woodie...

they are plug and play direct replacements. there is no modification to the airframe.

Dean,
Nice looking plane dude! Mine are coming along nicely. Wings and tail feathers are sheeted and capped. I'm starting on the fuselages now. I'm off for 4 days so I should be able to make a lot of progress this weekend.

Some questions - I hate to bother Mike because he's so busy:

1. When I separate the rudder from the fin, is it like the V2 or is it more conventional? What I mean is do I measure forward from the T.E. to mark the hinge line and then cut back BOTH the rudder AND fin to accomodate the caps or is it like the V2 where you just add the cap to the fin after cutting along the hinge line (only cut back the rudder to accomodate the cap thickness)?

2. Aileron cuts - are the inboard cuts 90 degrees to the hinge line? It looks like it but there are only two dimensions given on the plans (the hinge line length length and the inboard cut length). If there was also a dimension for the trailing edge length or a callout for the angles it would be self explanatory.

That's it for now. Things are going well with the build. I hope to have these all famed up by early March if not sooner.

BTW - Mine are using the conventional stab's. I talked to Mike about the anhedral stab. option and he said to just build it and fly it as is - I can always add them later if I feel like it. I guess I'll have to fly one with the anhedral stab's after I fly mine and make a comparison.

John Pavlick
Team Black Magic, Tech-Aero Designs

Hey John,

thanks bro...

Hey on the fin/rudder - it's just like the v2 - you have to make the first cut on the hinge line and then additional cuts to trim back for the capping. On the Ailerons - the inboard cut is 90 to the hinge line.

Regarding the anhedral stabs - the plane flies very well with the original stabs with 2 or 3% elevator mix on left knife with is minimal considering the tiny amount of rudder input needed to maintain knife edge flight. The amount of rudder deflection needed to maintain knife is very little (like around 1/8" ) and the amount of elevator mix is well microscopic already. With the new anhedrals it seems to completely wash out any need to mix in elevator. Yesterday it was cross and blowing out at the field, I was flying 1000 ft knife edge passes on left rudder at the end of the field it seemed to drift out maybe 3 feet which considering the crosswind seems really minimal. I mean drift after a 1000 ft pass - not belly pull....

Also regarding the sensitivity increase the Arch mentioned - It just feels really tight and connected in flight, I was trying to describe to Mike that even on a straight flight out when you are really relaxed on the sticks with no input you feel really connected to the plane - like if you where flying a ballistic ship at 120 mph. There is no mushyness around neutral, you have a positive feedback loop regardless of speed. The plane flies really great slow with the same connected feeling. It's a big step up from the v2 - The difference in feeling around neutral is amazing, now I can really focus on wings level.

You guys know that I have been building and painting Mike's creations from the beginning. I've seen all the good ones up close and personal. Every plane that Mike, Arch and myself has trimmed has had the same numbers, same mixes - ZERO or real close. I am really convinced that this plane provides a perfectly solid, neutral and balanced platform for any level of pattern competition.


The way this plane rolls is amazing, doing two connected slow rolls is freaky - yea this plane rolls GREAT !!!!!


John, give me a call next week. I have two lipo packs already in the plane I want one of your redundant systems bro !!




- warning if you can't handle the love here you might need to get professional help - is there a love Dr. in da house

Team Black Magic wishes everybody out there in RCU land a HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhdQyuN9ktE

Wishing everybody a great New Year with Love and Peace, this world really needs it!

Looking forward to seeing all my friends in 2009.

Ahhh, feelin the love [8D] LOL!!!

Chris, your kit shipped with the new anhedrals. You should have it Friday or Monday. I still owe you a stab tube though...

Yeah sounds like a typical VF3 maiden to me. Uneventful, but leaves a long lasting smile! one of these days I'll get my own going....has it really been 2 years now?????

Don, the locations are on the drawings. It's easy. If you're using 4 adjusters, use the outermost holes for the adjuster sockets in the wings, with the adjuster mounted inside the fuse side. you have to open up the hole a little to allow it to travel. Use the second hole from the front for the bolts. If only using 2 adjusters, put them in the rear holes and mount the bolts in the forward most holes, and cut away the section of the root rib containing the second hole.

if you really need pics I'm sure I can dig some up.

get er done boys, 3 months till the '09 season!

-Mike

Oh BTW, I was over at George's house earlier (Aztec Air) and was telling Rusty Bardin about the fly.....he called BS on me! I TOLD you nobody would believe it and we should have gotten video.....

-M

Thanks Dean - Just as I thought. I just wanted to make sure before I started cutting. I'll give you a call over he weekend.

Mike - I dry assembled one of my fuselages - holy sh$t! BIG improvement over my V2 - remember I had one of the first V2 kits so all the parts needed to be hand cut. The VF-3 just puts itself together. Awesome. This is too easy.

John Pavlick
Team Black Magic, Tech-Aero Designs

are you talking about that fly that landed on my canopy ??

LOL

DUDE I was there that had to be those most incredible things Ive ever seen. And what was so wierd, about 2 hours before we went to Deans house, was explaining to me about molds for airplanes and things like that and I quote. " the inside of the mold should be so slick that a fly would slip and bust it's *****" and then when that happened it was awesome.

