Ben, why did you feel the need for the connectors inside the wing?
I just soldered wires to the SBus converter on mine.

Originally Posted by olgol

Ben, why did you feel the need for the connectors inside the wing?
I just soldered wires to the SBus converter on mine.

Yeah, I saw that. Since it was my first time to use the Sbus converter, I wanted the convenience of removing it for debug or replacement.


-- b

Bulkheads
The wing saddle was opened up to accomodate the battery backup. The opening ends 0.5 inches from the rear bolt hole and 0.5625 inches from the front bolt hole.

The rear of the wing saddle opening was used as a reference point.

Additional bulkheads were created so that gluing was not required. - The boom section uses 45 degree isometric ellipses (or something close). The extra bulkheads were made out of 1/16 inch ply. The initial cut of the bulkhead will probably be oversized. Mark the edge of the bulkhead with a Sharpie. Sand down the bulkhead until the Sharpie mark disappears.

A carbon rod was used to test fit the bulkhead. The carbon rod is marked with the location of the bulkhead relative to the rear edge of the wing saddle opening. Friction fit/tack glue the desired bulkhead to the end the carbon rod. Push the carbon rod/bulkhead assembly into the fuse up to the corresponding mark on the carbon rod. When you're happy with the fit glue the bulkhead to the pushrod.

The wing saddle bulkhead was modified so that the ballast tube was as low as possible. This creates space for the backup battery. The wing saddle bulkhead was glued in when the ballast tube was installed.

The additional bulkheads will be considered overkill and time consuming (I can't argue that) but it works, light, zero chance of using too much glue (and having something terrible happen), and the linkages are zero slop.

Pushrod Housings
The pushrod housings were glued only to the bulkheads. I could get away with gluing the rudder pushrod in place. For the elevator pushrod, I would have to install the elevator pushrod first, the slide the housing over it. Then I would be gluing it in blind; I wouldn't be able to tell if I put too much glue and accidentally lock the pushrod into the housing. The instrument foam I used for the last 2 station points worked out well. I'll try that on the next build at the same station points instead of the bulkheads.

Fin/Rudder Assembly
A tapered channel was sanded into boom slot and fin assembly to ease removal. Bi-directional strapping tape to attach fin. To remove the fin disconnect rudder servo arm to disconnect fin assembly. I will probably make a wire/keeper for the servo linkage on the next build so I don't have to remove the servo arm.

Elevator Linkage
Install elevator ball link/pushrod into the fuse then slide the pushrod housing over it. I had to open up the back edge of the pylon in order to insert the elevator ball link. I don't know how the professionals do that step...

Ballast tube
I installed the ballast tube last. The ballast tube is glued in only at the front end using Oleg's method. A plywood stop was glued to the top of the ballast tube at wing saddle bulkhead (glued in).

Fuselage layout
A 4 piece servo rail allows for the ballast tube to be test fitted (easily) and removed anytime before gluing into place.

The distance from the back of the servos to the back of the canopy opening - 0.75 inches. This allows for an unfolded 4S 850mAh pack with a Neu 1102/3Y/P29.

The antenna tube exits are from scrap pieces of the supplied pushrod housings.

There's not much space in the fuse for connectors. The Diode-OR is buried next the RX which is under the ballast tube behind the servos. It's pretty well hidden. In a 'normal' setup, I would have 3 connectors - BEC-to AMRT, AMRT-to-Diode-OR, backup battery on-off connector to Diode-OR. After a flight I would disconnect 2 connectors - the backup battery and the motor battery.

For this fuse I had to find space for the AMRT-to-Diode-OR connector and 'on-off connector for the battery backup. Using 5 pin connector I combined the AMRT-to-Diode-OR and battery backup 'on-off' connectors. The connector count was reduced by one. More power to you if you're okay with multiple connectors and loose wires to manage (after every flight...). Alot of connectors and loose wires in my builds gives me a twitch.

That's it for now. YAMV*

-- b

*Your Altitude May Vary

Ben, thanks for the pics. Very nice and clean install.
Some very interesting solutions with component placement and connectors.

I forgot to add this.

The motor shaft sticks out the back by about 1/64 inch. I added a 1/32 ply spacer to the end of the motor with kapton tape. If the battery shifts forward, it won't get messed up the shaft.

The kapton tape was laid out in an X pattern over the spacer and onto the body. One wrap of kapton around the body to lock down the tape ends. It might make sense (ha ha) to seal the plywood.

-- b

Ben, please contact aeromodelis for prop+spinner, they have all sizes available.
PS. current production models already have ballast tube and pushroads preinstalled, as elevator and rudder linkages and more.

aeromodelis.lt put few Sense kits in the shop.
Very cool painting and immediately available. Do not miss, one is already sold right away.
Aeromodelis is going to vacation for 2 weeks soon ( upcoming WC in Trnava), so new orders will be served after middle of august.

I don’t need another (yet) but the paint scheme on the “storm” kit is cool, at least to my eyes.

Originally Posted by Ben Roberto

Here are the steps I used to unfold a Tattu R-Line 4S 850mAh pack. Other packs will be constructed a little differently but the steps will be the same.

