2008_0708 1413 Kb - South Eastern Model Aircraft Club
Transcription
2008_0708 1413 Kb - South Eastern Model Aircraft Club
Newsletter Of The South Eastern Model Aircraft Club Inc # 4 SEMAC – Some recent club views... Look how much green there is in sight Dear Members, RAMBLINGS FROM RON I have been requested by our Editor to keep my ramblings to a minimum (wise man) as he has run out of space in what should be a bulging newsletter. Ok, as you are no doubt aware our August meeting is our AGM and I ask that as many members as possible make the effort to come along. Even if you don’t get to general meetings or the field often come to the AGM and catch up with old friends and have input into the future of your club. Once the business of the night is out of the way we plan to have some fun and have another indoor glider comp run under the same rules as last year. These are the Challenges. Distance Challenge Duration Challenge - Longest straight line glide from a predetermined height. Longest time in the air from a predetermined height. I think I have used up my allotted space so will talk more about club activities both past and future at the AGMhope to see you there. Hello friends and colleagues. I must tell you that a few weeks ago I was worried that I don’t have enough material to fill up the standard 12 page format. BUT, with the help of many of you, I managed to collect so much, that some of it now will have to go into the next cycle. I am still unhappy as to the ratio of those that receive it by Snail-MAIL (Make Australia Post rich) vs. those that opted for the e-mail version. To add your name into that list, please e-mail me at [email protected], I will make sure our central members’ database is also kept up-2-date. Model Design: Can be built from any material. No catapult or slingshot system will be allowed. In plan, model must fit within the size of an A4 sheet of paper. Paper planes will be accepted and paper will be available on the night. A different model for each challenge will be allowed. All other rules will be made up on the night Cheating is allowed provided it goes undetected. Judges decision is final even if biased or incorrect. So get to and put your aerodynamic skills to the test and build a winning model. SEMAC News July - August 2008 One last thing, this year we are having a key change so please bring along your gate key to the AGM and swap it for a the new one. The rule will be no old key no new key- were tough but fair. Good time to pay your subs as well if you haven’t already. -1- In this edition – - Hyperion Yak 54 Cowl Fitting Made Easy Space Walker SEMAC – Members’ list My Solo License 1/4 scale Fokker D7 Piper J-3 Cub, Part 2 A brief update… Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 8 Page 9 Page 11 Hyperion Yak 54 - 40 electric size kit - by Jed Bayston. As a fairly new member of SEMAC, I have been ‘quietly’ (sorry Shorty!) pursuing my interest in electric flight and at the same time trying my hand in the new area of Petrol powered 26cc gas models. I must admit to being pretty much addicted to both for different reasons. The models flying qualities are very good and it has a nimble feel to it on high rates whilst being very easy to land at slow speeds. The ‘gassers’ are just so cheap to run and reliable…and yes, they also sound good, while the electric stuff has just become so affordable and powerful with motors, batteries and speed controls from China providing massive ‘bang for the buck’. My latest project is a Yak 54 from Hyperion. It has a 49 inch wingspan and weighs about 2.3 kilos all up. The model is powered by a $27 brushless motor that runs a 13x6.5 APC prop on 5, 3300mah cells giving me 8700 rpm at 51 amps while producing 870 watts of power. I have used about 40% expo on ailerons and elevator. My servo choice was a mixture of Hitec 225MG’s and one digital mini servo on the rudder. I opted to use one servo for the elevator control to save weight. Any weaknesses in the kit? You bet! The flimsy undercarriage and soft stringers in the bottom of the fuse that I always manage to squash when picking up the model. I’m not so happy with the squishy canopy moulding either but it will probably be OK. The models flight performance is what pleases me the most and the power system looks to be an absolute bargain. The motor itself weighs under 6 ounces. The motor is physically very small and has a KV of 800.Those who saw the model flying, including our trusty ‘editor in chief’, will