Topic: RCRCM SUNBIRD BUILD

So you end up with 2 bits. One either side of the radio tray which goes rite into the nose.

You've got it 

had one do it on me before. Made a break for it through the nose of a voltij.

What kind of "landing" was that

His usual...................

Details

700ma AAA enloop held in with velcro and tie wrap, tight fit so not going anywhere, easy to swap on the slope and gives an hours flying time. The RX is under the ballast tube. A bit of a fiddle getting the slugs in and out of the tube they just fit hence the cutout in the tube.
Mark J

How's your build coming along Andymawr? Will you be ready for a maiden on Wednesday arvo or Thursday?

Treading very carefully,still waiting for the wing servos

Hey Mike, Andy hasn't seen the ballistik Who were those blokes that told you about it?

Just thought i'd post a couple of pics of my ongoing sunbird build,i decided to use the 2000 AA eneloop square pack as there seemed to be just enough room,i had to hack the servo tray to make room for the batt so i cut it as far forward as i could whilst keeping it strong and in one piece .It's pretty simple, common sense stuff,but as it's my first mouldie build i'm taking my time thinking things through BEFORE cutting/drilling/gluing,i'm sure you mouldie oldies know what i mean.So it's taking a lot longer than it should.
Big thank you to Zim for some really useful tips too
http://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/index.php?action=media;sa=media;in=25165;preview
http://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/index.php?action=media;sa=media;in=25163;preview
http://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/index.php?action=media;sa=media;in=25164;preview

Are you not having a ballast tube in it ?

It's in,it's tight, but it's in.RX goin above it just in front of the wing joiner

Nice job chief!

Z

Starting to get mine done now, changed my mind over batteries after the earlier debate, so the 6v AAA I ordered has now been swapped for a 4.8v 2/3af pack in a 2x2 config. Looks like it'll be ok as the canopy will still slide on without any probs, and if I put the rudder servo next to the battery I'm hoping the batt doesn't foul the movement of the short servo arm. I rarely use a rudder anyway but  I would like it to be functional. Maybe I'll only be able to turn left with the rudder  

The MPX rx will sit under the tray, but the tray needed opening up a bit so it (rx) is removeable. Once in I'll put a small ply piece in to help with the bracing, prob hot glued in so that it's easier to remove should I need to take the rx out. Had to wait 5 days for the splooge to dry properly which will help support the ballast tube as I added a touch too much water to the tub as it was a bit dry. Using HS65's all round with MG on the flaps as they came out of a model which recently snapped it's wing on the CoG dive test  

Saw your sunbird instalation pics Andrew,looks good. Glad to be of help

Cheers man,just hope i can fly it now

Just one last question chaps,i'm not sure what to do with the 35 meg aerial, any suggestions as to the best way to route it?

Can it make it out the fuz at the back?

Yup,my plan was to sneak it past the rudder pushrod an stiffen it up with a length of heatshrink to stop it fouling any control surfaces,bad things can happen if it does aparrently
Welcome back by the way

Well I maidened mine yesterday  Conditions were poor but flyable. I set the elevator stab with too much up in (no incidence meter) which made the first throw a frantic attempt to get to the trim button. It was about 4mm out when I checked and got home. Crow was way out too, but mainly because the setup on the Evo gives a 2 part compensation. I had set the trim of the 2nd part to the digi adjuster and was able to correct that in flight, but the 1st part was simply set. When you tried to dial in crow steadily, it pitched up quite badly, to the point it would stall. Luckily this was checked at height. Got around it by appling crow much more aggressively which cured the problem for the 1st landing and then adjusted. Once the 2 parts were set more evenly, crow worked beautifully  . Got to set some elevator comp for reflex/camber too, but I had about 1/2 hour just flying it around and getting a bit of a feel for it. Camber worked nicely to gain a bit of height, but conditions were that you hit the invisible ceiling and struggled to get it much higher. Still high enough to do a couple of fast(ish) low(ish) passes, with enough speed to try a few rolls etc. Did a couple of landings to check that crow was set OK, but launched again for another go after lighting a ciggie. I think a 75mm Cog would work out about right, mines at 73mm and could go back a touch but each to their own. Will try it out a bit more before before deciding on the CoG and sorting the ballast spacer out. Install as previously mentioned worked out fine, rudder servo arm stops just short of the battery and works OK, but I'm not 1 for using a rudder very often anyway. Only 1 guy at the slope when I maidened it, he was flying a Helloween. He commented something like 'seems alright that does, pretty quick'. I'll take that as a compliment then. I'm happy, cheers Zim 

Well done,sounds like a very successful maiden[hope mine goes as well]

Yahooo! Great stuff mate - glad to hear it.

