Daddy's got his Mojo back!

Half day, but a good day. Got a few things done.

My iX12 Mojo came back today from Horizon/Spektrum. Fixed the switch for free and the transmitter got a clean bill of health!

Thanks, Chris N from Horizon Hobby!

Tested two packs on the UMX Tundra. No issues!

I was surprised that I never programmed the Eflite Alpha 450 Sport (another wonderful balsa abandoned by Eflite). So I did that today, made a few minor changes to the electronics, and took her to the local park for some flight time. Got 2 packs in before a pickup soccer game showed up. I don't fly over people, so I called it a day. No issues! Everything worked fine.

The 10mm - 1/4 32 adapter came in today too!  I drilled it out to 8.5 mm as the online guide suggested for a 10mm tap, and using some cutting oil and patient technique got a sweet tap.

The adapter and the new threads.

Now this was curious. The adapter is steel, thank goodness, the cylinder head aluminum. The tap was as vertical as I could get it. But every time I tried to thread the tap it would seat on one side, but lift on the other! This wouldn't start until half way screwed in. After several tries and seeing this edge that was lift make its way around the clock hours, and re-tapping it (clean, no change), I used a percussive technique to level it and then completed a nice tight screw in. I also used some JB Weld to seal the threads, and for good measure filled in the gaps of the hex head and the cylinder head. I will let this cure overnight and tomorrow put the whole thing back together, see if it will run.

All good! Tomorrow I will see if the returned 10cc engine will run in the Spitty. Once that's assured, I want to fly a few more times on the iX12, though I confident with it, before maidening the Spitfire. Given my past history with Spitfires I want no doubts.

Brain said "ABORT!", thumbs said, "WE GOT THIS!"

And that folks, is why we should not fly with our thumbs, but rather with our brains. This happened a couple of days ago, and I didn't want to revisit it...

Big 18x10 prop on an 26cc, its got some kinda torque roll. She had a bit of torque roll with the 17x8 I had on her, so no surprise this would be worse. Started the take off roll and she needed left rudder, then a little left aileron, then she needed more, than started to fly and rolled left, backed off power, Brain said, "ABORT!", but the Thumbs said, "WE GOT THIS! POWER!", she lifted more and rolled more, off the runway at 1 foot AGL and her right wing struck the high weeds, she tumbled in on to her nose.  I was stunned and mad at myself! So pissed I forgot to take a photo of the crime scene, so the first pic is after pulling her out of the weeds and setting her on the runway.

The wings are okay, but the fuse where the lower wings attached has been twisted out and broken up.

Both front wing cabanes are yanked out, an both sets are twisted. The energy went there instead of into the wing. The rest of the fuse is fine. The damage is limited to the lower wing-fuse. But its pretty bad at first glance.

This is the part that worries me. The damage is bad on the starboard side, the balsa sheet is torn up to the switch. This is shaped. My skill set doesn't go there...

Port side not so bad.

I pulled the wing tube parts out of the wreckage, which is scary, so I haven't  examined the insi

But before that fun, I plugged in a battery on the Cornell, and the reciever flashed, and would not come on again. Then I realized the battery lead had parted, and that was the end of that. Stiff as a rod where the heat and solder had soaked into the wire, I guess.  Snapped like a twig. 

Had to pull the ESC harness, only to realize I had the wrong sex EC5 connector installed, pictured here. I had to cut those and put the correct one on. Done. Its always something. I think I was still mad about the Waco. 

Wasn't at the field for more than 45 min... Still haven't looked at the Waco, worried I have done small but complex damage. No doubt I will have to pull all the electronics and tail servos to get to the broken bits, and that curved balsa section is going to provide me with an opportunity to learn a skill I would rathe not have to learn.

Damn thumbs...

My Workshop 8/25/2020

 

Waco Adjustments

 Last flights with the Phoenix Waco RCGF-USA 26cc, I noticed the need for a LOT of right up aileron to correct a left roll.  Back in the workshop it was apparent that the left wing, which is the one I remove for transport, had a small neg deflection in the leading edge of the upper wing. I corrected this with a shim and a re-drill of the alignment peg hole inboard and installed a small shim on the outboard side. This gave her a good incidence which I think will alleviate the problem. We'll see next time I take her out.

Outboard shim.

Inboard peg hole adjustment.