probably agree that it is quite adequately powered! (More than adequate – ED) I flew a couple of test flights on a 4 cell pack but it lacked the sparkle that I was looking for so I would recommend using a 5 cell pack with this motor. The flight timer on my radio was set for 10 minutes on all flights, and on the 5 cell pack, after a full ten minutes I used about 2500-2700 Mah’s out of the 3300 available. This is achieved by using careful throttle management and enjoying the slow speed performance of the model as well as zooming around at ‘full-noise’ occasionally. The batteries that I am using are two years old and show no signs of letting up. My approach is to balance charge using a $25 cell balancer on each pack. If I have a 5 cell pack made up of a 3 cell and a 2 cell pack in series, I will use a balancer on each pack every time I charge. The biggest problem I used to have prior to affordable and reliable cell balancers becoming available, was that 1 cell in a pack of 3 would often discharge more than the others and gradually die leaving me with a useless pack…not any more! Enjoy your flying everyone and if you want more info on anything I am using ask me next time you see me at the field. Cheers, Jed Bayston SEMAC News July - August 2008 -2- Cowl Fitting Made Easy – By John Andrews ARF models seem to be getting better all the time. Easy to assemble, great finish and they generally fly well straight out of the box. As a neat finishing touch, these days they often come complete with a nice fibreglass or ABS plastic cowl. 5. Position your ruler along each masking tape line and mark the cowl at the previously measured distance. In this case, 120mm from the reference mark to the needle valve position. 6. Remove the cowl and drill your holes. I like to drill small pilot holes first then refit the cowl just to make sure they’re in the right position. When it comes to fitting the cowl, you’re left with pretty much just two options. Take a wild guess at where the required cut outs and holes are meant to go, or take a few minutes to set it up and measure them out. The first method can end up rather messy, while the one I’ve described below gives a good result in no time at all. I’ve shown here how it’s used to set out the mixture needle access and cowl mounting holes, but it works for the engine cylinder and exhaust cut outs just as well. 1. With the engine in place, run a strip of masking tape along the fuselage adjacent to each hole position. While budget masking tape doesn’t stick to the plastic covering all that well, the slightly higher priced green stuff from Kmart works fine. 2. Use a ruler to draw a line from each hole position back along its strip of masking tape. 3. Put a reference mark on the tape and write next to it the distance from the required hole position. 4. Fit the cowl and hold it in position with masking tape. Happy flying, John Andrews To all SEMAC Members Fred Barabasz of Hallam Hobbies Invites all for a FREE Sausage Sizzle on the first Saturday of every month to all members and family of SEMAC starting 5Th July at about 12:30 pm. SEMAC News July - August 2008 -3- Space Walker – by Ron Hayes As a kid I used to fly control line occasionally with Graeme Wilson at an oval in Highett (Graeme is still very active in C/L). Then, when in my early 20's a work mate introduced me to R/C flying and I was hooked. We both joined PARC's and I flew for about 15 years. Due to other interests, family etc, I stopped flying for about 10 years. Then one day last year Steve, my son, bought a Classic 40 trainer home, I couldn't believe it when he said it only cost $69.00. After installing the gear, running in the engine, and test flying, I was very happy with the end result. She flies nicely and looks good in the air and on the ground. I often get favorable comments about its looks from other flyers. The highlight of flying the Space Walker was flying it in the recent SEMAC Warbirds and Scale display day. He built the plane got a Tiger Shark 46 engine and a Hi Tec optic 6 radio. His mate Daniel Farrell was a past member of SEMAC so they both decided to join in approx July 2007. Of course all this R/C activity at home was getting me sucked in again so I joined SEMAC about 2 months after Steve joined. Steve and I both got our Solo ratings on the Classic 40. So, what plane will I get for myself ?.After checking out the local Hobby shops I decided on a Seagull ARF Space Walker from Hallam Hobbies. I was impressed with the quality of this kit and it went together well. I needed an engine and radio, so it was off to Addies Hobbies where I decided on a OS FL70 4 stroke engine and Hi Tec Optic 6 radio. The 2nd half of the story… Some sad and happy news.. Last Saturday morning 24th May at approx 10am I took off towards the west for the first flight of the day with the Space Walker. Doing a left hand circuit I was over the entrance gate to the field when I got a massive glitch. At first the plane went straight ahead while trying to turn left, then it went left and locked in to a left turn and went full throttle into the ground totally trashing the front half of the fuz and wings. Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of height. When I got to the model the radio was working ok. The Engine and Radio all seem to be ok. But it was a sad moment to see my nice Space Walker in pieces. Interestingly, another club member flying electric models was getting glitches in the same area, before and after my crash. However, we must move on, so I have included some photos of my new Edge 540 (Seagull ARF kit) Which I started building on Monday night doing a bit each night after work and finished it on Saturday afternoon 31 May, a week after the death of the Space Walker. SEMAC News July - August 2008 -4- The Edge is now ready to go for its maiden flight. I was going to do this on Sunday morning 1st June but Heavy fog prevented this from happening. Steve has almost finished building a Twister (Black Horse ARF kit) .32 to .40 size Sport Pylon plane. He has put a Tiger Shark .46 in it so it should go like the clappers. We might have to maiden the Edge and the Twister on the same day now. SEMAC Members’ List The following list shows the names and contact details of members who have given permission to publish those details. Please use it as intended – it is to be shared with SEMAC users only, and not be abused or published without written permission, nor is it intended for use as a Mailing list for advertising material. It is intended ONLY for members to be able to make contact with other members on a one-to-one basis. Surname Firstname e-Mail Address Agius Andrews Apostolou Armstrong Armstrong Barabasz Barfoot Mario John John Christopher Mark Fred Paul [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Bayston Blackie Blight Bruin Byrnes Cartwright Clipstone Curtis James Lindsay Michael Robert Lawrie Ian Rod Gary [email protected] Davenport Dzesa Elsmore Evans Farrall Fiddes Firmin Gibbs Adrian Paul Gordon Alex Daniel Cliff Gregory David [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 9799 1532 [email protected] [email protected] 5987 0572 Goff Gray Gray Hampson Harrison Hayes Hayes Hayes Andrew Keith Mark Adolf Peter Maxwell Ron Steven [email protected] 9899 5632 9528 2324 Hewish Hunter Ireland Kennelly Maplestone Matthews May McGavin Gregory Ian Ted Kevin Bruce Jason Robert Alan [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Neil Bruce SEMAC News July - August 2008 Home-Phone Work-Phone Mobile-Phone 0417 123426 0407 364390 0419 895169 9551 7782 9544 4659 [email protected] 9705 6342 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 9557 2084 9578 1433 9705 0744 5996 0345 9791 9319 9708 5401 9802 4216 9755 5106 9782 1899 9763 2629 9776 5992 9774 2592 0427 521102 0417 983024 0417 983024 0402 433877 0404 061492 0400 839087 9870 9488 0409 228473 9771 4163 9797 0777 9773 3696 9587 5132 9798 2387 9584 2635 9504 3061 5977 2467 0417 112309 0433 897434 0417 557456 0430 466187 0410 875657 0411 760440 0417 523471 0417 495968 0409 193776 0418 397329 9773 3955 9963 3013 9711 1665 8790 0203 8790 0203 5943 2365 -5- 9703 1160 9552 8111 0409 021411 0419 314674 0422 573737 0419 988919 0403 350694 0407 500664 9646 9888 0418 376447 0410 572895 0410 260069 Nguyen Paine Pfeil Pluis Porter Puehl Sachse Shannon Vu Ronald Bob Peter Sean Roger Travis Michael [email protected] Short Sivyer Sneddon Stephan Stevenson Stevenson Stolinski Thompson Peter Mark Glenn David Graham Grant Richard Stephen [email protected] Turner Vigilante Ward Wheeler Wilkinson Wilson Wright Michael Michael David David Ray John Peter [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 9769 9462 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 9792 4695 9374 1311 9700 0785 8790 1668 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 9561 2120 9551 5225 9551 5225 9598 4889 0408 148518 0416 120736 0417 278601 0407 834087 0412 054492 0400 575082 0411 430065 0410 519509 9359 