Conference vmszoo::rc

    I walked in the house and nobody said anything. I stopped by the
    bookcase and dropped off my pocket contents. I headed upstairs to
    change into a sweatshirt and there was the box. I brought it into the
    kitchen and my youngest said Merry Christmas, my present for you
    finally came.
    
    I opened the box and looke inside. Everything was packed so nicely, I
    dared not take it out for fear of never getting it back in the box. I
    took a look at one stab core sitting on top. Wow is that quality. 1/4"
    at the thickest and a beautiful cutting job. Oh well, put it back and
    grab the manual.
    
    The manual consists of 12 pages of instructions which give the basic
    order in which things are done. This isn't a novice kit. You need to
    know the way to build it in order for the instructions to be helpful.
    While reading I discover that the "stab" above is a wing tiplet. I
    start through the box and pull everything out. The wing is a solid 48"
    core with a 30" spar cut out. Again, a beautiful cutting job. All the
    wood is perfect as far as I can tell and each subassembly is bagged to
    keep it together. One thing that surprised me was that the kit includes
    all hardware to install the default radio installation. There are 4 48"
    Sullivan golden cable rods and all the Dubro ball linkage used for the
    ailerons. To be honest, this is about $20 worth of accessories that I
    didn't expect to see.
    
    The plans are rolled and full-size half view. To do the second half you
    turn them over and coat them with oil to make them transparent (as
    described elsewhere)
    
    Complaints:
    
    No where does it describe initial throw values for the plane. One thing
    I like about the Pulsar is that they give very specific throws for all
    the surfaces including 3/4" up and 1/4" down aileron differential which
    isn't something I would have stumbled onto in flying it.
    
    They don't really describe a computer radio installation in the plans.
    They describe a big Chup installation with the addition of a flap
    servo. The ailerons attach to the rudder servo and the installation
    described does have the advantage of flying the plane with a radio as
    simple as the Attack. They mention that anyone interested in putting
    separate aileron servos in the wing probably has their own method
    anyway.
    
    Modifications planned:
    
    I plan on going with a pull-pull rudder and separate aileron servos in
    the wings so I can do crow and full camber mixing. I'll probably stick
    with the single flap servo but the fuselage is roomy enough in that
    area that two servos could be used for aileron->flap mixing. My goal
    weight (in round numbers) is 64oz or 4 pounds. The box calls for
    58-70 ounces. I'll be building two complete planes so I have a backup
    of everything. This is intended to be my Nats plane for Open class
    gliders this year. I'll probably get the fiberglass fuselage sometime
    around March/April.

Well, I'm back and on a new system. I spent most of my four
day weekend building two Alcyones. The kit is really exceptional
quality. The building process consisted of finding the part
in the bags of stuff, tracing it onto a master pattern sheet
(for future repairs) and then tracing it onto duplicate stock.
Using this method I've been able to complete two fuselages
including tail feathers. I'm just starting to build the wing
spars. So, fiberglass fuselage builders, I've pulled even 8^)

Here's some differences I how I did things:

The tail boom longerons are spruce. CA doesn't like to kick
with spruce. I took a Q-tip and dipped it in my refill bottle
of kicker and rubbed the glue areas. No more problems. I also
added small 1/64" ply squares to the inside of all the 
diagonal joints. This reinforces the joints and added a surprising
amount of strength.

I put a piece of 3oz glass and epoxy around the edges of all the
bulkheads in the fuselage (they are in the wing and nose so I
figured the weight would help balance)

I'm going to use a pull-pull rudder so I left the rudder cable
out of the construction. I drilled the holes by putting a
piece of brass tubing in my cordless drill and it worked great.

Construction is very straight forward and I've been able to
work pretty well continuously due to the use of CA.

I've rough sanded the fuselage to shape and will bring it to\
the DECRCM meeting tomorrow night. Final fuselage weight, 
uncovered/painted including tail feathers is 15-16oz.

    Based on ~ one month of flying the lone local Alcyone, its owner
    says that the weak(est) area of the design is the rear wing root
    between the inbd. end of the flaps and the area where the rear wing
    hold-down bolts go.
    
    Yesterday, landing in and skidding across the snow, I saw what he means
    as the ply reinforced area cracks span-wise from the root outbd. to
    the flap.
    
    Seems to be a lot of tension/stress in this area and excessive
    or sudden vertical force causes the crack.
    
