if weather continue to be fine like this week, the maiden flight will take place on monday

view of my 91 fx fit with temperature and rpm sensor just before the final instalation

Which telemetry system are you using ? Thx

it's not really a telemetry I am not rich enough, direct sending of information to the ground is expensive stuff.
It's a eagletree data recorder.it allow you to replay your flight on a computer.

all infos here

http://www.eagletreesystems.com

I am performing the final radio cabling and flight controls adjustements..... the maiden flight will be for tomorrow afternoon. I am contemplating my work and ask myself what I could add to improve it more.

do you think a steering gyro would be overkilled ?

SalmonBug,

Did u implement the foreseen "speed brake" with both rudders ?

I am still trying to figure a way to program them, it's not easy. I found plenty of clue to do it with hitec and futaba TX but none with graupner

everithing is working except those damned speed brakes.

By the way I thruly believe that the deflection of both rudder isn't very helpfull to decelerate, it's more a cosmetic improvement than a realy effective stuff

Regarding the rudder speed brake issue, I guess usual rudder deflection will not necessarily produce lots of drag. However, +90 and -90 deflection should produce a fairly good amount of drag if rudders are big enough... The pb is that these huge throws are nasty (thinking about flutter, accuracy, ...).
Moreover, you would probably have to mix some down elevator with the speed brake ON, as a pitch up moment will be created.

I will think about the programing this night

I post here the last pic of my DV in the workshop

he is fully ready and on the scale , it show 9.5 Lbs, with all the mods I made I am very happy of this final weight I was convicted to be above 10 I was wrong.

My DV balance just between the two limits without extra lead with the GEAR UP

my next post will be after the maiden flight

thanks a lot to all of you for your interest on this building and your kind words

Not so - they are effective! I have the rudders programmed to deflect outward about 45 degrees on my DV and the drag is very noticeable. I like to come in high and hot, drop to idle, pop the speed brakes, and drop in for a very short field landing! Your 91FX will easily overpower the drag of the rudders, but when the engine is idling, especially with a three bladed prop, the drag is impressive.

thanks a lot for your coment galen, does the speedbrakes induce big pitch changes ?

No. At least not enough for me to remember... Like I said I'll be several hundred feet up on a pretty short final and I can drop to idle, pop the brakes, and grease her on the first part of the runway. I don't know anything about Multiplex, but it was an offset mix on my Futaba 8U Super that pops out the speed brakes. It's actually two mixes, one of each rudder, activated by the same switch...

I like my DV ARF (same color scheme as yours) and it always attracts a crowd whenever I take her out. One of the best maneuvers this plane does is to start straight and level and at high to full throttle. Now enter a left snap roll and hold it. The snap will tighten up and the nose will drop and enter into a very nice approximation of a flat spin. The nose will be slightly below level and the plane will rotate about the yaw axis and the descent rate will be quite low. I've taken mine up high and done more then 75 turns on the way down! To recover simply center the sticks and pull back the throttle and she'll enter a dive...

Hello All,
I have just ordered mine last night. After reading these posts, I can say that I can not wait to get mine out of the box and into the air!
This will be my first building attempt as all of my other airplanes were ARF's. I have had the bug to build one for about a year now and I could not take it anymore. I have done some reconstructive surgery on some of mine that crashed, but never a full build. I am planning to put a .75 on it but will not put retracts. Are there any hints you all could give me for the building process? Other than don't mess up, I think it will be fun to have something of my own that I built with the help of my friends on RCU.
Thanks to everyone for their comments and support on this thread. Once again, it is people like you, helping people like me that keep this hobby more than fun!
Thanks!


Red

congratulations for your order of your DV

mine (the os 91fx modified with retract, nose cowl and data recorder ) made his maiden flight this afternoon, what a great flyer it is, you will love that amazing delta.
the 91Fx is more than enough to pull the plane in unlimited verticals
I took some pics that I will post tomorrow (I am not home and can't download them)
either mine is on the heavy side due to the mods, it fly perfectly and make very nice slow nose hig approaches. Weather was cold so I only made one flight.
I will love discover that plane !
I flown it without speedbrakes for the maiden flight, but I solved the programing issues

my only advise if you decide to build stock is to perfectly follow the extremely well done assembly manual !
you may maybe want to slightly shorten the engine box in order to balance without lead (the DV chronicaly turn out nose heavy). I did it on mine and it balance without any ounce of extra lead
the DV either it's a impressive bird is EASY to build
be sure you have a large flat building board.

keep up post on your progress and don't hesitate to knock at the door for some advises !