8658 0421 968460 0413 862761 0433 282883 0401 990923 9789 7473 5981 0460 9807 8273 0409 983951 0407 332182 9772 3768 DEAR MEMBERS – This is a gentle reminder…. (Pointed out by our friend Colin) When you come down to the field to fly, or just catch up with friends – PLEASE, take home with you whatever rubbish you may have, chocolate warping, and orange peel, or egg shells you may have after cocking breakfast. Otherwise, it makes it an extra task for “Someone” to regularly take the rubbish and empty it for you and this is unfair! SEMAC News July - August 2008 0409 085377 0407 822412 0414 646675 0425 844132 -6- Many Thanks to Mrs Vandersluys, who once again made for us yet another nice and very effective wind-sock… I got my solo on the 1st of June .I would like to thank all the people in the club for helping me to get my solo licence, special thanks to Rod for being my teacher in flying, it helped me a lot. I would like to thank Des for making me the trophy and I love it. The first time I came to the club was when I seen the 2007 opening day and I thought this is not a bad hobby so I joined the club and started to learn how to fly and did not take me long to get use to it. When I had my first crash I was very scared to fly until I had my confidence back. In the future I would fly some larger aircraft and may build some too. By Sean Porter A new toy for Daniel Scicluna… This is a DRI Fokker ARF from Great Planes. It is as you Can imagine an EP model with a 1050 Kv, 10x5 Prop on A 3S 1300/mah LiPo running through a 20 A ESC. AUW is around 650g with a wingspan of just 29.5”. The maiden flight was a handful, the stub wing was 3.5 degrees out! And even after fixing and twigging it, it is nor recommended for a beginner pilot. After the stub wing was fixed to the more appropriate Incidence, it was much more pleasant to fly, and I enjoyed watching Daniel do his magic… (ED) Who said you can’t have fun with a little park flyer? SEMAC News July - August 2008 -7- 1/4 scale Gary Allen plans Fokker D7 - By Ian Hunter This is going to be a big, big plane. 1/4 scale D7 spanning some 88 odd inches. I ordered the plans from Model Aeroplane News AKA MAN plans. There are several A0 sheets and a print out of the construction article from Feb 1998 (if anyone has a copy, I'd like to scan it). Construction is entirely 'traditional'. After searching the web for where I might procure a partial kit, Dave Brown in Sydney also known as 'Model Draughting Services' produces such a kit. This was duly ordered and work has commenced. First starting point was to acquire timber for the fuselage stringers and the wing main spars. The plans call for 1/4 inch sq. spruce and 1/2 x 1/4 spruce. This timber is not readily available in Australia. Searching the internet I found a document released by CASA in 1944 stating Hoop Pine was an acceptable substitute where Sitka Spruce was called for. Hoop Pine is a native of Queensland. It is 10% stronger than Sitka Spruce, but also slightly heavier. I found 'Mathews Timber' in Rookes Road Vermont. They can supply both Sitka Spruce as well as Hoop pine. After driving over there (after having a tooth yanked on a sick day off) I was pointed in the direction of the Sitka Spruce. Beautiful looking great builders planks. 3 inches thick by about 5 inches wide and several meters long. They said it was $80 per meter and "how many meters did I require". After I picked myself up off the ground . . . . . Next was to enquire about the Hoop Pine. They had a fresh delivery of Hoop Pine planks. SEMAC News July - August 2008 -8- These were about 20mm thick and about 200mm wide by 4 meters long. And at only $7.50 per meter. I naturally bought a whole 4 meter length of it. Many thanks go to Peter Harrison for his assistance with using his band saw to cut the main spars and fuze stringers. This is most definitely a two person operation. Cutting 90 inch lengths of 1/4 inch sq. and 1/4 x 1/2 sections takes a lot of time and concentration. Yes we ended up with a couple of 'duds', these were marked and will be used in areas that short lengths are used, thus cutting the imperfections out of the equation. Starting point according to the article is with the fuze. So the appropriate lengths of 1/4 inch sq. Hoop Pine were cut to make the stringers as well as some 1/4 inch sq. balsa. These were glued using white wood glue (PVA) to the laser-cut cowl sections. After the first fuze side had been made, food wrap was placed over where the glued areas