Black Horse Macchi C.200
04-15-2014, 05:43 AM
#176
My Feedback: (9)
IDK i am very disalusioned with electric retracts. i've bought several pair and then found out they have a problem with locking amps, some taking up to 5 amps to lock, and of coarse it is up to the customer to figure out what amps thier retracts draw. most modelers are using NiMH batteries for RX's these days which have high internal resistance so if you draw alot of amps you may not get it. so i've been playing with puting a y on retracts and cutting the red and black wires from the RX hooking the other sides of the y to a retract only battery and the retracts to protet my rx from brown outs. i have it in one plane and so far so good.
last summer my son was working on his electric retracts at the fieild and one of the small parts was lost in the grass. we've all done it. so he was upset on the way home that he was going to have to spend 15 bucks in shipping for a 5 buck part. once on the internet he found out they don't sell parts just complete unites. idk if ledo is that way but time will tell.
i have these ledo's and a few pairs of e-flights so we will see. with the air i've always been abile to get the individual parts i needed, but that too may change with the shrinking market.
Joe
last summer my son was working on his electric retracts at the fieild and one of the small parts was lost in the grass. we've all done it. so he was upset on the way home that he was going to have to spend 15 bucks in shipping for a 5 buck part. once on the internet he found out they don't sell parts just complete unites. idk if ledo is that way but time will tell.
i have these ledo's and a few pairs of e-flights so we will see. with the air i've always been abile to get the individual parts i needed, but that too may change with the shrinking market.
Joe
04-16-2014, 01:12 AM
#177
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I know Lado will sell spares as I've bought replacement amplifiers of them - very reasonable prices too. I've got E-flite retracts, they work ok but nosewheel steering link and the wiring is fragile and there's no spares or service backup, I've got HK 5Kg plastic $7 units which are working well as mains units on a couple of 3-4Kg models, and I've got Lado which are really workmanlike all metal units and have been good to date but at a price. I've also got servo driven mechanical units that are bullet proof once set up but aren't as practical with two piece wings.
I would never run any of them of the receiver supply, to me it just doesn't make sense when for the sake of a 2 or 3oz battery you can give them all the power they need. It's easy enough to use a Y lead with one leg supplying battery power and the other with red disconnected leaving just signal and ground to connect to the receiver. Simple, reliable and you know a retract fault won't rob the controls of power.
I've gone ahead with using 12g analogue micro servos to drive the inner doors, I'll post some pics once it's finalised but I've built up a removable beam across the inner wells to carry two servos linked to the doors with 18swg wire pushrods. I did try a digital micro I had around, but if the end points are a fraction off the digital servos cook themselves.
I never thought it would happen but I've finally got a model that is using a total of 10 channels! Rudder, elevator, 2 * ailerons, 2 * flaps, throttle, 2* doors, retracts. With the FrSky Taranis it's proving really easy to set up using SBus to drive the 3 u/c channels.
I would never run any of them of the receiver supply, to me it just doesn't make sense when for the sake of a 2 or 3oz battery you can give them all the power they need. It's easy enough to use a Y lead with one leg supplying battery power and the other with red disconnected leaving just signal and ground to connect to the receiver. Simple, reliable and you know a retract fault won't rob the controls of power.
I've gone ahead with using 12g analogue micro servos to drive the inner doors, I'll post some pics once it's finalised but I've built up a removable beam across the inner wells to carry two servos linked to the doors with 18swg wire pushrods. I did try a digital micro I had around, but if the end points are a fraction off the digital servos cook themselves.
I never thought it would happen but I've finally got a model that is using a total of 10 channels! Rudder, elevator, 2 * ailerons, 2 * flaps, throttle, 2* doors, retracts. With the FrSky Taranis it's proving really easy to set up using SBus to drive the 3 u/c channels.
04-17-2014, 11:50 AM
#178
My Feedback: (9)
so you only cut the red wire, another variable, i cut both. want complete seperation of retract from rx.
i have several of the HK retracts and those are the ones that scared me, 5.2V to lock on one pair. but our field has very tall grass and they get beat up, usually the brass threads of the locknut hole strip, well get reall sloppy so nothing will keep it locked against the strut flat. i'm pressently using a second grub screw and i can loc-tite that.
i have not used sbus yet but does it solve the slaved second channel not being affected by trim?
