We've all been there. Scrolling through the local classified ads (as per usual, just to see what might be out there) when we happen upon that one listing that just draws us in.

This exact thing happened to me earlier this week. I was scrolling through the surface and water rc craft listings and happened upon one for an un-named sailboat. The listing only indicated the size of vessel and how they were unsuccessful in their attempts to learn to pilot the craft.

The listing price was out of my range, so I reached out with the intent of trying to offer my help in getting them on the water and successfully maneuvering around. So I shot off a text and waited for a response. A few hours later, I got a call back. The seller wasn't super interested in learning to sail and just wanted it gone. As his listing had been up for quite a while, he was more than happy to cut me a screaming deal if I would come pick it up.

With that, I set out this morning and picked myself up a fancy old sailboat!

It was a bit precarious to load into my van, as it stands over 5ft tall. I had to undo a bunch of the rigging and get the mast down. But with that out of the way, I was able to secure it in the back of my van and get it home relatively safely. Due to a harder stop than intended, it did tip over on its stand. The stand loosened up a bit there and some of the hand rails were knocked loose. But thats ok. I'll get it all fixed up and she'll be beautiful on the water again soon.

I'll be doing a more in depth build log over in the Sailboat channel. I'll attach a link here once that is started.

Have you all seen this one before?

It was just released at the beginning of the month, but looking through the design log, the designer has been working on this beauty for a few months.

Its a sweet little printed FPV Flying Wing. Very simple build structure with a intricate design to properly support the design and build. I will absolutely be adding this one to my list of planes to print and fly!

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6348189

Build season is coming on in full swing with the holidays! Do you have a build in mind that needs plans printed?
I have a large format plotter and am able to print on 18", 24", and 36" wide roll paper. Max length is about 12ft.

So yes, I can print your plans.

Price is based on roll width and linear feet used. See the link below for more details in the classifieds listing.


https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...e#post51760949

The Utah Valley Aeromodelers had their Ugly Stick Fun fly this month. In preparation for it, I built a FT Simple Stick. Hope you enjoy the videos of the maiden flights.

FT Simple Stick - Maiden Flights (5 min 2 sec)

Progress continues!

I've taken a bit of a short cut for a bit. A friend and neighbor built a MPCNC during 2020 and hasn't used it much. With minimal persuasion, I was able to relocate it to my garage.
I had originally intended to use it with the router attachment so I could cut out some plywood formers for a pilot looking to build a 1:4 scale A-4 Skyhawk. That project has been put on hold, so for now I've decided to use the MPCNC as a test bed of sorts for my diode laser. Thus allowing me to get to cutting and building my own planes without having to build and figure out my own cnc as quickly.

First matter of business to tackle, mount the laser onto the MPCNC z-axis.

This was easy enough. All I had to do was download the correct part off of thingiverse, import into OnShape, and build the part I needed on top of the MPCNC tool mount. The first print came out great and showed me a few points where I needed to make some design changes.
Those were quickly taken care of and V2 printed shortly afterwards. This time, perfect form, fit and function.

With the laser mounted onto the MPCNC, I could move on to the next step. Connecting the electronics.

The MPCNC came with a Rambo board and was set up and running beautifully. I didn't want to mess with anything there and possibly screw it up. So I took my Arduino with stepper shield and did a swap. I simply unplugged the steppers from the rambo and plugged them into my board. Quick and easy. Its even easy to switch...Continue Reading

PLANS, PLANS, PLANS!!!!

Plans are a staple for many of us in this hobby. We use them on our builds and our repairs. They are a scratch builders best friend (even when we decide to deviate from the plans )

If you have plans that need printing, I've got you covered! With my LP-1030 I can print on up to 36" wide rolls of 20# bond paper.

At your disposal, I have 36, 24, and 18 inch wide paper rolls for all your printing needs.

And if your plans don't fit on what I have, I can easily format to print on multiple pages without you having to arrange a thousand letter size pages on your living room floor.

Pages are priced by the linear foot (LF) based on the roll width. PayPal only, I will send a business invoice. All fees go to me.

A small fee will be charged for any file conversions needed on my part. (Amount determined per job)

Shipping: $5

36" roll = $1.05 / LF
24" roll = $1.00 / LF
18" roll = $0.95 / LF

Shipping to USA only.

Send me a DM with your order request and email address so I can send the invoice for payment.

Took my Electrifly Extra 330 SC out in front of my house to play around a bit.

