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Building Tips and technical articles. => Building techniques => Topic started by: Randy Powell on June 03, 2019, 03:43:09 PM
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Hit a hole at the school where I was flying. On the 4th flight. But I'm well on the way to repair. Shame, too. The thing flies very well. First electric plane I've built that tracked right off the bench.
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This would not have happened if you'd had Helmick machine the wings from Tungsten.
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715 ish square inches and weighs, ready to fly, 64oz. I'll stick with balsa - an not land in potholes.
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No holes at Stonehedge. Come on down.
That sucks, though. That’s why I’m afraid of wing-mounted gear.
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Wonder if the schools liable . :-\ Er . Sorry to see this . Recently did the same to my P-51 .
Make sure you dont get slack & agro and leave any bits to rattle in the wing .
A piece of 1/8 , 1/4 wide & 1/2 long is just right to jam in the rib half along it ,
and catch the bellcrank , rocking each time it comes past . Unless it jams .
Nice looking plane , theyll never see it there on the underside anyway .
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Can you put a picture of the gear leg wire? I suspect something.
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Now you need safety cones to mark the holes. Hate to see the damage. D>K
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TDM,
You can see the one gear leg on the wing where it didn't rib out (though it crack the gear block). The gear was set up for pavement. Not good for grass. I'll bend up another set farther forward and with bigger wheels for the grass.
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thats ' Rip ' or rip the rib . >:(
Yea , big spongey wheels'd absorb a lot of the jolts . No give cracks up things . Youll have to fly at youre local bowling green . ;D
' our ' free flight Mercury Tiger Moth did a staggering flight just clearing the local bowling club rear iron fence , centuries ago .
Two fiels full . Studiously ignored when we got around the front , to find it sitting on their path with dirt on the spinner .
Always wondered ifit'd got them ducking and diving as it did its sudden appearance in their midst , changeing course at each stall / swoop . :-\ LL~ :-X
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Man that really sucks, sorry to see it Randy. :(
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Hi Randy:
I can commiserate with you. I had the same thing happen to my little Crossfire many years back. I had it flying just killer and was thinking this one could do some damage. Instead the damage was to have the entire lower inboard skin ripped out from hitting a pot hole.
It seems that over the years you have had a cloud over your head when it comes to luck in flying. That's sad because you build some of the most nifty planes on the planet.
Here's a link to an Albert King song that reminds me of your fortunes in flying...
https://youtu.be/955J3s0WpDY
Later - Bob Hunt
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:We wondered if it was the locality . :( S?P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyjlxIcu8AM
Maybe flowers r better n weeds .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3_HnomxSjs&list=PLl8obDI49TRtoVpZYaPCPFHlKGPO-lOaI
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TDM,
You can see the one gear leg on the wing where it didn't rib out (though it crack the gear block). The gear was set up for pavement. Not good for grass. I'll bend up another set farther forward and with bigger wheels for the grass.
I want to see the part that goes inside the wing.
Ok long story short if you have half inch in the wing that has a lot of leverage to tear things out like it did. Else if the part that goes in the wing was tied up to the top of the wing then it is a completely different story.
For reliability the part that goes in the wing should have a hard block at top of the wing for it to avoid thing like that. Sorry it happened. Leave and learn some say. Sometime 5-10g of extra weight really pay off dividend on the long run.
Make a video of the flight.
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Ouch! But I'm curious about the battery compartment. Can you comment on the scalloped rails with holes? What sort of retention system are you using?
I don't think any gear type is immune to damage. I ripped the fuse-mounted gear clean off a Vector (not an ARF- a kit built what I thought was plenty strong) on a sprinkler head hidden in the grass.
Good to see it will be back in the air shortly.
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TDM,
The part that goes in the wing crosses over to the upper spar. the leg is about 2.25" long. The retention block is attached to the opposite spar from the one the gear block is attached to.
Mike,
The battery is retained by two carbon fiber posts that cross the batter compartment. there is a floor to the compartment that is removable and the ESC is down there in the air flow. The time is under the compartment where you see the start button. Lots and lots of airflow through there while retaining torsional strength.
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Thanks Randy. I know you have a lot on your plate right now but when you get a chance I bet a lot of us would like to see a picture of your battery mount and other items. Looks like you have some interesting ideas there, I have not seen anything like that before.
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Battery mounts looks similar to Paul Walker's design.
Chris Cox had some details of it in his "building a round fuselage" article in Stunt News (2018 issue 1)
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Yea, it's similar to what Paul Walker does. With some tweaks of my own. You have to adapt to each plane to figure out how to keep the heat down, the airflow up and ease of use. I'll take some pictures later.
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So, it's coming along. One pic for Mike of electronics compartment. the other shows painting progress.
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Still have to sand the clear and buff, but the fix is done. Looks mostly OK.
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You made that fix look easy Randy, looks great!
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You made that fix look easy Randy, looks great!
He makes everything look easy. Irritating, actually.
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Trust me, it was a pain in the backside. But, all done now. Will test fly on Saturday.
Will stop by Griot's garage to pick up some polishing compound tomorrow and it will be as good as new.
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So, built new grass gear and took it out last night to fly. It was pretty hot but I got two flights on it. Works fine. Good flying plane.
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Good to hear Randy, hope it turns out to be a good one!