Joe
i have several of the HK retracts and those are the ones that scared me, 5.2V to lock on one pair. but our field has very tall grass and they get beat up, usually the brass threads of the locknut hole strip, well get reall sloppy so nothing will keep it locked against the strut flat. i'm pressently using a second grub screw and i can loc-tite that.
i have not used sbus yet but does it solve the slaved second channel not being affected by trim?
Joe
04-17-2014, 01:29 PM
#179
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Cutting both wires - doesn't it need the black -ve wire to give a reference for the signal? I've used locktite and epoxy on those HK units but it's only since using a second grub screw that they seem secure. I have to admit I haven't had a problem with them locking out on 4 cell nimh. Might be worth checking whether the mounts are out of line and distorting them by slackening off the mount screws to see if they lockout easier.
As for SBus, it doesn't affect whether a slaved channel is affected by trim. On Futaba that is set by the 'link' option in the mix if I remember right, on the Taranis it's a tick box on the mix screen. What Sbus seems to be is the complete stream of pulses for all channels sent down the SBus wire, then either the SBus hub separates out the individual channels or if you are using SBus servos the servo is programmed to pick out the right channel from the stream. For instance I'm using the FrSky Sbus hub to drive channels 9, 10 and 11 so I programmed the SBus hub to send ch 9 to the first connected servo, ch 10 to the second servo and ch 11 to the third servo - ch 11 is my gear channel so I can use the ch 5 plug on the receiver for another battery connection. Ch 9&10 are the inner wheel doors set up on the gear switch but with a delay on 'up' movement to allow the retract to fold. I couldn't do anything like that with my old FF9 Futaba.
As for SBus, it doesn't affect whether a slaved channel is affected by trim. On Futaba that is set by the 'link' option in the mix if I remember right, on the Taranis it's a tick box on the mix screen. What Sbus seems to be is the complete stream of pulses for all channels sent down the SBus wire, then either the SBus hub separates out the individual channels or if you are using SBus servos the servo is programmed to pick out the right channel from the stream. For instance I'm using the FrSky Sbus hub to drive channels 9, 10 and 11 so I programmed the SBus hub to send ch 9 to the first connected servo, ch 10 to the second servo and ch 11 to the third servo - ch 11 is my gear channel so I can use the ch 5 plug on the receiver for another battery connection. Ch 9&10 are the inner wheel doors set up on the gear switch but with a delay on 'up' movement to allow the retract to fold. I couldn't do anything like that with my old FF9 Futaba.
04-21-2014, 05:07 AM
#180
My Feedback: (9)
yes it uses the ground wire for reference. if it was aileron or elevator i would not cut the black because i want that acuracy. but for retracts it is basicly a toggle, and it is more important to be completely seperated from the RX. they, the potential of both power systems, are close enough for up or down. while the test plane isa rocket ship and is a real bear to fly, old and heavy kyosho hien.it has not failed a up or down command.
we have a few guys with sbus here, but threy are not "stretchers of the envelope'. atleast i think they do, can never realy tell except for the teazing. had i an air sistem i would hame used cylinders, but then again the grass at our field being high it makes all the LG fairings short lived. i still have not put the fairings on my esm fw because they are basicly a remove before flight item.
got to look over the rudder mechanisum, its a thing of wonder!
wednsday my civic, which we rescued from the junk yard, said it needed some TLC. parked it and everithing was fine started it up and the speedometer acted like a tach. and the SES light was flashing, that usually means the cat temp is to high. so i read the error codes and they said both o2 sensors and the speed sensor all went bad at the exact same time. so i had to take it to someone with an odb computor diagnostic capability. turned out to be a fuse. so now i'm wondering? when i got it the cig lighter did not work and i repaied that before the winter and never used it. last monday i put the gps in and the fuse blew two days later. when i picked the car up the manager would not show me the fuse they replaced (cause he did not know and wanted to keep the tech working). they are closed today so i think tomorrow i will drop in at lunch and see if i can get the fuse.. cause once i know that its a matter of pulling it and see if the cig lighter still works.
Joe
we have a few guys with sbus here, but threy are not "stretchers of the envelope'. atleast i think they do, can never realy tell except for the teazing. had i an air sistem i would hame used cylinders, but then again the grass at our field being high it makes all the LG fairings short lived. i still have not put the fairings on my esm fw because they are basicly a remove before flight item.
got to look over the rudder mechanisum, its a thing of wonder!
wednsday my civic, which we rescued from the junk yard, said it needed some TLC. parked it and everithing was fine started it up and the speedometer acted like a tach. and the SES light was flashing, that usually means the cat temp is to high. so i read the error codes and they said both o2 sensors and the speed sensor all went bad at the exact same time. so i had to take it to someone with an odb computor diagnostic capability. turned out to be a fuse. so now i'm wondering? when i got it the cig lighter did not work and i repaied that before the winter and never used it. last monday i put the gps in and the fuse blew two days later. when i picked the car up the manager would not show me the fuse they replaced (cause he did not know and wanted to keep the tech working). they are closed today so i think tomorrow i will drop in at lunch and see if i can get the fuse.. cause once i know that its a matter of pulling it and see if the cig lighter still works.
