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We had a day and night fly yesterday with our nutballs... It had been a lovely sunny warm day, we went out at dusk and it had gone freezing.. so cold we went in for a cup of tea after a couple of flights just to warm up untill it got fully dark, then went out and it had gone all foggy..
Still we had another fly in the mist with the LEDs making the mist light up, then gave up when the lights were not visible enough to see clearly all the time. The planes came down all damp from the mist, so it was lucky we decided to give up before the electrics got soaked despite the poor visibility the lighting really helped with seeing the planes. The big nutballs are definately very good for night flying, being able to fly slow and so very stable they fly themselves, you dont have any worries. |
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i seen in a older post you need to find a cheap place to buy leds
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2398 post the place you get led from |
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I had a thought..what about these hinges bound to the rods?
It might be worth a go especialy if youve forgotten to fit some tubes.. also they have enough length to have your elevons set out from the rods a bit so no ends of rods hook up when the elevon rotates. If you worry over the gap between wing and elevon just fit a looser strip of material from wing to elevon and fill the gap edit I had a look at these today....8th.... they come in 3 sizes the middle one looks like it will do well for our use |
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Last edited by davereap; Apr 08, 2009 at 05:56 AM.
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I didnt end up with an X at the tip, the x cross over in my build was just to ensure the tension to get the curve of the rods when I pulled the tips out...
Work is still ongoing, I made a single fin with rudder, and added some extra side area in the shape of a fuz below the wing. I added a 3" wide depron length to take the radio gear. This adds a fraction to the AUW but does make it easy to fit the gear to velcro strips which will be put along this surface. Ive also now finished covering with my usuall mix of colors.. The weight at present is 6 1/4oz ... 175gms.... My radio and power system will add another 8oz If I can keep it to under a 4oz sqft loading I will be happy david... how is your kite flying ? any more trials yet ?...any thoughts..What did your kite weigh, and whats your AUW ?...etc |
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Last edited by davereap; Apr 08, 2009 at 12:09 PM.
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note on bumpers... the bumper I made from 2.5mm CF rod which is more flexible than 3mm, it fits into the front tubes and all that holds it is its own tension, but this tension is high enough that it does not move easily, and you can use it as the carry handle.. 3mm rod would have been much harder to bend and I think would put to much stress on the framework.. I havnt filled the back of the tubes so in an impact the rod will be pushed back through and act like the crush zone in a car reducing damages...I hope..
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Quote:
Living in the UK I found some alternative sources... I ended up using 2 Ebay sellers, http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Amigo-...__W0QQ_armrsZ1 fast delivery and LEDs come with resistors for 12v usage and http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/phenoptix__W0QQ_armrsZ1 who sells ultrabright lights and resistors seperately We have found there is no need to use the extra bright LEDs the standard 5000mcd 3mm light can be seen for miles.. The LEDs can be shone across the surface, straight down at the surface or shone along drinking straws for different looks... All will be seen very well in the dark I also bought some at first, being in a rush and not checking prices, from Maplins electronics...never again... totally ripped off on prices |
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Hi Dave,
Wow... love the keel this will be interesting in the turns, hope it cures the slow turn problems. Just weighed mine in at 230g or around 8oz (without battery). I notice you recon your power system is 8oz...what is it?? I kept mine really light with only a 800mah battery and a shocky motor. Not flown this week as the wind has been nasty and Im stripping off the elevons to cover them in white poly. Hopefuly that will give me a better LED effect. Waiting for my leds to arrive...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Keep us posted David |
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Mine has come in at a very heavy 12 1/4oz without a battery..the battery I usually use is a 3cell 1250 rhino + 4oz.. and ive still the lights to add, another 1-1.5oz
