RE: Telemaster 40 wing dihedral question
Thanks for the help and comments. Looks like I'll go with 0 incidence on both the stab and wing. I found another thread about this and that's what they went with. I still don't get the thrust, or why it has to be pointed down. Another guy mentioned that he made his with 0 down thrust and a tiny bit of right thrust. But I'll prob just stick to what's on the plans since I don't understand it. Just rotated 90 degrees so the muffler is down.
Posted on: 1/21/2011 3:50 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10278983

RE: Telemaster 40 wing dihedral question
Thanks a ton sourrich! Very much appreciated!
Posted on: 1/20/2011 2:37 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10276683

RE: Telemaster 40 wing dihedral question
I could really use some help at this point. I don't want to build much else until i know how I should proceed. Two things I really need to figure out: 1. The plans call for a slight downward thrust for the engine. If I rotate the engine 90 degrees (muffler down), do I still use the identical downward thrust, or does it change? 2. With a flat dihedral, what sort of incidence do I use for the wing/stab? If anyone could help me out I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
Posted on: 1/19/2011 10:04 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10275414

Telemaster 40 wing dihedral question
Hi, I'm building an OLD telemaster 40 that I bought off craigslist. It's certainly the oddest kit I've ever built, but that's another story. I wan to make it less trainer-ish, and I found a good thread about that here: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_6561481/anchors_6748657/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#6748657 But there are a few chagnes that I'm making and I'd like to make sure it all sounds ok. Mainly I'm removing all of the dihedral from the wing and I'm not putting in flaps. If there's any issue with this I'd like to know about it beforehand. The other thread suggests also making the wing incidence 0 degrees. I guess the question is, if I have no dihedral, do I need to worry about the wing or stab incidence or the thrust offset for the engine in any way? Thanks for any advice!
Posted on: 1/17/2011 3:34 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10270453

RE: Electric Heli Kits?
Thanks you guys, that helps a lot! I'm seeing a few of the Trex kits that come with and electric motor, esc, and servos for around $400. The 450 size. It's a bummer that the smaller ones are less stable, but I don't want to spend much more than that. Can you tell me, is there any significant disadvantage to the electric motors? I'm only leaning towards them because I'm tired of the years of dealing with nitro gas and all the oil I have to wipe off my planes. Thanks for the advice!
Posted on: 11/11/2010 12:12 AM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10128086

Electric Heli Kits?
Hi, I'm primarily an airplane flier, but recently I bought a little micro heli for fun (4 channel CX heli with alternating blades and no tail rotor). It was only $120 bucks, but pretty fun. Anyhow, I love building things. I build my planes from kit and use to build RC cars from kit. ARFs are boring as hell for me. About 2 or 3 years ago I saw some electric heli kits in the hobby store, but now, like so many other kits, stores aren't carrying them anymore. Everything is ARF or RTF. I think the heli kit I saw was called an 'Evolution' or some such. It was around $300... and it was just the kit. You had to put everything together, including the gears and all that. Now, I look around online and I can't find anything like that! Maybe it's because I'm not using the right search criteria, since I don't know much about helis. But searching for RC Helicopter Kits gets me a lot of results, but each page I look at is full of RTFs or ARFs. Does anyone have any suggestions where to look? What I'm looking for is a heli kit, around $300, where you have to build everything. Yes, I realize that the jump up from that little micro heli to a collective pitch heli like that one I'm looking for is dramatic, and I anticipate having to spend a long, long time just learning to hover. I have a Spectrum DX7 controller for my planes, and I got it specifically with the intent of being able to use it for helis also. Any suggestions are much appreciated! Thanks!
Posted on: 11/10/2010 5:15 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10127254

RE: Warped wing advice
I did check the board. That was the first thing I verified since I use sheet-rock... as well as the table it's on. Both were straight. Checked them with a 6' level and a string (in case the level was warped). Anyhow, thanks for the advice nonetheless JNorton.
Posted on: 11/10/2010 4:34 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10127176

RE: Warped wing advice
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll probably give the counter-warping idea a try first and see how it goes. Worse case I can just rebuild it, but I'm hoping I don't have to. Thanks again for all the suggestions!
Posted on: 11/10/2010 11:37 AM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10126601

Warped wing advice
I just pulled a wing half off the building board and it's warped. No idea why... I check the spars and leading/trailing edges for warps before I pin them down. The problem is the trailing edge... it's basically warped up as it moves away from the fuse. Was hoping somoene had some advice, other than trying to straighten it with the covering. I took a quick video of it to show the problem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqImaDF7wNg (it's loud, turn your sound down. my wife had the music cranked up.) I've built at least a dozen planes... never seen a wing warp so bad. This is a flat bottom trainer (Telemaster 40 - gas). If anyone has any advice, please let me know. Maybe I could soak the trailing edge and some of the ribs... leave some books on it for a week or something. Thanks
Posted on: 11/7/2010 10:50 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10121773

