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Author Topic: Electrified Ringmaster S-1  (Read 11859 times)

Offline Dennis Toth

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Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« on: May 17, 2020, 02:35:17 PM »
Since I am working from home and not flying around the country I've had some additional time to do some building. I have a couple other projects going but decided that I could handle one more. I was given a fairly new built S-1 Ringmaster that was powered by a McCoy 35. The ship was well constructed but the original owner used Kevlar thread for leadouts. Although they look pretty good I am not comfortable with them and will change them to steel cable. To do this you more or less need to pull the wing to get clean access to the bellcrank and leadouts. While I'm at it I decided I would do an electric conversion.

To do the conversion I bought a Brodak electric conversion kit. This was designed/developed by Dennis Adaminsin. The parts are laser cut plywood with nicely detailed assembly/modifications instructions sheet. It was originally used on the Brodak version of the S-1 will work with a little creativity. The main change is that the notch/plywood brace in the leading edge is in a solid leading edge rather then the built up one in the Brodak ship. I am adding the notch as indicated in the kit but will only cut back into the leading edge to the point of leaving about 1/8" at the back then add the plywood doubler brace to the back side of the notch area across the center three ribs.

I started by taking the wing out, this was quite a task. The main thing was to use a heat gun and long knife and hacksaw blade to gradually cut through the glue and get the wing free. Damn, this took some effort but I got it out without any damage. Next, started to build the motor/battery conversion box/mount. This will be the template for the cut out of the fuse nose. This system has the battery sliding in and through the fuse from the inboard side. Next will be the fuse cut out to accept the mount/battery box. This cutout is quite large more or less the full width and a little bit more between the motor mounts. This should help reduce the nose weight a bit and help out the balance.

Ok, will let you know how it goes and try to post some pictures.

Best,   DennisT
« Last Edit: May 17, 2020, 03:56:12 PM by Dennis Toth »

Offline John Rist

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2020, 04:41:14 PM »
My S-1 Ring has the battery in the wing.  Makes for a clean look but it took 2 oz of noise weight to balance.  Battery needs to be as far forward as possible.   I believe the Brodak kit does have a forward location for the battery.  y1
John Rist
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Offline John Rist

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2020, 04:51:25 PM »
My setup is as follows: 
Motor,   Cobra 2221/10 KV 1500
Battery,  Hyperion 3S 1600 70C
ESC,  Trunigy Plush 30 amp
Timer, KR.  Initial RPMs set to 9500
Weight ready to launch is 27 oz.

Haven't flown it much yet but has plenty of power.  So far have only run 4 minutes so i am not sure if battery is big enough for a 5 minute run.   My plan was for old time stunt witch I believe can be achieved in 4 to 4.5 minutes.
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Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2020, 08:00:32 PM »
Hold on cowboy, I just saw a set up on the Brotherhood site that showed the battery under the outboard wing next to the fuse set so you can position it about 30% back into the wing. This allows trimming the CG with the battery rather than lead. It looks like he cut down about half way through the leading edge and adding a brace (I think, at least this is what I would do) along the LE and adding a plywood plate that the holds the battery with Velcro straps. I think I might look at this closer as it could work better with the S-1 original kit ship.

Best,    DennisT

Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2020, 07:28:39 AM »
Dennis,
I built S1 Ringmaster with underwing mount. John Cralley advised me, thank you, John! I mount bellcrank on the inner wig , leaving all room for battery tray on the bottom of outer wing. CG was correct without lead.

Jerry


Variety is the spice of life.

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2020, 08:37:23 AM »
Jerry,
I did see Johns photos and that was what made me rethink using the Brodak approach. It looks like the pocket goes into the leading edge about half way? Did you add any reinforcement to the leading edge after you cut the pocket?

You indicated the CG was good with the battery located back over part of the wing, is your model a full plank slab fuse or hollowed? How much of the battery do you have over the wing 66% (guess from the photo). Last what is the setup - motor, prop, rpm, esc, timer, battery pack, all up ready to flip the switch and fly weight?