I used a couple of heavy servos this time for the elevons sd200's 1.25oz the pair plus another 9gm servo for the rudder. my kite without any gear came in at 6.25oz .. then add the servos, esc, rec, push rods, horns, links, velcro, I am b ***** usless at keeping them light...however at 4oz sq ft it should be ok , but not as nice and floaty as yours... by power system I was refering to all the radio bits 8oz for motor +prop+ etc..etc..which would include 4oz for the 3 cell lipo but only 2x 9gm servos my motor I use for this size/weight plane is the big bell from overlander.. http://www.overlander.co.uk/product....id=88&pid=2581 with a 9x5 prop it gives 24oz thrust so it wont have problems going up.. it hovers at just over half power for the rest I use the cheapest bits I can find...and I dont really worry over the weight.. Its how it flies that concerns me...My heavy one will give as a nice comparison for the flying qualities... I am waiting for the wind to stop,...while you are waiting build a nutball kite.. I just love mine... theres a design that can fly well light or heavy... did you give us a measurement for the COG ? if not please do.. dave edit.. slow turn problems.. I couldnt see any on your video... turning out after a downwind run has always for me needed more power, cause the wind gets onto the top of the plane or kite and keeps pushing it back downwind. similarly all delta shapes have that nose sliding in/falling down the angle of bank tendency, and these kits are mostly similar to a delta. Another quirk you didnt mention is the wind getting on top or under the wing. With large area designs they kite up when the nose is up into the wind, and will kite down if the nose is down.. the kiting down has caught me out on a couple of occasions.. watch out for needing a much harder pull back on the elevator..my last impact was due to a kiting down after a low loop... The turn problems I had on that NK5 would happen with or without any wind.. when you started a slow turn it would bank over a bit, then start to wallow, then the opposite wing would suddenly drop..and it would just tumble.. too low and you were stuffed.. With a bit more speed it was fine.. Your video shows good control at much slower flying speeds, so I hope my version will be ok despite the extra weight...time will tell |
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Last edited by davereap; Apr 08, 2009 at 12:27 PM.
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LEDs through coloured fabrics work ok , but red white and yellow go best through red... not green... or green white yellow goes best through green ...not red...
All colors go through white or yellow. Blues look good at close ranges but fade the fastest at distance.. they go best through white We are a bit worried but are unsure over the flashing bulbs, we had some bad glitching at distance with those near the arial, so be warned Our lights have been fixed to the top of the kite, they are then shone along the surface or bent down to shine through the surface or shone through drinking straws (asda does some nice colored straws) We are now trying some blues below to see if that helps the long range visibility Have just a few lights facing directly forward...ditto backward.. too many and they are uncomfortably bright What you dont need at any time is lots of lights shining directly at you.. it will blind you...not literally, but it is not a help I had just 3 whites shining forward central on the kite, then a couple of reds and greens doing the same but out at the tips... the whites totaly blocked the others and orientation was more of a problem.. I bent 2 of the whites back and down leaving just one central, that was ok. however many you put on, seeing them wont be a problem |
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Last edited by davereap; Apr 08, 2009 at 12:55 PM.
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The wind just dropped off so I had to fly it..... yeh...thats ok.. all nicely under control 1st flight ok...and landed back at my feet
The COG was set at 18cm back from the motor mount location.. it seems a good start, loops are tight, but ive got a lot of elevator movement . it will climb a lot as I add power with the trim as it is setup, and it drops the front end when inverted..so it can go back some more, then some of the up trim can be taken out Slow flying is better than the NK5, it doesnt drop a wing.. very slow turns are slightly quirky, I am not quite sure what its doing yet but the rudder is a definate help in doing better flatter turns.. so david its worth the mod.. I am not sure the keel makes a difference but the rudder certainly does edit added thinking on the turns it does much like my delta the estratos, used to do, I had to add rudders to that one because at the slowest speeds the turns were reluctant on just elevons, and with the nose up, it would keep on stabilising itself back into a straight line flight, not enough airflow over the control surfaces to overcome the delta stability..but using the rudder would pull it nicely round at very slow speeds and high alpha...yes thats the answer... I only had a short flight and I will give it a long go when this weather is not quite so windy. After a warm day its b cold out there.. First impressions are good |
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Last edited by davereap; Apr 09, 2009 at 07:28 AM.
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I have reworked the plans for the nutball and early post 24 now has the simpler build version
repeated here build this kite...recommended 32" up to 36"...this kite is now my hack flier.. one you can fly in wind or no wind. a superb performer day and night.. it has now replaced my depron nutball as the plane I grab for all flying sessions.. for the depron fuz.. first fit some 3" x2mm cross bars at intervals down the centre rod. then cool glue the depron to these and to the main centre rod.. the fabric is put on under the wing last of all |
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Last edited by davereap; Apr 10, 2009 at 04:42 AM.
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