Z

Well done,sounds like a very successful maiden[hope mine goes as well]

Cheers, usual shakes for a few minutes until it was trimmed out. More shakes when the crow didn't work properly too. Hoping the wind's better this weekend. Ah, just looked. NW means Bosley Cloud and a walk. Haven't flown Bosley yet either, hope the wind forcast's wrong.

You'll be fine with yours. Seeing as I don't have an incidence meter, I set the elevator with what someone quoted somewhere as 'a little obvious up'. I set mine with too much...obviously. 

So that's just a bit of up compensation on crow,is that right.I had a bit of a fiddle with the crow settings today and got a bit confused whether i needed up or down elevator comp,got a bit of a headache now

No sorry. 'A little obvious up' is how I set the AMT for launch/straight level flight. Definately down for crow comp. I've ended up with 70% down (very obvious), but flaps are near vertical. Might be able to back that off a little but need to get used to it first.

Thanks,may just have saved my plane with that post

Bar the flap movement, the throws were set via what Zim sent me. Dual rates on ailerons and elevator are at 65%, which makes it controlable but relaxed. If you set your landing flaps at what's recommended I think you'll find the recommened elevator comp good too. I also used the offset flap install which worked out well, cheers for that tuturial isoar...

I managed to get some more time with this today, and I'm impressed. Conditions were completely different to last week, I reckon about a 15mph wind with some great lift out there. I put 10g extra nose weight back in to err on the side of caution, but after a 5 min fly landed and removed 5g. Back up and another quick tear around before landing and removing the other 5g. Once the extra lead was out it was pretty neutral in the dive test, it didn't need much down elevator when inverted but didn't seem too sensitive to the elevator so I guess it's pretty close. I know from checks last night that my CoG is set at  just smidging under 77mm (but not 76). If I need to take any more nose weight out I'll have to drill it out but for now it seems fine so I won't mess.

A few guys had Mini Dragons on the go today, and I'm pretty sure that they had those ballasted up as they were both slightly quicker (and a lot noiser) than the SB. TBH I found the SB to be really quiet, and it wasn't until no-one else was flying and I could get in a bit closer that I could hear the whistle over the wind. Had a good general tear around for a bit and started to get it to it a lot more, it responed to lift really well and for the few times I got it right showed how good the energy retention was in doing some sort of newbie half pipes with stall turns   

Somehow I managed to mess up the the elevator comp for crow on the last flight which made for an interesting time. It had worked brilliantly earlier on with some guy wishing his MD slowed down as much as the SB, but once it was down I decided to look in to that on another day, not wanting to push my luck etc.

Overall I'm really pleased to have this in the locker. I can't personally compare it to any other 60" mouldie, but little things like the ballast tube included and horns ready fitted really made this an easy 1st/2nd build for me (got a Typhoon at the same time so sort of did a double build). And man... the Typhoon.... WooHoo 

Hey guys - as a note about this "obvious up" elevator settings for first launch... Ask yourself what you would rather have - the model blowing back over your head when you launch it, or heading a little nose down gathering speed away from the edge. Get to the edge of your slope and send it off with the elevator neutral. The worst outcome is a bit of a dive which is WAY better than trying to battle with something that kicks up, blows back and then you're trying to get control with zero airspeed, in the rotor.

Cheers

Z

Full review of the little beast in the next AMI - now in print - get em while they're hot 

Well my notwantingtobreakmynewshinyplanebybeingstupid-itous has passed...it's broke  ! Not entirely my fault  , which was the biggest surprise, as I always thought it would end up needing repairs due to me catching a wing on landing etc. But the result of a mid-air...no names mentioned but he's welcome to pitch in on what happened  . Admittingly there was quite a few out.  Luckily? I was still able to control it for a landing, although the last 6' or so it just dropped in.

