AMR Trainer 26
#26
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
Ya know cando, I should know the water trick on wood, I've done it on finish trim work/window when I've had an "accident" with a hammer. Thanks for reminding me!
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
A couple of pics of the rear fuse sheeted with the hatch cover. The one pic shows the 1/4" dowel installed and drilled for the hold down screw. I also sanded and formed the trailing edges on the flaps tonight. Plus more filler and sanding on the top of the wings. Next step will be to mock up the ailerons and flaps with the hinges installed, on the wings and sand the trailing edges even. I also need to create a small fillet on the rear of the fuse and also on the battery hatch. I'm thinking a small blended curve will look better than a sharp angle. Also Aircraft World came thru this week and sent the new fan for the Hyperion motor that arrived damaged. Thanks Aircraft World! I've dealt with them in the past and have never had a problem. Their items are shipped from Japan and I feel arrive in a timely manner.lumpy
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
Well I think I'm finally done with the wings for now. I was getting tired of only working on them for the most part. Tonight I mocked up the wings with the ailerons and flaps hinged to see how all the TE's lined up. A little sanding and everything looks good. I also installed the blind nuts in the wings for future installation of wing struts if I so desire. So now all I have to do is a final sanding and cover them. I'm going to try to get more time in on this project. I My flying club is having a "beauty contest" to showcase what the guys have built over a Buffalo winter.lumpy
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
Todays goal was to get the tail feathers built....and I did get them done. One problem I ran into was the vertical fin extends over the top of my rear hatch. Oh well, poor planning on my part as I never thought to check. I don't know if I should cut it or not. I don't know if it adds strength to the vertical fin, or if it's just cosmetic. Also I installed hard points ( 3/8" dowel ) for the mounting of the control rods. I built the elevators figuring to use 2 servos. The servo holes are already cut from the kit maker, in the rear of the fuse, but the fuselage is so narrow in that area that you can't install them back to back. I'm thinking of moving them up towards the front where there is more width to install them. This would allow me to put the rudder servo in one of the existing cutouts. After the following pictures were taken I sanded/shaped the leading edges of the tail feathers and rounded the other sides of the tail group. lumpy
#31
RE: AMR Trainer 26
Lumpy, it's just my opinion, but I think I would shorten the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer so the hatch still works. I don't think it adds much to the strength anyway.
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
Tonight I shortened the leading edge of the vertical fin so I can utilize my hatch in the rear. I also opened up the servo openings at the rear of the fuse so my servos would fit. I have 2 Futaba S9102's, corless, with plastic gears & 2 ball bearings. This is an older low profile servo and they fit in the narrow area of the fuse back to back. My question to anyone who may be viewing this build is: These servos provide 50oz of torque at 6 volts, will this be sufficient with each servo controlling each elevator half? Thanks- lumpy
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
I decided to move on to another aspect of kit building.....the dreaded covering. In my opinion it can make or break the look of a model. I started with the small parts, the rear feathers. It took me alot of time but I'm satisfied with the outcome. I used Solartex, nice product to work with. How I approached it is I cut strips 3/4' wide and ironed it on the edges. Then I cut out pieces of Solartex in the pattern that I needed but slightly larger of course. After appling the covering I used a steel rule, held it against the edge and trimmed the remainder material off and ironed around the edges. I know I took some extra steps and added alot of time, but it was worth it. I don't have much experience with covering and my concern was getting it on as nice as I could. I'm not liking how the rear fin is going to glue on, not much material there, where the 2 tenons insert thru the horizontal stab. They don't even extend down thru the bottomofthe stab. I'm thinking of putting some extensions on and pinning them. Then also cut thru the fuse so the extend into the fuse and then I'll pin them again. AMR recommends glueing tri stock along the bottm of the fin at the fuse to add strength, but I don't know if I'll like the look. I'll have to do a mock up. I also installed magnets in the fuse and front hatch cover to hold that shut.
lumpy
lumpy
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
A question to all the viewers out there. If I were to prime (paint) the parts before covering, would the covering stick? The reason I ask is you can see the edges of the laser cut parts thru the covering, due to the fact that they are dark in color from being burned by the laser.
Thanks,
lumpy
Thanks,
lumpy
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
Hey Lumpy,
I'm not sure if Monocote will stick over a painted surface, but if I may suggest, why don't you paint a decent size scrap of wood and try to cover over it.
Take care,
David
I'm not sure if Monocote will stick over a painted surface, but if I may suggest, why don't you paint a decent size scrap of wood and try to cover over it.
Take care,
David
#37
RE: AMR Trainer 26
Lumpy, yes, you can prime the wood and cover it with Solartex. If the laser burn spots aren't too deep, you can also sand the carbon off the burned edges. It's a bit of a pain, but it does look nicer.