Joe
04-28-2014, 07:32 AM
#181
My Feedback: (9)
i cleared my plate this weekend doing 5 break jobs! i finally got the elevators hooked up and would have done the rudder also but found my rudder tiller arm was larger than the hole drilled for it. i scoured the hardware packages thinking i had the wrongpart but could not find another like it. so the question then becomes drill out the i hope t6 aluminum tail wheel which is a long distence to drill such a small hole (in aluminum) or bend a new one that will fit in the hole in trhe tail wheel. being that drilling out the hole will also reduce the threads available to the locking screw which is the pivotal part tot the entire tail wheel/ rudder assembly(with out thos threads it don't work), i think i'm going to bend a new wire of CRS.
oh, the spring on my tail wheel was all rusted, something to look forward to once its out in the wet grass. so i hit it with the dremel burnishing wheel and some scotch bright. noew i need to decide witch lubricant to coat it with.
Joe
oh, the spring on my tail wheel was all rusted, something to look forward to once its out in the wet grass. so i hit it with the dremel burnishing wheel and some scotch bright. noew i need to decide witch lubricant to coat it with.
Joe
04-28-2014, 12:08 PM
#182
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the rudder torque arm on mine was a very tight fit, I had to file a bur off the end and polish it with emery to get it to fit. In fact I didn't get it quite far enough into the tailwheel spindle which meant I had to make the recess in the bottom of the rudder deeper by about 1/8".
Yes, the fitting are not well finished but at the price the kit cost for a 78" warbird it's ok.
I've not done much myself, we had a retro fly-in this weekend so I had to repair a Frog Mustfire and an original 1980's Acrowot for that.
What I have done is start prepping the cowl and dummy engine to fit. The 'resin' cowl molding is a strange material that crumbles like chalk in places like where I needed to drill for the needle valves.
Yes, the fitting are not well finished but at the price the kit cost for a 78" warbird it's ok.
I've not done much myself, we had a retro fly-in this weekend so I had to repair a Frog Mustfire and an original 1980's Acrowot for that.
What I have done is start prepping the cowl and dummy engine to fit. The 'resin' cowl molding is a strange material that crumbles like chalk in places like where I needed to drill for the needle valves.
04-29-2014, 04:43 AM
#183
My Feedback: (9)
i really like the job you've done with the dummy engines, it may have convinced me to use them. i had looked at the williams brothers but way to early in the build to be concerned w that. i like yours though
when i noticed the tiller was plated i figured the interference was the plating. im assuming the tiller is captured bt the control arm set screw. that being the case next time i get to look at it i will stick something down the hole and tighten up on it just to be sure. that will also give me hole depth so i can compair on the tiller then take the plating off the tiller and see if that loosens things up. mine would not go in the hole past the chamfer when i tried it but i did not measure any diameters yet.
the process they use to make fiberglass part is pretty interesting. when i was doing 704 scale combat i bought some kevlar airplanes, fuses, and i still have them. the wings have all been desroyed but the fuse woulf crack alittle and release some of that dust. push it back togeather and ca it and go fly again. one of the cowels has hit so meny things it is just kevlar, all the white dust is gone.
Joe
when i noticed the tiller was plated i figured the interference was the plating. im assuming the tiller is captured bt the control arm set screw. that being the case next time i get to look at it i will stick something down the hole and tighten up on it just to be sure. that will also give me hole depth so i can compair on the tiller then take the plating off the tiller and see if that loosens things up. mine would not go in the hole past the chamfer when i tried it but i did not measure any diameters yet.
the process they use to make fiberglass part is pretty interesting. when i was doing 704 scale combat i bought some kevlar airplanes, fuses, and i still have them. the wings have all been desroyed but the fuse woulf crack alittle and release some of that dust. push it back togeather and ca it and go fly again. one of the cowels has hit so meny things it is just kevlar, all the white dust is gone.
