dz1sfb's blog View Details
Posted by dz1sfb | Dec 05, 2013 @ 09:18 PM | 89,547 Views

This build log has been a long time coming and hopefully will be helpful to those building my kit of JimmyJFlyer's J-Bug. This is a work in progress at this point.

Kits are available through my website at http://www.kenscadmodels.com/j-bug.html

Adhesives
- Bob Smith Ind. Foam Cure
- Thin CA

Tools Required

- Hobby Knife with #11 blade
- 1" wide Blue Painters Tape
- 8" Sanding Block with 100-150 grit paper

Written Directions

Recommended Sequence
1. Carbon Fiber Installation
- Install all carbon rods in foam parts except for wing rubber band dowels.

Tip - It is easier to leave the parts in their carrier sheets until needed. This protects the parts making handling easier and less chance of damage.

2. Fuselage Doublers
- Remove Pylon Doublers and Fuselage Spine Doublers from carrier sheets. These have corresponding cuts to allow fitting to one another. Glue one Pylon Doubler to one Fuselage Spine Doubler. Make 2, one right, and one left. These then get assembled to the vertical fuselage/pylon panel.

3. WIng Assembly
- Gently block sand the wing root on the preformed wing panels, just enough to provide a flat butt joint. Once accomplished, glue the wing joint and use a piece of tape to hold the joint together while the glue cures.

4. Firewall / Landing Gear Assembly
- Remove all necessary plywood parts from the laser cut sheet for the firewall and landing gear. I use CA glue to put these parts together.

5. Horizontal...Continue Reading
Posted by dz1sfb | Oct 27, 2013 @ 08:38 PM | 83,452 Views
I am inviting my friends to take some time to view this video. If all we get from this life is merely spending our entire time in this wonderful hobby, we will miss out on the biggest thing coming at us ever.

Sincerely,
Ken

The Blueprint by Pastor Ivor Myers (1 hr 44 min 58 sec)

Posted by dz1sfb | Jun 05, 2013 @ 10:14 PM | 99,497 Views
The Shrike is a new design and experiment in combat models for the SEMFF group. The prototype was completed and tested this week (04-JUN-2013). The sucessful testing including multiple midairs and flying out of each one, proves this is one tough bird.

Most flights were conducted with an 850 or 950 mAh 2s battery, and a couple of flights with a 750 mAh 3s battery.

Airframe Specifications;

Wingspan - 32"
Over all length - 15"
RTF Weight - 8.2 oz

Equipment Specifications;

Motor - 1700 Kv 2730 KEDA (24g)
Propeller - HK 7x6 APC like
ESC - 15A HK SS
Servos - two 10g HK analog
Rx - HK R610

Notable characteristics -
The FSW design fabulous pitch response and requires very little stick pressure to hold inverted flight. Loops are tight and straight. Rolls are crisp, fast, and predictable.

The only habit it had that took some getting used to was kind of flopping around when gotten into a full stall, especially inverted. Recovery was simple, with releasing the aileron/elevator stick and applying throttle she flies right back on the wing.

All in all I am very happy with its performance, and will combat it quite a bit this summer.

I have just finished the production prototype, which moved the aileron servos aft 2" and covered the esc/rx pocket that now includes some areas for stuffing wires. Will have this one out for testing on 11-JUN-2013. The only reason for the second prototype was to work out better component arraignment for CG...Continue Reading
Posted by dz1sfb | Apr 02, 2013 @ 06:20 PM | 103,803 Views
Build Guide for Dz1sfb modified Mermaid Seaplane and Kit details


The object of this blog entry is to capture changes that I made to the Vlesie (Marcel) Mermaid design so that if you want to, you can make one like it. Marcel’s design performs wonderfully like it is, but changes in materials drove me make some design changes and enhancing flight characteristics was also desirable. Also the provided build documentation will support those who desire to assemble parts supplied by Ken’s CAD Models.

Link to Marcel's original design thread.

Changes to Marcel's design include:
Revised aileron servo location and mounting
Redesigned horizontal stabilizer/elevator assembly
Redesigned tail former
Added fuselage deck/battery support
Redesigned wing with KFm2 airfoil and affected wing braces
Changed wing tip floats from a laminated design to a hollow 3 piece interlocking design.
Reinforced motor mount box mounting to fuselage.

Mermaid M6 Specifications
  • 41” Wingspan
  • 35.64” Length
  • 11.17” Height
  • 16-21oz ready to fly
Tools and Supplies for assembly
  • Hobby knife with a fresh sharp blade
  • Painters or masking tape
  • Foam Tac Adhesive
  • Gorilla Glue White Formula
Finishing Supplies and Parts
4 – 9g Servos
1 – 25-35 Amp ESC
1 – 2405 2190 Kv or a 2212-06 2200 Kv brushless outrunner motor
2 – 16” servo extension leads
1 – 6” x 4” APC Propeller and adapter for motor
Clear and colored packing tape for protecting and decorating
...Continue Reading
Posted by dz1sfb | Mar 17, 2013 @ 03:19 AM | 102,062 Views
I am happy to introduce not only a new kit, but plans for the folks that love to build from paper templates, the latest version of the SEMFF StingRay, StingRay 3.0.

