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I've never had any trouble with monokote and have used it for over 20 years. This stuff is like nothing I can remember seeing. I was thinking about making it an flaperon stlye ship. For the cost of two more s3108 servos though I can almost buy a Gambler to add to my collection. I honestly think I just got a bad one. Nobody else has had to do more than tighten their covering. Just thought the heads up to watch how much overlap was there might help someone else. I used monokote/econokote scaps to do my fixes last night. If I do the whole wing later I will use solite for the weight savings probably. I wanted a small ship that I DIDN'T have to build. If she flys well I'll quit grumbling and get over it real fast. I'll just know which fling at the field is mine because it will be different.
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As for what material it is, I am pretty sure it is NOT monocote. Not sure really what it is but it is only "semi-transparent." While the light shines through really nice, it is difussed by the patterns in the covering. You can not "see" directly through it like you can in most other transparent coverings. All you can see is light sources and shadows. Radian |
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Jay |
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Second flight!
Still strong winds but this time I used the High start! Much much higher than a hand launch! First flight I catched some small thermals and flying time was 5 min, second flight was dead air and this time the flight time was 1 min and 25 seconds. I really was worried about the plane going downwind, but after I tried it, no problems in loosing too much altitude... Rudder is more effective now as I edited my epa and dr. BTW: I live 15 min away from elmira (Soaring captial of America) They have a very nice high ridge (About 1000 feet high) after the runway, the people allowed me to fly there after 6 pm (Flying stops at that time). At the end of the runway I want to install my High Start but there is small hill which I think can Influence my high start ( Less than 20 feet high). Now my question is can do something like in the picture shown below? |
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I just wanted to clarify the useage of tape. We use clear tape often at the field to cover holes from the corn or bean stubble when someone misses the runway or for those missed hanger rash tears that would ruin a flying session. I would not use it with the intent of applying heat to it. We always remove it and fix with monokote. The tape is only a temp. type fix. Some clear monokote or a stripe or two at the polyhedral joint before you apply heat would be the best bet for making sure it stays together when you try to fix it. Maybe if enough people take the time to drop an e-mail to Great Planes they will increase the overlap to solve this problem. I was thinking the 2" wide tape was just a way to do a major fix as I have about half an inch gap. That way I can cover almost a whole bay at a time. In retrospect I'm probably going to go with a stripe or two or all new kote. Then I only have to fix it once. Trying to pick a color that will go with the purple may be a real chore. There's something to be said for having the ugliest bird on the field here. Especially if it flies like a dream.
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Wing joiner and rudder hinge questions
Hey guys, I got my Fling today and was looking the kit over as I opened the box. Here's my questions:
1. Wing joiner...was it a tight fit in each panel for yours? Mine fits the right wing pretty snug, but there is a lot of slop in the left panel. Makes me think I might need to shim it up a bit with some thin balsa before gluing. Is this gonna matter? 2. What has been the glue of choice for gluing this joiner in? Probond or 30-min epoxy? I'm guessing the Probond would solve my sloppiness problem. 3. Did anybody else have a really stiff rudder hinge? I worked mine back and forth a bunch, but it still doesn't seem to swing as freely as it should. Looks like there might be some CA binding it up in there. 4. Where's everybody balancing their Fling? If the recommended CG is accurate, then the towhook is too far forward. I was told (with big gliders) that the hook should be 1/4 inch in front of the CG....gives you higher launches. There appears to be enough room to move this hook back or make another hole to allow a two-position hook. Anybody else tried that? Can't wait to get this thing built! Still wondering about what battery I'm gonna use... dee |
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Radian. |
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Dee, if you would have said your kote job sucked as well I would have thought you had my kit. 1. The sloppiness was the same on my spar. I stuck some in the spar slot and sqeezed it out on puting it together. This seems to have filled it rather nicely. The wing is solid as can be. 2. Good old 5 min. epoxy because I had it. 30 min. would be better, but who likes to wait for glue to dry? 3. My rudder is the same way. Stiff as a board! I thought about replacing the hinges when I recovered the tail but decided they will probably loosen up after a few flights. I've had hinges act like this before and they're fine after a little use. Only time will tell if these will be the same. 4. I have mine balanced on the work bench. I'm still waiting for a receiver and batteries to make a pack that will fit in this thing. I don't recommend this however if it can be avoided. A plane is meant to fly not sit. As for the tow hook there are those better qualified than I for that answer. Hope this helped you a bit.
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We posted at the same time. I feel like an echo...echo...echo.
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Radian and Steve,
Thanks for the replies. At least we know they're being consistent, right? At first I thought I got a crooked joiner too, but it looks like they meant for it to have some "sweep" to it. Steve, mine does have some wrinkles where you guys have mentioned, but none are too big for me to live with right now. You should see the wrinkles in my Oly99 (see avatar). Its covering job is more than 25 years old and has some huge wrinkles on the wings. It flies so good, I just can't bring myself to fix the wrinkles. Yeah, I'd like some different colors, but why fix something that ain't really broke. dee |
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Nik-rc,
Your setup should work. It's the same in principle as how they used to launch the full size gliders 70 years ago. I've spent some time at Elmira. Isn't there a road just below that hill? Are you launching into the valley where the big airport is or are you at the opposite end of the runway? John Quote:
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I made two flights today with the "provided" highstart. Generally I found it to work very well. I do not think I'll have to move the hook back. If I was trying to get the absolute highest possible launch then I probably would but it worked well enough where it was at and I think it is probably in the best spot for beginer flyers.
Only small issue I found was that the highstart line is a "twisted" line rather then a braided line and it is more prone to snagging on weeds and rough terrain. Also it develops a twist easily that promotes tangles. Still in a good field and with care it should do the job well. Another point that would improve things might be to have the streamer in a red color. Mine is a mustard yellow and it is hard to see at the top of the launch when if comes free. All of my flying with highstarts prior to this was with parachutes on the hightstart. It is VERY easy to see when a flourescent orange parachute comes off the glider hook. Not so with the short dull yellow streamer. But this too is a simple change. Radian |
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Crashed my Fling beyond repair today!
Stretched the high start, off it went, suddenly I realized I had no control of the plane, checked if the transmitter was on, it wasn't ! Turned it on and a half second later the plane went nose first into the ground full speed! All that happened in about 2 seconds.. Had so much fun with it that I ordered a new one -Nik |
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