    The nylon bolts will shear with a side load ok, but not weak enough
    on vertical loads to protect the structure.
    
    In related news, the Chup flies well in <30 degree temps, but scoops
    snow up into the finger hole on landing.
    
    I'm glad I only have to deal with these earth shaking problems
    once or twice every few years.
    
    Terry

    Thanks for the info. I've been keeping reasonably detailed notes during
    the construction and intend to send a letter of praise/thanks along
    with suggestions/changes I did. Sounds like some glass cloth under the
    sheeting in this area might be effort well spent. Four 30" by 1/2" wide
    strips of carbon fiber laminate sure puts a dent in the CF budget. That
    was just one set of wing spars... This latest batch of "virgin" white
    foam cuts like a dream. I should have the second set of cores cut this
    week and be able bag them this weekend. My intent is to practice on my
    own cores and save the kit cores for when I've gotten more experience.
    Work on the spars is on the bill tonight!

        Re:   <<< Note 1404.3 by ELMAGO::TTOMBAUGH "Dangerously close to mawkishness" >>>

        Interesting!
        
                That's exactly  what happened to my Legend!  It developed
        a crack forward  from  the  inboard  end of the flap forward.  No
        manner of gluing could keep it together until I cut a hole in the
        sheeting and poured a fat epoxy fillet across the break!
        
        Anker

    More thoughts/observations:
    
    The stabs are built up out of 1/4" balsa of various thicknesses. A root
    doubler and spar are put in place at the highpoint of the proposed
    airfoil. You end up with a big, bulky mass of wood with the comment
    "shape to airfoil section shown". Ha ha ha.
    
    I happened to have a sheet of 50 grit paper sitting around which I
    thumbtacked down to my workbench. I marked the center of all the edges
    with pencil and got started. Slowly but firmly I rubbed it on the sheet
    (get your mind out of the gutter Mr. Smith) and worked the shape down
    to what the plans called for. This took about an hour to do two sets
    and I ended up with two paper cups full of sawdust (saved for filler on
    the less than perfect CA joints) and some wonderfully shaped stabs. I
    then went back over the surfaces with 100 and 150 grit paper by hand
    and they're ready for final sanding before covering. Work slowly
    because it's much easier to take extra off than to put some back.

    Another weekend come and gone. I had better luck than Kelly for the
    Bills, but not too much.
    
    The goal saturday was to get a second set of cores done. The kit comes
    with 4 foot main panels. I verified the airfoils and started the
    templates as of the last installment. I finished the templates and cit
    the tip panels. Due to using 2" foam, I got both sides out of each
    blank so I have a spare set. I cut the blanks for the 4 foot sections
    and got started. yuck. yucko. blah...
    
    I'm not sure what the deal was but in every case the center of the wire
    seemed to vibrate and made a ridged pattern in the center of the core.
    I finally used an 8.5" SD7032 template and cut two 2 foot sections.
    This means that instead of a 10" SD7032 to a 7" SD7037 wing I have a
    10"-8.5" SD7032 and an 8.5" SD7032 to a 7" SD7037. This wasted almost
    all the shop time on saturday but at least I had a good set of cores.
    
    Sunday got the spars worked on. The vertical webs are 1/2" balsa and
    you glue them onto the bottom spar and then stack everything into the
    spar slot. You then makr them even with the top of the core and trim to
    the line. This gives the proper taper. I have all 4 spars to the point
    where I'll jig the wing rod tubes tonight.
    
    In the past I've always cut spar slots with a hot wire. Not very exact.
    Yesterday I used my bandsaw on a very slow speed and it handled the
    white foam great. It cut with very little tearout.
    
    While the 30 minute epoxy was drying on the spars, I trimmed and edge
    glued the wing skins together. Tonight I should jig both sets of spars
    and then the bagging process will be started.
    

    Another few hours last night. I worked on getting the wing rod tubes
    attached to the spars. I then filled the area around them with epoxy.
    The kit comes with jig blocks for setting up the tubes. One must have
    moved when I wasn't looking because when I checked them this morning,
    one tube was almost an 1/8th" too high. I expect I'll bite the bullet
    and saw this tube out and put in a fresh one. The alignment of the
    wings is determined by this being right.
    
