bernardb

My Feedback: (2)

Hi,

I am still trying to figure out my FB F-18F ARF.

On each Main gear there are 3 gear doors, 2 small and one large. I have found that the small doors must open first, then the large one, then the gear drops. Going up, the gear retracts then the large door must close first then the 2 small doors. This order is necessitated by an "interference" at a corner of the large door and the small inner door. For the nose gear there are also 3 doors but no interferences so they can open/close in either order. Anyway, I am having trouble visualizing what gizmos I need to do this:

Gear Down: Small doors open, large door opens, gear drops down.
Gear Up: Gear retracts, large door closes, small doors close.

I would also like a delay between door opening and gear deployment and would also like to slow down everything to look more realistic. I want to use Jetronics valves for this.

Do I need 2 or 3 Jetronics air valves?
Do I need a Sequencer?

Thanks for the help.

Bernard

digitech

My Feedback: (10)

looks like you need 3 valves double action and 2 sequensers.
i havent heard you speak about the front doors , i guess it is also double? you need to have one door closed and one needs to stay open while retracted?

ravill

My Feedback: (11)

On all the F-18's (super or non) I've seen, all the doors open at the same time and stay open at the same time. I believe the scale one is like this as well.

Your super hornet's doors are likely out of alignment.

Raf

F-16 Skywalker

Gear doors, I love our hobby but those doors are my biggest headach..lol..
Best of luck to ya

NUNU

Dont make work for yourself if your doors jam a little remove some material..mine opens and closes at the same time no extra valves needed

JohnMac

Yep, that's just what I was thinking. All the doors open and close together. If the gear won't travel with it like this, you need to fix the way the gear is installed. Having a leg hang up is really bad news, so fix it right first time even if you have to do the work again. Well, that's my advice.
I have the SM F-18E and there was a lot of work getting the gear in the right palce, and a lot of wood to grind out of formers etc.
John

Edgar Perez

My Feedback: (13)

Hi Bernard,

Exactly the same issue with my FB F-18F[:@]

I already purchased an UP-3 Valve. I connected the struts and the big door to the valve. It works good. Now I will use a standard robart valve for the small doors. I intent to connect both valves to the same servo. The linkage to the servo will be done so that the robart valve get activated first, then the UP-3. This can be done using a round servo wheel, with linkages at 90 degrees of each other. The servo will be slowed down, so that there is enough time to allow the activations to happen in sequence.

Another way to do it will be to use separate servos for the valves. Then you can use a 3 position switch, where the first position activate the small doors and the following position activate the UP-3 valve. Then you allow for some delay between positions when activating.

Another way to do it with 2 servos is using the weatronic sequencing functionality. However this won't allow to use a Tamjet failsafe that I want.

I choose not to grind the doors, since they look nice when closed

I expect to try one of this methods over the weekend.
Good luck,

bernardb

My Feedback: (2)

THanks everyone.

Edgar, yes I like the way the doors look when closed - nice fit. I would really rather not have to grind anything or detract from their appearance if possible. I guess since I have a Weatronic I can try something creative with sequencing...

Thanks again!

Bernard