Hi Dan,
very nice job, congratulations.

What CAD tool have you used to design the Lexicon?

I use turbocad. I only model in 2d i havent had the time (or need) to learn 3d yet 🙂

Thanks Dan.
does Turbocad have a built-in function to design the upper and lower wing jigs?

I really like the structure you used to build the wings. Quick and precise assembly :)

Hi sorry for late reply. No i just draw everything from scratch, the jigs are pretty easy to draw though, not a lot to them.

Hopefully it will be ready for its maiden this weekend, weather permitting!

What did you use to cut out all the formers and ribs.

I drew them up on cad, then a friend of mine who has access to a laser cutter cut them out for me.
Dan

What material did you use for the formers. In recent years I have bought a couple of ARF 2m planes and I ma curious of the material used. The formers look like 1/8" light ply. The stringers and others look like a very thin plastic of sorts.

Depending on what former it is i will use a mixture of 1/8 & 1/16 ply, 1/8 lite ply and 1/8 balsa. The stringers are 3/16 square balsa and the whole thing is skinned with 3/32 balsa sheet. It's all just a balance between strength and weight.
However its finished now and the rtf weight with 5000mah packs is 4620g which im very happy about.
The wings actually came out a little heaver than i wanted at 420g each, but i think they're slighty bigger than a 'normal' set

Dan

I am really following this build with interest. I am learning a lot from it. However, I am having picture withdrawals :rolleyes:.

Its flown! I managed to get 9 flights on it before....you know.
So i havent had chance to really start dialling it in yet, all i've done so far is move the lipos back 3 inches and trim the elevator and rudder. Oh i did start changing the aileron rate to get a more comfortable roll rate.


Overall im very happy with it. Looks great in the air, the swept wings really make it look like it grooves. It feels locked in. I did have 1 session with it in about a 15mph wind and it coped really well.


I havent put any mixes in at all yet, havent done much KE but it doesnt feel like it needs much. As i've trimmed it out gravity neutral i wouldnt use a downline mix anyway but on the vertical upline its hands off so dont need to adjust the down/up thrust. (It was built at 0°). Side thrust seems pretty much there havent really looked at it so cant be too far off.


Rudder feels great, not too sensitive but i think still has the power to get round an f21. I did a couple of one roll rollers and it coped fine.
Be interesting in an unknown. Hopefully we'll see at the champs.
I was a but concerned about lack of rudder authority as even though its a tall rudder the chord is quite small. But its fine.


The single drive Adverrun is a beast, never any need to go full throttle and is very quiet. Efficient too. Coupled with Adam Debowskis d3 controller its great. Probably only using 50‐70% throttle and it seems easier to achieve a constant speed.

Also, as you can see from pics, i covered it in all white. I'm going to spray it after...and hopefully it'll get some spats

A lot more testing to go but im happy.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...3ef8faa468.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...6229c40aea.jpg

Congratulations on a successful design! Will plans be available?

What did you use for covering? I've been using vinyl wrap lately (auto stuff) and it works great. I did a lot of monokoting in my day.

Its finished now. Its all sprayed up and ready to go.
Im pleased with how its come out, it was a bit of a learning curve as i've done minimal spraying in the past and i was spraying onto covering.
I made sure the covering (easycote) was properly ironed down because if i wrinkles in the sun there is no way to iron it back down with the paint on.
I started with the fuselage, all the black was put on first to outline the design then masked up. I made the mistake of using 3m tape and not testing it as it bled a lot, its not that noticable but a bit annoying. I rubbed all the white with a scotchbrite pad to key it and cleaned it degreaser.
I do have a compressor for spraying but thought i'd get a couple of cans from halfords first to experiment, they worked well enough for me i just did the whole model with them.
I used insulation tape to mask up the wings, it worked much better leaving a nice crisp line, bit trickier to put on its quite flexible and harder to keep straight.
So overall i'm happy, how well it will hold up though is another matter!
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...aaceb66fa3.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...bd07d13271.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...288f15ad67.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...eccf1fc0e2.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...29c5dd176f.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...0cbcf0f6ed.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...7a735de608.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...d97fe205fc.jpg

Outstanding job!

Nice work! Thanks for the build thread 👍

You had showed another color scheme.. we were expecting more colorful plane..

Sorry to disappoint you! 😂😂

Maybe he should volunteer to paint your plane for you......So easy to criticize!

No doubt the plane is a beauty.. but I only expected more colors.. to it