Some bling-bling in the Twinstar!

Check this out, i is the "Lumilite" LED-strip lighting system from Hobbyking. The system consists of a small 2s lipo-powered power unit and seemingly endless amount of 50cm LED-strips. The Twinstar has now 6 of them, and the outer ones have been painted red and green with a permanent marker. Note that the colour is visible only after a clear tape is inserted over the LED and then coloured with the marker. A new coloured tape layer will emphasize the colour more. Based on my previous night flying experiences, it really helps to know which wing you really see...If it doesn´t rain today, I will try flying this Christmas tree!

Progress...progress...

Ok, a tight 2-hour session and this is what was done! 

The lower rudder´s hinges were glued into the fin...

Also, the elevator number two got the (South) Korean servo...

Likewise, the left wings aileron horn and the servo appeared...

I also have a red and a green LEDs to be fitted into the wings.

Mig aileron and flap!

Yep, the same left MiG wing again and again. But slowly and firmly its making its way into a ready wing! The split-flap was sanded to fit nicely into the wing´s recess. I still don´t know how exactly what the flap mechanics will turn out to be, but yes, they will be moved with two servos each. A CAD drawing is somewhere in the original designer / builders computer and it should reveal all! Anyway, now it fits and the servo wirings are also done now. Considering also of installing some sort of LED lights into the MiG as there is a nice ready wire channel leading into the wing tip.

Now I must confess, that using these pivot and round hinges is new to me...and thats why the installing of the aileron turned out to be rather difficult. Of course, the problem is an aileron not moving enough. I sanded the wing with a round block (cut from  Elan´s old wing tube) and after some careful glueing, it is  still needed to make some adjustments in order to move the aileron down more.  Also, the aileron is maybe 1 mm too much out, so this tells me I did not glue the hinges deep enough into the aileron.  The remaining one must be done better...

Here the flap can be seen open-actually the flaps are quite big in the MiG-15.

I was lucky enough to find 4 barely-used Spektrum DS821 servos form classifieds. They will move the flaps just perfectly. My Elan is full of them and I have been very satisfied with the way they work. 

For the wheel doors I purchased some 160 gram carbon fiber cloth, which I plan to laminate into the Polyply soon. Also, the aileron and rudder horns were ordered from Al´s Hobbies today, so when they arrive, the aileron servo install will commence. The aileron servos will be Nexus DSW601MG:s, which turn 7 kilos @5 volts and have metal gears and ball bearings. The MiG will have 11 digital servos, so, as in the Elan, there will be also an Orbit Powerjack inside to ensure the power to the servos. 

A new Elan video in HD!

We went flying the day before yesterday with a friend and collague of mine, Patrik. His electric powered Extra is on the right. He was kind enough to try filming my Elan with a camera that has a very nice picture quality, but that is really not intended for this kind of filming, the Canon Eos 5D mkII. No working autofocus and poor monitor to frame the picture in daylight. Anyway, after some editing, I am pleasantly surprised with the results. We'll do more and better ones later!

Check it out! It starts at 9 seconds. I ran out of editing time today and there it is, the beginning unfinished! Watch in HD!

Youtube

The "Duel!"

Ladies And Gentlemen! On the left corner (of the field...) is...Pro EDF F-16 with a HET Typhoon 70 mm electric ducted fan driven at 100 A on 4s lipos.  (applause)

...aaaannnd!... on the right corner is Avionik D-05 F5D Pylon model on my "relaxed glider setup"...that means a Mega 22/20/10 motor and a 1/4 planetary reduction drive. (I hope that was right, dont really remember anymore). The prop is usually a RFM 12.75 x 13, but as I broke it the other day, its now a Aero-Naut 12 x10.  This all is being driven on also on a 4s lipo.

The judge today is a Stalker Sport radar, it is calm and visibility is good. Its a great day. All means to make the model faster are allowed!

My friend Joni tosses the F-16 into the air and tells me 200 km/h is his goal today. Ok! The takeoff is a bit scary, as the fan´s torque banks the model left with force. Full opposite aileron, and some patience, and the F-16 gets on the step.  On horizontal flight the screaming EDF reaches a 180 km/h speed as it blazes past the Stalker.  Second try, now with a dive...201.9 km/h. Joni is happy and lands safely. He works as a flying instructor and is a professional pilot.

My turn now. The D05 can fly 300 Km/h straight and level with the F5D power setup, which means 5s 1800 lipos, a 2600 kV Neu motor, and a 4,7 x 4,7 prop turning at 42000 RPM. Lets see what this glider modification can do now.

On a glide, it flies easily 180 km/h straight and level. The prop does not stop fast enough as the ESC:s brake should be harder ( I must change it soon) , but with the motor on and a dive first create this number on the radar´s screen:

As we both had about the same amount of power to use,  the HET Typhoon 70 mm fan unit is actually quite good. The speed difference could be bigger, as the Avionik is an ultimately low-drag model and the F-16 not. The F-16:s flying time is a few minutes as I´ve soared over 20 minutes with mine with occasional speed runs in the middle. With the F5D setup my motor time is 1 minute!

Buy buy buy!!!

Ever had a day when You're just itching to buy yourself a new model? Its really frustrating when it happens. Then what happens is this: You browse through jet kit manufacturers pages and just think them over and over. This would look extremely cool...that would be really fast...AvondsSkymasterFlyeagleBZTomahawkJetlegendCompositeArfJetcatWrenFutabaBVMArtesJet1AIntairco...and almost every manufacturer has the SAME scale models to browse through. You think of a new-neat-nicely painted-not too expensive-product from the Far East. But then, a quality kit from Europe or USA would be almost certainly cheaper and You know what You get- no exploding wings or fuselages raining over somebodys head.
Even if we forgot about the money then there is the question of storage space. My workroom is a mere 4 square meters and 2.7 meters high. But it is so tempting, you know the feeling!

Now here's another thing-the optimal amount of jets. Ok, I think and based on my experiences, two is plenty! They can thus be of different flying characteristics and if one is offline, there is always the another, and flying is possible all season. Perfect flying weather and a six months wait for some part or kit is the ultimate nightmare!

No, I'll just have to turn off the web browser and do something useful. The Elan's batteries are already full and since I have a work commitment tomorrow next to a good airfield, I plan to mix some business and pleasure...before its snowing-hey it might snow tomorrow!

Gear door development

I started scetching the gear doors from BVM Polyply. It is not thick enough itself, so it must be reinforced later with either carbon cloth of something else. But, its transparent, and that helps a lot in this case. From the pictures it can be seen that the main door has a 30 degrees bank backwards and up from the wheel when the wheels are down.  But when they´re up, the bank is in the second door in the fuselage and in the front side! Sounds really crazy, but the angles in the landing gear and again the high swept-back angle change everything! The geen line iI drew at first was thus completely wrong, luckily I did not cut it so fast.

Here in the down position it is seen clearly. So whatever one first thinks with this undercarriage,  must be tested in both positions to say the least.

The elevator servo install 2.0. This looks much better now. Some more fastening points are still needed.