RE: why are wing tips UP , Down , or flat ?
hi there from Toledo I think Gallagher (the guy with the sledge hammer and produce) summed it up perfectly, "STYLE". ciao -rjf
Posted on: 8/11/2012 5:23 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Aerodynamics"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11189751

RE: LT40 Clipped Wing Starburst Covering
hi there from Toledo Hey Seamus Sure it is still an LT40 ... just better, upgraded, improved, refined, whatever. The fuselage and tail feathers are still original. The wing structure except for the mods is still the same and so forth. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 8/11/2012 5:11 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11189742

RE: LT40 Clipped Wing Starburst Covering
hi there from Toledo I also clipped the wing on my LT40 but I reinstalled the bevel tips. Then since the covering was off anyway I modified the airfoil, making it semisymmetrical for more inverted flight fun. [b]Wings and Things:[/b] I glued pieces of 1/4 stick balsa to the bottom of the main spars tapered to a point at the tip and root sheeting and pieces of 1/4 by 1/8 to the rear spars, tapered similarly. Then I glued strips of 1/4 by 1/8 balsa at each rib location from the LE to the TE and gluing to each spar too. Wetting each strip before bending made things easier with no breakage of the strips. Some sanding at the LE and TE smoothed the transitions. I also filled in between the strips along the spar additions with more 1/4 by 1/8 balsa. Then I recovered the wing with UC. I also added 2 wing servos on separate channels for flaperon mix operation. Pretty easy actually and worth it. [b]Come fly with me:[/b] The semisymmetrical modification makes inverted flight and outside loops easy and fun as opposed to tenuous and scary. About 10 degrees of down flaps lets the LT40 takes off with authority. About 2 or 3 degrees of up flaps (reflex) pretty much eliminates the strong climb with power. Flaps at 0 degrees makes for easy flying and smooth landings. I like to slow fly with 5 degrees of down flap at 3 feet off the deck and 1/3 throttle doing huge low indy laps of the field, priceless! ciao -rjf
Posted on: 8/11/2012 2:08 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11189571

RE: minimoa prop for phenoix 742-2?
hi there from Toledo Are you sure? Could it be 3.2 mm (0.125" or 1/8")? That would be a common transposition mistake and would make your search a whole bunch easier. If your info came from a foreign source, these kind of errors are rampant and quite confusing. Measure the shaft with a dial caliper or a micrometer and double check just to be sure even if it slows your ordering process by a few days. ciao -rjf ps: 0.093" or 3/32" equals 2.365 mm ... Hmmm. -rjf
Posted on: 6/18/2012 2:27 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "RC Gliders, Sailplanes and Slope Soaring"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11122671

RE: Daytime Strobe to Signal Lift
hi there from Toledo hey Nodd As I recall the thermal scout varies the pulse width modulation to the rudder servo so as to wiggle the tail when lift is found. I don't see how this all patches together seamlessly since the strobe is an on/off device not a pwm device. A revised thermal scout might be made to work as a switch or maybe an electronic interface between the units of some sort. This is a neat idea nonetheless. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 6/11/2012 7:11 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "RC Gliders, Sailplanes and Slope Soaring"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11115066

RE: Aspire EP conversion
hi there from Toledo A 2250 mah 2s lipo pack weighs about 4 ounces, changing from a 5000 mah lipo will definitely lighten the Aspire by 5 ounces or so (That is quite significant[:D]), improve the climb under power, enhance the thermal performance, and flatten the glide slope. Setting the C/G to the max rearward position improves the way the plane indicates lift and sink but it requires more attention by the pilot which is also good. Regarding spoilers, you will eventually get caught up in the mother of all up suck thermals. It will happen and as your glider specks out and disappears you will wish you had taken the time to research spoiler installation and had installed them into your Aspire. Sometimes a full right and full up spiral won't bring a sailplane down if the lift is strong enough and a sustained dive will only break you wing joiner. At that point the plane comes down as a lawn dart and fluttering wing panels, [:@] not good. best regards -rjf
Posted on: 6/10/2012 6:01 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "RC Gliders, Sailplanes and Slope Soaring"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11111189

