Andy's Belated christmas present....

Indeed you did. And for that, thou shalt be rewarded with a go on the sticks....

Andy

Sam Thomas wrote:hehe
Im not eating much today so I will have room!
About AA, what are we allowed to bring, I take it that maby [url=THIS]http://www.actionhobbies.co.uk/SRC-M4-A1-Carbine-2-Tone_AQODU~0.aspx[/url] is out of the question.

Is this wot"THIS" was 4
http://www.actionhobbies.co.uk/SRC-M4-A1-Carbine-2-Tone_AQODU~0.aspx

Morning chaps,

Not much to report after a weekend away in the Van (laaaarge!). I've just bonded a couple of carbon pegs into the wing seat (4.5mm diameter, and about 6mm long) using Hysol. Once it is cured, I'll drill a couple of location holes in the fuselage, meaning the wing should be accurately located when taped on. I'm not convinced about taping the wing in place, but if it is good enough for the F5d racers, I suppose it should be good enough for me...

I need to make up some little aerial exit holes in the boom too. With so much carbon in the fuselage, I wasn't convinced that internal aerials would be good enough. So, armed with my Jetibox, I did a quick test. With both aerials down the boom, and standing about 100 yards down the road, the signal strength was a quarter of the strength when both aerials were outside of the boom. (6dB difference). That is significant.

I'll probably just drill some 2mm holes for now, and use a bit of goop to hold the aerials in place. I am considering having a go at moulding some little sharks fin covers though. Everybody knows that Sharks fin aerial covers make you a babe-magnet, so it makes sense to have a shot at it....

That's it for now. Still no sign of the ESC that I ordered, so no maiden yet. Fingers crossed it will be here in time for Sunday, and toes crossed that the weather plays ball too

Andy

Do not underestimate clear tape Andy!!!!!

That almost sounds like it could be in an Episode of Star Wars:

Andy Sayle: "Master, I don't think the clear tape will hold!"
Obi-Wan Kenobi: "Do not underestimate the power of the Diamond Tape, young Padawan..."

Heh, heh...

Andy

Afternoon chaps and chap-esses.

As some of you know, the Jibe² was maidened last weekend. I chose to install a "pussy-power" motor and esc, mainly because I was frustrated at waiting for the proper ESC to turn up from the US.

The specifics were a Mega 16/15/4 motor out of my Funjet, a 35A Castle ESC, a 3s Rhino 2150mAh Lipo, all driving an APC 6x4 prop. On the ground it pulls approx 225-250Watts (24Amps ish). The battery needed pushing up into the nose as far as it could go to get the CG in the range specified in the build manual, but no additional weight was needed.

The maiden was a bit of an anti-climax to be honest. The powertrain was not really appropriate for the model at all. Whilst it had enough power to fly, it was no where near quick enough! The prop needs to be much more pitchy than 4". The flight was quite nice though. It proved that keeping sight of these slippery things can be tricky (especially end on!) but the high contrast black and white helps loads. The wing upper surface could do with a bit more contrast, so I am wondering about a bit of black lettering on the green... The roll rate was nice and sedate, and the elevator was suitably sensitive. Bank and yank turns were awesome even at the relatively slow speeds encountered. It almost seems like it is accelerating through sharp turns!

I had about 7 minutes in the air, and decided that was enough, and to not fly it until I have much more pitch speed, and power on board That way I can do it justice, and get it really singing through the air. Landing was a breeze, it was nice and easy to slow up, and popping the spoilerons up to kill the lift really helps.

Oh, and three wraps of diamond tape seemed to hold the wing on nicely. Which was nice. I still think a little hatch somewhere to put an arming link in the battery/esc connection is a good idea though. I hate the fact the wings have to be taped on with everything live.

Onwards! (although still without the proper ESC....)
Andy