Thanks for the info,         DennisT

Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #6 on: May 18, 2020, 09:16:09 AM »
Dennis,
I think the best way to describe my Ringmaster will be all 200 pictures I took during build))
I may start writing essay about it later. I just joined this forum few days ago.
About wing - I glued piece of carbon arrow shaft (hollow tube diameter .228 or so inches) longer than two neighboring ribs space. It was glued in the corner of top and bottom leading edge against front solid part of leading edge. Then, pocket was finally cut to shape right over the carbon tube .Lite ply 1/8 thick lays over carbon tube, supported by balsa in the back to be parallel to fuse center line. Fuselage is solid 1/2 in balsa. Hollowed only in the nose, side plates are 1/64 plywood. Length of packet is front edge of plywood bellcrank Mount . Width is enough for 4 cell 2200 lipo plus Velcro strap. Wing was already built for glow power, so modifying it was little time consuming. I don’t remember all information, I will write it later. But it is 4 cell 2200 lipo, Brodak 1100 Kv Arrowwind motor, Brodak ESC, KR timer, 10x5 APC prop. Weight ready to fly is 30 oz .

Jerry
Variety is the spice of life.

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2020, 11:29:01 AM »
I have made some good progress this week. I was able to remove the wing as I need to have full access to remove and replace the bellcrank and leadouts. The original builder used Kevlar cord for leadouts. This is very tough stuff but I like steel cable. Also the bellcrank has a very long arm to the pushrod hole and I feel it would be a challenge to get smooth control with it unless I used a 2" tall tail horn, not practical. Once out I took the weight - 13 1/2 oz. Pretty heavy, even for a Sterling kit wing. I started to open up the planking to get to the bellcrank and saw some of the reason for all the weight. There was plywood everywhere. For a little old Ringmaster you would have thought it was ready for the 200 lb. pull test. After looking at this I decided that I needed to do some serious weight reduction and would need to remove the covering entirely. This was a shame cause it had some great graphics but you can't reduce weight from the outside.

After all the covering was removed it is down to 9 1/2oz. Now I can put some lightening holes in all that plywood and even remove some. Next will be to add some lightening holes to the ribs. Last will be to work on the leading edge. On one other that I built I hollowed the LE between ribs. This is about the only way I can get some additional weight out. My goal here is to get 1 to 1 1/2 oz. out of the wing wood.

I did start the battery box cut out notch in the leading edge and will finish that shortly. I may set this up with the back dropped down into the wing deeper to help get the vertical CG of the pack up a little more so there isn't as much hanging below the wing centerline. I'll get some pic's soon.

Best,    DennisT

Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2020, 04:39:35 PM »
Dennis,
More pictures describe better than words))

Jerry
Variety is the spice of life.

Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #9 on: May 21, 2020, 04:46:32 PM »
Battery is 4 cell 2200 lipo

Jerry
Variety is the spice of life.

Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #10 on: May 21, 2020, 04:48:05 PM »
Motor from Brodak
Variety is the spice of life.

Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #11 on: May 21, 2020, 04:52:55 PM »
Bellcrank from the kit I moved to inner wing.

Jerry
Variety is the spice of life.

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #12 on: May 21, 2020, 07:03:15 PM »
Jerry,
Great photos, is the bellcrank a 3" or 4"?

Best,   DennisT

Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #13 on: May 21, 2020, 07:39:03 PM »
Thanks, Dennis!
Bellcrank is 3 in, shoulder is 11/16 in (.6875 in) . Kit recommended to use 2 nd hole for pushrod. I cut the extra material away. I made new long style elevator control horn ( copy of old not so strong one) and used middle hole for control rod.

Jerry
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Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #14 on: May 21, 2020, 07:51:15 PM »
Elevator control horn hole is 20 mm (.787 in) from the hinge line.

Jerry
Variety is the spice of life.

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #15 on: May 25, 2020, 09:17:37 AM »
Jerry,
Thank you for posting your photos it is very good information. After looking at the original control layout and your photos it became apparent that I needed to move the bellcrank to the inboard side to allow room in the outboard side for the battery pocket. I removed the old 3/16" plywood floor and will install a new 1/8" plywood and reinforce the ribs (looks pretty ratty but will clean up). Will also add a top brace to hold the top of the bellcrank bolt.

Best,    DennisT
« Last Edit: May 25, 2020, 09:38:48 AM by Dennis Toth »

Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #16 on: May 25, 2020, 09:56:34 AM »
Dennis,
I glued balsa sticks on the bottom of bellcrank plywood plate. Sanded flush with the ribs. Balsa sheeting will reinforce the bellcrank mount and later battery pocket will be cut into the 3/4 distance of plate in the outer wing. Top of belcrank is open, 6-32 screw with big flat washer under head and nylon locknut on the top. It’s enough strength to hold pull test. If you add the reinforcement on the top of bellcrank bolt , it’s a plus for strength. And then you can make battery pocket longer to have more room for CG adjustment.