Front Yard Electrifly (2 min 53 sec)

Well that didn't go the way I wanted...

EF 16 Maiden (0 min 47 sec)

Progress continues!

Let’s start with talking software. This build will be running and Arduino Uno R3 with a CNC Shield on top. My build is quite simple and uses the same X and Y axis motors and wiring from my ERC TimSav. Thankfully, I'm able to reuse a ton of stuff from that first cnc.

I flashed an updated version of GRBL to the Arduino. For the TimSav, it used a robotini build of GRBL. For this build, I'm using V1.1 of GRBL. This version is set up to work with a laser as well as a servo motor. My brother uses this so he can switch quickly between his diode laser and his needle cutter.

Flashing the firmware was standard operating procedure, I just had to make sure that I deleted robotini from my computer so that Arduino IDE would actually find the correct GRBL. I'm sad to say that took much to long for me to figure out...

With that figured out, I got my control software setup onto my old laptop. I plan on using a dedicated laptop for controlling the GoatRider. I'll produce the g-code files on my desktop, then can transfer them over to the laptop and run from there. This should make it easier for me to use the laser in a well ventilated area until I figure out a good system for venting fumes out of my hobby room.

I still need to work out the plugin for Inkscape so I can create the g-code for GRBL to read. For the ERC Timsav, it required the use of Inkscape 0.91 to be able to output the grbl files. Thankfully, the inscape plugin I will be using this time...Continue Reading

Ladies and Gentlemen! Coming in at 30mm square and 100mm long, with an input power of 20watts and output of 5.5 - 7.5 watts. Able to cut thru 8mm balsa, 8mm Ply, 8mm acrylic, and much more (number of passes yet to be determined).

THE NEJE N20830!!!

Now that I've got the laser module in hand, I can start nailing down my dimensions and get the design exactly how I want it.

I've been working on the plates that will support either end of the EMT rail tubes, and that will traverse along the table. My plan is to 3D print these on my Ender 3v2, so I'm focusing on constraining my build to the 220x220 build area I have. This has made my design choices a little tricky as I want to have the Arduino mounted on one plate along side the y-axis stepper motor. And I can't forget the connection point for the x-axis belt. I will be having the x-axis stepper mounted to the carriage with the laser, and either end of the belt attached at the end plates. This will save on the amount of belt I need, and I should have plenty left over from the ERC Timsav.

With the laser in hand, and it having come with its own mounting bracket, I decided to redesign how the laser actually mounts to the carriage. Rather than having the thumb screw and sliding dovetail (which I also designed poorly and would need to redesign anyway) I will have mounting holes where the included bracket will mount to the upright bracket. Then my z position can be adjusted with a hex key and a height block below the lens....Continue Reading

A couple years ago, I purchased the kit of electronics and hardware to build the ERC Timsav CNC needle cutter for cutting out foamboard plane kits. I used it a few times but the needles kept giving me a lot of trouble so after cutting only a couple planes, it got hung on the wall and forgotten until now. Conveniently, this setup and electronic/hardware kit has most if not all of the parts that I need for making my GoatRider functional!

Tonight, I took the time to disassemble and part out the entire ERC Timsav as well as dig out the extra components that came with the kit so I can have a sit down and evaluate what I have and can use towards the build of my new CNC.

To summarize: I have 2 NEMA 17 stepper motors and drive belt sprockets for each, an idler pully, 8 v-groove roller wheels, 4 large thumb screws, an arduino uno board with stepper shield and drivers, stepper motor wiring, 2 lengths of 2mm pitch drive belt, and a bunch of screws for all of that to get mounted up.

As for an update on the design: I've been working on the brackets that will house a series of bearings/rollers that will help the carriage traverse along the EMT tubes for the x-axis, as well as the mount that will hold the stepper motor for pulling the carriage along the x-axis. Slow and steady for sure. now that I've got parts at hand, I can take some good measurements so I know how much space I have and will need for various things.

My laser module has made it to the USA from china, thank goodness for free air shipping! I'm hoping to have it on hand in the next few days.

Design work continues on the GoatRider. I've got a better idea of my rail guides and the rails I plan to use. This design will use .75" OD EMT Conduit from homedepot and some 15mm x 8mm roller wheels to move the carriage along the x-axis. This is still a fairly rough idea and quite similar to what is already on the lowrider2. There's a chance I'll change my design a little more before we are through here.