Rh wing copped it, broken spar, damage to top and bottom skin along with split seams. I'm not sure if the servos copped it, hope the aileron one didn't as that was under the skin against the spar and will be a bi*ch to get out if it doesnt need to come out for the repair (which it prob will thinking about it). LH wing fine, no damage.

Fuse is now in two pieces, broken just behind the TE. I think the control rods kept it together as I still had elevator control, but it was a bit vague to say the least, but the 'landing' must have taken them out  . Rudder seam split about 1"-1 1/2"

Much debate followed, with the conclusion 'it's one of those things'. I managed to persuade a club member to under take the repair to the wing, who's comment 'yeah I can fix it, might not look pretty tho' actually made me smile, hence no photo's, but the fuse was left in my hands. I got my head around doing the fix, except for the bell crank clevis (needs new push rods) which was giving me a headache. Thought about a couple of ways to use the exsisting piece and join/ glue it up, but when I got home I'd got a message saying another club member would sort the fuse  . Thought Zim might need to order me one, still might but we'll see  .

Took me over an hour before I'd fly after that, and then I waited for clear airspace before I launched the Typhoon. That helped me feel a bit better, but took it easy. All the other club members had left about 4-ish so I had the slope to myself. Got the Typhoon up again and managed to blow the self doubts about my flying/the mid-air away a bit more. Then I got the Weasel out and played stupid bug*ers resulting in me walking down the slope a few times..at least that's EPP!!  

But the result of a mid-air...no names mentioned but he's welcome to pitch in on what happened

Mid-airs are usually not planned and especially so in this case, it was just one of those very unfortunate incidents. Sorry for your loss mate.
 The 60" foamie involved in the accident has been mortally wounded also and it's very doubtful that it can be made good again, unlike yours. The damage to the wing on mine could be easily repaired, but the internal plastic mouldings and foam fuselage are significantly damaged and the reality is that's it's probably safer to replace the whole plane rather than trying to bodge a repair that may fail again at a later date. The Hopefully your plane will be a bit stronger once repaired (although perhaps a little heavier) and will continue to give you many seasons of flying.
 I don't know about yourself Feefo, but this is my first mid-air in 41 years of modelling and it definitely doesn't sit easily with me and is a bitter pill to swallow, but it's a risk we all take when flying in crowded air. No hard feelings though. 
 

No you're right, mine's repairable (apparently), sorry to hear you think yours isn't. Can't you carbon sock it...eek?

Yep my first mid air too, praying it's my last, steps will be taken to try and make sure it was! I'll fly when there's less in the air, and land if a few launch. If the Mrs didn't work on Sats I'd fly then as it's always quieter up there on a Sat.

It has made me think about a tougher models tho, D40's too small (so I keep telling myself), D80's way too dear, hmmm D60.... LOL

No hard feelings either, but if we're going to do it again, lets use the Weasels for combat eh? Or I've got a Zagi (but it's not mine-honest).....

No hard feelings either, but if we're going to do it again, lets use the Weasels for combat eh? Or I've got a Zagi (but it's not mine-honest).....

Ha, you just know that deliberate mid-airs are virtually impossible, especially with foamies!  
 I don't have a Zacki (wait, that's glue isn't it?), but I do have a Weasel so if it's foamies at dawn you're after, I'm game!  

Well Webster has the wing, and hurry up and get the fuss to me and your sorted, I doubt you will even tell its been repaired when its in the air.

Scott r

You have a pm with my address

Feefos Sunbird fuss now just a light sanding and paint, She lives.........

Scott r

Crickey.........you'll be as good as The Fu at this rate....... ...well....you repair as many a week as he does.... . Ant.

Blimey...that was quick  S'pose all that's left for you to do now is GET THAT D40 VID UPLOADED.....
Official cheers, ta, thanks for the fuss repair, I'll gang up on Ant with you now....

That's good to see,looks a tidy job too
I'm sure i'll be following in your footsteps pretty soon

D40 clip just put on utube, search scott ravenscroft, dont no when it will play theres a delay sometimes.

D40 clip just put on utube, search scott ravenscroft, dont no when it will play theres a delay sometimes.

Yep it plays, saftey officer might not be impressed tho...LOL