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I finally got a chance to fly the A-109 yesterday. What a great experience!
The spool up would have been fine if I had made sure I balanced and tracked the blades but I didn't. Stupid, and my fault. The first flight was successful but vibrations were felt all over. I took it home an rebalanced the mains and the tail blades and back out I went.
On the second spool up the mains were wondering around until I lifted off. At this point I lifted off too early and the heli spun towards me but I reacted quickly enough to put her tail in and in a good hover, thank God.
After that... smooth as silk. The heli reacted perfectly and the tail authority was spot on, as if the A-109 body wasn't on it. The only factor I found different than the regular T-Rex vrs. the fuse was the added weight, obviously. With my programed pitch curve I found a higher head speed but the same authority in flight.
I did not cycle the retracts in flight and will probably not try it. They are made of cheap and brittle plastic and a bugger to get perfectly set-up. I thought I had them set up perfectly and I plugged them in later and the servos were stalling
No need to risk a heli for 3 gears up
I plan on getting electric retracts to fill that position.
I highly recommend this Heliartist fuse. The directions stink but luckily there are many who have come before us with videos and links.
She looks great and flies well
God Bless Y'all,
Jay
The spool up would have been fine if I had made sure I balanced and tracked the blades but I didn't. Stupid, and my fault. The first flight was successful but vibrations were felt all over. I took it home an rebalanced the mains and the tail blades and back out I went.
On the second spool up the mains were wondering around until I lifted off. At this point I lifted off too early and the heli spun towards me but I reacted quickly enough to put her tail in and in a good hover, thank God.
After that... smooth as silk. The heli reacted perfectly and the tail authority was spot on, as if the A-109 body wasn't on it. The only factor I found different than the regular T-Rex vrs. the fuse was the added weight, obviously. With my programed pitch curve I found a higher head speed but the same authority in flight.
I did not cycle the retracts in flight and will probably not try it. They are made of cheap and brittle plastic and a bugger to get perfectly set-up. I thought I had them set up perfectly and I plugged them in later and the servos were stalling
No need to risk a heli for 3 gears upI plan on getting electric retracts to fill that position.
I highly recommend this Heliartist fuse. The directions stink but luckily there are many who have come before us with videos and links.
She looks great and flies well
| AirCare.wmv (2 min 32 sec) |
God Bless Y'all,
Jay
For the past year I have been thinking of ways to create smoke on my electric planes and not the bad kind when things go wrong
I took a Red Bull Cola (R) Can and cut grooves in the bottom of the can and twisted them the into a "fan" My thought is that the smoke coming out will swirl and help keep it together in a vortex. I've tried a few different smoke bombs and I finally found one that last for about 2 minutes. These are store bought at a fireworks store and cheap quality. I fear I'll light one someday and my plane will explode
Thoughts are being tossed around on the "I want smoke" thread in the electric 3d flying section here on RCGroups~ https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1245369
One of the links is to Robotbirds for their smoke canisters.
http://robotbirds.com/catalog/index....14800c2a9631bd
I contacted them about dimensions and there use. The promptly replied with very useful information. Here is their response~
Hi Jay
The smoke system canisters are similar to model rocket solid fuel and have similar ignition methods.
If you need to ignite remotely then you need a fuse and also the electrical fuse - you can use model rocket fuses from Estes.
If you need to ignite at take off at start of flight you can use a lighter but it can be tricky if windy - I use a pocket gas blowtroch. -
the Ax 18 is 18mm and Ax60 is 22mm dia both 70mm long - the 18-60 stand for cubic meter smoke - both are 4min duration
We can send to us - max 10 in box - larger volume need special shipping.
andy
I hope to get some of the Ax60 shipped soon to try them out. 4 minutes of smoke!
Here is a helmet cam video of the first flight of the smoke system using cheap store bought smoke bombs, not the robotbird canisters.
Blessings All!
Jay
I took a Red Bull Cola (R) Can and cut grooves in the bottom of the can and twisted them the into a "fan" My thought is that the smoke coming out will swirl and help keep it together in a vortex. I've tried a few different smoke bombs and I finally found one that last for about 2 minutes. These are store bought at a fireworks store and cheap quality. I fear I'll light one someday and my plane will explodeThoughts are being tossed around on the "I want smoke" thread in the electric 3d flying section here on RCGroups~ https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1245369
One of the links is to Robotbirds for their smoke canisters.
http://robotbirds.com/catalog/index....14800c2a9631bd
I contacted them about dimensions and there use. The promptly replied with very useful information. Here is their response~
Hi Jay
The smoke system canisters are similar to model rocket solid fuel and have similar ignition methods.