Jerry
Variety is the spice of life.

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #17 on: May 28, 2020, 06:21:21 AM »
Jerry,
With the battery positioned in the pocket and all the electronics on the outboard side of the fuse how much outboard wing tip weight did you need to add? Wondering if I need to add a tip weight box or if I might actually need one (small one) on the inboard side.

Best,    DennisT

Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #18 on: May 28, 2020, 09:09:06 AM »
Dennis,
I wasn’t sure if I needed weight box on outside wing, because battery is taking care of that. But in the last moment before covering I permanently glued 1/2 oz of lead into outboard wingtip. Intuition, or else...)) I think my Ringmaster is flying better wit it. After first flights I mowed leadouts forward toward LE about 3/8 in. Maybe because I turn axis of motor 5 degrees outside of circle. I use “passive” KR timer.

Jerry
Variety is the spice of life.

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #19 on: May 28, 2020, 03:02:59 PM »
I've made good progress on the build today. The battery box floor with strap slots and sides are in. Next will add the reinforcing rails top and bottom to be the belt and suspenders to hold the battery base plate in position. After that will install the bellcrank and center planking. I have done a little lighting to the leading edge and inboard wing ribs. The wing is now at 9 1/4oz. I need to then apply a light cover and finish. Hope to hit around 31 oz. ready to fly which would be 7 oz. less then the original IC version.

Best,    DennisT

Offline FLOYD CARTER

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #20 on: May 28, 2020, 05:45:36 PM »
Have to admit.  A electric S-1 is the quickest and easiest way to build a relaxed Sunday flyer.

Mine is slightly undersized to fit the motor I had.

Everything hangs out in the breeze!  Doesn't seem to matter much.
89 years, but still going (sort of)
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Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #21 on: June 03, 2020, 04:45:03 PM »
Making slow forward progress. As I got working on the battery box and bellcrank mount I decided to remove all the old center sheeting and use some lighter stock also allows me to install the sheeting correctly over the rips not inside them. I have now completed the battery box with the hold down Velcro straps, bellcrank mount and rib reinforcements. I added a tip weight box and am in the process of installing adjustable position leadout guide.

My Castle Creation Talon 35 ESC arrived Saturday and I picked up the On/Off switch I needed. After I finish the wing I will work on mounting the ESC, Timer and switch in the fuse. I am probably going to go with a front mount maybe add a 6mm flanged rear bearing (Boca Bearing MF106-UU PS2). I did this on my electric Tutor II and it worked very well. 

Best,   DennisT

Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #22 on: June 03, 2020, 07:35:25 PM »
Dennis, front mount is better looking. Maybe it’s more protection for motor shaft in case of crash. More room behind the motor for battery installation ( no shaft sticking out). No extra parts like prop adaptor. Just collet on the shaft. I don’t think there’s any more positive points.
Negative about front motor mount especially on the profile fuselage is vibration. To make fuse more rigid you add extra weight on the very end, this is making shift of  CG more forward. Motor wires have to be guided away from rotating can. Motor cooling is not efficient.
In the time when I did my Ringmaster modification, I was considering front mount for better appearance. But reason for underwing mount of battery is nose heavy CG. I tried to build the nose as light and strong as possible. I made new fuselage from solid 1/2 balsa, drilled some holes in the nose area, did not use any hardwood reinforcements. I used 1/64 plywood for sides. As you see, with Brodak motor diameter 1.545 in there is not much “meat” left in fuselage for front mount.

Jerry
Variety is the spice of life.

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #23 on: June 07, 2020, 11:19:21 AM »
Moving forward today, test fit the fuse with pushrod. Also checked the battery in pocket, looks good. Next will add the top bellcrank support then start planking.

Best,   DennisT

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #24 on: June 08, 2020, 09:19:11 PM »
Wing new center sheeting completed and fuse test fit. Looks pretty good and all up is now 10.5 oz. I'm going to use Micafilm for covering. Next up will be to build the motor mount then fit ESC, Timer and switch into the fuse.

