RE: I think I fried my servos!!! This is what I have hooked up...
Hi; How did you connect the battery to the receiver - directly? Or did you go through an ESC with a BEC? If you connected directly, I think yes, something may have burned up (did that myself, the hard way). If you were using a BEC to limit the voltage, I think the receiver and servos should be okay. I'm contemplating some of the Cirrus 4.4's myself, but the "universal" plug gives me concern - check your documentation for both the receiver and the servos, and make sure the hot, ground, and signal are all connected properly. Is it possible to plug in the universal plug backward? Dan.
Posted on: 4/27/2004 12:44 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Electric Indoor & Micro RC Flight"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1763551

RE: slow/park flyer question
Hi - I have finally managed to get my RareBear slow enough that I can circle around up and down the street, but I have to say, it took me two years of practice in much larger areas, and with more stable aircraft to get to that point. It's really tempting to try it right off the bat, but first flights should be made at an empty park, at least. And despite its convenient location, the street in front of my house really isn't that much fun to fly in - I'd rather spend a couple minutes driving to the schoolyard or the park anyway, but then, it may be because my street is kind of closed-in by houses and trees. Happy flying - Dan.
Posted on: 3/30/2004 12:08 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1673698

RE: tissue covering
[quote]ORIGINAL: hando man. that's a cute little bugger. what is that? what's the wingspan? has tang been repackaged as sunny-d? k [/quote] Thank you - that's the Granville Bros. GeeBee "Z", a pylon racer from the 30's. This one is around a 16" span (I first built a 48"). Glad the tissue shrinks for you, albeit too much! I know some people pre-shrink large sections on something like a picture frame, then cut sections from there to cover the plane, in particular the delicate bits at the tail end. I tried the wet/glue adhesion on the wings, but I must have mixed too much "wet" with too little glue. As it dried, the shrink overcame the adhesion at the edges and they started to curl up, and I got a pretty nasty diagonal wrinkle in each of the cut-out bays. The curvy fuse wasn't really that bad, with the paper wetted before application. I just cut several smaller panels, rather than trying to warp fewer large ones into shape. If you cover from the bottom up, cut the edge lines straight, and glue the seams down well, they'll be hardly visible. Have fun. By the way, I don't know what became of Tang - I haven't seen any in quite some time...
Posted on: 3/15/2004 5:13 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1627469

RE: foam board question
I've done this a couple times now, and its much easier. Here's my latest process: 1. Soak in the tub or sink. Thirty minutes is plenty. Peel off the large pieces of paper. May be repeated if desired. 2. Run through dishwasher. It will be pretty clean after this. 3. Rub remaining residue off in the shower.
Posted on: 3/15/2004 11:56 AM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1626408

RE: Scale strength? Also dowel construction of fuse?
I can also attest that the dowel-stringer construction produces a nice looking and strong aircraft (not sure you can even tell the difference under covering).
Posted on: 3/12/2004 12:17 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "RC Scale Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1617659

RE: tissue covering
Here's what it looks like (don't mind the wrinkles in the wing - that was before I knew what I was doing)...
Posted on: 3/12/2004 12:13 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1617636

RE: tissue covering
Hando - I got pretty good results using tissue (nothing fancy, just the Hallmark stuff), lightly dampened, and applied to the airframe with Elmer's Gel glue. I hit it with an application of alcohol/water in a spray bottle after it dried, but I don't think that really even tightened it up anymore. I painted over mine, as the colors were kind of subdued. Nothing wrong with tissue! Nothing wrong with steam trains and Tang, for that matter... Dan.
Posted on: 3/12/2004 12:11 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1617630

RE: Fighterbird problem (won't fly.)
Make sure the flight battery is fully charged - this sounds typical of a low battery.
Posted on: 2/20/2004 4:21 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1548020

RE: Second flight - worse than the first one! (GeeBee Z)
Tried the 4.25 on the Bee last evening. Actually got the plane to go up a bit! Still made a pretty short flight - either the ailerons are a little bound up from previously crashing, or the KP-00 shook itself loose from the firewall with the heavier prop on. It was loose when I recovered the plane. Repairs have been made. This may just be the ticket...
Posted on: 2/20/2004 4:01 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Electric Indoor & Micro RC Flight"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1547957

