I'm still following it.

Just a shame that such a (relatively) expensive plane needs so much work to make it 'right'.

I am watching this as well

Thanks for the encouragement guys!
Started on the tail today, figuring out a way to drive a nylon bolt through it, reinforcing the foam with balsa pieces.
The main challenge here is the alignment of the different pieces.
First step is to drill a tiny hole through all three of them:

Then I used a small drill bit to pin the round part to the vertical stab, and mark the foam around it:

Using a grinding bit on the dremel, I made a hole in the foam, just deep enough so the balsa part will become flush when glued in:

In one of the balsa parts, I will glue the nut, as seen in the pic above.
I just did the same on the other fuselage halve, and glued in the balsa part where the bolt will go through.
Waiting for the glue to set now, next step is to drill a hole right through it all, so I can center everything and glue the other balsa part too.

Nailed it!

This is how it looks from the outside:

It really feels like a tight fit, so I'm pretty happy.
Now I only have to glue in the balsa part with the nut in the other fuselage half, and I'm done with the tail problem.
Started making some servo extension cables yesterday, so I can start testing all flight controls.
Next problem is the EDF, more precisely the motor wires and how to extend them.
When I route the existing motor wires, they stick out the back of the unit. Extending them would require a very tight bend, and I'm also concerned about the aerodynamic disturbance of the wires:

Originally Posted by Phaedra

When I route the existing motor wires, they stick out the back of the unit. Extending them would require a very tight bend, and I'm also concerned about the aerodynamic disturbance of the wires:

Nice job Phaedra. I am getting some tips from you for my build when I get around it.

By the way, you can drill a hole through the shroud right above where the 3 wires exit the motor and route the wires through so some length can be saved.

Well, she looks ready:

And that's a LOT of wires to route:

This is no bird to disassemble too often....
With all wiring and EDF inside I still need extra nylon bolts to keep the fuselage halves together at the rear.
Ended up drilling holes through the EDF housing to route the motor wires, it was the only way to do this elegantly.
Next is a full up flight controls setup and test. Quite happy with the gear, seems to work well.

Managed to make some time for RC....
Found a way to hold fuselage halves better together at the bottom:

Made four squares in hard balsa and drilled two 4 mm holes in them.
Made a cutout in fuselage same size as the balsa parts.
Glued counter-nuts to the balsa parts.
Then glued balsa part with the counter-nuts down into fuselage:

Cut glued balsa part in two at the separation plane of fuselage halves,
Then used an identical balsa part, drove screws through them that go into the counter-nuts below.
Et voila, fuselage secured:

Next step is to do something similar on the upper side of the fuselage, near the tail, where the EDF pushed both halves open still.
Meanwhile I'm working on my own lights controller with an Arduino, which will allow me to switch steady or strobe lights depending on the input of a given receiver channel:
- upper and lower strobe lights triggered by throttle channel (engines on = strobes on)
- landing lights triggered by gear down
I might use the same controller to disable the nose wheel steering when gear is up, and even use it to reverse a flaps servo. Just because I can :-)

Added one more nylon bolt at the front of the tail, using washers to prevent the bolt head and the nut from being pulled into the foam:

Next I started to arrange the wiring, preparing to finally close the fuselage. One might say it will be a tight fit:

A bit of work is still needed to cut some foam to make room for the receiver and the LiPo, then I can close the fuselage and attach the wing.
I stll have some concern about excessive play on the flaps. At the servo side, I used a z-bend, and when the flaps are up, this gives too much of transversal play. To be continued.

Hi !

I just bought an Graupner Epic Victory and the precut plywood plate, dedicated for the gear mounting is missing in my box.
Could someone help me out by sending to me a precise scan of this plate ?
It would help me A LOT !!!!

Hoping your help ....

THIERRY

As far as I know, the plywood part is supplied only with the Graupner retracts set.
I bought the Eflite retracts set and cut the plywood parts myself. It's not as hard as it looks...
Maybe make a cardboard template first (I made a paper one)....

Just bought two Victory S kits. MIght add retracts which I have on hand, but maybe just fly off of grass and hand launch. I have ordered the HK combo 70MM fan with 3300KV motor. This is my first EDF, so looking forward to learning about that aspect of our hobby.

Probably keep it simple and light.

Phaedra, any late news on how yours is coming along? Thanks for all the info you have posted.

SpadCat

Just waiting for some better weather (we're having snow and heavy wind today). It's spring!!
Bought the Dynex balancer, I will balance my EDF before I fly it.
Still having a problem of tightly fitting fuse halves together, Ithink I'll add another nylon bolt just before the vertical fin, underneath the dummy air intake.
Then I'll do my final cg balance.

HI Phaedra,

Do you mind me posting this here, or would you prefer my own thread? I am not doing a build log, as you are already doing a superb job with yours.

Completed the fuse tonight. I moved the DF to the rear a little over an inch in hopes of not needing the extra tail weights since I was not installing retracts, but I still needed them.

I found the instruction manual pretty clear except the photos could be a little clearer. It cracked me up when it said to use a drop of CA and then in a warning box below it emphasized "Really use just a drop to secure the impeller against slippage......."

Also, it says nothing about the hinging process, so at this point I am assuming that the elevator, etc just need the sides cut and the slotted foam acts as the hinge.

One error I found says to glue the battery compartment cover assembly clips to the provided fuselage cutouts with the opening pointing to the rear of fuse, but they need to be pointing up so that the compartment cover bolts can be pushed in from above and clicked into place.


Hopefully I will maiden the Victory next weekend.

SpadCat

Why would I mind? :-)
I have been extremely busy for my job, so no time for building or flying.
As soon as I have balanced the edf, I want to add a bolt right through the 'lip' on top of the edf, instead of underneath the fake air inlet as I mentioned earlier.
That way I also keep it better in place without the 'drop of CA glue'.
Please keep us informed about the maiden!

Phaedra

Got the window decals on and just need to stick on rest of decals, but she is ready. It balanced right on the recommended CG and AUW came in at 15grams less then book (without retracts).

My overall take on the build is that it was real easy. Everything fits just perfectly. The hardest part was routing out foam so that I could push the 70mm fan back a bit. I am glad I did because it gave me a little more flexibility with the Lipo.

I said earlier I bought two Epic Victory S kits. The 2nd one was for my brother, and his is almost finished also. He is rigging his up with lights for night flying.

Not sure if I will take her out tomorrow or Sunday, but will let you all know how it goes.

SpadCat