teg-1

My Feedback: (336)

Whats the best way to glue the two surfaces together with out runing the finish, i would rather use two servos instead of 4...........................Thanks..............JO HN

MAX EFFFORT

i epoxied a 4 inch piece of 440 all-thread in the trailing edges, extending 2 inches in each side of each surface .. and a popcicle stick across front inner control surface former.. and i used the inbrd servo positions, as the wing is thicker there and more room, which i needed. if i had used the outbrd servo spots the servo arms would stick out, even with only a 1/2 arm. which is ok i quess.. the outbrds would seem to be a better spot on most planes due to the most press being on the outer ends but these elevon sufaces and hingings are super strong and rigid, so what would seem to be the best spot is really not..

Glorfindel

I have a question for daytonaKid :

Can you explain to me why if you didnt get the 90deg deflection of the speed brake, it increase the landing speed???? It can make it pitching up if so you have to had down elevator so it will be more draggy then less speed....I dont see how it increase the landing speed exponentially....

MAX EFFFORT

i may have used the wrong term by saying "exponentially", but my harpoon slows a lot more with it at 90. i have tried it at less and could tell the difference.. i'm no aerodynamics expert but a surface at 90 causes a lot more air disrupution than same surface at less angle.. i think i also read this in the build articles for the old rookie in rcji 2 years ago, or somewhere..

Vincent

My Feedback: (61)

I have 8411`s in my 3yr old rookie and the elevons are glued together. No issues what so ever and powered by a 750plus.
V..

johnnyjet

My Feedback: (4)

What servo arm is on your 8611?

A friend lost a roo with a dubro servo arm.
It striped out at the servo spline.
It ran a 5.5 volts regulated power system.
The roo was in a fast roll about 6 times, when the controls were released.
The left elevon would not respond correctly after that.
It was a complete loss.

I have swapped all of my arms over to swb now.

Johnny

MAX EFFFORT

wow, sorry to hear about that one, but i'm extremly glad u told how it broke.. i have dubros on mine now, but they will be gone tonight and some stout aluminun ones replacing them.. with the forces of a 190 mph fast roll/spin, those plastic ones are a weak link.. i've been thinking about changing them, now i will.

MAX EFFFORT

come on guys, lets see how those new rookie are going together... didn't mean to hi-jack the thread.. i'll shut up..

seanreit

My Feedback: (60)

Hey guys, BV and RPM and others including me have quit using the dubro metal arms and gone to JR "heavy duty" servo control horns on surfaces. There is not "slop" with these and after 150 combined flights between those that I know made the switch, no issues.

I'm not saying SWB is bad, it is not, but the dubro are no good on the quality control.

Airforce7

My Feedback: (31)

Turns out I didn't initially receive the canard linkage hardware and instructions in the box with the jet. My C-ARF sales rep is sending me the goods as of today.

Got the canopy done this week and I sure had to cut a lot of the plastic away to get it to fit. It sure looks great once fitted to the canopy frame.

I'm electing not to fuse the ailerons and elevators together. So my 9-Channel radio setup will look similar to this:

C1 - Throttle
C2 - Ailerons on Y
C3 - Elevator on Y
C4 - Rudder on Y and Y to nose-wheel
C5 - Gear
C6 - Speed Brake
C7 - Vectoring or Smoke
C8 - Canard via mix
C9 - Brakes

teg-1

My Feedback: (336)

Airforce 7
are you going to leave the thrust vectoring hooked up all thru the speed range or use a mix switch ?
The instructions say to turn it off at over 120 , or does this really matter?
JOHN

MAX EFFFORT

i would not leave the pipe on during hi speeds.. you can, but you must be very easy on the sticks, it makes the plane very touchy unless u have the pipe's throws way down.. i take off with it on, land with it on and do slower speed tumbles, spins, flops, etc. with it on. but it may cause control or stress problems at hi speeds.. the pipe is very effective even at low throws.. i suggest starting with very low throws and increase as needed after many flts, to get used to the difference in flying with and without the pipe on..

teg-1

My Feedback: (336)

Thanks Daytona Kid............
JOHN

Kevin Greene

My Feedback: (85)

As for the speedbrake...I used offset hinges. Made hinging MUCH easier. With the offset hinges you could get more than 90 degrees of throw if you had a reason to. You can get offset hinges from BVM or a little cheaper from Darryl Usher (Usher Enterprises) Mine are Usher's.

Kevin

Airforce7

My Feedback: (31)

Seems like people are really interested in the new rookie as well as getting info on all the modifications. I started this thread and intend to stick with it until I get mine off the ground.