RE: Aspire EP conversion
hi there from Toledo To stop a windmilling prop, slowly add up elevator until the Aspire is about to stall, the prop will generally stop and fold if the blades are adjusted right. Then recover from the stall and just fly away. Set the ESC for brake mode if you can, it really helps. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 6/8/2012 4:01 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "RC Gliders, Sailplanes and Slope Soaring"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11111663

RE: Aspire EP conversion
hi there from Toledo I purchased the neodymium magnets from the LHS at a reasonable price. Oh yeah the p. o. s. canopy regularly finds its way into the prop which is why they are hard to find. Make a balsa "canopy" from 3/16" medium balsa and add a couple of rails across the equipment bay for the magnets and a couple of balsa pieces to keep the canopy from sliding side to side. you can add more magnets to the canopy or steel screws which line up with the magnets in the cross rails. It is easy, really. however it changes the looks somewhat, I think for the better but that is just me. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 6/8/2012 12:33 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "RC Gliders, Sailplanes and Slope Soaring"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11111474

RE: Aspire EP conversion
hi there fromToledo As fate would have it my flying student recently picked up a used purple Aspire with can motor, nicads, and brush motor ESC. He had a 480 class outrunner from a previous crash, and a 50 amp ESC, and 3s 2250 mah 25C lipo pack. So he asked me to redo the front end of the Aspire to accommodate the newer gear, so I did. Out came the formers and triangle balsa forward of the LE, in went 1/32" ply doublers and extra balsa and plywood to stretch the fuselage by an inch for better balance with the lighter gear. I added a new nose ring for the Master Airscrew folder prop and spinner, a new motor mount and triangle stock to help round out the nose area. The stock canopy was in poor condition so we made a "canopy" from balsa and neodymium magnets. We kept the dowels for the rubber bands, he is a newbie after all. I then checked the wing for flatness, sheesh, one panel had wash in, the other huge washout. So I heated up the covering iron and twisted the panels and ironed out the wrinkles as needed to flatten the wing panels. I also tightened the covering of the fuselage and tail feathers and recovered the front end as needed. The ESC is connected by 3.5 mm bullet connectors to the motor and xt60 connectors to the safety jumper and battery. The battery sits centered on the spar for a slightly rearward C/G, fine by me, lets fly! And fly it did, I mean Wow! The revised Aspire climbs effortlessly, glides quite well, and became a dot when I found a thermal 1 minute into the maiden flight, outstanding. It took about 5 minutes of full up and full right spirals to get back down to a reasonable altitude. I handed my student the tx and he mosied the Aspire over to where the thermal had been and soon the Aspire was a dot again. What more can I say? Except I was delighted by this updated Aspire. It is a keeper for sure. The next mod will be spoilers for landing accuracy and getting down from the wild blue yonder before it disappears. ciao -rjf hey jstrach: Try a lighter battery it makes a tremendous difference. ciao rjf
Posted on: 6/8/2012 11:58 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "RC Gliders, Sailplanes and Slope Soaring"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11110782

RE: Anti-Graviton v2
hi there from Toledo Well this is truly exceptional. It should knife edge effortlessly. Lovely! ciao -rjf
Posted on: 2/19/2012 5:00 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Electric Pattern Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10966548

RE: no throttle response with my old recr and txmitter
Hi there from Toledo First remove the prop for safety sake, then try the reverse idea above. Some ESCs have minimal arming protocols and may start unexpectedly and props have blades that are sharp. Be careful. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 9/23/2011 8:13 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Electric Training"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10730408

RE: HELP...I need advice on a SIG 4 Star 40 conversion!
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Posted on: 9/11/2011 4:53 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Glow to Electric Conversions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10711873

RE: 2 outrunners from one esc and battery?
hi there from Toledo A few years ago I had a discussion with Pat from CC over beers at NEAT about a twin motor speed control where there was a single processor board and two fet boards, one set of input wires and two sets of output wires one for each motor. Synchronicity could be handled at the processor level, differential thrust could be handled with a second input cable from the rudder channel. Sadly it never went any further than an interesting idea, sigh. However with a computer radio, two ESCs and some pmix tinkering, synching two motors and differential thrust is pretty straight forward. I have done this for a ford trimotor scale project, it works great. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 9/11/2011 6:54 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Brushed/Brushless motors, speed controls, gear drives"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10711235