were and the second side built right over the first one. Object being to make 2 identical sides. That's all for now. Regards. Ian H. Piper J-3 Cub, Part 2 – By Alex Evans Well… The 2nd wing took only some 15 hours all up (as opposed to the first one consuming 40 hours of my time) and I suppose, the 1st you do has some “Design” and “Thinking” time components to it, whereas the 2nd is just a copy… Anyway, once this was done I started working on the fuselage. This of course was a new challenge. Firstly of course, I needed to plan the conversion from the intended .46 IC to electric power, a different place for the motor mount, which motor will be suitable, where will the main battery be placed so as to avoid any “Dead Weight” for C.G balancing, how to make it easy to insert the battery without the need to open / remove the wing etc… Here is a photo of how it started. where I feel it is of benefit, so most places I glue have a long cure / setting time, and in most cases I need to use some clamps while the glue sets. The “Shelf” you can see inside the cockpit is dual purpose. Underneath will be the resting place for the main battery, and on top – will be the mounting place for the camera, but this will only come into play once I maiden this baby and feel comfortable flying it. The Rx Battery pack is going to be mounted ahead of the instrument panel, also on this shelf, so as to have the C.G as forward as the plans indicate. Usually I would think the C.G should be between 25-33% for the wings LE, but in this case it is way forward from this point; we’ll have to see how she behaves in flight. The main landing gear is constructed from some piano wire, with some solder / coper wire around the connection joints, it looks like this. The wheels are part of the kit, they are very nice and soft and hopefully help take the harsh landings I am well known for… And another one from the other end… a bit later… At all times, with the completion of each stage, I keep weighing her, to know where I am at, and make adjustments in position of things, like where exactly should I mount the Tail servos ? How far forward should I build the try for them? How will the access to them be once the cover is on etc… Well… By the time you read this, I am long past the maiden flight, working on my next project… but this of course is another story. So, it is all done, finished – some 220 hours from start to finish (just in case someone is curious how long it takes). So, as you can see, there are once again lots of parts, and the majority need to be cut / shaped out of raw material and are not coming as pre cut inside the box. I normally prefer using as little Epoxy glue as possible and only SEMAC News July - August 2008 -9- Following Ron’s advise, I decided (and very happy with the result) to use for covering some Solartex, and I decided that there are more than enough YELLOW Cubs around, and just to be a bit different – mine will be WHITE! This picture shows the new toy all naked, just note the main landing gear pants, made of 6mm Balsa inserted into the piano wire frame, I thought when covered it will look good. It does! OK, The Big day arrived – Friday morning ANZAC day 2008. The forecast for Sunday looked bad, I asked Pete and Ian to join me, and we gave it a go. And, once the fuselage was covered, it looked like the following picture. This Solartex is just magic, all I used was a hobby iron, and no heat gun was needed. By the time I got to the field, there was a steady strong Northerly, lined her up and she rolled maybe 6-8 meters before she was in the air. A bit too nose heavy, I will need to move the battery backwards, and my Ailerons need a bit of differential – so I am going to take out the Y lead and run each off a separate channel, I will probably also consider mixing in a bit of rudder, to help in turns. The Solartex (in White) weighs at 98 grams per Sq/m – so you can calculate how much weight is going to be added based on this. Just be aware – each colour weighs differently, depending on the pigmentation used. One of the major issues I had while approaching the end of this project was with how much work may be required to put it all together, from the various bits (considering wings, cabling, wing struts, struts support etc…) So, I thought – this is a “Small” model right? (77” wingspan) and I have a BIG truck, so why not try assembling it, and trying to see if it fits… It does! She went for a few rounds, and landed gracefully into the