PowerlineHobbies-Green RC Models Tiny Sopwith

Last night I put the Green RC Tiny Sopwith together. I had expected this to be a "bolt the wheels on, install the receiver and be done with it" build, but the scale control surface "ropes" were a challenge, and in figuring it out I screwed it up. I managed to solve the problems I created and solved other problems in doing so, but she exhausted me.

In general she is a thing of beauty, hands down my most beautiful airplane for all her scale parts. She is quite small, and since her wing does not detach once installed, getting to the innards proved very challenging. God forbid I should ever have to change a servo... they are buried inside and I am not sure how I would get to them. I don't know why they made to wing a permanent attachment. The underside wing bolt suggests it isn't but I could remove that bolt and nothing would change. That wing isn't going anywhere...

They used string for the control rods to keep things scale. I wish they had used the same plastic coated rove wire they used for the guy wires... The design requires string  attached to tiny springs attached to snap hooks which then attache to balsa control horns (yes, I broke one trying to get the snap hook off). The string was just a touch short for me when I tried to weave the string through the spring and snap hook as shown in the video build manual, and then it wasn't snug enough. I could also tell getting the pull-pull system snug was going to be next to impossible. I ended up with too much play in the rudder and too little string. I ended up replacing the string in the rudder pull-pull system with floral wire, into which I did manage to incorporate the spring. Snug, balanced and effective! In the photo above you can see the string as I fished the wire through. The snap hooks inside the fuse connected to the servos were buried inside. I used the string to pull it up, attached the wire, and pulled the wire back down, then cut the string. In doing this I accidentally pulled one of the elevator strings out... acutally all of them... and ended up having to use the wire to fish the strings back through. I didn't want to spend hours trying to set the whole thing up with wires... In the end I used double half-hitch sliding knots on the string for the elevators and was able to get everything balanced, centered and snug, then CA'd the knots and string to secure it in place. Works great! No spring on the elevator, though, which is good, as I lost one somehow.

Guy wires for the horizontal and vertical stabs and the rudder control wires.

Under and side view.

Top view. The elevator strings came out nice!

The cowl is made of a soft rubbery foam material that seems indestructible, except for the plastic mock cylinders. I suspect I will break it.

The scale wheels and guy wires.

A thing of beauty, which I am now totally scared to fly...

Trusty Trojan

Simply fun! Lots and lots of fun!

I took my Airfield 800mm T28 Trojan out to BMF yesterday with her "new" wheels, and wow, what a blast. I figured a couple of things out.

She wants to roll left on takeoff. Now that I expect that ain't no thing.

She wants 11.1V 3S, not a 2S battery. She still struggled with takeoff using the 2S, and those batteries came back just drained. I created an adapter for the JST to EC3 connector and used Cubby's 3S 1000 mAh batteries and she took off like the great airplane she is. The batteries came back warm, but not hot. She flew very stable and with enough power to go vertical! I had a spell of voodoo where instead of looping she would start a loop then roll like a football. All of the sudden that went away. Since then she had flown marvelously, and boy is she fast! Last night I changed the ESC connectors to EC3.

The ESC wasn't getting quite enough ventilation so I cut a ventilation hole in the underside of the aft fuse to draw air through, and that cooled things down considerably.

The larger wheels and the slightly nose up attitude are working quite well. With the extra power she takes off at about half throttle and lifts off with a much shorter roll out.

Once up she cruises fast at half throttle!

She is now one of my favorites!

Big Wheel for Little Boy

The small wheels on the Airfield T-28 Trojan created issues that I tried to overcome with a foam runway. They were teeny and the prop had only 1/4" clearance. The foam runway would work, but it takes time to deploy it and I would need more of it. I thought I would try putting the old Eflite Alpha 450 wheels on it. I purchased a Parkzone Trojan nose wheel, not because it was a Trojan, but because it's what the hobby shop had up in Meridian and I needed the wire. I cut the wire to shorten it and bent it to take the wheel. I drilled out the nose gear holder in the fuse and the steering horn to fit. Its a touch tall, but I sort of wanted a little nose up. The main gear are the original wire, but the tires are from the Alpha, and they barely fit. I won't be surprised if I lose one! Can't wait to see if this helps. I checked the CG and its fine, and I don't think I've added much weight overall.

Out with the old tiny wheels, in with the new big wheels!

With these bigger wheels I may be able to take off from the grass, especially now that the prop clears the ground quite well.

Lookin' good! A little nose up attitude.

Trying to take off from the foam runway lead to a stall which lead to a broken wing... It looks horrible. It broke clean across the wing and aileron as if someone took scissors to it.

Hopefully she will fly fine with her big wheels, and get off the ground without too much drama!