I was alone for the maiden flight, but i took this pic before taxi out

I LOVE these pix which capture unique moments... You never know what's gonna happen afterwards !

hey guy's how are your dv going ?

mine is simply gorgeous !!!!

Salmonbug,

Nice looking plane. Is there anything different you would do with the kit now that you have had a chance to fly it for a while. I'm planing on buying one and building it this coming winter. I like your retractable gear setup so much that I'm planning on copying it.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. It has been a source of great information.

don't change anything to the airplane design....... it's a great flier !!!
fully aerobatic and extremely stable.
mine is performing fine since the maiden flight. no gear troubles, no fuel feeding problems (either with the relocated tank), no problems at all.........
rudder speedbrakes are efficient

look this landing......

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/rcu-stuff/landing%20dv.avi



and this pass with gear down
I found the droopy "vortex style" wingtipps giving him a impressive "bomber look" on that pic, LOL


a friend of me (the valuable member strykaas) will post a video on this thread showing a take off of my DV who nearly turned very bad !!
the only problem with my retract setup is that the prop clearance with a 14 inch prop is critical.
Now I am flying with a 13/7 3 blades, but on the vid it's a 14/7 ............
the prop touch the ground and the plane take off with a heavy roll mouvement induced.....
fortunatly you will see a 91 fx is a great puller and the elevons are very efficient either in the critical phases of flight

you could shorten the engine box a bit less than I did, this could allow you to put a longer leg in the front. my DV balance without lead with the shortened engine box and the retract setup .

Salmonbug,

It's good to hear you are having such success with your Vortex. I'll check out your video when I get home, the connection here at work is not all that fast.

Hi all !

Here are the videos :

Low-pass : http://perso.wanadoo.fr/rcu-stuff/low_dv_2.avi

Take-off : http://perso.wanadoo.fr/rcu-stuff/Takeoff.avi


Enjoy

Mike,

Between you and Salmonbug, I'm going to have to get one of these kits.

My Holy Smoke just ain't big enough.

Don

Hello All,
Well, I finally moved into my new house, turned the garage into my workshop and built my Vortex. I did nothing any different than anyone else, but let me say, I am very proud of mine. This was my first kit ever. I have built airplanes from scratch before, but those were just ideas in my head, materializing into airplanes...sometimes! Anyways, this one was my first attempt at building and I think Bruce Tharpe and the gang did a fantastic job with the entire kit. I cannot wait until I can buy another one!
I test flew it yesterday and boy, this thing flies great! It is smooth, graceful and full of energy when you push up on the throttle! I powered mine with a Super Tiger .91 and a J-tec muffler, Futaba radio and a couple of Hitec servos. I finished off the nose for a sleeker look as some of you have done, blending it into the spinner. All I have right now is building pictures, so I will get my camera back out and take some finished pictures for you all. I figured the building pictures would just be redundant, so I witheld.
Anyways, thanks to all of you for the help in building my first kit plane. Thanks to BTE for designing such a fantastic flyer and thanks to everyone I forgot! If anyone has an extra of these they do not want, drop me a line, I will take it from you!!!!!

Later,
Red

Hello folks, how are your DV performing ?

I am actually a little disappointed. I hate to say that because it is such a wonderful conversation piece at the field, but I have not got more than a few good runs out of this thing. Between the engine(s) dying and the control surfaces giving me problems, I have not had the best of luck.

I love the thing, don't get me wrong, but I have never had it in the air long enough to do all the stuff I think it will do! I started out with a Super Tigre .91 and that one would not stay running for me, no matter what I did. I changed the whole fule system and it would never run a full tank. I changed that to an Evolution 1.00. No different. It dies all the time too. Then, during one of those rare flying times when it stayed up, the right aileron servo stripped out. Somehow, I managed to land it without crashing though. The next time I flew it, the nose gear fell off on the second go round. Believe it or not, it was not because it was not tight either. The gear fitting that attaches to the structure of the airplane broke and the captured nut was still safely locked into place on the gear, once I finally found it. After I fixed that, a freak thunderstorm came up and blew it off the table and the right wing tip broke.

So, needless to say, I don't think it likes me. However, I am not one to give up, so I will eventually get it running and I will fly the tail off of it then. Somehow, someday. Anyway, it was noce to see you are still out there Salmonbug. I do not think I have talked to you since the Mig-27 drone days. : ) Talk to you soon. I am going to the sea and sky air show tomorrow at Jax beach. I have got to get some sleep though.... Too many airplanes!


Red