wind. Considering the high wind at the time, she seems to have enough power for the job, the battery was just worm, as was the ESC after around 8 minutes flight some of it at full throttle.. I didn’t want to try anything exotic at this point as yet… And some final details: AUW = 3.2Kg, powered by a 4020-14 Outrunner, with a 14 x 7 prop from a 5S 3700 m/ah provides 2.2 Kg of Static trust. There is spare power here for me to add in the camera for some aerial photography… Wing Loading of 17-18 Oz /Sq-f should be easy… On some subsequent flights (around 20 by the time you read this) I started gradually getting the hang of this big bird, there is a regular need to use rudder on take off, otherwise the torque plays havoc… That’s all for this time, busy already with my next project. Cheers – Alex. SEMAC News July - August 2008 - 10 - A brief update – By Mario Agius No. 1 Recently purchased Decathlon from a general club meeting ex Ron's hanger, had it airborne the week end after I took possession of it. No.2 On my to be finished list is my "Got Gas Sport" which is now fitted with the same set up as my Giant stick in terms of power . I fitted a WT-257 Welbro carby to the 31cc twin ring Ryobi, pits muffler and turning a 16 X 12 prop this has turned out to be a great combination, it’s ready to fly just needs a receiver and battery, should perform like my Giant stick which is performing very well, it's become my favorite regular Sunday flyer, it now has over thirty five flights on it as of the end of June, I have a great time flying my giant stick. I think larger scale planes fly better and safer than smaller planes, also I find them easier to land also very cheap to run considering the price of petrol!! I’m moving away from glow engines, just my preference… I fitted a G-51 Super Tiger but I needed a pits muffler to fit it, there was no way to fit the large muffler the G-51 come with so I located one at Roj's Hobbies which I purchased just before the week end, cost me more than the plane it self but it was almost done and I wanted to fly it and apart from the muffler all it needed was a bigger fuel tank, painted the cowl to match the fuselage added some black pin stripe and a throttle servo and it was done. No.3 Also recently purchased a 25% Edge 540T and a 26cc CRRC pro engine, should make a great combination. I have spent a lot of time in the past year building three planes from scratch and decided to buy an “ARF” which in my opinion not as good as a scratch build planes in terms of strength but are very light and precisely made thanks to laser cutting, they also look very good- sure saves a lot time and work. I haven’t given up on building just taking a rest from it. Took it to the field Sunday morning and had two good flights with out any problems, it's great to bring back to life an unwanted model - thanks Ron. I’ve come a long way into the hobby in just over a year and a half since I started flying, have now been a club member at SEMAC for one year - meet some great people and I know I will be a club member for a long time to come thank you SEMAC and all the great people... Safe flying, Mario If you don’t watch it…. They multiply fast! SEMAC News July - August 2008 - 11 - Don’t forget the next SEMAC General Meeting. 5th August 2008 – 8.00 PM Many thanks to John, Sean, Mario, Ian, Jad and Ron for their contributions to the SEMAC News. If you fancy joining them next time, we’d really welcome your: DINGLEY COMMUNITY HALL MARCUS RD DINGLEY Also… Our treasurer will bring the NEW SEMAC Keys, please bring along your old key to be swapped, and if you lost it, it will cost you $5 to obtain a replacement key. Don’t forget to bring your SEMAC Name Badge, so that we get to know each other better construction articles or photographs tales of your modelling or flying experiences – happy or sad Email or disk is the ONLY acceptable submission format. Please contact Alex Evans via: [email protected] for more details if you are interested. COMMITTEE South Eastern Model Aircraft Club Inc President Ron Paine Vice President Daniel Scicluna Secretary/Public Officer David Stephan Treasurer Peter Short 9700 0785 Committee Members: Rod Clipstone 9769 9462 9802 4216 PO Box 64 Dingley Vic 3I72 http://members.optusnet.com.au/~semac/ Bob Pheil SEMAC News July - August 2008 tips and advice gossip advertisements Des Townsend 9701 8035 / 0428 120 931 Mark Sivyer 0412 054 492 Colin Vandersluys 9589 0729 - 12 -
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