    Next step (optional) is to wrap some carbon fiber around the spar to
    hold it all together. I have on set of true spars which I'll start this
    with and then I should be ready to get bagging. Lamar and I talked
    through lunch yesterday about where we were going to do the bagging.
    Here in New England, basement temperatures (unheated) are pretty low
    and we're concerned about the epoxy curing. Lamar mentioned one of Al
    Ryder's notes about a curing box and I mentioned that I had a wood kiln
    setup that I had dried oak in a couple of years back. Just a simple box
    made out of the foil backed foam insulation. I have a 1500 watt
    thermostatically controlled heater... You can get an 8' by 2' by 16"
    high box out of two 4'x8' sheets so I'll probably go that route.
    Everything just gets put together with duct tape and it doesn't need to
    be air tight. I'll probably put the vacuum line through the side/end
    and keep the pump and gauge outside. The 2'x8' bottom should allow me
    to do both wing panels at once (I intend to do one set at a time with 
    the kit cores last) This week will be preparation towards doing the
    first set on saturday. I got a good deal on a gallon set of EnviroTex
    and will use that for the skins.
    
    I picked up two rolls of Skyward florescent orange at lunch yesterday.
    This with Econocoat Yellow will go on the wings after a coat of nitrate
    dope. The fuselage will have the crossbracing at the rear done with
    transparent yellow and a combination on the tail surfaces. I'll
    probably do some highlights with chrome monocoat to get some flash
    during turns. I decided not to glass/mylar the wings due to nowhere to
    do the appropriate painting. Plane 1 will be completely covered before
    plane two is started to allow learning during the process. Current
    plane is to test fly the plane(s) by the end of February.

>    The kit comes with jig blocks for setting up the tubes. One must have
>    moved when I wasn't looking because when I checked them this morning,
>    one tube was almost an 1/8th" too high. I expect I'll bite the bullet

Construction delays - I love it.

>    the kit cores last) This week will be preparation towards doing the
>    first set on saturday. I got a good deal on a gallon set of EnviroTex

I hope to start bagging tonight!

>    plane two is started to allow learning during the process. Current
>    plane is to test fly the plane(s) by the end of February.

Hmmmmm - That Fribble is looking more and more like a sure thing.


Bye          --+--
Kay R. Fisher  |
---------------O---------------
################################################################################

    What are you bagging tonight? 

    Got back into the shop last night. I used the band saw to strip the
    wing rod tube out of the defective spar. I found that the spars ahd
    spread and that had caused some of the misalignment. I redid the spar
    with some balsa shims to keep everything in alignment and it looked
    much better today. Tonight will be preparations for bagging the tiplets
    tomorrow and pending sunday mornings tiplet inspection, the main panels
    on sunday. Once I see how these turn out I'll do a second run with the
    kit cores next week.
    
    I'll be bagging in a curing box made from the sides of a wood kiln I
    built two years ago. With a 50 degree basement, the curing box will
    give me an 80 degree environment to cure the wings in.

    Well. I have little new to show for my weekend in the basement. I
    managed to bag a set of tiplets on saturday only to find them ruined on
    sunday. I clamped the trailing edges and stood the tiplets vertical in
    the curing box. The weight of the bags caused it to sag over so that I
    had built in reflex. The tips are super strong but useless.
    
    Sunday I did another tiplet (I had cut two sets when I did them) and
    this time I laid the bag down on the bottom of the curing box on the
    top wing surface and weighted the trailing edge flat to the box bottom.
    Thsi morning I was rewarded with a beautiful tiplet. I'll do the other
    tonight and do the wings one at a time other evenings this week. The
    curing box is keeping things at about 80 degrees in my unheated 45
    degree basement. I'm glad I had my own cores to do initially. The kit
    cores will be the last ones done once I have more experience.
    
    I'm running my pump circuit off my flight box battery. by the second
    day I had dropped to where the relay wouldn't throw the AC on/off. I
    caught it in time and threw my charger into the circuit.
    
    I also have the main wing spar epoxied into the main panels. I'm amazed
    at the resulting strength.
    
    Friday night I picked up some nitrate dope to use under the covering.
    Sig sells it and Ray's in Worcester had it in stock (two brands
    actually). initial balancing and covering preparation should be next
    weekend.
    
    

    
    Sounds like you knew your limits of construction by knowing to
    start with a dummy set. I enjoy reading this note. Keeps up the
    status.
    