Second flight - worse than the first one! (GeeBee Z)
Took the GeeBee out for another flight yesterday morning in the driveway, this time with the cowl removed. It weighed a whopping six grams. I had to fasten the battery all the way forward to get the CG close to the right spot. It looks ridiculous, but it's lighter! The CG must have still been too far back. Seems like I no longer had power OR control this time. One small flight looked kind of promising (must have tossed it just right) - it made it across the street and settled in the neighbor's yard, but the rest just stalled out of the air. Last night, I went rooting through my stash of props, and I found one from an old free-flight plane, unlabelled, but measuring 4.25 by maybe 2.5. On a whim, I fastened it to the KP00, and WOW! That prop really makes the little plane pull, at least across the carpet in the living room. Finally, this looks very promising. I am either poised for success, or about the burn up my receiver! Winds are blowing again. We'll know shortly. Dan.
Posted on: 2/19/2004 12:13 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Electric Indoor & Micro RC Flight"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1543719

Foam F4B-4 - I can't believe this stuff!
Foam is just incredible! My first scratch build was a conventional plane, 48" - that took almost a year to finish. I made a smaller version of the same plane, stick and tissue, three month build. I picked up some foam and and a knife, thought of a plane, and it showed up in my hand! Here's a "prototype" airframe for an F4B-4. I put a two-view through a photocopier, fastened it to the foam, and cut it out on a scroll saw, just to see if the concept would work. I didn't really think it would go anywhere, so I didn't actually plan on making it R/C (yet). This will just be a glider for my son. I couldn't believe, though, how much I had done in a week. I'm certainly going to have to look into this further. Here are some pictures - I would have taken more, but it went together too fast!
Posted on: 2/13/2004 12:27 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1524461

RE: From plans to kit, Who does this as a business?
Hi; I thought Floto was just asking for a one-off laser cut kit, in which case I imagine you could contact any of these fellows (copied from the "Where to Find What you Want" at the top of the forum): LASER CUTTING: Northeast Aerodynamics http://www.ne-aero.com/ Kit Cutters Inc. (714) 962-8100 http://www.kitcutters.com/ Litko Aerosystems, Inc. (219)988-5708 www.litkoaero.com Caylex: http://www.caylex.com/cutting.html Tanks Hangar Aircraft Modeling: www.tanks-hangar.com AKM www.AK-Models.com Email akm@ak-models.com CoosBay - I'm working on a small, foam F4B-4 right now. Great plane! Dan.
Posted on: 2/11/2004 12:06 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1518059

RE: First flight - could have been worse!
By the way - almost forgot. I may not get back to it for a while as I'm wholly absorbed into the next project. Here's a sneak peek:
Posted on: 2/10/2004 5:28 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Electric Indoor & Micro RC Flight"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1515517

RE: First flight - could have been worse!
Hi Tiberius - thanks for the tip; I was at HobbyTown last night, and picked up a 4x something (can't remember offhand - looked good at the time) but I think the 3x3 will work better. After reading a little bit more, the foler (85mm x 45mm) works out to about 3x1, so the 3x3 may actually get me in the air. I think I'll save the 4x for another project - the hub almost fits over the motor! Mike - while I was there, the smallest scimitar I saw was the 4x. All of the 3x's had the same (rather unappealing) squar-ish blades.
Posted on: 2/10/2004 5:25 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Electric Indoor & Micro RC Flight"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1515513

RE: foam board question
[quote]ORIGINAL: canardlover ... Assume the bath tub trick will not work here so if you have a suggestion...[/quote] I'm not so sure - the main problem I had with the bathtub was keeping the stuf submerged! It is, after all, foam. I'll bet you could just carefully lay the board flat on the surface of the water and let it do its thing on one side only. Hitherto, I've only needed it with both sides peeled for saving weight. There is a fellow who built a spectacular looking foamboard Pitts with a curved fuse. He peeled both sides, but then re-covered the outside (before bending) with some sort of clear vinyl adhesive sheet.
Posted on: 2/9/2004 12:34 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1511334

RE: New plane on the way ( Top Secret )
Dago - looking sharp already. I can't wait to see what comes next. Do keep us posted. I'm also working on a "top secret" project that will be showing soon, either here or in the Foamy section. Heli - Hey, I recognize that plane! That's the Warhawk from "Crimson Skies"! I'm just now discovering the joy of foam, and there may be a Devastator in the pipeline soon...
Posted on: 2/9/2004 12:07 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1511249

RE: RE: Scale Gee Bee Z question.
Hi Jacs; Here are the drawings I came up with to work out the fillets: The first image is the wing rib top with the vertical lines showing where I want the wing fillet formers to be (the first one is a little bit behind the corresponding fuse former). I freehanded a somewhat smooth line for the new fillet outline. The images after that are just tracings of fuse formers F2, 3 and 4, with the wing's actual surface drawn on, and then a line is drawn between the intersection of the fuse and fillet, and the wing and fillet. I tried to keep each angle about the same to avoid much twisting in the fillet sheet - that made the actual fillet shape easier to determine. If you'd like more pictures, just holler - I have the actual fillet on the plane (I left off the base - didn't really see a need for it while the wing is on) and the template I used to shape it. Dan.
Posted on: 2/8/2004 2:59 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Tips & Techniques"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1508710