RE: Question on rebuilding wing
Ok, thanks for all the input you guys! My main reason for rebuilding it as is, is saving money. Don't have a lot to blow right now. I can rebuild it for almost nothing, but a new wing kit (or all the balsa) I can't really afford at the moment. I'll struggle through it though and get her flying again soon. Thanks for the advice!
Posted on: 4/15/2010 3:47 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Crash & Rebuild"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9663152

RE: Question on rebuilding wing
Thanks for the feedback you guys, always appreciated. I am curious though RC Maniac... how could rebuilding the entire wing be easier than rebuilding 1/4 of it? As it is now, I need to cut out about 6 ribs, rebuild the TE and the wing tip and re-coat one half. If I were to rebuild the whole thing it would be much, much more work from my point of view. Not to mention, a lot more money in materials. Thanks again for the help you guys!
Posted on: 4/14/2010 11:12 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Crash & Rebuild"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9661747

Question on rebuilding wing
I recently crashed my super sportster 40 fairly hard and the wing got pretty messed up. I've rebuilt plenty of planes before, but this crash did a pretty good number on the wing and I'm worried about making sure that it's structurally sound once rebuilt. The biggest worry I have is that the trailing edge was snapped in two just past the 3rd rib. Both spars and the leading edge are still intact. The rib from #4 outward, and *behind* the spars and the webbing, are gone, including the trailing edge. So, my plan is to rebuild those ribs (the back half of each, from the spars to the TE) and the trailing edge. I could re-enforce the joint between the two TE pieces fairly well with some plywood and epoxy, but I'm not sure if it would be necessary to do that with each rib. I'm thinking that wouldn't really be necessary for the ribs... once they're in place and monokoted, the monokote would hold that stuff in place pretty well. What do you guys think? Also, the left half of the wing came out almost entire unscathed. However, the leading edge we crushed right next to where the body contacts the wing. In fact, it was likely the wing saddle that caused that crunch. Other than replacing that piece of the LE, I really don't think I have to be too concerned about it. Sound reasonable? Thanks for any input! Note: I added two pictures... one of the right wing and the other of the crushed LE.
Posted on: 4/14/2010 7:03 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Crash & Rebuild"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9661141

RE: Suggestion for new battery
Thanks for the replies! I'm looking at this one: http://www.onlybatterypacks.com/showitem.asp?ItemID=10315.2 Will that work with a Spektrum? Doesn't have to be Spektrum does it? I can see maybe having to change the coupler, but that's no biggie. Not bad for $23 bucks.
Posted on: 3/20/2010 12:44 AM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9596752

RE: Flaps and slowing this thing down
Well I'm currently glueing in about 4 or 5 MORE ounces in the front of this thing, on top of about 5 that I already had under the engine. Used up just about every fishing weight I have. Drove around and couldn' t find any tackle stores open after 7pm on a friday. And tire stores don't seem to use lead anymore. Anyone know of a good place to find lead if you're in a bind on an evening, just out of curiousity? I'm really surprised that how tail heavy this plane ended up being. I'm also used to balancing all my other planes with the tank full, and I even use to add weight to make them tail heavy. This could odd when I go to fly tomorrow. Suppose to be a nice day too!
Posted on: 3/20/2010 12:09 AM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9596685

RE: Help with OS 46fx idle
"These carbs don't respond as well to flicking as they were not designed for that. Car slide type and YS carbs will respond lightning quick, but you are asking too much of a .46fx carb if you expect that kind of response." Very cool to hear! I think I was expecting it to be too perfect then. Glad to hear about the YS too... I have a new YS 110 for a bipe SkyBolt that i'm making. It's my first four-stroke. They always sound so smooth out at the airfield... have always wanted one. I can't wait to get it broken in! Thanks for all the advice!
Posted on: 3/19/2010 11:57 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Glow Engines"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9596662

RE: Flaps and slowing this thing down
Sounds good, thanks again for the advice!
Posted on: 3/19/2010 11:51 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9596645

Suggestion for new battery
I have a brand new DX7 radio that came with a 4-cell, 4.8 volt battery for the receiver. Can't remember the amps on it. Long story short, I need to buy a new battery pack. I have two planes... a 40 size sportster using 6 servos and a 120 size biplane that will use 7. I will need to use the current pack for the smoke pump in the biplane, and will need to get another battery pack for the receiver anyhow. Plus, I'm nervous about having so many servos even in the size 40 while using the receiver battery that came with it. I would also like a little extra torque, and from what a guy at the hobby store told me, more voltage will aid with torque. I've read quite a bit over the last two days, but the more I read about batteries, the more confused I get. There's so many variables to consider... voltage, amps, number of cells, type of battery, etc. I guess what it comes down to is this... what's a fairly safe battery to use if you had to buy a new one for the receiver of a DX7 when running 7 or 8 servos? And do I really want to get a LiPo (the guy at the shop was advocating this for longer battery life... though I doubt I need that since the gas tank is the real limiter). Thanks for any advice!
Posted on: 3/19/2010 5:38 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9595763