Best,    DennisT

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #25 on: June 11, 2020, 12:41:45 PM »
More progress, front mount cut and fit to motor. Laying out the rest of the power components on fuse. I like to recess them into the fuse. Below photo shows expected location of ESC, Switch, timer.

I hate messy wires just laying about. I can cut to length the ESC power and motor wires but the timer has a flat connector, anyone know what this type of connector is call and can you remove the inner wire connectors and reposition?

Next step is to hog out the back of the motor area and sides of the old motor mounts to fit the motor in place, then on to the other component recessing.

Best,   DennisT

Offline William DeMauro

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #26 on: June 11, 2020, 01:53:45 PM »
What's the big switch for?
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Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #27 on: June 11, 2020, 02:42:49 PM »
William,
I use a toggle switch as the positive shut-off, this one is pre-wired. I hog out the fuse on one side and mount the switch through the plywood on the other side. It is easy to tell a helper not familiar with electric to just flip the switch down to shut it all off after the flight or for emergency during launch. I know its a bit heavier then the deans plug method but you don't lose the plug and simple for a helper to understand. In the photo it shows about where I will mount it but it will actually come out on the inboard side of the fuse with the wires between the ESC and battery.

Best,    DennisT

Offline William DeMauro

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #28 on: June 11, 2020, 04:35:48 PM »
Dennis,
 I understand that and it makes some sense but why bother on a profile, when you can just pull the plug? I always tried to avoid switches as I was always afraid they would fail. Instead I always went with some other plug in method on my built ups (deans or bullet connectors). On profiles I just leave the plug exposed.. It is good to know that If I did want to put a switch in a Ringmaster sized plane that it will hold up.
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Offline CircuitFlyer

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #29 on: June 11, 2020, 07:39:17 PM »
Dennis,

The flat connector is a standard servo connector.  RC guys know all about them.  The word "standard" is applied very loosely.  Yes, you can shorten the wires.  Your hobby shop will likely have some spare crimp style female pins to fit the connector in stock. If you are lucky they may have a crimp tool as well.

Paul
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Offline jerry v

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #30 on: June 12, 2020, 06:38:31 AM »
Dennis,
Front mount gives you all the room for electronics! As for helper/ launcher it may be easier to have power switch and the timer button above speed controller? And ESC to be bellow, closer to the battery under the wing? I will put the red heat shrink on the toggle of the switch, so in emergency any bystander will see it.

Jerry
Variety is the spice of life.

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #31 on: June 12, 2020, 07:20:08 PM »
Got the front mount and motor fit to the fuse. The way I do the mount is to use brass "L" clips that bolt through the motor mount and down through the old hardwood motor mounts. I have used a third clip on the bottom through the plywood doubler. Another option is to use a rear bearing to hold the motor from yawing with just the two top clips. For the rear bearing you position the mount/motor then add the rear bearing in the properly hold the motor position. The advantage of the two clip/rear bearing is easy of removal of the motor, just unbolt the two top bolts and pull the motor and mount out the front.

Today I ordered the servo plug kit and the matching crimp tool (google servo plug kit). There are several YouTube videos that show making up the pin ends for the plugs. This allows shorting the timer connection wire off the ESC. Hope to clean-up the wiring next week as I start to set the equipment on the fuse.

Best,    DennisT 
« Last Edit: June 12, 2020, 07:52:28 PM by Dennis Toth »

Offline John Rist

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #32 on: June 13, 2020, 04:56:14 AM »

Today I ordered the servo plug kit and the matching crimp tool (google servo plug kit). There are several YouTube videos that show making up the pin ends for the plugs. This allows shorting the timer connection wire off the ESC. Hope to clean-up the wiring next week as I start to set the equipment on the fuse.

Best,    DennisT
I always just cut the control cable, remove a section, and splice back together.  Good solder joints and shrink tubing finishes up the job.
John Rist
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Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #33 on: June 17, 2020, 10:03:51 AM »
Roughed out the component recess boxes and switch mount. Need to sand smooth the seal with CA and it will be ready for paint. Also completed the front mount and clips. One lesson learned was to make sure there is enough room in the mount layout to include the mount bolts. Mine work with blind nuts but for fiber lock nuts it was to close to the motor, would have needed about 1/16" more in the bottom tab area to use fiber lock nuts.

Next will be the positioning of the motor and mount on the fuse and installing the mount bolts and bottom trough rails (these are just small strips of lite ply on either side of the mount bottom section to prevent movement.

