Balsa USA Smoothie XL Build
04-19-2017, 01:18 PM
#76
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Well, now the pictures are back but it would appear that they don't permit uploads, only links. I have no desire to add links to my Google Photos accounts so these might be the last pics in this forum. I may have to pick this up on FlyingGiants or RCGroups...
04-22-2017, 07:22 AM
#77
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This picture uploader they adopted here is a real pain compared to the old so this build thread is basically done. I'll post a pic here or there but nothing like what I have been doing.
Cut out a couple of patterns to mock up the bottom scheme.
Cut out a couple of patterns to mock up the bottom scheme.
Last edited by pappy35; 04-22-2017 at 11:28 AM.
I've got to start thinking about what I'm building next.
04-23-2017, 09:23 AM
#84
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Other than dressing up a couple spots on the vertical tail LE, the fuselage is all done. On to the wing tops and then it's an ARF. 8-)
Last edited by pappy35; 04-23-2017 at 09:25 AM.
04-24-2017, 06:52 PM
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Tonight I worked on the first of the two red wing tip upper trim pieces. This is something It's a real pain to have a curved trim piece on an open-bay wing like this need so I need to try to avoid doing this next time. Overall it came out pretty well but never again...8-)
Tomorrow I'll do the other side and the gray and black stripes (which will be a cakewalk compared to the tips).
Then it's an ARF!
Tomorrow I'll do the other side and the gray and black stripes (which will be a cakewalk compared to the tips).
Then it's an ARF!
04-26-2017, 07:16 PM
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The new photo uploader is horrible. I tried to upload three, just three, pictures and after waiting for them all to finish I got an error about a token and it failed. This happened once before and I reported it to a moderator and never heard a peep back. So, here's just one photo showing the completed MonoKote.
04-27-2017, 01:21 AM
#87
Looks awesome pappy! Should be easy to see in the sky.
I have the same problem with the photo uploader and have also complained. I even copied and pasted the message and gave the administrator the message. What I found that works (but is a pain and slow) is to load no more than two pictures from the top box, where is has five "choose a file", then upload. Then go back to the choose a file and repeat the process over until you have all of your photos loaded to the bottom box where is says "upload file from a URL".
I have the same problem with the photo uploader and have also complained. I even copied and pasted the message and gave the administrator the message. What I found that works (but is a pain and slow) is to load no more than two pictures from the top box, where is has five "choose a file", then upload. Then go back to the choose a file and repeat the process over until you have all of your photos loaded to the bottom box where is says "upload file from a URL".
04-27-2017, 09:03 AM
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I went ahead and weighed everything (motor and all accessories, gear, servos, batteries, etc.) and am sitting at about 12 1/2 pounds! I didn't weigh pushrods, mounting bolts, and other little stuff so I fully expect it to come out to be right at or slightly over 13lbs! This thing, with a DLE 35RE in the nose, is going to be a drastically overpowered floater. Haha!
05-10-2017, 12:16 PM
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MonoKoting is done and I've been working on hardware installation. The fourth pic shows the choke linkage. The tail surfaces are glued-in and everything's looking nice so far.
05-10-2017, 12:21 PM
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How to fix MonoKote trim color edging. I cut several 1/8" or so white strips and ironed them down along all the trim color edges. Makes 'em look pretty good. I thought at first that using white would allow the underlying dark color bleed-through but as you can see it worked out pretty well. The second image is before I cleaned up (and sealed) the edges with trim solvent.
Last edited by pappy35; 05-10-2017 at 12:50 PM.
05-11-2017, 07:10 AM
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Yes. I'm a little concerned about it being nose-heavy so I'm working to get all the servos (including the wings) installed. Once that's done, I can then place the tank, ignition, and throttle servos as required to get the CG right. These may need some sort of penetration of the plywood parts in the front section which then need to be fuel-proofed. I'd rather do the fuel proofing as a last-step rather than touching-up these cutouts.
05-12-2017, 07:52 PM
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Got the aileron and flap pushrods made up using carbon fiber tubes with 4-40 studs epoxied in. Wheels are installed and the wheel pants are rough-fitted. FInally, I added a couple of guide tubes so I can more easily tune the high and low mixture. I need to clean-up the holes a bit but otherwise the orientation turned out pretty good. I'm going to check the CG tomorrow and figure out where the rest of the gear goes. Getting pretty close...
Last edited by pappy35; 05-12-2017 at 07:55 PM.
05-18-2017, 07:59 PM
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Other than the canopy and some details she's almost ready to go. All up weight is 12lbs 5oz though it's a little nose heavy and I'll likely have to add some lead in the tail.
05-19-2017, 04:57 AM
#95
Beautiful job you have done on the Smoothie XL Pappy, enjoyed following your build.
You have done an incredible job on the covering, looking forward to the first flight
comments. Good luck on the maiden.
Bill D.
You have done an incredible job on the covering, looking forward to the first flight
comments. Good luck on the maiden.
Bill D.
07-18-2017, 09:34 AM
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Maiden flight finally completed!
So I finally buttoned-up all the details and dragged it out to the field. For the maiden the engine was left really rich and I didn't install the cowl to ensure a nice cool initial run. The control throws are set per Chads recommendations (which I believe I posted here or in Check6's thread and the CG was at about 3 7/8" back from the LE which is a little nose-heavy (Chad recommended 4 3/8") . Total, ready to fly weight is 13.2 pounds, well under the range indicated as normal.