I had taken off the 17x8 APC prop to clean and paint it, and since I had an 18x10 and the RCGF-USA 26cc engine is rated for it, I threw it on. It looks amazing. Its much beefier than the APC. I think with the reduced throttle curve at the low end, this will be sweet, and she will try to rip the wings off at WOT.  I had planned just to repaint the tips of the APC prop, but since I was painting it I decided to paint it silver (allegedly chrome. Is there a real chrome rattle can paint out there?), with white warning tips. Came out pretty nice. 

The paint is "chrome", more of a shinier metallic silver. 

Waco is all set for our next outing!

Soft RCGF (Original) Threads...

One of the few problems with the original version RCGF 10cc engine is the soft threading of the spark plug site at the top of the cylinder  (this engine is now "obsolete", and this is not a problem with RCGF-USA 10cc Stinger engines).  As of today I have stripped 3 of these in 9 years. Today was removing a spark plug wire from one of the oldest engines I have, probably 9 yrs old now, and the whole sparky came out still attached to the ignition plug adapter, stripped clean from the cylinder! 

All excited, the replacement muffler arrived from Joe Nelson at RCGF-USA! 

A little JB Weld gasketing and done!

Engine looks good, finished trim of the cowl for a nice fit (not shown).

All ready for testing. I noticed some fraying of the shrink wrap around the plug adapter so turned her over and pulled the plug. Resisted a bit then came out. ALL of it, sparky and all!

Clean stripped the cylinder head spark plug opening! The past two times I did this I "over tightened" the plug, so I've learned to have a soft touch.

Tried to re--tap it...

But there just wasn't enough left...

Just a peak at the inside holding the plug in, for giggles. I had wiped some of the carbon build up out, will give it a nice clean with some steel wool. I need a fix, surely this might happen again with the old cylinder heads.

So, instead of buying another cylinder head for $56, I decided to try this nifty adapter thingy! This is a 10mm-to-1/4 32 spark plug adapter from CH Ignitions, made of steel. I found myself thinking once again if anyone had a fix for this sort of thing. Surely this is not a unique problem. I hadn't searched for the right thing in the past, but today wondered if there was an adapter, and voila! So that's on its way, through eBay. Challenges remain: I have a 1.5 and a 1.75 modulus 10mm tap, not sure which this is, but have an inquiry in. Now this is really designed for a 10mm opening to allow a smaller spark, like down from a CM6 to a 1/4-32, not so much a retapped hole, so we'll see.

I will be pulling this motor and setting it aside. Joe has sent me a replacement engine for the Stik's RCGF 10cc, also about 9 years old. I did a number on it and he called it "kaput". Once that's in we can get this engine tested and get her up in the air! Hopefully that will be here in the next few days!

The Perfect Swing!

Much like yesterday I got chased off Mt Hudson by a storm, but I was ready for this one and boogied out just before the fireworks began. Up to then it was a sunny beautiful day! I loved every minute of it, and the flights were like that day of perfect golf swings that make you stay in the hobby just when you were starting to doubt, reminding you that you can do this and are pretty good at it.

I wrote about the storm yesterday, but I didn't share the excitement of flying the Eflite Cub 450 ARF yesterday. They don't even list it as an archive in Eflite anymore, but it is memorialized on Horizon's Facebook Page. My old friend, back from the days when Eflite made real planes and not just foamies. Don't get me started on discontinuing the Ultimate only to bring it back as a foamie abomination... This one is a sweet flier, simple, to the point, always a pleasure. A 450 motor powered by a 3S 2200 mAh LiPo, old school AR6200 without a satellite. Flew 3 packs before the deluge drove me out.

Today was like yesterday as I mentioned, starting out sunny and warm, no winds to speak of. But I could see thunderheads brewing to the west from whence they come, so I was watchful and aware my time may be limited. Weather radar suggested it would skirt by along the southwest, but I was wary. This is at the gate to SNHRCC, the very steep road to the top.