RE: axi motor parts?
hi there from Toledo Give the folks at hobby lobby a call. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 9/11/2011 6:31 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Brushed/Brushless motors, speed controls, gear drives"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10711211

RE: A new glider launch system.
hi there from Toledo Magnificent! A truly fair and comprehensive evaluation of a distinct departure in sailplane launch technology. Bravo, well done!!! Keep up the good work. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 9/9/2011 6:00 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "RC Gliders, Sailplanes and Slope Soaring"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10709371

RE: RX /SERVO I.D. OLD KRAFT ?
hi there from Toledo The servos shown are Kraft KPS-9 servos with dual linear rack outputs (absent) and rotary output as well. These servos were also provided by Kraft and were also found in Heath Kit radios as licensed from Kraft, other vendors as well I suppose. The time-frame was late 60s and early 70s. The servos were 4 wire, one signal wire, +2.4 VDC, ground, and -2.4 VDC. The battery pack was also center tapped to provide the split voltage source for the analog / digital radio equipment and servos. The connector block was remote from rcvr housing and was the source of many faulty connections, opens, and crashes. The same general info applies for the 5 channel rcvr. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 9/9/2011 9:22 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Electric General Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10708756

RE: stopping prop?
hi there from Toledo [b]Back to the future[/b] Okay, I have been flying epowered airplanes since before brushless motors, before lipos, and even before NIMH cells. So back in the prehistoric days to stop a prop was also a concern and since no ESC (and they were analog not digital!!) at the time had a brake function, you had to stop the prop mechanically. [b]How to stop a prop[/b] What we did was to take a servo and a piece of nyrod and install the outer rod from the servo through the front firewall and past the motor stopping just behind the prop arc. The servo was connected to the retract channel and so was switchable. The inner nyrod was the attached to the servo arm in the usual manner and the length of the inner rod was adjusted so that the inner rod would extend just a little bit into the plane of the prop so that when extended the inner rod would interfere with the prop's rotation and buzz like a cicada if the power were on. If the motor was turned off and just freewheeling, this interference was enough to stop the prop and stop it in the same position every time. It saved props during landings without LG but you had to replace the inner nyrod every so often and it did scuff up the TE of the prop a little but so it goes. This really worked quite well, give it a try. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 8/9/2011 7:40 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Electric Training"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10663537

RE: Eclipse Glider Electric Underpowered
hi there from Toledo The best thing to do with an old can motor is as follows: -remove the end head with the brushes -remove the armature -remove the magnets from the can and put them on your refrigerator -remove the copper windings and recycle the copper -recycle the steel can and end head then be glad you did it so that you don't have to put up with the can motor anymore. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 10/28/2010 11:50 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "RC Gliders, Sailplanes and Slope Soaring"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10099993

RE: Use of battery balancing output to power BEC
hi there from Toledo! my issue with that idea is that the wire gage may not support the current flow necessary for the rcvr and multiple servos. I agree with the pilot pete otherwise. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 6/26/2009 11:22 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Electric General Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8882733

RE: Leon Shulman's Zomby ?
hi there from Toledo! Either ESC will do the job. The 12A unit may be more useful in future projects. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 6/26/2009 11:17 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Electric General Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8882724

RE: I need your advice re my glitch problem
hi there from Toledo! Sorry for the long delay in returning your question. Also I liked the agricultural temporary fix, bravo! The photo was just a possible way of winding the toroid to get more turns on the same core. Most folks recommend 3 turns minimum. Well this has more than 3 but it did require disassembly of the servo connector and some creative stitchery. I have no good way of testing the setup except to say that it has worked well for several years in a plane that had some nasty ESC / rcvr noise issues. Thanks for the interest ciao -rjf
Posted on: 6/26/2009 11:12 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Electric General Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8882707

