/8� dowel. Glued the dowel in with T-88 and let it dry. Next day I cut off all the pegs, then glassed the sides and fuel proofed the entire motor box exterior with a very light coat of 3-hour epoxy (for working time) thinned with alcohol to a watery consistency and applied with an epoxy brush… worked pretty well… I did the whole motor-box/firewall with just over ¼ oz of epoxy. The next day I drilled 1/8� holes for the #8 wood screws and I epoxied these in… bullet-proof.

As a note, when pinning I found the best way is to put the glue in the hole, then a little on the end of a full length dowel, then push it in and cut it with a pair of wire cutters… much easier than pre-cutting all these little pins with a saw.

As a note on my firewall method… I got the idea from a guy here on RCU… he said this is the way that Cardens are done. I probably didn’t need to fiberglass… kinda wish I hadn’t. The only reason I did it was because I had to fuel proof anyway… figured I might as well. Unfortunately the fiber swallowed a little more epoxy than I thought it would. My next one (yeah right says my wife) won’t get the fiberglass.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

I did some measuring on the leading edge of the landing gear plate and as it turns out it is glued exactly in the middle of the thin bottom part of F1 and is about 3/8� thick.. I measured out a line and drilled a 1/8� hole every 1� for pins. Glued the pins in with T-88 and cut them off the next day… bullet-proof landing gear with no extra weight.

I also got the fuel tank tray installed. Pretty easy. The crossmembers are 1/4" x 1/2" basswood laminated with the same dimensions balsa... makes 'em wicked stiff to prevent flexing and any possible glue peel. Just used small ply gussets to hold the cross-bars in place.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Another installment. Here's my choise of ignition components and their installation. You can see I replaced the Anderson Power Pole and all the RC plugs with Deans micro plugs... small, low resistance, and elegant. Plus... I had them laying around for foamies. I also shortened the wires a good bit.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

OK... Aileron hinging. I don't yet advocate or recommend this, but I split each aileron into 2 halves. This will:

Prevent binding
Reduce programming
In the case of a servo failure, will not drain batteries or burn out other servo
In event of a servo failure leaves me with 3/4 of total aileron surface usable to recover
No Matchboxes, etc... Each aileron half will get its own TX channel
I like to experiment with new better ideas.

Both halves will be programmed to work together at all times... will act as a single aileron. Otherwise would not be legal for IMAC. If anyone complains I will put a very thin and easily broken peice of covering on top to bridge the small gap, though I can't imagine anyone would care. I will never use them as flaps, etc... I think that's asking for an accident... plus the plane flies so well as it is... why ruin it?

Here are some pics of cutting and the final hinged product:

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

I've got more done... in fact it should be ready to fly this weekend. I just have to put in the RX and batts and do the control throws... pretty cool, huh?

I'll get pics and more info later.

Cheers all!

Edge

Sillyness, get ready to fly your new favorite airplane. My intentions for my build thread was to be long and detailed, but once you get building, your done before you know it, and the instructions are very good. My 40% was the same way, easy to build, and a riot to fly.

al

looks like lots of new toys are going to get maidened this weekend,, Got the 35% and 40% extras almost ready. Just need to get the new crystals for the rx and we're a go.

Al

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Mounting RXs, etc...

Would it be OK to mount a RX to a small piece of ply mounted between the fuse side and the stringer closest to the fuse side? I could reinforce the stringer with a piece of 1/4" balsa.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Here's some more.

The fuel tank line... I added the small pice of brass tubing to keep the clunk from ever falling to the front of the tank.

Here are some pics of my baffling... tedious but worth it. Who am I kidding... this is all tedious.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Here's the cable cross I made from Ant tubes, thread, and thin CA. It prevents chafing where tje two pull-pull cable cross.

Here's how I put my radio in. Took a lot of thinking, but I'm happy with the final product. I made a small square tray on each side of the fuse. I put 1/4" foam on that and then mounted the seperate tray across the foam on the smaller trays so the whole thing is cushioned... held on with velcro straps. The tray that the RXs and Regs are on is made of thin ply with 2 strips of 3/32" basswood underneath to stiffen it... pretty light. The r4egs are bolted on with 4-40 x 5/8" bolts and largew diamter silicone fuel tubing. The charge jacks are Ernst. The switches are built into the regs... pretty sweet units. I set both reg voltages to 6.04 V. Each reg has 3 plugs from the the reg to the RX due to the poor 3 Amp plugs that RXs use. A Deans Ultra plug and 14 Gauge wire connect the battery to the reg.

The throttle and choke servos will be mounted under the tank tray... you can see the aft rail.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Mission Complete!

Ready to maiden!!!

I would have flown her today but the runway at my club is still too rough from the frost upheaval... I'll wait until it gets rolled or try another field. Too bad... I have to leave town on Thursday for 3 weeks.

When I get some time I'll post some more pics and a some more setup monologue of anyone wants them... I'm doing all this with with the assumption that someone out there is getting some useful tips or ideas.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Here are some more setup pics.

You can see the throttle and choke linkage. The metal arm on the choke is a landing gear strap for .40 size planes bolted to the choke lever with a star washer in between and red lock-tite.

The fuel tank setup... straight foward. Used a wrap around vent system... I figure if it's good enough for full scale is ought to be good for 35%. Prevents nasty gas drains in flight and when tipping the nose up.

You can see the velcro soaked with medium CA on the prop... it took this to balance the hub. First I balanced the blades with varithane, then the hub with the velcro trick. Only took a few minutes... just place the prop on the balancer at a 1 o'clock to 7 o'clock position and keep adding CA (with kicker) until the prop will stay there. Wish I had seen this trick sooner.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

MAIDEN!!!

I balanced the plane first... as it sits it needed no weight whatsoever. On the maiden CG tests showed a perfect setup.

Range check... ridiculously long... I finally gave up walking... it was HUGE!!! The Multiplex IPD RXs are outstanding!!!

Engine run... made me a believer in 5955 servos. I'm used to seeing the tail surfaces vibrate at idle... these were barely moving at all. The 5955s are wicked tight servos... and they will stay that way. Very happy.

The flight... wow. Awesome. Not that it is a measure of an aircraft, but not single click of trim was needed... on any axis. If anything I might use 1 click of right rudder... that's it.

The thing just floated off the ground... so fast it almost scared me. It is so light in the air!!! As mentioned, CG was good. Not much coupling in knife edge.

I think this is the first time I've done a maiden and was doing rolling harrier loops within the first couple minutes... awesome!!! Stable at any AOA all the way up to vertical. Clean walls and very tight waterfalls with 35 degrees of elevator throw. Snaps are good but I need to fine tune my control throws... what are you guys using?

Landing... total non-event. It just kissed the earth nice and slow in a 3-point and rolled to a very short stop... very happy here!!

I only got one flight in before the kid started crying and the sun started setting, but it was great. All in all... awesome plane. The only one I can compare it to is my Radiowave Extra, and the Panzl has it beat hands down. Makes me want to sell the Extra for another Panzl!!! Wish I had started with the Panzl in the first place. Oh well.

Now I get to go away for 3 weeks and think about flying the Panzl...

Here are some pics:

jtec radiowave kid

good to hear the maiden went so well. Keep us up to date on how you like it. I try to tell everyone how well the Panzl flies compared to a extra 330 and no one wants to believe me until they actually own one.

Now put some damn wheel pants on it!!!!!!