Chris

Yep. I told you then, nobody would believe it LOL

The arguement was, "if a fly can land on a vertical window pane and stick, how could it NOT be able to stick on a canopy that wasn't vertical? Well, the glass wasn't polished and waxed like crazy....

I swear I can live many years and NEVER see that again. But it was cool....

John, I am shipping your stabs Friday, FYI. I'm beginning to get back in the swing of things, it's been a rough couple months. Lupus SUCKS!!!!

-Mike

Hey Dean,

Tell everyone about the Raptor!!!! I'm sure we all would like to know.


Gandolph

Ok, from now on, we have to keep a jar of flies around for the "fly test" LOL!!!

Seriously you'd have to see Dean's plane in person, that thing GLEAMS!!!! Makes me want to get my painting skillz up a few pegs.

If any of you look in the Shinden thread, Dave Kephart has some serious painting skeel as well.

I hope this means the Concours this year will be up a few notches? Hard to do, last year was pretty stout. This year I plan on having a dog in that hunt myself [8D]

-Mike

I use that expression all the time. my dad painted cars in our shop behind the house when I was a kid (he taught me to paint) and when he'd nail a finish, that's what he'd say. So when we used to paint planes, he'd have me wet sanding and polishing, and then he'd check it out. If he said that, I was done

Man this is really killing me.....I'm painting 2 electrics now, and I can't afford to get crazy with it. So, I'll just go for the fly finish. When I'm done I'll gather up the pics and post them up in part 2 of my how to thread on finishing. This is easy stuff, but it's like a recipe. Miss one ingredient and it goes to hell. Practice is everything...

Ok, back to your regularly scheduled love-fest, and get ready for the 2009 season!

-Mike

To everyone in the pattern world, HAPPY NEW YEAR, and may everybody have a great 09' season.

Larry Odom
Team Black Magic, Dragonfire Customs

Hey all....

Starting the new years of right. here is my personal #2 build on the bench. Looking forward to painting this dragon in february. The new plane will be 100% paint.

Man I can't wait to get back out to the field !!!

Can someone tell me where the 1/4 carbon laminated balsa stringers go theres five off them and there about seven inches long.

Thanks

Stephen

Those go in the nose, between the firewall and F2T, with the carbon vertical (90 degrees to the skin). They are optional, but I like the stiffness.

-Mike

Thats what I thought but wasnt sure. Thanks Mike.

Stephen

I have also added 2oz carbon cloth in strips on the underside of the planking to make the upper nose turtle deck bullet proof. there is a picture way back on this thread somewhere....

We had a great day out yesterday. I was practicing with the two Mikes at our secret east alabama test facility.

Really enjoy the groove with the new plane. Got 4 flights. Still flying with no mixes, the only changes are reducing the low rates on all control surfaces and increasing expo. I was at 8 degrees on low rate I am now at around 6 degrees (Ail, Ele). Amazing sharp control with very little surface travel. I feel really connected to the VF3, and it's a confidence builder - on my first flight of the day I did a half rev-cuban on take off from the deck and did a low fly by back down the center line. Yea - the Mikes liked that !!!!

I can tell you hands down that the VF3 is an amazing rolling machine. I mean super easy and perfectly axial.

No indicated need for mixes so far. I am only flying with very little down elevator to idle.

It looks like monday will be a good fly day, more reports to come...

thanks all....

I received my black magic vf3 sheeted pro kit the other day and am laying out the control surfaces. The instructions refer to balsa blocks installed at the aileron hardpoint area and to locate the dowel hardpoint at that balsa block. The trouble is that I do not know where in the wing that balsa block is. Should I cut the aileron free from the wing, locate the balsa block in the aileron leading edge, cap the leading edge of the aileron, and then install the hardpoint dowel in the aileron? Are there also balsa blocks in the rudder and elevators?

Hi Chris,

when you trim the control surface you will find that the block are in position. Trace out your aileron and poke along the trim line with a #11 blade you should be able to feel it with the knife.

don't worry about it...

yes, cut the surfaces out and you will find the blocks. Except the elevators, there are no blocks in those.

Also hold the wing panel up to the light and you will find the servo cut out.

-Mike

Yeah Dean yours looks pretty clean. I'm sure after a few gallons of fuel you MAY find you need a percent here or there, but not much....looks REALLY good right now.

I won't be able to get out Monday; Melissa has to visit Dr Emory for some teethie work. And, I need to finish painting his planes LOL

Horse tradin...that's how we ROLL!!!! (Pun intended LOL)

Long slow day at the shop here, cleaning a couple year's worth of balsa dust out....*cough cough choke*

-Mike

funny story about flying on friday,

one of the older club guys asked me if my machine gun girl on the canopy was naked? I answered she is if you want The old guys got a big laugh over that !!!


I've decided to fully paint the yellow v2 that's over on the v2 thread. I am getting ready to do a MTK carbon job on the wings and stabs on my v2. Hope we get some good weather soon. It's been raining a really wet here for over a month now.

I need a new painting project !!!! I am hurting to paint a new plane !!!!!