Joe
05-06-2014, 04:18 AM
#184
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Not a lot done in the last two weeks but I have added a couple of layers of 25gm glass cloth and epoxy on the rear inside of the cowl where it mounts on the ring and added a couple of baffles to deflect air over the cylinders, plus routing the exhausts out between the cowl ring and fuselage. I'm waiting on a 3000 mAHr LiFe pack to complete the radio installation, though I may add an extra switch in parallel for the receiver supply, just for safety. Next week I'm off to Corfu for a stay at the RC Hotel, a chance to practice my landings before getting this one airborne.
05-19-2014, 05:54 AM
#188
My Feedback: (9)
took a total of 12 mils off the diameter of the tail post to make it fitin the trunions. this of coarse made the control linkage loose so i filled the screw hole with shoe goo and it is now nice and tight.
also used shoe goo on the torque rod driving the rudder and the hinge pinto keep it in place.
joe
also used shoe goo on the torque rod driving the rudder and the hinge pinto keep it in place.
joe
05-19-2014, 07:27 AM
#189
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Glad you're making progress Joe. I ran the engine up in the garden yesterday and ended up wishing I'd gone petrol instead of glow. The Laser 160 should have got over 8000 rpm on the 16*8 I had fitted but it was only getting 5300 and needle adjustments had no effect. Raising the nose even slightly caused it to cut.
I think I've got two problems, first the exhaust extensions are too restrictive limiting rpm, and second the tank is too far behind and below the carbs so it cuts on raising the nose.
I've ordered some 12mm bore aluminium tube so I can make new bigger bore extensions to ease the exhaust problem and I'm going to try Perry oscillating pumps to get around the tank position but it'll be a week or two before the pumps arrive.
I think I've got two problems, first the exhaust extensions are too restrictive limiting rpm, and second the tank is too far behind and below the carbs so it cuts on raising the nose.
I've ordered some 12mm bore aluminium tube so I can make new bigger bore extensions to ease the exhaust problem and I'm going to try Perry oscillating pumps to get around the tank position but it'll be a week or two before the pumps arrive.
05-19-2014, 11:08 AM
#190
My Feedback: (9)
I've used the perry pumps on alot of my 4 cycles (when i had them). I ran the lines so the pump drew feul from the tank circulated it to the engine compartment then dumped it back into the tank. Then anywhere on the high pressure end tee that plumbing and run that to the engine. Usually less than a 1 inch run. That worked perfect. The motor only drew the feul it needed and i did not have to do ant presure adjusting.
I don't miss all the fiddling at all. Though i have had afew esc's smoke and take the motor and battery with them. Back up batteries have saved two planes so far. Every form of refuge has its price.
Joe
I don't miss all the fiddling at all. Though i have had afew esc's smoke and take the motor and battery with them. Back up batteries have saved two planes so far. Every form of refuge has its price.
Joe
05-20-2014, 12:23 AM
#191
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yes, electric does have it's appeal. For what it's cost to go glow I could have got a few 4 or 5S packs to run in series as 8 or 10S, a 100A esc and a chunky motor then only had to worry about prop noise. Maybe for the next project.
05-20-2014, 05:22 AM
#192
My Feedback: (9)
mine will get a turnagy g160 on 2 4s5k25c packs in series and a castle 100A esc, turning a 16x10x3 prop. oh well, swet equity in a model is good to, it increases the knee knocking the first time out. more bang for the buck so to speak.our club has a db limit and i remember all the extra work that caused.
Joe
Joe
Last edited by paladin; 05-22-2014 at 05:00 AM.
05-30-2014, 11:57 AM
#194
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I'm getting close, finally!
I had a week in the RC Hotel in Corfu after my last post so when I got back I took another look at the engine problems. First I found my power panel glow supply couldn't cope with two OS-Fs at once so I think the engine was only running on one cylinder hence the low revs. I've fitted a twin on-board glow unit driven from a 3600mAHr 1S2P LiPo (converted from an 1800 2S1P battery), that gets both plugs glowing nicely. Next for the fuel supply problem I ordered a pair of Perry oscillating pumps, they arrived today so I've just fitted them (8:50 pm) - a bit late for a test tonight!
The next hitch was with the inner door servos, two burned out before I found out that FrSky S-bus sends out a 9ms frame rate which was killinng the servos. I've shuffled things around so that the digital wing servos are on s-bus and the servo doors are direct from the receiver - no more buzzing door servos.
Tomorrow is a day out at a model show, maybe I'll get a chance for an engine test on Sunday.