A few general hints:
1. The cells may have double sided tape between cells 2 and 3. Drip solvent in between cells 2 and 3 and be patient. If you have to exert any force to separate the cells, stop and drip more solvent between the cells. It should take minimal force to separate the cells. I used CA kicker as a solvent. I think CA debonder (acetone) will also work. After the cells are separated wipe off any remaining solvent and allow any residue to evaporate.

2. After the solder joints and terminals are covered with kapton tape and foam rubber added, mylar was added front and back to bridge the two halves of the assembly.

3. Thin carpet tape was used to attach the mylar pieces.

4. Some packs may not have foam tape at the ends. Add double sided foam tape with a strip of mylar to cover the ends.

5. I used neoprene foam rubber to fill the gap in the center of the assembly. Blue foam insulation showed work just as well.
---------------
Kapton tape
https://www.mcmaster.com/polyimide-tape

10mil Mylar
http://www.cstsales.com/shop-bin/sc/...c441e61a44715a
14mil bagging mylar will also work. The final assembly will be just a little thicker.

Heat Shrink Tubing
https://alofthobbies.com/pvc-shrink-tubing.html
For the 850mAh cells -> 50mm. 45mm should work but Aloft has been out of stock.
For the 650mAh cells -> 35mm will just fit. Get the 40mm to make it easier.
--------------

Hi
I use 4S 14.8V 850mAh
He does not need to use them separately
My center of gravity 103mm
Arrow.

There is chat a new fuselage is coming I don’t see much wrong with the existing one but I look forward to seeing what changes there might be. There may be a v tail option as well. I do think the rudder/vertical could be better keyed in the existing fuselage.

Room at the front is tight but it works. There are times when more than 400 g of ballast seems
needed but flying in those conditions isn’t much fun for me. Winds today in Sydney where we have had lots of bushfires were 4m/s second and regularly gusting to over 10 m/s as strong thermals blew through The sense got away at 1650 g and was able to just penetrate on the way back. If I’d had more ballast I’d have come back more easily but it would have put more pressure on in the first 90 seconds to find the lift, because there was also a lot of sink.

Originally Posted by davidleitch

There is chat a new fuselage is coming I don’t see much wrong with the existing one but I look forward to seeing what changes there might be. There may be a v tail option as well. I do think the rudder/vertical could be better keyed in the existing fuselage.

Room at the front is tight but it works. There are times when more than 400 g of ballast seems
needed but flying in those conditions isn’t much fun for me. Winds today in Sydney where we have had lots of bushfires were 4m/s second and regularly gusting to over 10 m/s as strong thermals blew through The sense got away at 1650 g and was able to just penetrate on the way back. If I’d had more ballast I’d have come back more easily but it would have put more pressure on in the first 90 seconds to find the lift, because there was also a lot of sink.

Yes
There is no big problem with fuselage now, but
More ballast is currently unavailable
I can only use a maximum of 432 grams of CG105mm
If you want to add weight,
The nose must add additional weigh.
Arrow

Dear friends,

After extensive testing, design work, collecting feedback from the customers and team pilots, Aeromodelis.lt can proudly present you the Sense 2020.

The new fuselage and the new ruder have been completely reworked to achieve the following goals:

· The nose section extended by 40 mm allows you to accommodate bigger batteries (up to 4s 1300 mAh ) and use a larger selection of ESC and electronic components. If necessary, it is possible to use bigger motors and 32 mm spinners.

· More room in the nose section allows installation of 10mm servos, for example MKS6100. The width of the fuselage under the wing is wider to fit the servos under the wing, inside the pilon (available as a separate order option and made on the fabric)

· The nose of the fuselage has been modified for even better fit of the propellers in all positions to minimaze the drag. Behind the prop area it has more quadratic shape for better space utilization by batteries and electronics.

· The rare part of the fuselage was extended by 100 mm, while the length of the entire fuselage does not exceed the size of the center wing panel.

· Benjamin Rodax designed a new ruder with a thinner airfoil, this reduced volume and air drag

· The ruder mounting has been changed to sit vertical and fixed with a single bolt. This reduced assembly time and, most importantly, increased rigidity and lack of a ruder play in all axes.

· The size and cross-section of the ballast chamber has been increased, to fit 30% more ballast weight.

The new fuselage is fully compatible with the previous version. You can also move the central part of the servo tray with you installed servos into a new fuselag. We also managed to maintain low weight and rigidity of the new fuselage.

After testing and flying on an updated model, we can note a number of positive changes in the flying behavior of the model. The dependence of the model on weight decreased, flights with more camber settings and slow speeds became possible. The model has definitely become more friendly for piloting and gives the pilot more time to react to disturbances making it easier to catch and stay in small thermals at low altitude.

The model’s behaviour has been improved both in strong winds and for flying in a straight line.

Having a high aspect ratio of 21, fast, thin airfoil and good rate of climb in thermals, Sense can be an ideal model for the new GPS triangle light class, for this we offer a new option of a radio-transparent fuselage with maximum ballast loading.

With love to our customers, we are pleased to provide discounts on these updates for owners of the first version of the Sense

All models in stock and online store are already updated and ready for delivery immediately.

Originally Posted by vitas

The width of the fuselage under the wing is wider to fit the servos under the wing, inside the pilon (available as a separate order option and made on the fabric)

I checked the website - https://aeromodelis.lt/Sense-F5J-c33159488 - but didn't see any pictures of the 'pylon'. Do you mean under the wing?


-- Ben