For a few years now, I've been dreaming of a day when I could design my own planes, create custom/replacement parts for my current models, and/or cut out parts for plans found on Outerzone. I hope to produce shot kits of plans found on outerzone and kits for my own custom designs one day.

Part of this dream came true when I received my 3D printer.

I've been able to design and print a few custom parts to add on to my current planes. But in order to finish out my dream, a laser cutter is needed. With a laser, I will be able to actually cut out balsa parts for planes. Build them, test them, and enjoy them!

Enter, Further Fabrication and his custom CO2 laser cutter.
For about $2500 or so, I could build my own custom sized CO2 laser for all my cutting needs! Pretty fairly priced when you consider that buying an existing machine of similar size would cost me well over $5k.

Now, I know $2.5k isn't a huge amount, but still, its more than I can drop right now. Enter, my little brother and his insight.

For less than $100, I can buy a diode laser that can handle cutting balsa and hobby ply. Yes, Diode lasers are slower, and nowhere near as powerful as a CO2 laser.

BUT!! With this, I can at least get the ball rolling and prove things out enough to see if the investment of the CO2 laser will be worth it.

Alright, enough setup. Let's talk my plans for what I'm calling the "GoatRider".

V1 Engineering has developed a few different very popular cnc...Continue Reading

I finally got around to finishing the build of my Willy Nillies Gentle Lady 250. Man, this should have been finished ages ago. Oh well. She's done now and boy, she flies SO WELL!!

Enjoy the video!

Gentle Lady 250 | Maiden Flights (3 min 33 sec)

I have a long list of projects in my hobby room... I really want to get them completed but I keep getting sidetracked by new ideas. Time to list them out and start checking them off the list. These aren't listed in any given order. Just wanting to keep track of them.

Started and Need to Complete:

- Green Hornet Sailboat: I've almost got this one done. Just need to get the sail set up to hang from the mast.
- EF-16: needs vertical stabilizer and horizontal fins installed. add receiver and fly.
- Kaos Wing: add vertical fins and take out for fly.
- Willy Nillies Gently Lady 250: Add vertical fin and hock up control rods. I also have the power pod for this model that needs to be assembled and mounted.
- Spirit 2m Power Pod: I've designed and 3d printed a motor mount, just need to start assembling the power pod kit.
- FT P-40: I started this kit a while ago and need to get it finished up. Would love to fly it!


Want to Start

- KA-8B Glider: this plane came to me basically as an AFT but with servos installed. I also have the motor and spoilers that need to be installed. I'd love to see this beautiful plane in the air!
- "Patches" High wing Electric Conversion: I have an old high wing trainer that is currently powered by an O.S. .40 engine that I plan to convert over to electric. That way I'll be able to fly it more regularly.
- Carl Goldberg Anniversary Edition Cub Kit: I've got 2... 1 has been started but hasn't been touched in years. Only the tail fins are assembled.
- Great Planes Spirit 2m kit: This was a new acquisition. I'd love to get this built up with some modifications. Probably ailerons or flaps, or a motor on the nose.... so many options.
- Guillows B-17 Kit: I picked this up a while ago and plan to do an RC Conversion build on this. It would be an amazing build!

This sounds amazing! These retirees get together constantly to enjoy the outdoors and the hobby they all share. I love it and want to be a part of it! I wonder if they accept younger members into their "club"?


https://www.deseret.com/utah/2022/6/...dy-falcon-park

With SOAR Utah coming up this summer, I was reminiscing on my first slope flights of my Great Planes Spirit 2m.

SOAR Utah is a great event with tons of great pilots. I'm really excited for it this year!

Enjoy the videos of my first flights.

Great Planes Spirit 2m - SOAR Utah 2020 (12 min 40 sec)

The assembly of the Green Hornet Footy has begun!

Green Hornet - Footy Class Sailboat - Build 1 (6 min 20 sec)

I've started working on my own Green Hornet, a 3D printed footy class sailboat from 3D Printed Radio Yachts. You can see my progress on the build log. Link below to my latest print.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...3&postcount=17

I'm really glad that my printer is super dialed in and I have complete confidence in leaving it to print overnight or any other unsupervised times.

A true legend of a man passed away yesterday, Feb 16th, 2022.

May he rest in peace, his work here is done and his memory and legacy will live on for generations.

If you've never hear of the Berlin Candy Bomber, I would highly encourage you to go read his story and learn of the legacy of love and kindness he has left behind.

https://www.thecandybomber.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_Halvorsen

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...mAd479bk_sNRSg


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...HHvYduVuq9SR91