Ah, the Eflite Cornell, another plane they abandoned. It was discontinued back in 2011, but I got this one from somewhere, back in 2015, my third one. This is one helluva sweet flier! Conditions were perfect for her. Its one of those planes I will always have a version of, if not this one, another make, another size. It takes me back to the Cox 0.049 U-Control version back in the 70's. This one can also be set up as U-Control. She didn't need her Orange Stabilization system, but it sweetened the deal. Flew 4 packs on her, about 20 minutes or so, simply enjoyable flight. Her landing gear are tough and she handled the grass well. Such a pleasurable scale flier. The leggings I put on her are pretty sweet too. She has a new AR 620 onboard and also flies 3S 2200 mAh.

FINALLY, the RCGF-USA 26cc equipped Phoenix Waco. I set her up a week or two ago for the season and just haven't been able to get her airtime. Today was the day, the perfect conditions so helpful, though a breeze was evolving from the approaching storm to the west. She starts with one throw of the prop and hums merrily along. Its a lot of engine for this aircraft, designed as a 15cc aircraft. She has an old school AR6200 with a satellite onboard with a satellite, and the Hobby Eagle A3-L V2 stabilization system she really doesn't need. She is an amazing flier and just a pleasure. Stable, can fly slow on approach with no bad habits. She doesn't like having the stabilization ON at takeoff. Made several adjustments, including dropping the gain down to about 35-45% on the A3-L. Curiously today she required a lot of right roll subtrim. Maybe the wing took a tweak? I will be checking the incidence on the wings and see if there is something I can adapt. Its not a problem, just not pure. This is one BIG plane. I don't recall if she had a muffler on the exhaust tip, but I will be looking into it. Flew her for about 30 min total, several landings, in between adjustments.

Once again, the dulcet tone of the RCGF-USA 26cc!

 

This is what happens when you are not paying attention next to a freshly landed 26 cc engine cylinder, a nice partial thickness burn on the inside of your right distal forearm. Ow.

And then the clouds came. I watched this build, this is from the lower gate at the dump, about 1/4 mile from the field. Just after taking this pic the lightning started. Left just in time!

 

Thunderstorm on Mt Hudson August 23, 2020

It started out as a beautiful day, no winds but for some brisk occasional gusts. These became more frequent, but the skies were scantily clouded. An hour later that changed rapidly. The storm came from the west, and you could see the first thunderhead forming right overhead. It got dark, then a light rain. I closed up my car, but thought that I could still fly, but by the time I got back to the electric side of our field (the west) I could hear the rain hitting the trees on the west side of the runway and called out to the boys, "HERE IT COMES!". I though maybe just some rain. It rapidly became a storm with wind, hail, thunder and dense hard rain. Being on the downhill side I was soon ankle deep in runoff. A gust shot across the field to the shelter I was under and twisted the Cubby in my hand, cracking the horizontal stabilizer, easily fixed when I got home. Wx radar indicated this wasn't going away for a few hours, so I left, telling the boys what the radar indicated. Slow moving storm. When I left it was still pouring, and at the outer gate to the dump the rain water was over my ankles not 20 min after it started. As I filmed this I was so hoping it wasn't going to turn into a news video of how a bunch of guys got hit by lightning in Hudson!

All set to fly tomorrow!

 

The reciever/ignition pack is charged in the Waco! 

Pulled my old friend off the wall, the Eflite Cubby, from the day when Eflite built quality balsa ARF instead of foamies... with her AR6100 (I think... its an older Spektrim 6 channel in a hard case). 

Several packs charged for the Cubby!

Last, but certainly not least, one of my Siberian cats, Zaphod, 

is all charged and ready to go!

Programming the AS3X using Forward Programming

Each video leads automatically to the next. Most are 3-5 min each.

On the DX8 (I think any non-computer based radio): One thing not addressed in the videos is that the switches used for Flight Mode and Gains MUST be selected BEFORE going into Forward Programming. The video says it can be assigned in Forward Programming, and it can, but only after setting up the model channels. I don't think this is an issue for iX radios.

What I still don't understand and will see when I program mine, is how he has AUX2, AUX3 on a 6 channel receiver, and using a plane that uses all of the 6 channels (Throttle, Aileron, Elevator, Rudder, Gear, AUX1 (Flaps)), how he would have any left. Makes me think the channels are there but only accessible for AS3X.  UPDATE: Users have confirmed that there are 6 channels + 2 internal channels for AS3X/Safe.

Miguel was on the design team, many prefer his series of videos.

Waco RCGF-USA 26cc All Set!

