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Howdy! I put together a mini fireworks for a friend. It took me down some strange paths...

This was his first, and I wanted it to be bullet proof. I made my own tails of contest balsa and carbon fleece followed by FG. I also wanted the horiz stab mount to be stronger than the balsa one provided in the kit. WHAT A NIGHTMARE!

My idea was to copy another friend who made me one from a carbon servo cover. So I tried to copy it myself... Started with hydro-cal... this powder turns to stone in a few hours. But then, you need something to tuck the carbon into the mold, so I called up TAP plastic: they have an AWESOME new silicone, which is as expensive as it is awesome. Platinum silicone does not require anything special other than you carefully reading the instructions and not letting it touch any inhibitors (like pigment as I later found out )

Well, you can;t build a mold, a latex plug and not get a release agent. Tap was out of partall, so I ordered some of this meguires. Not so great, as the PVA would form droplets atop it, I am probably doing something wrong, but it only caused problems with one mold to date (a naca duct, pics later).

For pva, I don;t own a compressor but found this prevall spray mechanism pretty dandy at under $6.

More toys: I had a dificult time with the minifireworks steel cable. An AWESOME upgrade is beadalon 49 strand nylon coated stainless steel wire. It has 26# break strength, no stretch, and lighter than the factory stuff. Only problem...Continue Reading

Been trying all sorts of tail designs for my mini fireworks. Lately I selltled on the following design:


Two separate sheets of depron 1-2mm. Cut each to size, and sand as per instructions. Since the sheets are separated, you never over sand.

Now, spread tow between the halves, and make you you hit it with your roller and bounty before even thinking of sealing the two end together. When the time is right, maybe 5 minutes after you started, put soe foam safe ca on the half with tow on it, and lightly mist the other side with kicker. Once yo ujoin the two halved, you still have time to get it flush before the foam safe kicks in.

I then bagged it in 3.7ox carbon. Found a cheap source online. Only problem is that this set came out heavier that the last, but these are bulletproof.

Wil post pictures of carbon fleese design tomorow. Working on ways to laminte tail on,=... U have super thin carbon plate, used to decorate car interiors.... will post picw

Full size (some are really nice) are here:...Continue Reading

And some AWESOME flying with rcgroup friends b

Here are some shots from the lab, read description below photos to find similar goodies!

Before you ask: not much into exhibitionism (won't find me on facebook), but I did just get the dslr bug (you can blame pina1971)...Continue Reading

Went to the wildlife park over thanksgiving, got to feet the giraffes, but the birds were the real...Continue Reading

Blank

Last week I suffered two casualties: my hacker fai carbon motor melted, and due to some new programming, my bandit failed to power up upon launch.

Bandit is a 2kw hog, so when the spinner hit the runway, my heart sank. Thankfully the motor mount caved in, and the spinner only took a minor beating.

Repairs

Plane 1: Bandit

New firewall made of c10 using the dbox method: cut out an overly large circle, put a hole in the center, run a rubber dremel drum through the hole, fire up the dremel, and grind away at the g10 against a file (make sure no one else is at home, it is LOUD). I think it came out pretty good, I used a motor mount that came with the motor (hyperion zs3025... WAY under-rated at 105 amps, I am pulling over 180, but may end up changing the three leads from the motor, as they are a tad to thin to handle this amperage), then I ground the cooling holes to match the inlets of the motor. Finally, I ca'd two steel washers around each mounting hole on the motor: this allows some of the air that comes from the turbo spinner to circulate around the motor (i.e. small gap between front of motor and motor mount).

Now, the spinner was snazy white rfm. It cracked when the bandit ate it. I primed it, and then sanded, and primed,.... painted red, then sanded, painted red,.... then, I applied krylon crystal glaze triple thick clear coat.... IT ATE ALL MY PAINT! Sanded the rfm pinner to the bare carbon, and then sprayed that with the clear coat... looks... awesome, no pictures this round, but I promise some to come.

Note: the glue used for the firewall is finishing resin mixed with carbon: the carbon is simply minced tow

Edit: Around the screws is neosporine works as well as vasoline to prevent epoxy from sticking!

Folks, I have been testing props on a new hyperion zs3025. Most recent adventure was with rfm 14.5x14

Ok, 186amps on 3s. Sounds crazy, but temps are pretty good. I managed 14 climbs (:O:O:O) on a 3s 3300mah pack. Looking over the log, there was never a climb that lasted over 3 seconds (20/20 vision, just could not keep up with the plane).

Now, having said that the 35c hyperion packs was sustaining voltage. On the last climb, it sagged to 9.73volts... which concluded a pull of 1463mah out of the pack (a little too much, I know, I was having way too much fun). For those of you with a cellpro 10s... the Ir was measured at 1.7 1.7 1,8. For reference, the best I was able to pull from any other brand name back was over 3.2

The motor, pack and rdu have been a pure pleasure. This is WAY more power than I ever managed to get from an axi 2826-08, but I never dared 4s on the axi, and I never used hyperion packs on it either.... If you are looking at the 2826, take a peak at the 3025. You can sustain more reasonable amps on a 13x7 graupner folding prop (I think I was pulling under 90 amps). If you want crazy thrills, you could try 4s and say 13x7 graupner, or aeronaut 13x10.... good luck!

P.S. If I can figure out how to post the log I will...

I picked up a plane quiver the other day from saoring usa. I could not fit one of my wings in the standard 68" bag, so instead I picked up an 80" model.

This is a BIG bag, and I was a little concerned about transporting lighter, lighter gliders to the field: the bag had plenty of padding and is made of a terrific cloth... only problem is that it does weigh a bit much for the omega 1.8e to carry.

A very easy solution was to pick up some 4mm coroplast. The chords run lengthwise down the bag. I then reinforced 85 percent of it with an additional layer that runs the opposite direction. A little gorilla glue, and it was perfect.

The bag now supports itself, rather than relying on the strength of the planes to form the bag into shape.

So I went a little hog wild lately and picked up some awesome hyperion products. Some lipos, a motor and a logger.

For what it is worth, Hyperion recently changed the dimensions on their website for the lipos.... I both measured and weighed every single lipo... and all were within .3mm and 2g of the posted dimensions!!!!!!!!!


The only exception was a 5500mah 3s pack that has 10g wiring, Because it's 3s, it has a wire running front to back, and mine juts out, making the pack wider than necessary. This is for a supertight application, so I may end up running the wire atop the cells... tbd

The motor seems quite strong. It shines where my axi 2826-8 was lacking. Yes, the hyperion is slightly heavier, but it also has a higher kv. So far, on 13x7 it pulled about 1200w on a 3s 3300 35/65c pack. I still need to find a faster prop, as this one is spitting out too much thrust.


More on the IR of these packs versus other manufacturers and the rdu to come.......Continue Reading

gone!