I believe I was one of the first to get one based on all the info provided in the newly released preliminary version of the manual. I didn't get many of the things they talk about now in it originally. Here's the link to the preliminary manual on-line:

http://www.composite-arf.com/arf/ima...ie.manual..pdf

That's a 3 liter coke bottle I brought back from Mexico with brass fittings for fuel control thru the cap. I put a sheet of flexible ply to support the bottle in the fuselage. Skymaster hinges on the speed brake. Custom tray for the gear actuator and canard servo. Indy silver on the canopy, boy does it look good in person.

jetjockey

My Feedback: (8)

Guys, I just finished my new Rookie (sunset scheme) and have flown it several times with the CG at the old setting recommended by Marc Froen - DON"T!!!!! It will fly, but is VERY touchy on elevator. According to Andreas Geitz (owner of Comp-ARF), the correct CG is: 130mm in front of the wing tube, and the canards need to be set at plus/minus 20 degrees and slaved into the Elevons - adjust to your own preferences. I set my canards at neutral to match the fuse eyebrow curvatures and am satisfied with 15 degrees down elevator, and 20 degrees up elevator (slaved to the elevons). I'm running a Simjet 3000 with thrust vectoring (+/- 10 degrees or so) full time. The airplane is an absolute joy to fly and is very stable, and easy to land - stalls are also really a non-event - gentle and straight ahead. My elevons are set about 3/32" above the wing trailing edge for a neutral elevator trim setting. Frankly I found this version to be almost a "no-brainer" to assemble and to fly - once I got the correct CG info. I'm also running a 2 liter coke bottle for the main tank, and 2 - 24 oz Dubro tanks on each side of the fuse tucked into the shoulders just ahead of the front main tank former. After 7-8 minutes of 1/2 - 2/3 throttle flying, I land with the main tank almost dry and still have the 2 - 24 oz Dubro tanks still full - Evidently I don't really need both Dubro tanks on board the way I fly. I did absolutely no additional glueing, or reinforcement because I believe Composite-ARF got it right this time - this is my 4th Rookie, BTW, and by far, the best one I think.

My speedbrake was cut according to the directions. I hinged all the previous ones with aftermarket hinges because I didn't like the way the bottom flattened out, I thought the surface was too thick for the hinge to work properly, and I didn't really understand how they intended it to be cut. On this one, I followed the directions, cut it out, and then relieved the resin along the buried hinge line, leaving the hinge cloth - just like the rear hatch hinge line. I was amazed at how easy it really is when you do it like the rear hatch. I REALLY do like the way it works with the built in hinge. I did cut about 1 1/2" in from both ends toward the middle of the built in hinge to let the major curvature relax some, but the hinge works great, also snaps back into position for about the last 1/4" or so of travel (helps hold it closed) and works very easy on my servo. I highly recommend this method. I don't plan on going back to external hinges - too much trouble compared to the factory way of doing it.

I placed all my equipment on the tray provided, solenoids in the engine compartment, pump at the rear of the tray, retract and brake valves/servos about the middle of the tray on each side underneath the tray, air tanks ahead of the valves, the canard servo just ahead of the tray, and my ECU/Radio batteries beside the two Dubro fuel tanks just behind the speed brake opening. My engine is mounted in about the middle of the compartment, and it balanced right on the mark with no other shifting of equipment or addition of weights. I did do a cockpit, and found the opening to be pretty large to fill up - here is a potential for too much weight if you aren't careful, but the opening needs something in there.

One note: Make sure your elevon throws (travel) are exactly the same for both sides of the elevator, otherwise, when you pull elevator, you may get an induced roll if your travel isn't exactly the same. You will need about 2/3 as much aileron travel as you have for elevator. I really like mine and probably will always have one of these for my "everyday" sport jet.

Good luck with your project - with this info on the CG and canard throws, you should have no problems whatsoever flying the thing.

Regards, Les

Airforce7

My Feedback: (31)

Sweet!!! This is what I was looking forward to reading about this jet. Thanks for the info. Would you have time to post a picture of your jet, especially the linkages to the elevons? I'd also like to know your method of wiring the elevons to the receiver. Did you use any Matchboxes for this? Any Y-harnesses? Your review is very informative, thanks.

jetjockey

My Feedback: (8)

Airforce7,

I just used the standard kit hardware for the elevon linkage. I used 4 JR 8411's (2 in each wing "y'd" together) and set up my 10X for the elevon wing type. I did have to open the pushrod holes a little on one wing to get clearance, but it was acceptable. I used BVM CF horns instead of the kit supplied ones on all surfaces. I've used both, and the BV CF ones seem to be a little easier to install, but either type will work. My elevons are now almost exactly the same regarding travel, and have less than 1/32" difference at the extreme ends. I did have a little problem with the induced roll I talked about, but only on hard elevator, but this was before I went back and remeasured the travel on my elevons. I had almost an 1/8" difference at the extreme end of the elevator travel from my original setup, and was able to mechanically and electronically (with the TX) adjust almost all of it out. I'm planning on flying it tomorrow again (weather permitting) and see if the induced roll is all gone. If not, I will matchbox the elevons to get the final adjustment exact.