Help with OS 46fx idle
Hi. I have an OS 46fx that I am having a problem tuning. The problem started with this... when the engine would idle for more than a few seconds, when I would flick the throttle to full the engine would studder a bit and then slowly spin up to full RPM. I was unsure of how to clean that up so that it was much more responsive... faster throttle up. So I read through the engine manual and talked to some folks out at the air field and I thought I had a decent understanding of how to use the idle setting (the screw that's 'inside' of the throttle arm). My understanding of what was going on here is that it was too rich at idle and would slowly flood the carb... so the longer it idled, the less responsive it would be when I try and throttle up quickly. That seemed to make sense and match the symptoms. So, I slowly closed (clockwise) that screw... about a quarter turn at a time to lean out the idle. It seemed to work fairly well... the engine would be more and more responsive after leaving it in idle for 20 or 30 seconds and then quickly throttling up. But, the manual seemed to suggest that the propper setting for this would be about 2 full turns open. When I got it set as best as possible, that idle screw is fully closed on my engine. Again, seems to work ok, but I've only had a few short flights when I was testing it... and still noticed some sputter on throttling up while in the air. Can anyone make any suggestions as to what I might be doing wrong or what I might try? Not sure if it matters, but I'm using 15% fuel. Thanks!
Posted on: 3/19/2010 4:02 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Glow Engines"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9595534

MOVED: Help with OS 46fx idle
Glow Engines: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9595534
Posted on: 3/19/2010 4:02 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Gas Engines"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9595554

RE: DX7, no trim for slave channel
ChuckW nailed it. I moved them configs from prog 1&2 to 5&6 and it works perfectly! Thanks so much! One odd thing was this... I have the elevators so that the gear was slaved to the elevator. But when I threw the gear switch on the radio, the 'gear' servo would swing way open, giving me with one elevator half set normal and the other way up. Don't know why the gear switch would still effect that servo if it's slaved to the elevator. To fix this I set the throw setting for the gear channel to 0 for both up and down. It fixed the issue so that if I accidentally hit that gear switch while flying, it won't have any effect. Not sure if that was the best solution, but it seems to work.
Posted on: 3/19/2010 3:10 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9595392

RE: Flaps and slowing this thing down
Hmmm I always thought CG was test with the tank full. I'll very likely be nose heavy again if I check it empty (cant' right now as I'm at work). But I guess I'll just have to add more nose weight. It's odd, cause I had 3 people out at the airfield look it over before I flew it and they all asked if the tank was full when they were checking CG (which it was). Bummer about the flaps =( ...sounded fun. Maybe I'll set them up later, but only with a tiny tiny bit of down flap at max. Thanks for all the advice!
Posted on: 3/19/2010 2:58 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9595367

RE: Flaps and slowing this thing down
Oh, about the prop, I trashed it and can't remember exactly what it is. But now I have an Evolution 11x7. The other prop was definitely shorter.
Posted on: 3/19/2010 3:50 AM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9594458

DX7, no trim for slave channel
So I have a split elevator on a super sportster and made it so there's one servo for each half. The gear channel is slaved to the elevator channel. Works perfect, but for some reason when I use the elevator trim, it only works for the one half driven by the elevator channel. Is there any wa to get it to work for both? I've read through the manual and messed with the setting on the radio and can't find anything. I can trim it out using the settings, digitally in the radio to match, but I can't really do that while in flight of course. I'm about to hook up the aelerons in the same way... aux2 slaved to aelerons, and the same will probably happen there as well. Any help? Thanks!
Posted on: 3/19/2010 3:13 AM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9594437

RE: Flaps and slowing this thing down
Thanks for the replies! I'm sure you guys are right in that I need more practice. I flew for the first time in about 15 years last weekend... was anxious, and had two or three landings that were rather speedy. The day was also during dusk, windy, and drizzling (live in Seattle). My approaches were fairly high up, as I didn't want to take a chance on skimming the tall grass/weeds. I think I'm also just looking for an excuse to use flaps. =) This is the first radio i've ever had with more than 4 channels... so fancy and all. The idea of the flaps are neat. So I'll work on my approach hopefully this weekend, and save the flaps for toying around with. I'm curious though now that I have it set up and got the servo extensions I need to seperate them... for flaperons, do you make the aelerons go up or down? In planes that I've flown in (747s and such), the flaps always go down, but someone above mentioned that they should be set to go up. The plane is balanced on the spar when the tank is full, so it shouldn't be nose heavy really. Though, I had to add about 7 or 8 ounces to the nose to get it that way! For some reason it was rather tail heavy. My guess is it's due to the elevator servos. I mounted two mini servos just in front of the stabalizer's leading edge in the firewall, one for each elevator half. I've always hated split elevators with a four-channel radio, so I put some servos in the tail to make the elevator rock solid. Thanks again for the advice!
Posted on: 3/19/2010 3:08 AM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9594431