On power-up, burbling rich as it was, it took off and required zero trim (yay me!). I flew around a bit to check control throws and found them to be perfect. It rolls smartly and flies rock-solid. This is no speed demon with the wing's airfoil as thick as it is but it makes it very consistent and easy to control and there's little tendency to speed-up on down-legs. My decision early-on to add a little down/right thrust worked out exactly as planned as there is no pitch change with large throttle movements and it doesn't want to go one way or the other during pulls to the vertical. Landings are a dream, line up, drop the throttle, and hold pitch all the way down to the deck. I'm not sure I'll ever use the flaps I added. I did note a pronounced pitch up with flaps when I tested them at altitude so quite a bit of down-elevator mixing will be needed.
I leaned the engine to just slightly rich for the second flight and it really made a huge improvement. I can fly it all the way through a loop and it'll climb forever. I noted I needed a huge amount of down elevator for level inverted flight but that's likely due to it being pretty nose-heavy. The hatch came off halfway through the second flight and I spent an hour boiling in the sun stomping through a beanfield to find it. As much aggravation as that hatch cost me I was GOING TO FIND it!!! Lesson: use locktite and lockwashers!
In summary: this is a truly great flying plane if you're looking for a relaxing, fun-fly outing at the field. I'm extremely pleased with the kit, the company, and the flying.
Some equipment notes:
The tank is a Fourtitude 14 ouncer. Two flights of ten minutes each and I used less than half a tank each time. Safe to say the plane can fly a longer than I would want to. Servos are Savox SG-0220 HV (all nine of them). I really like these so far; affordable, accurate, and HV so there's no need for a regulator. I used two MPX-style connectors for the wing servos. With two in each wing this was used to simplify assembly. Electrical demands are handled by Fromeco products: Badger dual output switch and a Relion 5,200mAh pack. Ignition cut-off and power is via a Tech-Aero Ultra IBEC. This permits use of the Rx battery for power while ensuring the Rx and ignition are electrically isolated thus saving the added weight and complexity of needing a second one. Finally, control is provided by dual Futaba 7008's. This setup allows Rx redundancy by splitting the control servos between two receivers. On Rx 1 I have one elevator, one aileron, rudder, and throttle and on the other I have both flaps, the other aileron and elevator, and ignition cut-off (gotta keep the flaps on one due to asymmetric deployment in case of a receiver failure). If you look at pics 2 and 3 you can see how I MacGyvered up a couple of mounts for the Rx antennas. I see lot of folks buying 3D-printed mounts. Why bother when you have a boxful of scrap wood and ten minutes?
Anywho...just wanted to bring this thread to closure.
So I finally buttoned-up all the details and dragged it out to the field. For the maiden the engine was left really rich and I didn't install the cowl to ensure a nice cool initial run. The control throws are set per Chads recommendations (which I believe I posted here or in Check6's thread and the CG was at about 3 7/8" back from the LE which is a little nose-heavy (Chad recommended 4 3/8") . Total, ready to fly weight is 13.2 pounds, well under the range indicated as normal.
On power-up, burbling rich as it was, it took off and required zero trim (yay me!). I flew around a bit to check control throws and found them to be perfect. It rolls smartly and flies rock-solid. This is no speed demon with the wing's airfoil as thick as it is but it makes it very consistent and easy to control and there's little tendency to speed-up on down-legs. My decision early-on to add a little down/right thrust worked out exactly as planned as there is no pitch change with large throttle movements and it doesn't want to go one way or the other during pulls to the vertical. Landings are a dream, line up, drop the throttle, and hold pitch all the way down to the deck. I'm not sure I'll ever use the flaps I added. I did note a pronounced pitch up with flaps when I tested them at altitude so quite a bit of down-elevator mixing will be needed.
I leaned the engine to just slightly rich for the second flight and it really made a huge improvement. I can fly it all the way through a loop and it'll climb forever. I noted I needed a huge amount of down elevator for level inverted flight but that's likely due to it being pretty nose-heavy. The hatch came off halfway through the second flight and I spent an hour boiling in the sun stomping through a beanfield to find it. As much aggravation as that hatch cost me I was GOING TO FIND it!!! Lesson: use locktite and lockwashers!
In summary: this is a truly great flying plane if you're looking for a relaxing, fun-fly outing at the field. I'm extremely pleased with the kit, the company, and the flying.
Some equipment notes:
The tank is a Fourtitude 14 ouncer. Two flights of ten minutes each and I used less than half a tank each time. Safe to say the plane can fly a longer than I would want to. Servos are Savox SG-0220 HV (all nine of them). I really like these so far; affordable, accurate, and HV so there's no need for a regulator. I used two MPX-style connectors for the wing servos. With two in each wing this was used to simplify assembly. Electrical demands are handled by Fromeco products: Badger dual output switch and a Relion 5,200mAh pack. Ignition cut-off and power is via a Tech-Aero Ultra IBEC. This permits use of the Rx battery for power while ensuring the Rx and ignition are electrically isolated thus saving the added weight and complexity of needing a second one. Finally, control is provided by dual Futaba 7008's. This setup allows Rx redundancy by splitting the control servos between two receivers. On Rx 1 I have one elevator, one aileron, rudder, and throttle and on the other I have both flaps, the other aileron and elevator, and ignition cut-off (gotta keep the flaps on one due to asymmetric deployment in case of a receiver failure). If you look at pics 2 and 3 you can see how I MacGyvered up a couple of mounts for the Rx antennas. I see lot of folks buying 3D-printed mounts. Why bother when you have a boxful of scrap wood and ten minutes?
Anywho...just wanted to bring this thread to closure.
Last edited by pappy35; 07-18-2017 at 09:50 AM.