I'll try to get some pictures of my set up this weekend and post them, but so far, I've not had a lot of luck getting them to post on RCU, but I'll try.

The only criticism I have with Composite-ARF is the fact that their directions are pretty vague, and I can't seem to keep the hinge lines on the surfaces from catching and popping occasionally. Other than that, I think this is about one of the best values for the $ out there - especially for a knock-around weekend sport flyer. I did have some correspondence with Andreas Geitz concerning my feelings, and so far, he's been pretty responsive and helpful.

If you have other questions, I'll be glad to answer them, however, I'll be out of pocket for the weekend, but will return Monday.

Regards, Les

jettset99

My Feedback: (7)

Hi what gears are you guys using?

jetjockey

My Feedback: (8)

I'm using SpringAires with Robart struts, but Robart 630 with struts work fine. I'm also using Trim wheels and brakes, but have used BVM also. I like SpringAires because they are air up, spring down, and are simple to install, but others swear by Robart, and there are others out there also.

Regards, Les

Airforce7

My Feedback: (31)

I've got Robart 630 retracts and struts with Intairco 3" wheel set from DreamWorks on mine. See picture above.

Airforce7

My Feedback: (31)

Do any Rookie fliers recommend coating the engine compartment with BVM Heat Shield?

Has anyone mounted the thrust vectoring servo inside the engine compartment, rather than thru the rear bulkhead? Is there any risk in doing this so close to the turbine?

Les, you mentioned that you mounted the Simjet solenoids in the engine compartment. How and where exactly did you do that? Also, did you reinforce the engine mount for your Simjet?

ghost_rider

My Feedback: (20)

No... you do not want to add more weight to the tail.

Yes.. with my Tam's 4 way vector system.



Not to my knowledge.

jetjockey

My Feedback: (8)

Airforce7, yes I did mount the fuel solenoid just in front of the engine on the engine rail and my final filter is just before the sol. I also mounted the thrust vector servo in the engine compartment because it was too difficult to mount it in the wheel well area. So far there hasn't been any problems with any of that. Yes, I also always coat the engine compartment, bottom hatch, and mount rails with BVM heat shield, and also have glued heat shield ceramic blanket at the top of the engine compartment on some of my first Rookies, but that is probably overkill. I only used the BVM Heat Shield on this new Rookie. I didn't use the propane solenoid because I don't use on board starting, and have to hook up the propane outside the airplane, anyway. Simjet uses a regulator on the propane bottle and I put a one way valve to the front of the airplane - when I unplug the propane after start, the line is sealed - keeps the weight of the sol out of the airplane. As far as keeping the weight off the rear - not a problem with the new Rookie and the extended nose. I believe they extended it about 8 to 10" and all you have to do is to mount a battery pack up there somewhere and it will balance out just fine. I always worried about the old Rookies because it was very difficult to get the weight far enough to the front, but the new one has worked out just fine, and was really easy to balance without any additional weight other than the equipment.

I did finally break down and change my speed brake servo that was giving me trouble. I put in a JR 8411 instead - what a pain after you have everything mounted, but went ahead anyway. My Simjet shelled a rear bearing last weekend, and I had to pull the ECU, pump, engine, and send everything in for repair, so was into it pretty deep anyway. Sure do like the way it flies now that I've about got everything sorted out finally.

Good luck with yours - make sure the CG is 130mm ahead of the wing spar - don't put it where the old Rookie CG was, or it may be uncontrollable.

I burned nearly 10 gallons of Jet A at our T-38 jet meet here in Lubbock a couple of weekends ago (before the bearing let go), and lost count about the number of flights, but it was in excess of 20 flights - had a great time. You'll enjoy the airplane when you get it finished and flying. I can't wait until my engine gets back - if it's gonna take a long time, I may pull one from one of my other jets and get my Rookie going again!

Regards, Les

Flying Arrow

My Feedback: (6)

I can't seem to keep the hinge lines on the surfaces from catching and popping occasionally""


Would you please explain what did you do to avoide this problem?

Regards