Flaps and slowing this thing down
Hi, I have a 40 size super sportster with an OS 46 abc in it. The plane is pretty fast, which I want, but it's like landing a lawn dart with a rocket on it. I have a DX7 raidio that has flap capability, so I started looking at that as a way of slowing it down for landing. I would assume this is a good idea...? The question I have though, is can it be configured if I'm using a Y harness for the two aeleron servos? I can't seem to get it to work... as the aelerons go opposite directions when using the flaps on the radio. I can get it to work if I hook them up individually to the receiver, and then make one of them (say aux) a slave of the other servo, but this would require me to buy a new extension for both servos. I know that's not a whole lot of money, but I would like to avoid buying more stuff if I don't need to. So I'm wondering if anyone knows how to do it with a Y harness that wouldn't involve reversing one of the servos. Also, any other advice for slowing the plane down? I've heard that using a triple prop could help as well. Thanks for any help!
Posted on: 3/18/2010 4:09 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9593009

RE: Nylon hinges & canopy
Thanks for all the replies. I was in such a hurry to get the control surfaces in that I used the method described in the first post (using T pins to push the epoxy in). I really like the idea about drilling a hole in the slot and using some kind of method (straw, siringe, etc) to squirt the glue down in there, so I'll use that when I do my skybolt next. I still have no assurance how much epoxy got deep in the slot using the method I did, so this morning I'm going to stick some T pins through the TE/control surface that go through the hinge as well... make damn sure they're locked in place even if the epoxy failed on a few. So I've never seen canopy glue... never heard of it. I'll have to check the local hobby shops. Also like airbusdrvr's idea with the CA and screws. I'll have to take some pictures soon. Should be finished in a few hours... just have the control horns for the elevators and aelerons left.
Posted on: 2/27/2010 12:33 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9540199

Nylon hinges & canopy
Well I'm putting on the last bits for my sportster right now and I have to questions for the kit builders. I'm using these little nylon hinges for the first time, with the little metal pin down the middle (I usually use the fuzzy ones that you use CA on). I've read that it's good to use epoxy for them, but I can't think of a good way to get the epoxy down inside the hinge slot. I already cut the slots before I covered the plane. If I just put the epoxy over the slot, and then push the hinge down through the slot, I don't see how enough of the epoxy can get down deep in the hinge. Plus I'm afraid that the epoxy that remains on the outside will get into the metal/nylon part when it comes in contact with the trailing edge (or control surface leading edge). Any help here? Second question is about the canopy. On past planes I've built, I've never been happy with the job I do joining the canopy to the plane. I either get CA everywhere on the canopy, and it makes it white and ugly, or I don't get a good seal and it falls off in the future. I should have put some plywood around the edge so I can screw it on, but it's too late for that now. Any thoughts? Epoxy and patience maybe? What do you all do? I'd like to make it look nice this time. The fuse is covered already, so the glue will be between monokote and the canopy. Thanks for any advice. Can't wait to go flying tomorrow morning... should the weather allow. Not looking good up here in seattle.
Posted on: 2/26/2010 10:40 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9539006

RE: New radio (spektrum dx7) buzzing
Ok, after much searching, I found a good thread on it. Seems to be normal: http://rcudev.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8837567/anchors_8840644/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#8840644
Posted on: 2/26/2010 9:30 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9538860

New radio (spektrum dx7) buzzing
I have a brand new Spektrum dx7 radio and when I turn it on, a fairly quiet buzz noise comes from the transmitter constantly. I'm wondering if this is a known thing or if I should be concerned about it. Has anyone ever heard of this issue? Thanks for any help!
Posted on: 2/26/2010 9:23 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9538578

RE: Help with maiden flight
Both the skybolt and the sportster are kits, not arfs. So I'm curious about what you guys mentioned the firewall and glassing it. How come? What did you guys see happen if you don't. I haven't covered the skybolt yet or put in the firewall, so I can still do whatever is needed. Should I glass just the firewall, or also the fuse sides where it attaches to the firewall? Thanks again for all the help!
Posted on: 2/26/2010 7:44 PM by Author "mooseflier" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9538568