The UPS Man Cameth

Here's what the UPS Man brought me! I will be working on these this week!

The new Cornell fuse, the JR MN48 servo I need for the rudder on the Stearman (I think I stripped the servo on the Stearman putting it in the car last time...), the Powerline Hobbies Tiny Sopwith and Piper Cub!

Nice big box.

Geez, any more ARF and the prop would have been spinning!

Very scale!

The Piper Cub

Nice looking plane. Very simple design and build. It has some nice chubby tires! I think she will be fun!

More to follow!

Eflite Pulse XT 25e

I know I have said this a dozen times, but here's my next airplane, the Eflite Pulse XT 25e!

I love her fine lines. Her fuse is a sweet narrow aspect, her wing a nice ever so slight dihedral with symmetric airfoil that will fly great Sport and help me develop my aerobatic skills. I have a feeling that she will be a prize addition to my hangar, a plane I will be able to fly and then push to progressive limits! She is reasonably priced, beautiful, aerodynamically sound, powerful and upgradeable.

I do want to get the Elflite Ultimate too, but don't know that I am ready to fly her yet. My sills are not up to the requirements for an aerobatic biplane. I do think that some time on the Pulse XT and I will be ready!

Aw, man...

 

See those two boxes there next to the door? Brought by my friend, Mr. UPSman? Those two boxes my wife took a picture of for me? In those boxes are my new Cub and Sopwith from Powerline Hobbies, and all I can do is look at the brown boxes down there in Biloxi, while I'm up here in Meridian. Oh, there's a cute cat in the pic too.... Can't wait to open the boxes! And squish the cat...

12 Angry Men

I've decided to take a break from my Flying Club. Not from flying my RC planes and helis, but from MCRCC. It seems they are in the process of devouring one another, and I don't need the drama... its sad. Great bunch of individuals, but put them in a room together or try to have a conversation about club stuff and there's screaming and blood all over the place. I have a feeling things are just going to get worse because a few toxic individuals are driving it out of control.

I posted this on our website after out last meeting...

Seems like it might be time to talk about the elephant in the room...

Dick Ober read a prepared statement today about a controversial issue for our club. As issues go its not a major one so his trepidation wasn't about the issue, it was about the reaction. He was worried about the one thing the surely kills most clubs across the world. Egos. It went better, but there was still gnashing of teeth, and people walking out.

Since I joined this club I have found the waters are beautiful, the beaches wonderful, but the sharks unpredictable. A word, a gesture, a written thought, a silence, where someone sits or doesn't sit, the way someone looks or talks, a sticker given as a chuckle that you are one of us... any number of things can set the sharks into a frenzy making people leave the water and then the beach. The sharks are just milling about, waiting for an offense to set them off. Sometimes this makes the other fish nervous and jumpy, and they too get triggered easily. In time this nervous energy makes for an empty beach... and a bunch of unhapppy fish.

This club is not about who has the best toys, the most toys, the shiniest or the most expensive. Its not about who is the best pilot, the best instructor, the worst pilot, the best or the worst member. Its about flying RC, learning from one another, hearing funny stories, stories of crashes and successes, and sometimes just stories. Its about becoming friends around a shared interest. Its not about finding insult or supporting egos.We come together to enjoy one another's company, to welcome the diversity, or not, but to never let the sharks scare away the fish, especially the new small ones.Here the little fish should never be afraid of the bigger fish, or the sharks.

Please, keep the sharks away, let go of our egos, have fun and enjoy one another and our great hobby. Stop chumming the waters.... Or maybe I have made a big mistake and have it all wrong.

Fair winds and following seas. Keep the lifties under the wings, and may your landings equal your takeoffs. And remember the Four Agreements.

I can still fly at BMF. The field, pits and clubhouse are open to all Harrison County residents with an AMA license. I'll still be there. When it comes time to renew my membership, I will think long and hard about what I get from being a member of the club when I can fly without being a member. What is the benefit of paying to be a member of this flying club? 12 Angry Men who want everyone to be miserable as they are? This club is not what I thought at first. I may decide to drive half the distance to Ocean Springs instead, but I like a lot of the guys who fly at BMF, and I like the facilities (though the field, a source of ginormous friction in the club, could use a lot of work). Somehow I'm not sure the grass is greener over there... No one will take the joy and peace of flying RC (okay, and masochistic annoyance of crashing) away from me. I can still be with the guys and the hobby I so enjoy, without the drama.

I'm happier already... yup, soooo happy.... Happy me... Woo whoo...

EDIT (8/19/11): 12 Angry Men, a film by Sidney Lumet, starring Henry Fonda, 1957