Best,   DennisT
« Last Edit: January 27, 2021, 06:27:36 AM by Dennis Toth »

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #34 on: June 24, 2020, 02:20:30 PM »
Slow progress this week. Got wing dings filled and sanded it is ready for a coat of clear then final sanding before covering. Fitted the motor bolts/clips mount to the fuse. Fuse is rough primed and now can be final sanding and repaint black. After that I will mount all the equipment and adjust the wire length for a clean fit.

Best,    DennisT

Offline John Rist

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #35 on: June 24, 2020, 04:20:30 PM »
Slow progress this week. Got wing dings filled and sanded it is ready for a coat of clear then final sanding before covering. Fitted the motor bolts/clips mount to the fuse. Fuse is rough primed and now can be final sanding and repaint black. After that I will mount all the equipment and adjust the wire length for a clean fit.

Best,    DennisT
Hopefully the motor mount will be epoxied in as well as held in place with the angle brackets.  Looks like the brackets could flex.   They may be stiffer then they look.  n~
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Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #36 on: June 24, 2020, 06:43:46 PM »
John,
The mount clips have bolts both through the clip and mount plate and through the old hardwood IC motor mounts (this is a conversion). I have used this mount design on several conversions and solid bolts through the hardwood mounts are very solid. Once the basic alignment is done I will be adding a bottom track that fit on either side of the bottom mount plate (between the old mounts). Additionally I will be adding a rear bearing that keeps the motor from twisting during maneuvers (ala Bob Hunt). I know of one flyer that had epoxy mount plates crack lose even after adding fiberglass over the fuse/mount joint. Bolts with loctite have worked for IC since the beginning and work just as good with electric. 

Best,   DennisT

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #37 on: June 29, 2020, 05:53:48 PM »
Moving forward a little primed the nose, all the component pockets and sanded. Then because I need to paint in the house and it is like 85% humidity I decided to use Tamiya acrylic paint (not needing it to be fuel proof). This is used by the scale plastic modelers and car guys. It goes on by airbrush. I tried to use a "can" of propellent since it is only the nose. Well this wasn't such a great idea. The "can" works good for a very short while, then it gets cold and pressure goes all over the place. I wound up getting a small container of water to get a little more out of it. This caused it to warm very quickly and spit liquid propellent along with the paint. This caused the paint to dry funny in spots as it was cold and to thick. In a few spots it was sticky and soft. I finally took some thinner on a paper towel and wiped it down. This thinned the thickness and allowed it to dry. Still not great but I can do some sanding and reshoot it, should be fine. In the end I wound up buying a simple airbrush compressor from Harbor Freight that has an adjustable pressure regulator and water trap. From what I found online it should be just what I need. Does anyone use an airbrush for painting these Ringmaster size ships?

I hope to get the components mounted and wiring cut to length and connectors on this week. Then on to the wing covering.

Best,   DennisT

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #38 on: July 02, 2020, 09:59:15 AM »
Yesterday, after consulting with Charles, I sanded the surface smooth, filled in some minor dings that showed up then took my temp/humidity gauges (cheap from internet) outside and watched as the morning progressed. By 11am the humidity dropped to below 65%. I then used the Krylon clear to seal the primer and dings. By evening it had dried completely with a nice hard surface.

I got a little aggressive with the clear and didn't hold the fuse flat  until it gassed off a bit. I hung it tail down which caused a couple minor runs. I let it dry over night then this morning sanded out the runs and am again waiting for the humidity to drop to apply the Krylon black to the nose. After that I can start mounting components and getting wiring trimmed. Hopefully, will get that done for the weekend then once my Brodak order with the Stix-It comes in will do the mica film covering.

Best,   DennisT

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #39 on: July 16, 2020, 09:52:38 AM »
After several days of trying to get the nose painted with Rustoleum black and clear I finally got reasonably smooth paint and clear. I will not be using Rustoleum again as it is very touchy to how thick the coat goes on and the recoat time. Basically if you get it a little to thick it wrinkles. Then you need to sand it down wait 2 days and try again. The 2X Rustoleum is worst then the plaid can stuff, much more paint delivered per pass.

Photo below is the nose with the unpainted motor mount plate, clips and bottom rail. There is another rail in back of the mount plate to prevent yaw movement. I will also add a rear bearing to provide additional support. Will post photo once done.