The Phoenix Waco is one of my absolutely favorite planes to fly. For that reason I didn't rush to program her into the Spektrum iX12, which is a good thing considering how it misbehaved recently. It hangs in a special prominent ceiling corner of my basement shop where I can gaze upon it in love and admiration. Since the iX12 is in the shop, and I haven't removed any of the aircraft from my DX8, I decided to go ahead and set up the Waco for the season. Its very late this year... but conditions have not been favorable for flying this summer with remarkably windy days, even for a big girl like the Waco. Today is clam but with frequent gusts to 20-25 mph... typical this year.

Last year

She had an Orange stabilization system that functioned quite well, but since I am moving away from Orange electronics, and have a Hobby Eagle A3-L V2 stabilization system on hand, I decided to replace it and give the A3 a try. Here it is, installed on a platform for it, that also keeps the battery pack and the gas tank in place. The foam covers up a rat's nest of wiring, but the wiring for the A3 is quite simple and basically what it is on all of these. None that I have had do dual ailerons, though the failed Spektrum Alpha6 was supposed to it never did. Now I had planned on using this on the 10cc Spitfire, but the instructions clearly state its not for gas engines. I don't think any of the stabilization are, technically, but they work quite well. She seemed to have no problems during engine run up tests.

The system allows on board button/LED adjustments to all of its settings, and is easy to use. I set up the Flight Mode 3 way switch through AUX1 to allow me to dynamically and remotely switch modes from ON to OFF to 3D (this mode holds the planes last attitude when activated, like a knife edge). I will let you know how it works out, but I have high expectations and plan to put one on the Spitty too.

I pulled the tank to change the clunk line from Tygothane (which was quite supple still) to Vygon, as I am doing with all of my gassers, expecting that to last a few years. The original lines are the yellow Tygon, which if not stiff on the external fuel lines I leave alone. I check them otherwise once a year. The NiMH battery packs for ignition and receiver I replaced with a 2S 2200 mAh LiPO with a dual Futaba plug line off an EC3 on the battery. Nice. I do charge these in the plane, being low voltage and amperage, at 1C, so its kinda buried, alongside the tank, port side under that middle platform. The wheel pants needed a touch up, and I had broken the attachment to the right one when I hung the plane up and almost dropped it last fall. Fixed it, repainted both of the pants, and reinstalled. I peeled all the cote and tape off around the junction of the gear gaiters, redid it much lighter, and painted the exhaust stain area under the fuse.

The dulcet tones of the RCGF-USA 26cc gas engine. This plane is planned for a 15cc, but the 26cc fits nicely and gives her a lot of power. There is a lot of room under that cowl, a 30cc would fit, but would be a lot for this plane.

To fit her in my car, let alone get her out of the basement, I detach the left wing. The plane does not come with supports for the wings, an idea I got from my Eflite Stearman (original). I never take the wings of the Stearman. The supports for it are too small for the Waco. I just made one out of a Amazon box.

Cleaned up, ran up, and coated with an "Armor All" knock-off, ready to go!

Objective Comparison of Orange, Lemon and Spektrum Receivers

The question of how Orange, Lemon and Spektrum receivers function was objectively addressed by information provided by Kurt Heintz to my query on the Facebook Spektrum Support Group. He used software to record Fades (packet losses), Frame Loss (consecutive series of fades), and Holds (consecutive frame losses = signal loss). As of this writing I am not aware of Kurt's background, the software, or the method used other than same distance measured by GPS, but will get back to you if he provides it, so take what I write with a grain of salt. I don't really understand the graphs either, so keep that in mind.

Note that the range on the Y axis vary so visual height of the peaks is not comparable. I don't know what the height or length of the peaks mean (in the Spektrum graph the fade lines don't always zero). Visually you can see a marked difference in density of fades.

My take away is this:

Orange:  Good results. Tons of packet losses, few fades and no holds.

Lemon:  Initially good, but with time rapidly increasing fades, frame loss, and one hold. Frame losses exceeded 100 but a little. Functioned well, with one hold (not acceptable). 

Spektrum: Best. Very low fades, low frame losses, no holds.

Key:  L are the antenna fades (packet losses). F is frame loss (consecutive series of fades; can have around 100 in flight as acceptable) H is hold (complete loss of signal). 

Orange Receiver

Lemon Receiver

Spektrum Receiver