    Well, since I was making a backup ship with my own cut cores, I figured
    they would be easier to replace if something went wrong. I also figured
    that the tiplets would be smaller to replace (stab size) since the
    stabs are built up. I figure I'd rather screw up my own cores. Once I
    get a good set of my own cores, I won't feel so bad if I screw up the
    kit cores since I'll have a usable set of wings.
    
    I bagged the second tiplet last night and spent some time preparing the 
    first one for the leading edges. I squared off he edges to the trailing
    edge and did some final sanding on the trailing edge. I used some
    fiberglass tape between the trailing edge sheeting as recomended and I
    was able to get a nice sharp, straight edge. My goal is to do a panel a
    night there by never having too much at risk at any time. A panel on a
    weeknight is about right for the amount of time I get in the shop and
    it gets it done by the weekend when I can concentrate on the final
    assembly process. Next week I'll do the same thing with the kit cores.

    Well, another step back before moving forward. The Acton gang are
    coming over for a lunchtime show and tell/BS session today so I packed
    the tiplets and plans and failure attempts in a bag to bring them in.
    As I was packing the bag I held the two tiplets root to root and then
    tip to tip. I wish I had used the same airfoil for both... The sheeting
    isn't all pointing the same way so I'll have to make another attempt
    and try to be consistant before bagging the main panels. At least the
    tiplets are reasonably cheap to make.

    Well, all was not lost. I figured I had nothing to lose on the bad
    tiplet so I checked it out closer on friday afternoon. All I can figure
    is that I clamped it upside down so that the camber got flattened out.
    The TE was straight and the strength was there... what the hell... I
    took my straight edge and after figuring where the deviation took
    place, made a razor saw kerf from root to tip through everything but
    the top sheeting. Closing the kerf gave me the airfoil I was looking
    for so I spread them apart and forced in some 30 minute epoxy. I then
    taped the kerf closed and checked the root and tip against the good
    tiplet. very close. I jigged and clamped it and stuck it in the curing
    box out of the way. I then started on the main panels. I ended up
    putting half of a 6" strip of fiberglass tape along the trailing edge
    and a 40" triangle of 1.5 oz fiberglass on the top and bottom skins
    over the main spar (under the sheeting). Saturday morning found the
    panel cured but the pump had run constantly for the last 2 hours (I had
    a clock plugged into the pump on/off switch to check run time). Turns
    out my "wires into the gauge pointer" switch had failed to turn the
    pump off. The pressure had gone to about 12 but the epoxy had cured
    before it happened. Saturday I got a length of drill rod for wing rods
    and then had to take my full-time student wife into Clark U. for somce
    research. An hour's work turned into 6 and I was reading all afternoon.
    I decided not to try to get anything done when I got home. Sunday
    morning I started on the second main panel. It was in the curing box by
    11:30am and I started catching fuselage #2 up to the original in terms
    of sanding. Fuselage #1 then got an entire sanding and a coat of
    nitrate dope in preparation for covering. Did the tail surfaces too and
    I'll probably start covering them this week. I also put the tips and
    leading edges on the tiplets, sanded them to shape and gave them a
    sealing coat of dope. This morning I debagged the second main panel and
    it looks fine. I'll trim the edges and get to work doing the aileron
    servo installation evening this week with the hope of coverig next
    weekend. The pump only ran 20 minutes in 20 hours for this final panel. 
    
    I fixed the gauge problem in a creative way. seems that if I touched
    the gauge it would be enough to cause good contact between the sense
    wire and the gauge needle. I strapped the jar/gauge onto the flat spot
    on top of the pump and when the pump was running, it jiggled the gauge
    8^)

    Got a Legend style rudder hinge installed last night. Pretty slick. I
    also called Sal at NSP to ask about the throws (which are missing from
    the instructions) and he gave the initial response (from the plans)
    that if you use a similar wheel and the supplied horns, the throw and
    differential will be correct. Well, I'm using a 347 and servos in the
    wings so my throws will be different. Then he said not too much
    elevator, 45 degrees rudder, 90 degrees flaps (with some reflex
    allowed) and 45 degrees up aileron and about 15 degrees down (3:1
    differential). This sounds excessive to me (but I've never done it
    before). I was also under the impression that crow was 90 degrees up
    aileron but was told that that would be uncontrollable and that I
    needed a minimal amount of deflection to allow some control. Isn't that
    why there's a rudder on the ship? I like a sensitive ship but I don't
    want to overcontrol myself out of the sky. How about some thoughts from
    the glider guys flying open class ships (the Alcyone is 1000+ sq inches
    and 121" span at about 58-64 oz)

    You definitely do not need 90 degrees up aileron in crow. 45 degrees
    at the very most, if you really like to plummet out of the sky.
    30 degrees is max for good control into the spot. 
    I've got maybe 20-25 on the Legend right now.
    