RE: foam board question
I had a chance to try the foamboard recently - yes, there is some work in getting the paper off, but I think the result will be worth it. I soaked it in the tub, and pulled off most of the paper in one big chunk, soaked again, an used an old credit card to scrape off most of the rest, soaked one more time, and used a scotch-brite pad to get the foam absolutely clean (careful with the scotch-brite - it's a little rough on foam). I'm sanding an airfoil into my F4B-4 wings now, and they're looking nice! Not sure yet how they'll hold up in the air.
Posted on: 2/5/2004 12:52 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1499587

First flight - could have been worse!
Hi; Winds finally stilled for a bit this morning, so I hopped out to the driveway to give the GeeBee Z a test flight. The first couple of tosses were badly out of trim (nose-heavy, with down-elevator) and landed right at my feet. Plus I caught the rear stab on my thumb the first toss - I'm not used to a model this small! I finally moved the battery back to an acceptable location and trimmed the elevator up. The next flights were better - the plane left my hand straight and level and settled down to a very nice, comfortable glide. In fact, with the given setup, it had just enough power to maintain altitude straight ahead, but as soon as I banked to turn, it settled down in the snow. Two ounces may just be a little too much for the KP00. Here's the setup: RFFS-100 receiver with two remote BSD 50-ohm actuators, using brass .020 pushrods, elevator and aileron and a single 230 mAh 3.7v Lithum Polymer cell. I am using the white folding prop that came with the KP00. I had heard that the U80 would give more thrust, but while taxiing around in my office (I like these small planes), the folder seemed to do a better job pushing the plane around, maybe because it clears the large cowl better. The plane sustained only minor damage - the cowl got pushed back onto the nose of the plane (pretty firmly - took me a while to get it back off) and the tissue covering on the bottom took a scrape when one of the landings missed the snow and settled in the street. I may have to try this again. With just a little more thrust, I think I'd have a nice sedate, scale office flyer. I may try the 10cm prop, or flying without the cowl, or I may just let it look nice and scale on my desk (I can add flying wires and the rest of the decals, then!) Here are a couple more last-minute pre-flight pictures. You never know :^)
Posted on: 2/4/2004 2:20 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Electric Indoor & Micro RC Flight"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1496622

RE: Air Hogs P-40 conversion
One of these days I'm going to get around to doing one of these conversions - your plane sounds like it will be right around the size and performance of my Rare Bear, which is a great plane, with elevator and ailerons. If you would, though, tell me (this has kind of been holding me up) - just how do you open up the fuse on one of these things? Razor blade? Thanks, Dan.
Posted on: 2/2/2004 5:19 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1491002

RE: Hobby Lobby planes any good ?
Hi; I've had plenty of good experiences with Hobby-Lobby; I particulary like their web page, as they have known working setups for the planes, and you don't have to do a lot of research if you don't want to. I've flown the Graupner Mini-Piper for a couple years now (only fifty-ish dollars - not bad at all for a little foam scale plane) and am very pleased with it. I've also flown the Rare-Bear for about a year (also quite reasonable, at around seventy or eighty, I think - wait for a sale). I put a pair of Li-Polymer cells in it and it will flat out scream for well over an hour. I always get a compliment on it. The Focke-Wulf, and I think the P-40, are both very detailed planes, and are probably the ones costing a lot. The Piper and the Bear (Strega, too), are nice scale subjects, but they're not loaded down with details like finished cockpits and such. Dan.
Posted on: 2/2/2004 5:08 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1490962

RE: RE: Scale Gee Bee Z question.
Greetings Jacs; Hang in there - I fiddled with these things for a month before I finally re-drew them. I think I ran into the same problem that you're seeing - on my plans, the three forward WF formers are roughly a trianle; the flat bottom is easy enough to figure out - it goes against the fillet base, but then, neither of the curved sides appears to fit the curvature of the fuselage. Then there's the strange one that's three straight sides; what on earth do you do with that??! So, on a piece of drawing paper, I traced the wing rib, and some pertinant details from the fuselage, viewed from the side, and on top of this I free-handed what I wanted the new fillet to look like. That gives you the height of each former. Then I made three tracings of F2, F3 and F4, but also with the wing's surface on each one, and just plotted on each one a straight line from the height of the fillet, out to the width of the base (which goes, I think, almost to the wing's third rib out, or something like that). To get the sharp curvature at the very front of the fillet, I made the whole front former out of 1/4" balsa, and rounded it over, but you at least have the plastic parts. You're way ahead of the game in that respect. Once the fillet shapes were determined, it was easy to make the actual sheeting. Since I took the concave curvature out of the former tops, I could use one long piece of balsa sheeting to go over the whole thing, and I determined the shape it needed to be from my new drawings. I still have them. Let me see if I can get them scanned and post them for you tonight or tomorrow. Dan.
Posted on: 2/2/2004 1:38 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Tips & Techniques"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1490372