I had a week in the RC Hotel in Corfu after my last post so when I got back I took another look at the engine problems. First I found my power panel glow supply couldn't cope with two OS-Fs at once so I think the engine was only running on one cylinder hence the low revs. I've fitted a twin on-board glow unit driven from a 3600mAHr 1S2P LiPo (converted from an 1800 2S1P battery), that gets both plugs glowing nicely. Next for the fuel supply problem I ordered a pair of Perry oscillating pumps, they arrived today so I've just fitted them (8:50 pm) - a bit late for a test tonight!
The next hitch was with the inner door servos, two burned out before I found out that FrSky S-bus sends out a 9ms frame rate which was killinng the servos. I've shuffled things around so that the digital wing servos are on s-bus and the servo doors are direct from the receiver - no more buzzing door servos.
Tomorrow is a day out at a model show, maybe I'll get a chance for an engine test on Sunday.
06-23-2014, 02:49 AM
#196
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IT FLIES!!
Last week's engine tests ended with a curious lack of fuel supply to one cylinder after a couple of minutes running. Taking the tank out revealed nothing, the lines were going where they should, the feeds would suck fuel from the bottom of the tank and I couldn't see any splits in the lines but I replaced them anyway.
So, Laser 160V, two Perry oscillating pumps, twin on-board glow, 5 cell NiMh for the U/C under the tank, 3.7 1S LiPo for ignition on the fuselage side at the front, 3000mAHr 2S LiFe radio pack fitted under the cross member with the switch locations and it balances dead on the recommended point.
Saturday I took it out to a large models site as a guest and after a successful engine run I plucked up enough courage to try a maiden.
The model lifted off early and gave me a few hairy seconds as first one wing dropped then the other, but it accelerated away with a little 'down' held in. Once I'd got rid of the excess up trim it was a real peach - slow tight turns showed no tendency to flick out, loops from straight and level could be stretched out nicely, rolls were just non-axial enough to look right, stall turns a breeze - a real *****cat.
I'd programmed 10% down on full (50 degree?) flap, this was a little bit much but not too far off. The only tricky part was that I could have done with more elevator movement and a touch more throttle on the roll out to keep the tail down as it flipped over rather indecorously resulting in a cracked canopy. Bet that's not available as a spare.
The Laser 160 V-twin on a 16*8 three blader gave a nice power level though more could be handled and would help take-offs from grass, but this was enough.
And I never noticed the sticky rudder in flight!
Last week's engine tests ended with a curious lack of fuel supply to one cylinder after a couple of minutes running. Taking the tank out revealed nothing, the lines were going where they should, the feeds would suck fuel from the bottom of the tank and I couldn't see any splits in the lines but I replaced them anyway.
So, Laser 160V, two Perry oscillating pumps, twin on-board glow, 5 cell NiMh for the U/C under the tank, 3.7 1S LiPo for ignition on the fuselage side at the front, 3000mAHr 2S LiFe radio pack fitted under the cross member with the switch locations and it balances dead on the recommended point.
Saturday I took it out to a large models site as a guest and after a successful engine run I plucked up enough courage to try a maiden.
The model lifted off early and gave me a few hairy seconds as first one wing dropped then the other, but it accelerated away with a little 'down' held in. Once I'd got rid of the excess up trim it was a real peach - slow tight turns showed no tendency to flick out, loops from straight and level could be stretched out nicely, rolls were just non-axial enough to look right, stall turns a breeze - a real *****cat.
I'd programmed 10% down on full (50 degree?) flap, this was a little bit much but not too far off. The only tricky part was that I could have done with more elevator movement and a touch more throttle on the roll out to keep the tail down as it flipped over rather indecorously resulting in a cracked canopy. Bet that's not available as a spare.
The Laser 160 V-twin on a 16*8 three blader gave a nice power level though more could be handled and would help take-offs from grass, but this was enough.
And I never noticed the sticky rudder in flight!
06-23-2014, 02:52 AM
#197
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well, in the UK a p-u-s-s-y cat isn't offensive but the software here doesn't agree.
To put it another way, it flew like a big advanced trainer
and looked fantastic on low slow passes with full flap.
To put it another way, it flew like a big advanced trainer
and looked fantastic on low slow passes with full flap.
06-23-2014, 05:29 AM
#199
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Hi Joe, I've tacked the cracks with clear tape from the inside. Maybe once it's got some hours in and I'm comfortable with it I may spruce it up with a new canopy. If it lasts then long term I'd like to recover it to get away from that self-adhesive vinyl. Who knows, maybe glass the sheeted areas and paint it up.