    90 degrees on flap is right. The one local Alcyone uses about 1/8"-
    3/16 down aileron and 1/4-3/8 up aileron. He says it works well
    at these throws. 
    
    45 degrees rudder is ok, but you won't need that much for normal
    flying. It's good to have it for panic mode recovery.
    
    1/4" flap reflex is a good place to start. You'll probably cut it down
    a little to get the best balance between L/D nd speed.
    
    With a flying stab you don't need much travel, I'd start with 1/4-3/8"
    each way and program in a dual rate setting of about half that to
    try in the air. It's good to have more available until the launches
    are sorted out.
    
    Terry

    Yeah, that sounds pretty reasonable. I'll probably program in
    exponential on the 45 degree rudder to make it less effective in the
    center. I probably would have had too much elevator and aileron
    initially but my thoughts were to put in about 60% on the low rates in
    case it's too much. I always figured you used the elevator and rudder
    for control while in crow mode. I'm sure that it will take getting used
    to just like the flaps did at first. How can you tell when the aileron
    differential is off? What kind of stuff does it do in a turn/roll with
    too much/not enough differential?

    Ideally you want to get the crow/flap/elev. compensation set up
    so that control inputs are minimized on the landing approach with
    crow deployed.
    
    In the real world you'll probably have to make some elev. corrections,
    but they should be as small as possible since most gliders don't
    take kindly to large pitch changes when in crow mode.
    
    Assuming coupled ailerons and rudder you can make yaw corrections in
    the normal manner if the amount of crow used still allows some
    up aileron. Rudder alone usually produces a skid without much
    change in the flight path.
    
    Generally, crow mode produces a sort of 'locked in on rails' type
    of control response so don't use it when you expect to be manuvering
    around much.
    
    
    Most commonly, too little aileron differential (too much down compared
    to up) will cause an abrupt roll toward the up aileron side
    followed by a sort of draggy turn where the plane doesn't seem
    to be turning as sharply as it should given the initial roll
    rate, aka adverse yaw. 
    
    Too much aileron diff. is somewhat the opposite, except that if the
    up aileron travel is too much, the turn steepens too quickly
    forcing you to back off and resulting in a sort of multi-sided circle
    rather than a smooth arc.
    
    Too much rudder can cause abrupt response and square turns too.
    In thermalling turns you'd be surprised at how little rudder is needed
    once you get the aileron throws sorted out.
    
    Terry
    
    

    What a busy weekend. It ain't done, but the end is in site. Probably
    the hardest thing I did all weekend was cutting into the wing the first
    time for the aileron servo bay. I was very pleased to find that the
    sheeting and fiberglass reinforcement was well bonded. My servos are
    behind the wing spar and inboard from the end so I think I'm in pretty
    good shape structurally. I used an aluminum arrow shaft in my cordless
    drill to route the wires. The S-133s fit fully in the wing and there
    are access hatches on the underside. The wing tiplets were then trimmed
    (I sanded the 3 degrees of polyhedral into each surface with my
    Shopsmith disk sander with tilting table - 6 degrees total) and
    attached with epoxy. Carbon fiber laminate vertical spars were then
    installed in slots cut from the bottom with a razor saw. The root ribs
    (1/4" ply) were also epoxied in place and everything was set aside to
    dry. The tail group was covered and installed and trim lines marked for
    the fin trim. The rudder and elevator servos were installed and the
    linkage connected (those rigging couplers are GREAT!). The wing was
    given another sanding and a coat of nitrate dope applied. I'm convinced
    that the nitrate helps adhesion. Don't try to remove anything you've
    stuck down on it. It doesn't come off. Last night I did the second
    hardest thing. I used my dremel scroll saw to cut the ailerons and
    flaps free. I then finished the night facing the cutouts and edges of
    these cuts.
    
