Hey guys,
Just finished up a FEJ Rafale last week. Still waiting on maiden due to freezing cold weather. Added some pics for anyone interested in taking a look. Power is a Wren MW54 mk4. JR 9303 2.4. Made cockpit, ejection seats, instrument dash out of cardstock. Downsized full scale picture of Rafale cockpit for instruments. Dreamworks pilots cut to size. Hopefully it will be a fun little jet. Jon

Nice

Can't see clearly, but is that an easy connector in the canard servo? I would never trust those...

I think it is.. if its not, it sure looks like one. i quit trusting those things shortly after i got into the hobby.

Jon, you have to remove that control linkage setup you currently have for the canards, it will not hold up and it will fail on you.
use ball links and a carbon rod and if possible get the canard servo as close as possible to the canard control arm.


Alan

Please be aware that's a wren you have there be sure to put the glow plug at about the 5:00 o'clock position
It dose make a difference

According to the Wren manual the glow plug ideally should be at the 2:00 o'clock position, when viewed from the front of the engine. I seem to recall a posting by Sara some time ago where she said that anything between 12:00 and 3:00 o'clock is fine.

Joe

It may be differnt for the smaller one i have a 200
You might want to check

I have two SuperSports and a MW54 Mk3. Those manuals recommend 2:00 o'clock because of the way the lubrication system is configured. The best thing for Jonboy2 to do is refer to his manual.

Joe

I would also remove the half bypass that is just aft the turbine, there's not enough clearance and you may run hot and loose power. Looks very neat otherwise! what's the auw?

Florent

Thanks for the suggestions. I am fairly new to jets so all the suggestions really help out. The AUW with UAT full is 16.5 to 17 pounds. Hopefully the Wren at 14.5 to 15 pounds of thrust will fly it ok. Thanks again Jon

I believe you are referring the heat shield. On My FEJ F-16 I replaced it with one I made out of thin aluminum, which is much more effective. I have about 3/4" to 1" clearance between the shield and the turbine case all around. There is also room for some airflow over the top of the shield.

Joe

one more thing the refale does not like any cross wind at all
careful with the canard throws it is very effective

I used very, very little canard throw for cruising. I used much bigger throws for landing, to achieve a nose high attitude. Basically used the gaer switch to change the throws.

unless its soldered.

Why would location of the glow plug make any difference??

According to the manual it has to do with bearing lubrication. I imagine that they are relying somewhat on gravity to distribute the lubrication evenly over the entire bearing surface.

Joe

With the older Wrens. if the engine is upside-down, the position of the internal lube tube is such that lube might not feed to the bearings on start-up. The guys did some experiments and found that if the glowplug was between the 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock position then it was OK, but it is happiest with the plug at around the 2 o'clock position.

All newer Wrens can be mounted either right-way-up (glowplug at 2 o'clock position) or wrong way up (8 o'clock).

The one in Joe's picture is fine!

Sara Parish
Wren turbines