This new interation has some significant design improvements and more organic looks.

Changes include;
- Further aft center of gravity.
- Longer elevons.
- More central servo location.
- Sexy trailing edges.
- One degree of downthrust

Flying characteristics impacted by changes;
- Easier to build inside the cg range without having to add ballast or spinner.
- More pitch authority at low speeds.
- Less rolling moment inertia which make for crisper rolls and protects the servo from impact by placing them behind the prop arc.
- Smoother roll response.
- Pulls level through power range.

Plans have written instructions and will be accompanied by a build guide.

Ken





Testimonial - https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...&postcount=143
Posted by dz1sfb | Jul 23, 2009 @ 12:23 PM | 115,524 Views
Finally getting around to getting the links to all my plans in one place. The following are my design or a variation of an existing design. Give Credit where it's due.





Aero Ace Air Hogs geared modelsR/E/T Planes...Continue Reading
Posted by dz1sfb | May 09, 2007 @ 08:13 PM | 134,914 Views
Hi All,

This BD-5 thing has got me going. I am still developing the full bodied model into a balsa version and that is well underway. Today I hacked out a profile version of the aforementioned model, ran to Wal-mart, bought the AA jet, tested it to make sure it worked and then gutted it for electronics, battery and motors.

This is the result;
  • Increased wing chord 1/2" over scale
  • Elevator is 3/16" longer on TE than scale
  • Span is 12-1/2" with 5 degrees incidence and 7 degrees dihedral per wing
  • Weight is 18.7g
Rained all day and skies cleared with not even a whisper of a breeze. Flew the Sport, the full bodied BD-5J, and the profile version.

The profile version required a little bit of down elevator trim to fly right. Flies very nice, more wing area and less wieght than the full body model, and looks good in flight. Does loops and stall turns, stays aloft at lowest power settings.

Sorry about not having any video. I would like to make the purchase but do not want to spend $ for the one I want right now.

BFR (Building, Flying, Repairing),
Ken (dz1sfb)

12-MY-2007 at 10:53pm

Added plans and pics rather than having to go to the post.

The plans posted here are revised from the prototype;
  • Wing incidence has been reduced from 5 to 4 degrees to eliminate trimming the elevator.
This is a excellent flying plane and looks fabulous for a profile. I have built a second one with less incidence and will have it completed this Monday. Also added panel lines to the...Continue Reading
Posted by dz1sfb | Apr 25, 2007 @ 05:32 PM | 108,082 Views
For your pleasure,

I am very pleased with my BD-5J from scratch for some of my Aero Ace gear. I was going to wait to post, but after a sucessfull test flight I could'nt hold off.

It all started with a great 3-view from the web. I then printed it with Posteriza (a free utility at http://www.posteriza.com/es/index.php?lang=en_US) 2 sheets wide (landscape) by 2 sheets high. This gave a wingspan of 12-1/2". I laid my AA Sport on top and found a pretty close match in wingspan, length, and tail moment.

This got me going, especially after seeing Electronick's Megajet.

I added 3/8" onto the horizontal stab TE for additional stability. The narrow chord wing had me concerned. The AA Sport has a 3" chord at the root and this was only 2". That means 1/3 less wing area than the Sport. I decided to finish the model anyway (the BD-5 looks great), and to build it to accommodate different wings to experiment with (6mm Depron wing is sanded to a Clark Y airfoil). I have built a 3" chord wing as seen in the picture and will add a 2-1/2" one also. My guess is that the 3" chord will yield similar performance to the AA sport.

Materials;
  1. 1-1/2" thick blue Dow foam - Fuselage
  2. 1/8" or 3mm foam - vertical and horizontal stabilizers
  3. 6mm Depron - wings and filler.
I am working on a CAD file and will upload it when complete. At that time I will add step by step instructions for those who need it.

You may like to know that there is 5 degrees of...Continue Reading
Posted by dz1sfb | Apr 15, 2007 @ 06:33 PM | 107,938 Views
Due to numerous requests I have decided to offer as much documentation as possible, for those desiring to see how they can get a good looking body for their PicooZ/Havoc Heli. This is a Bell 222, but you may apply the same techniques for other designs.

The first thing you will need is a block of foam. I used blue Dow insulation foam. Others may be useful, the Dow material is what I had on hand. The only foam I would not use is the white beaded styrofoam, due to its coarse texture. I also used a small amount of 2mm depron foam for the tail fins, horizontal stabilizer, and landing gear.

Blue Foam block size; 6-1/4" L x 1-1/8" W x 1-1/2" H
2mm Depron - 1" x 6"

Second you need templates to cut the top and side profiles to. I have included the Powerpoint file that has a slide to the scale that I used for this. Included in the attachments is a jpeg image of the slide at the correct size to print out. Just make sure that you print at 100% size.

Here are the steps that I took to create this model;
  1. Print out 3 sets of drawings. You will use one for the fuselage top and side views. The second one for detail parts, such as tail fins, stabilizer, and main wing area of fuselage. The third is used for window masks for painting the windows with permanent ink markers.
  2. Cut top and side profiles and attach to block of foam. Then bandsaw the side view first, then use the cuttings to support the block for trimming the top view profile.
  3. Very carfully sand the all
...Continue Reading