RE: Electric Motors
hi there from Toledo! present state of the art answer: If the motor is a brushless inrunner or outrunner, there is generally no break in required. If a gear box is used there will be some break in and lubricant change required. obsolete state of the art answer: If the motor is a brush motor, then there is a break in period while the brushes get properly seated on the commutator. This may take quite a number of flights to accomplish. It all depends on the relative hardness of the brush compound, the softer the compound the quicker it breaks in but the quicker it will wear out during normal operation. So replaceable brushes are a goodness and having a small supply of replacement brushes is a good idea too. Avoid brush motors if possible!!! ciao -rjf
Posted on: 6/26/2009 10:57 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Electric General Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8882675

RE: Kadet Seniorita EP 63" wing span
hi there from Toledo But at 500 - 600 watts, OH DEAR ME! YEEHAH!!! CIAO -RJF
Posted on: 3/13/2009 10:54 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Electric Training"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8573661

RE: I need your advice re my glitch problem
hi there from Toledo Go to rcg and search for a discussion that I hosted called "to choke or not to choke, that is the question." The info there will help you immensely. The info is directed at systems on 72mhz. The choke issue does not apply to 2.4ghz systems, so I am told. So the Guys with the newer systems can't relate to your issue. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 3/13/2009 10:49 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Electric General Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8573594

RE: Using The AstroFlight "Blinky" To Balance Packs, Common Sense Lipos, etc.
Hi there from Toledo: The original blinky is for flat lipos. the balancing is optimized for the 4.2 VDC max of the flat lipos. The A123 Blinky is for the A123 cells the balancing is similar to the original but with revised max and minimum voltages more in line with the 3.6VDC max of the A123 cell's output characteristics. I have two of each version, I used a sharpy marker to put an "A" on the A123 blinkies. FYI: I also put a black dot on each blinky at the pin for the gnd( most negative) connection. This help me to not hook up the blinkies incorrectly. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 3/6/2009 11:09 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "E-Flight Power Sources"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8550001

RE: Troubleshooting T-34 "pulsing" sound at full throttle
hi ther from Toledo: Check the condition of all solder joints or crimp joints on the battery, ESC, and the motor too. You probably have a bad joint somewhere. If you can also check the solder joints in the motor. These are the "usual suspects" of epower applications.' ciao -rjf
Posted on: 2/27/2009 11:33 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Brushed/Brushless motors, speed controls, gear drives"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8524355

RE: motor makes grinding sound w/heavy load
hi there from Toledo: The grinding noise is indeed a timing issue between the ESC and the motor for the prop of interest. I had a similar issue with a ccphx60 and an AXI 413016 a while back. The great guys at CC told me to set the ESC timing at minimum (or low) timing, the issue went away. Every thing has worked great since. If you can adjust the timing for your ESC then by all means do so. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 2/27/2009 11:21 AM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Brushed/Brushless motors, speed controls, gear drives"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8524317

RE: Best Way to Add Weight to the Front of Your Plane
hi there from Toledo Cut off the nose section ahead of the wing and fabricate a longer nose section to help achieve better static balance. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 11/29/2008 5:43 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Tips & Techniques"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8195317

RE: connector to link different diameter tubing?
Hi there from Toledo Try the various car parts stores. The often have repair parts for vacuum tubing and wind shield washer fluid tubing. I have seen size change fittings there. Also check with Robart, Rhom air and the other retract mfgrs., maybe Dubro too. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 11/20/2008 3:19 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8166605

RE: Color coding servo to receiver leads
hi there from Toledo why not use the electronic color std but adapted to channel numbers? ch. 0=black, rcvr binding, freq search, battery connection, or some such. ch. 1=brown ch. 2=red ch. 3=orange ch. 4=yellow ch. 5=green ch. 6=blue ch. 7=violet ch. 8=gray ch. 9=white more? ch. 10=brown/black ch. 11=brown/brown ch. 12=brown/red and so forth. ciao -rjf
Posted on: 11/18/2008 4:57 PM by Author "ray foley" in the forum "Electric General Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8159980