Yep, 33 degrees and wet snow in the air today, but I will take this over 100 degree weather any time!

But but but......it's a dry heat!

Pat

Uh huh !!!

Originally Posted by crxmanpat

But but but......it's a dry heat!

Pat

That's what our Thanksgiving turkey said about the oven.

Ted

Well, there is snow on the ground this morning, and it was about 30 degrees, but I just couldn't stand to see the plane sitting there any longer, so I took it out for it's maiden flight. CG was right, and it has plenty of power and maneuverability! Unfortunately I ran into some radio range problems, and almost augered it into the parking lot! Thankfully I remembered the guys posting here about the "elevator" maneuver, so I yanked both sticks all the way back, and the plane righted itself and floated down to the ground. It landed nicely in between the only two cars in the lot, of course. I am using my old Futaba PCM radio system, and I think maybe the receiver antenna is not as long as it should be. I need to see if I can find the spec on how long it is from the factory, and probably replace it. How are you guys routing your antenna wires? I assumed that it needed to be away from the motor leads, so I ran it over to the right-hand nacelle and let it lay in there pointing to the rear.

I also realized I have way too much travel on the elevators. Ailerons were ok, but it was way too pitchy for me to try to get to know the plane.

I did get it on video though, so I might post it here later.

southwesterntech Glad your maiden wasn't a crunch. I'm on 2.4Ghz so can't help u on antenna set up's

$ TREE FOAM!! i just retro fit the top of my oldest F14. It had all the paper on the foam. I pulled off the paper on the top surfaces and replaced with $ Tree tape. RESULT!! 1/3oz reduction in weight. If I stripped the plane completely I would have saved close to 1oz!!!! Strong message to follow!!

DON'T LEAVE THE PAPER ON DOLLAR TREE FOAM!!!!!!!!

The default values for 1x size F-14 in the spreadsheet posted in #3126 should be:

L1 = 1.13
L2 = 1.13
L7 = 2.18
L8 = 2.18
C1 = 3.20
C2 = 3.20
coords ctr servo wng ctr LFT wng ctr RT
x 0.00 -3.31 3.31
y 0.00 -1.71 -1.71

It's cold in northern Calif. today, it's only 56 BRRRR

It was cold here this morning (down to 40°, brrrrr), and it's only got to 64° so far today!

And BTW, this plane seems to have gotten popular again all of a sudden. It moved way up on the Parkjets Top 10 downloaded plans for November. It didn't even make the list in October!

http://www.parkjets.com/home/2012/12...-november.html

Pat

I think poporbit's spread sheet and analysis got things moving again.
AND in the right direction. :-)

BTW 37°F was the HI mark for Indy today after the sun finally showed up !

I went to town and got enough Pink 1/2" foam to make at least 4 Giant F-22's .

L8r

Bob

Originally Posted by Poporbit

southwesterntech Glad your maiden wasn't a crunch. I'm on 2.4Ghz so can't help u on antenna set up's

$ TREE FOAM!! i just retro fit the top of my oldest F14. It had all the paper on the foam. I pulled off the paper on the top surfaces and replaced with $ Tree tape. RESULT!! 1/3oz reduction in weight. If I stripped the plane completely I would have saved close to 1oz!!!! Strong message to follow!!

DON'T LEAVE THE PAPER ON DOLLAR TREE FOAM!!!!!!!!

Not only does removing the paper save weight, but the paper will remove itself over time due to moisture releasing the adhesive. Your plane will literally fall apart if you build it with the paper on the foam, unless you seal it somehow, but even then, the adhesive between the paper and the foam is not very strong, so even sealing it would not be a wise choice in my opinion.

C' mon guys !!!!

Taking paper off of inferior foam is so ...last decade !!!

Depron is available at http://RCFOAM.COM
and Modelplane Foam is available at http://www.modelplanefoam.com/

If it's too much $$$ then get together with some buds and share a pile of foam.

Or buy a kit from me and I'll sell some blank foam sheets with the kit.
13" x 39" x 6mm only.

Bob
Hoosier Cutout Service

I hear you about the foam, Bob. I like $Tree foam because I can stop by the store, look through the box and find the nicest sheets, pay $1 each for them, and not have to pay shipping and wait. Also, I use it for all kinds of hobby and craft projects, not just planes. The paper makes a good protector until I get ready to make something, and it peels off easily with no messing around.

Enough about foam. I was working on my plane last night after the not-so-pretty maiden flight, and I found that the wing must have hit one of the cars on the way down, and now my "metal-gear" servo is making a lot of noise when it moves. I have a feeling this is one of those "metal-gear" servos that doesn't use all metal gears. It still works for now, but I know I am going to have to replace it.

I also was having some range issues with my radio, and I suspected it was being caused by the "repaired" antenna lead on my receiver. I searched around and found an excellent article regarding FM/PCM receiver antennas and what to do and what NOT to do with them.
http://www.rc-cam.com/ant_exp.htm
After reading this, I immediately grabbed a 40" section of small gauge stranded wire and replaced the entire antenna lead. I did a range test in my front yard last night and was able to walk about 200' away with the transmitter antenna collapsed before the plane no longer responded. That was the ticket! I then proceeded to route the antenna through the nacelle and out to the root of the wing. I tacked it several places with glue, and ran the antenna wire along the LE of the wing to keep it from getting shortened by the pusher prop.

One other thing I realized while reviewing the flight video, was that I think, similar to tripn4days maiden flight, I have the CG too far aft. Even though it is correct per the plans, it was acting like a tail heavy plane. I am going to shift the battery forward farther and see how it does on the "next maiden" if there is such a thing.

I will let you know what happens!

I had the impression that Model Plane Foam was made by the same company that makes the $ Tree foam. Might not be the same demensions and of course it has no paper.

Go online print out a Hobby Lobby (Not the internaional one but just plain Hobby Lobby) coupon for 40% off and they sell Midwest 5mm depron you get 2 sheets of 11.5"x47" for about $7.00 with the coupon. That is where I have been getting all my foam and it is fine for the same application as 6mm. Usually it takes 2 packages for most planes. So they are $14 airplanes.