MX2 and Cubby are up

 

I described the debacle that was "simple repairs" to my Hacker MX2 in last night's post. I had to replace the bad aileron servos, and it required a lot more than it should have. The new servos required new servo arm extensions, which I had to manufacture. Overnight the CA did bond, and I easily put a single screw into each to further secure them. Once I got that done, the rest was simple. A little time to make sure the ailerons were level and zeroed, and everything is grand. No more jiggy shit. Returned the gyro after having to make a better bed to secure it in after mining the foam to get the servo wire extensions in place.  That rectangle under the fuse is where I had to cut to gain access to pass the wires.

Staying in the spirit of the theme, the Cubby decided that there was no adventure in simple. It easily bound, that wasn't the problem. The problem was the connector was a massive EC5, which in my ignorance I used when I first started in the hobby (the Cub is one of my first planes, over a dozen years old).  I have since changed to EC3 on my 4S and smaller batteries and aircraft. 

The problem with EX connectors is that some are "push in ", and some are "pull thru". To seat the metal connector into the blue plastic housing, you either push it in, or pass the wire thru the connector before soldering the metal connector, and then pull it back in to the plastic housing to lock it in place. I sadly have a mix of them. And even if you get that right, being g able to push or pull it to lock it can be seriously difficult. When it is, I find heating the connector and letting the heat soften the plastic as I push (or pull) it into place. This usually works. Its one of those simple things that is just never simple. I wonder if XT connectors have a similar problem? I have never used them. Traxxas connectors difficulty is getting the solder to stay bonded to the metal. I now have a bottle of flux that might help with those. I use them on my heli receiver packs for nopartucular reason.

So I had to replace the EC5 with an EC3. Went thru a couple just trying to get the damn things to lock and stay. I also ended up extending the wires between the ESC and the battery end connector. 

Patched a few hangar rash issues in the cote, and she is once again shiny as she can be. There are some areas of melt wrinkled corners of cote that I can fix later.