If you need to ignite remotely then you need a fuse and also the electrical fuse - you can use model rocket fuses from Estes.
If you need to ignite at take off at start of flight you can use a lighter but it can be tricky if windy - I use a pocket gas blowtroch. -
the Ax 18 is 18mm and Ax60 is 22mm dia both 70mm long - the 18-60 stand for cubic meter smoke - both are 4min duration
We can send to us - max 10 in box - larger volume need special shipping.
andy
I hope to get some of the Ax60 shipped soon to try them out. 4 minutes of smoke!
Here is a helmet cam video of the first flight of the smoke system using cheap store bought smoke bombs, not the robotbird canisters.
| Electric Extra 300 with "smoke" (3 min 27 sec) |
Blessings All!
Jay
I recently got the privileged to rebuild a 31% Carden Extra 300 with a 89" wingspan. This plane had the undercarriage ripped out while also destroying the wing tube and most of the bottom forward section. No big deal... right? This rebuild would have been much harder if the pieces hadn't been kept. I was able to recreate the fuse using all of the broken parts while fabricating those that had been demolished or missing. The bigger pieces were tacked into place with thin CA and kicker and I will go back and support with carbon fiber, Gorilla Glue, or epoxy.
KEEP THE PIECES! When You Crash!
More pictures added of the final product. She will fly again
God Bless Y'all,
...Continue Reading
KEEP THE PIECES! When You Crash!
More pictures added of the final product. She will fly again
God Bless Y'all,
...Continue Reading
Great lookin' Great flyin' Plane
I thought I'd start my blog off on a positive note with the E-Flite PT-17 Streaman. This plane goes together very smoothly very few hick-ups often encountered in other ARF's. The landing gear struts have a minor gap when mated to the fuselage but this allows for hard landings without breaking the scale wraps around the legs. I chose to install Hitech HS-81 MG's for the elevator and rudder because it's what I had in my servo bin. I would never purchase these servos again because they stall when nothing is hooked to them... but what do you do The stab and fin went smoothly into the fuse and the CA hinges slid in with minor "freeing up" of the slot with a Xacto #11 blade. The tail wheel wire is one part I found that needed some help. The hole drilled in the fin was about an 1/8th inch too low and would put the stress of the tail wheel on the rudder and hinges instead of the bottom of the fuse. I decided to cut an 1/8" of of the tail wheel wire and ground a new flat spot. This worked well without trying to drill a new hole and weaken the rudder more. Everything lined up perfectly without the need to sand parts. Installing the cabane struts was a breeze with no surprises but needed to be splayed and forced just a little bit to mount the top center wind section. I decide to use Futaba 3114's for the ailerons and these fit great in the wing. For the power plant I went with the E-Flite Power 25 and 60 pro switching ESC. This gave...Continue Reading
I thought I'd start my blog off on a positive note with the E-Flite PT-17 Streaman. This plane goes together very smoothly very few hick-ups often encountered in other ARF's. The landing gear struts have a minor gap when mated to the fuselage but this allows for hard landings without breaking the scale wraps around the legs. I chose to install Hitech HS-81 MG's for the elevator and rudder because it's what I had in my servo bin. I would never purchase these servos again because they stall when nothing is hooked to them... but what do you do
The stab and fin went smoothly into the fuse and the CA hinges slid in with minor "freeing up" of the slot with a Xacto #11 blade. The tail wheel wire is one part I found that needed some help. The hole drilled in the fin was about an 1/8th inch too low and would put the stress of the tail wheel on the rudder and hinges instead of the bottom of the fuse. I decided to cut an 1/8" of of the tail wheel wire and ground a new flat spot. This worked well without trying to drill a new hole and weaken the rudder more. Everything lined up perfectly without the need to sand parts. Installing the cabane struts was a breeze with no surprises but needed to be splayed and forced just a little bit to mount the top center wind section. I decide to use Futaba 3114's for the ailerons and these fit great in the wing. For the power plant I went with the E-Flite Power 25 and 60 pro switching ESC. This gave...Continue Reading