RE: planking or sheeting?
Two thoughts here - I observed kind of the same think when I sheeted my wing. Instead of the bandages, which apply pressure over the entire area, use masking tape next time, and only hold down directly over the formers. That's, of course, more of a "next time" thing, unless you can get the sheeting back off... Perhaps, to fix the sheeting in place, just wet it, support it upside down, and maybe fill it with something like sand to balloon it out a little? Dan.
Posted on: 2/2/2004 1:13 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1490294

RE: Venders that sell ARF foam kits
You should stop by www.hobby-lobby.com - plenty of beginner and slow-flyer foam kits there, along with all the recommended equipement to set them up.
Posted on: 1/29/2004 12:16 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Foamies! - RC Electric Foam Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1478695

RE: Prop question
Hi Scott - I wouldn't hesitate to use the MA 11x6 prop with that setup. I have noticed that the Graupner nylon props I use have a much wider blade area than their APC electric equivalents, and seem to have a lot more bite. You're also going down in pitch which should give you a much more authoritative pull. I wouldn't worry about the extra prop weight, except to re-check your center of gravity. The extra weight should only put more load on the motor while you're spinning it up to speed. I would not, however, drill holes anywhere, in any prop - that just sounds like a recipe to throw a blade off! If the weight is a great concern, look into the MA Scimitar in that size - it's sort of in-between an electric and glow prop (and they just look darn cool). I think the weight would fall somewhere in between, too. Dan.
Posted on: 1/26/2004 12:57 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Park Flyers & Backyard Flyers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1468554

RE: Show off your winter projects
Great pictures, folks... Excuse the poor quality photos, but here's my indoor GeeBee Z, just completed and waiting for the winds to drop below 50 mph for outdoor test flights.
Posted on: 1/26/2004 12:13 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "RC Scale Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1468393

RE: Help! I'm having female problem...
Oh - and chocolate... Use lots of chocolate.
Posted on: 1/23/2004 12:42 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Electric General Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1459098

RE: Help! I'm having female problem...
Dana - you can use the HobbyZone charger with the plug you have shown there to charge the battery, but be EXTREMELY careful to make sure the red wire on the charger connects to the red wire on the battery, and black to black. If I remember correctly, that plug will fit the JST connector you have on the battery, but may not be polarized, so you have to make sure you get the polarity correct yourself.
Posted on: 1/23/2004 12:41 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Electric General Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1459093

RE: Any RC homemade flying ideas?
Don't give up Pete - I built my first built airplane out of a wall that was removed from a building (it had a thin panelling on it that made the fuse and wing rib formers). The stringers are hardwood dowels, and the control surfaces are regular 1/4" plywood from Home Depot. And it flies like a banshee! Of course, I had to spend a lot on the power system to haul all that weight around but hey, it can be done! Dan. My second plane was going to be an indoor model built entirely from Depron foam "to go" boxes. I ended up using balsa for everything but the tail surfaces and wheel pants, for the sake of time. First flight reports coming soon on the "Indoor" forum...
Posted on: 1/20/2004 12:51 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1448873

RE: Almost Ready - GeeBee Z
Thanks guys... Excellent advice, I will take it all. I had to mess with the pictures quite a bit to get even that much yellow out of them! I'll just take it outside or something and get better pictures. Thanks for the tip about the prop - I'll need all the power I can get out of this setup to fly this plane. I just stuck the folder on because it seemed to clear the cowl better, but I think I'll look up the 3x3. If I have a lot of trouble, I'll try the 4.2:1 gearing and the 10cm prop... I'm finishing the mold for the canopy tonight, so I may be able to get a test flight in this week, if the wind stays down. By the way, Mike, I never did see a flight report for the Albatross - did I miss it? Tiberius - I'm in West Chester, some minutes toward the frozen north of Cincinnati. Pronounced 'Cold'n'Windy'. Dan.
Posted on: 1/20/2004 12:40 PM by Author "BykrDan" in the forum "Electric Indoor & Micro RC Flight"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1448827