Best,   DennisT

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #40 on: July 24, 2020, 06:15:01 AM »
Trying to move forward and get the motor mounted with the correct alignment both vertical and yaw. I had intended to install a rear bear but as you can see in the photo after fitting everything in the motor pocket it is just to low in the cutout to get a support bracket to fit. Plan B - install with bottom rails. I made new bottom rail pieces that are a little taller then the original ones to really hold the bottom of the mount plate. As I test fit everything with the spinner and prop I noticed that one point of the rotation was closer to the fuse then the other. The motor I had on the shelf was one I replaced in my Stuka as I thought it had a bent shaft. I later thought it was just a prop mount flange that was a little oversize and not fitting tight on the shaft so I figured it would be OK. Wrong it was bent. I had ordered a shaft way back but never installed it in the motor.

The motor is a Turnigy 3542 - 1000kv (equivalent to a 2820 by everyone else's designation code). It has a front mount pattern spacing of two bolts at 25mm and two at 19mm. I looked on Hobby King site and they are out of stock on a replacement but did find one in NJ shop so order it. I then decided to try an replace the shaft in the old motor. Looking online there are some great videos from the Innovation group that goes through the whole procedure. I don't have a press but found that my drill press with the jaws all the way close works good enough. I used my heat gun to heat the end of the bell and pushed the old shaft out and the new one in. Not to hard just have to make sure you don't heat the magnet area just the end bell.

Every thing is now back on the fuse and it is just a little closer to the fuse then I like so I need to make up an 1/32" shim to drop into the prop flange hole to move it out just a bit. The shaft is 3.5mm so I can make this from some 1/8" steel rod with the cutoff saw.

Next I will start to position the components in their cutouts and get the wiring started.

Best,   DennisT
« Last Edit: September 14, 2020, 10:21:37 AM by Dennis Toth »

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #41 on: July 27, 2020, 07:38:43 PM »
Over the weekend I epoxied in the bottom retainer rails for the motor mount, this keeps the bottom of the mount plate secure. This will be painted black. I also installed the Velcro base strips to the component pockets and installed the power switch. Will start on finishing off the wing covering this week.

Best,   DennisT

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #42 on: August 26, 2020, 02:51:17 PM »
Finally got my shop fan secured, this is a 20" light weight Lasko Box fan from Home Depot(~$20). It is only 4" wide and fits right on the window sill and exhausts out of the window. I used the box it came in to fill in the open window area. It just happens to fit perfect and works very good.

After looking online for the weights of various covering options good old silkspan and dope with a medium finish is lighter then the colored Mica film I had planned on using. I had some medium silkspan that I dry yellow with Rite dye many years ago so will use that to try and save a little weight. I will not go for a high gloss just a smooth filled look.

Now that the fan is in place, I got back to the E S-1 Ringmaster and covered half the wing with medium dyed silkspan. It came out really well, the fan kept the dope fumes from coming out of the shop, wife didn't even know I had dope open in the house. Next will dope the open bay's on that half. Once I get a few coats on the first half will do the other half.

Best,    DennisT
« Last Edit: January 27, 2021, 06:45:20 AM by Dennis Toth »

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #43 on: September 24, 2020, 01:54:41 PM »
I finally received my Meterk crimp tool (from Ebay, they are between $12 -$16) and after watching a few YouTube videos on how to install servo plugs  I was ready to give it a try. In the videos they recommend doing a few practice crimps to get the feel for how the tool works and how to position the crimps. At first I thought, well that's for R/C guys that don't build, I can do this straight away. Then I thought just to make sure I understand everything I would do one test. Well, that was the right decision. The first crimp was close, but didn't get it prefect. I did a second one and got it right. I then put all the components in place and marked where I wanted to cut the wires (this was the wire that goes from the ESC to the timer, shortened it by about 7"). From that point it only to 5 minutes to do all three crimps. The Meterk crimp tool (works the same as the one in the video) is very easy to use and the crimps are not expensive and were available at my LHS. The wiring is now neat and pretty. After finishing the wiring mod I did smoke test it by plugging into Castle Link and programing the flight settings, all went fine.

()


The wing is now fully doped with 12 coats of thinned clear. I will likely paint the center section black then install in the fuse for final fit-up.