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
No, I haven't given up, just slow to post updates. The fuse was filled and sanded and then primed white, then sanded again. The wings have also been primed and sanded and I started to cover them tonight. The fuse has been covered in white solartex, it came out pretty good. All tail feathers have been covered. The horizontal stab has been epoxied on, I also drilled and pinned it with 1/8" dowel for added strength. Tonight I epoxied on the vertical fin, with one dowel pin in the leading edge to hold it in alignment with the center of the fuse. Even tho the progress has been slow with the covering, I think I can complete the plane by our clubs "beauty contest" in a week and a half. I've trial fitted the motor/mount and also have made the battery tray. I've also decided to mount the rudder servo in the tail to keep the linkage short. The landing gear has also been trial fit. I'm waiting for my wheels to come in. I also bought an Eagle Tree Systems Guardian stabilizer to install, It may give my girlfriend a little more confidence in learning to fly this plane. She's nervous about it, but I keep insisting to her that this plane will be WAY more stable than the little foamy I had her try last year. I just remind her that " bigger is better honey"!
lumpy
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
I'm back! Much more done since the last post. I'm glad I added a rear hatch into the fuse. It allowed me to gain access to the bottom of the vertical fin and reinforce it with wood pins. Also allows me to get at the servo wires where they'll attach to the extensions....which I'm waiting for to come in from Servo City. You can see by the pics that I've installed flying wires. I'm using a servo for each elevator half. I decided not to go with a pull-pull on the rudder and installed the servo in the tail. I need to put an on/off/charging jack under the front hatch yet. I want to wait and see where the cg comes in at before installing. Also am going to wait as to where I'm going to put the receiver battery and what size for balancing. I've been working on polishing the landing gear. It looks like it was cut on a water jet and the edges were rough. Also the front sides had clamp marks in them from being bent in a press, and stress marks in the bends. I massaged them out with rubbing them with a file in a cross wise direction and then sanded and polished with scotch brite pads. Aluminum polish is next. My biggest part to do yet is cover the wings. I have until Monday to get er done. Tuesday is my clubs "Beauty Contest" and I want to have it entered.lumpy
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
Well it's finally done. I had some issues with the cg....Way tail heavy. I moved the esc to the outside of the firewall, the batteries are as far forward as possible and I moved the motor out another 1/2". I also had to install bigger (heavier) wheels. AUW came in at 19.5 lbs.......much more than the advertised 13lbs. I ran up the motor today and it produced 1950 watts/50amps, with a Zinger Pro 20x 8, on a 10s 5000mah setup. If I catch a deal on a couple of 6s batteries I'm going to try that. Next step is the maiden, hopefully Friday and for sure over the weekend. Now I have to figure out the trainer function in my 8fg super.lumpy
#41
RE: AMR Trainer 26
The weight/balance challenge can be very difficult. Everything in the tail requires at least 3 times the weight in the nose to balance, so tail weight is extremely important. Moving the servos forward, replacing the kit's wood with lighter wood for the tail, eliminating the tail bracing, etc are all considerations to lighten the tail weight. Heavier wheels won't help as much as lead in the nose; the further forward the nose weight is, the less you will need. I think the AMR trainers are designed for heavier gas motors (more nose weight). One thing about building, you tend to learn stuff along the way. Your plane looks great! Good luck on the maiden.
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
It Flies.....and returned home in one piece! 4 flights on the T-26 today. Not exactly ideal conditions for a maiden on a trainer plane either. Winds were at 12mph with gusting to 20+ mph. But at least the wind was coming straight down the runway. First flight it seemed to fly like it was tail heavy some. For the 2nd flight, a friend and long time builder showed up at the field and watched the plane. He indicated that it appeared to him that the motor thrust angle was off, needing more down thrust. I installed 2 washers behind the top mounts and it was much better. I also had him check my cg and it was fine. 3rd flight and the motor needed some more down thrust and I was out of the washers I needed. 4th flight was to get the flaps/elevator dialed in. When I got home I adjusted the down thrust some more and hopefully get out tomorrow morning and try it again. Motor had plenty of power on a 10s 5000mah, with a 20 x 8 prop. Tomorrow I'm going to try a 18 x 8 prop.lumpy
#44
RE: AMR Trainer 26
Lumpy, congrats on getting those first flights out of the way, now you can start having some fun! I'm thinking a little extra weight should make your plane more stable in the wind. Enjoy!
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
Thanks for the comments Cando. Today The plane flew better with more down thrust added last night. Today we discovered that the plane would climb under full power, but was fine at half throttle or less. It was determined the wing incidence was off a bit. With no materials on hand to raise the rear of the wing, I used 2 plastic pop bottle tops under the wing...perfect until a permanent fix can made. Plane slows nicely with the flaps deployed. I also switched to an 18 x 8 prop today, easier on the batteries.lumpy
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RE: AMR Trainer 26
Box car, you may have them. pm me with your address and I'll get them out to you. Be aware that the plane builds tail heavy, so plan accordingly. If possible try to do a build thread, I'd like to see someone else's ideas on their build.