Originally Posted by Bro

Howdy,

We increased the diameter of the ballast kits to get guys more ballast they asked for. The downside is it is a tight fit and may require a 5minute adjustment.
The slugs no longer fit into the plastic cases either, we are looking for new cases to accommodate the new kits. Once we find the new boxes we will send them to anyone who did not get one.

We are also working on a even heavier slug from tungsten to get even more ballast in the X.

Best
Bob

Tungsten? Yes please!

I just took a dowel and glued some sandpaper to the end of it, took about 2 minutes per fuse.

Originally Posted by ak79

Tungsten? Yes please!

I just took a dowel and glued some sandpaper to the end of it, took about 2 minutes per fuse.

tungsten rod is about $200 for 30 oz - wihtout machining - you want a set machined ? probably going be around $300 - I have two tungsten bars for my WC planes - its a bad bad day when you need that much weight...

Slope season is about to begin here in the Pacific NW. Keep those fluffy J planes warm at home. Eagle Butte on the Easter weekend

Originally Posted by webbsolution

tungsten rod is about $200 for 30 oz - wihtout machining - you want a set machined ? probably going be around $300 - I have two tungsten bars for my WC planes - its a bad bad day when you need that much weight...

Originally Posted by kdt

Slope season is about to begin here in the Pacific NW. Keep those fluffy J planes warm at home. Eagle Butte on the Easter weekend

yes I am considering a maiden flight on the fosa today in fact - and will tune up the high end for the slope as well - Those planes should be plenty of fun on the slope.

But was thinking that I have not really had a lot of good experiences flying my x2's with full ballast - its always with some dread that I pull out my tungsten ballast when the wind starts to howl. This is on my list of targets to wipe out this year. I think my CG might need adjusting for that wing loading as the model does not really seem to respond with the same authority that I want when I have a full 30 oz into the fuse. With the full brass ballast I seem to do just fine but that next level is a different deal for me.

So Eagle Bute might be a good opportunity to get a lot of ballasted flights in so ill bring the whole fleet!

Don't forget to stick a GoPro on them I'm getting tired of brown paddocks.

Xplorer F3J Thermal Bashing (5 min 5 sec)

Hello. As I posted last year, I still have an Explorer 3500 fuselage for sale, all red, still in its wrappings from when I bought it 3 years ago from Soaring USA. $200 or best offer. Best to contact me at edwardlufkin4@gmail.com.

Hey Edward. I already agreed to buy it from you this last week. Do you have two for sale?
Gordon
Ps, call me on 407 687 8426

3.8m Red/White Xplorer ... for Sale ..

Can post worldwide $1450 AUD just add rx.

Hi there
is this an X2? PM me more details (build, age, servo's etc) if still for sale

Thanks

Leigh

I have one 3.5 v-tail fully built... all JR DS 368's, FOR SALE. Perfect condition RED/WHITE minus receiver.

Any interest at 1400$?

I'll end up posting it on the classifieds to be fair to buyers if interest is strong.

I have a problem with my Horizontal Stabilizer wobbling up and down. It is an Xplorer 4.0 X1 and it has had a bit of play since new but now it is affecting flight performance. The tips will move up & down 1” (2” total). I have tried coating the carbon joiner rod with CA and I end up with a rod that will not rotate and still wobbles. I know some of you must have the same trouble to some extent so what is the fix?

Yep. Tried a new rod. Bought some 6mm ID Al tube thinking that I could drill out and replace the fuselage part. I found that the Al tube is no better fit than what’s already there. Ditto with a brass tube.? I guess I could install bearings or bushings that fit the rod better but that would add unnecessary weight, although it may be required at this point.

Can I replace the carbon tube in the fuse without rebuilding the fin. I assume that the bearing part in the fin is carbon and will not drill without a lot of damage, right?

As best as I can measure the hole does not seem to be tapered but it could be a few thousands off and I’d never know.
Thanks
Kerry

You don't need the rod to rotate in the fin; on my 4.0X1, the rod is very tight in the fin. The stabs pivot on the "fixed" rod instead.
If you had to, you could actually glue the rod into the fin and make sure the fit in the stab halves is loose enough to pivot. There is an advantage in that the bearing area doing it this way is much larger, and there will be less chance of the fit becoming sloppy.
Lots of planes have stabs that will tilt a bit on the ground but it really doesn't effect flight unless the stab can be pivoted in the axis to change pitch.
I would go back to building up the center of the rod and try sanding the outer portions of the rod to get the stabs to pivot on the rod.

Good luck,
Target

sorry to challenge the above advice but dont glue in the rod tot he fin - it makes transportation a night mare - the fin takes up 3x room in a box - you will invariably drill it out and do something else.

Does the carbon rod get the slop from the hole in the fin or the hole in the stabs ? Lets figure that out as it was not noted earlier.

You can build up the surface safely and without adding weight using candle wax but since you already have CA on the surface im not sure how easy it will be to get a smooth application onto the rod now.

You can't really put in a larger di rod - it wont fit into the stab - -

Double check that the internal portion of the whole in the fin that supports the rod is in tact and consistent through the fin.

All of my X have some play in the H stab - I never mess with it. You stated that you felt performance was being impacted now - Could this be a wild horse chase? What performance factors were you seeing that indicated this ? You might just have a double centering elevator servo or some other issue and all this work will not add up to anything - so maybe expose THAT rational a bit too - I am just thinking outside the box as one pilot who has learned (and keeps relearning) that ones perception on seeing an event is not always 100% accurate.

if you want I could video all 5 of my x variations and show you how they typically look as per this issue - just let me know.

Originally Posted by target

You don't need the rod to rotate in the fin; on my 4.0X1, the rod is very tight in the fin. The stabs pivot on the "fixed" rod instead.
If you had to, you could actually glue the rod into the fin and make sure the fit in the stab halves is loose enough to pivot. There is an advantage in that the bearing area doing it this way is much larger, and there will be less chance of the fit becoming sloppy.
Lots of planes have stabs that will tilt a bit on the ground but it really doesn't effect flight unless the stab can be pivoted in the axis to change pitch.
I would go back to building up the center of the rod and try sanding the outer portions of the rod to get the stabs to pivot on the rod.

Good luck,
Target

+1 on the joiner should be a tight fit to the bearing.
If the joiner is that loose on the aluminum bearing, I'd wrap it with a laye rof 1/2" wide clear tape.

If the stabs don't rotate freely on the joiner rod, use some dry graphite powder lube that the pinecar people use, shoot some inside the holes of the stab and use the joiner to "polish" the hole by sliding it in and out. The stabs should rotate by its own weight on the joiner.

A +-1" wobble probably won't do much, but if the left/right stab isn't at the exact some incidence (connecting 2mm pin hole could be off) and the cg is forward, there may be enough constant tilt of the stab during flight to affect level flight. The plane will want to bank slightly towards the high side of the stab.

Target,
I agree with your concept, however, what is happening is the rod is rocking up and down. It wouldn't necessarily rock back and forth as the stab is tight against the fin. This would mean the center of the rod is tight in the fin "bearing" but loose on the outside top and bottom edges of the fin "bearing". I would suggest first to coat the section of the rod where it touches the outside of the fin bearing and sand till you get a tight fit.

This is the same problem I had with mine and how I handled it.

Hope this helps.
Phil