Best,    DennisT
« Last Edit: November 13, 2020, 06:21:08 AM by Dennis Toth »

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #44 on: September 25, 2020, 03:55:51 PM »
MM,
They are actually little dies in each jaw. I was amazed at how easy it was to do the crimp after I did a few practice crimps. The more difficult part was feeding them into the plastic housing and getting it to lock. One was easy the second took a little work but the third was a pain until I figured out that you need to make sure the crimp pin is flat (my first one had a little curve to it) and to push it forward until the housing keeper tab is flat.

Best,   DennisT

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #45 on: October 07, 2020, 08:54:24 AM »
Progress over the weekend, wing mounted and sealed back in fuse (please excuse the mess in the shop, I tend to keep equipment where I can find it, old habit). Took a bit to get things level and straight but used some scrap balsa strips and incident meter/levels to get thing in alignment. Next step is to complete the tough up paint on fuse and wing joint then take off the masking paper and install components, maybe this weekend fly.

Best,   DennisT

Offline John Rist

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #46 on: October 07, 2020, 10:25:32 AM »
Progress over the weekend, wing mounted and sealed back in fuse (please excuse the mess in the shop, I tend to keep equipment where I can find it, old habit). Took a bit to get things level and straight but used some scrap balsa strips and incident meter/levels to get thing in alignment. Next step is to complete the tough up paint on fuse and wing joint then take off the masking paper and install components, maybe this weekend fly.

Best,   DennisT
If was raining, windy, Etc last weekend at your location you could fly the alternate date this weekend and get in on Ringmaster Fly-A-thon.
John Rist
AMA 56277

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #47 on: November 05, 2020, 07:43:41 PM »
Well it's been a long few weeks to get some things done on the ship. First had to get the center planking sealed and painted, then it was what to do with the trim. I decided to do a strip of checkerboard on the inboard wing. So there were a couple choices on how to apply it. I thought about doing the MonoKote trim strip but since this is on the open bay I thought it would not conform without wrinkles. Then could have done individual checks and put them in place, to much work. I decided to do paint. I will say that it was a bit more work then I thought cause I wanted it to go in the second from the end panel. This is 2" so I needed squares that were 0.4" (13/32"). I was hoping to use standard tape but needed to cut to the 0.4" width. I made up a couple jig blocks to set the correct width. I used the 3M Delicate Surface top on top and regular blue painters tape for the bottom. Both worked but the blue tape seemed to leave less residue. Once I got the tape in place I gave it two coats of clear then did the red color top coat. Next, will be to add the Ringmaster decal then install the components and go fly.

Best,      DennisT

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #48 on: November 06, 2020, 09:43:29 AM »
Checkerboard update. After pulling the tape I was looking at the pattern and realized that only half the checks were there. I need to now tape over the red ones and get the second half of the checks painted. Having said that I noticed that the tape had a residue on the surface. This happened with both the 3M Pink and Blue tapes (I did the top with pink and bottom with blue). Checking on the net I found out that none of the 3M standard paint tapes work well with nitro lacquers (or Dope). Seems these tapes are a little porous and work with latex or enamels by the thinner for lacquers gets to the adhesive and it releases from the tape when you remove it. I think the 3M fine line tapes work but they are really pricey, am looking at other options.

Now that the tape is off I need to get the residual adhesive off. Online suggestions were Napata (lighter fluid), denatured alcohol, degreaser, and Goo Gone. I happen to have them all, none worked very well. Then remembered that WD40 removes unwanted bumper stickers and such. I had that in the shop so on a small spot tried it and BAM it worked. Now I just need to get the WD40 off so I can paint the rest of the checks. For this I used the denatured alcohol and that seems to do the trick. I will give it a second wipe down then before taping use the degreaser just to make sure. Not sure I ever want to do checkerboard again.

Best,    DennisT
« Last Edit: January 27, 2021, 06:55:06 AM by Dennis Toth »

Offline Dennis Toth

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Re: Electrified Ringmaster S-1
« Reply #49 on: November 07, 2020, 08:33:53 PM »
Ok, progress today got the rest of the checkerboard. First cleaned off the WD40 with denature alcohol followed by a second cleaning with degreaser. I used the 3M pink tape over the newly painted checks. I used a thin brushed to put clear on the edge. It came out pretty good, not perfect but for a Ringmaster its ok.

Best,   DennisT


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