    Left to do:
    
    Sand the wing and surface joints to shape.
    Cover the wing and surfaces.
    install the flap linkage.
    hinge the surfaces with tape hinges.
    final install the aileron servos.
    install the flap servo in the fuselage.
    finish covering the fuselage.
    Program the radio (non-trivial)
    
    This plane will use every feature of the 347 except aileron -> flap
    mixing (since I only have one flap servo)
    
    It should be presentable at tomorrow night's DECRCM meeting and flyable
    before the end of the week. Plane #2 is about 2 weeks behind since I
    waited to bag the wings to see the final outcome of this one (didn't
    want to screw up the kit cores). Une thing I didn't count on was the
    amount of covering it takes to do a 10' wingspan. I had bought 2 rolls
    of primary color (flourescent orange) and it will take one and a half
    to do the scheme I'm planning. I guess I'm not used to thinking this
    big...

    Well, I put in a good effort to get the plane ready for tonight's
    meeting. I've got one wing complete and the other partially covered.
    Nitrate dope is great and the Skyward and Econocoat are smoothing out
    nicely. I put in 6 hours last night and probably have at least that
    much more to finish the covering. Initial flight has been pushed back
    to next week.
    
    The smell of nitrate dope, the look of florescent orange covering, and
    the sounds of an hour of Grateful Dead on 'BCN told me that 2am was
    time to quit. There's enough done to get the general idea at the
    meeting tonight.

    Another couple of hours got the second wing finished (I had already
    done the yellow inset and the movable surfaces) and they look great. I
    finished the night by trimming the hatch to fit over the leading edge
    of the wing and putting on the wing saddle fillet. Now I should be able
    to finish covering the fuselage tonight and get all the wing surfaces
    hinged and be ready to start programming the radio 8^)
    
    Current weight minus Rx battery (WRAMS show purchase), flap (1) and 
    aileron  (2 - S-133) servos, and nose weight to balance is 3 lbs 10 ozs. 
    I expect to be within 4 ozs of my 4 lbs goal weight depending on the nose 
    weight needed.
    
    Plane #2 has a completed fuselage and the wing cores waiting to be
    bagged. I'll get back to that after the maiden flight of plane #1 next
    week.

    Well the covering is finished and it looks AWESOME (just ask my kids
    and they'll tell ya) I hinged the wings and it was a lot easier than I
    was expecting. I fixed the gears in an S-133 and put them into
    the wings. I started to program the radio. I still have the aileron and
    flap links and the flap servo to install and then I'm ready to balance
    and give it a try. I hope we have some good weather next week! If my
    wife doesn't kill me after the WRAMS show purchasing, I'm shooting for
    tuesday.

    Well, I'm done. Final weight is... 72 ozs. I needed 4 ozs of nose
    weight to balance as per plans. The recommended flap linkage is
    garbage. I ended up making a version which is sort of acceptable but
    the centering stinks. The kit recommends a T with the top bar between
    two aileron links and the vertical to the servo arm. I'm not impressed.
    I'll probably go to a split elevator style arrangement in the near
    future. We'll see how it flies later this week when the weather
    cooperates. Current estimates are for lunchtime on thursday. I'm happy
    I picked up an NSP catalog at the WRAMS show this weekend. Leroy
    Satterly (sp) has an article on modifications which will be included in
    kits after 2/92. He increased the tiplet polyhedral from 6 to 10
    degrees and recommends 1/2" of flaps on launch.
    
    Overall: I'm very pleased with the quality of the kit. It seems like a
    very nice plane for the money and should make a nice intermediate plane
    for me this season. More once we flight test it.

    It flies!
    
    Today was the big day. Dan Snow (on video camera), Lamar, Dave Walter,
    Mike Pitoniak, and Dick Bissen were out for the event. I did a range
    check and took a couple of still pictures and away we went. The initial
    launch was exciting since I had too much down elevator setup and it
    screamed across the field at a 30 degree angle. I hit up elevator and
    tested the wings (they passed) and popped off. Lamar gave me all the
    up trim I had and it was still marginal. I tried the flaps and needed
    more down compensation dialed in. Crow was the same way. I recentered
    the elevator trim and additional launches were better and about the 5th 
    flight I got a nice high launch and it was in hands off trim. I switched 
    to low rates on the elevator and that smoothed out my flying. The last 
    flight worked out to 6:33 and I figured that was a great way to leave it 
    and go home with an intact plane. Thanks to Lamar and Dave for the launches,
    Dan for taping the first few flights and Kay for letting me borrow the 
    hi-start.
    
    Impressions:
    
    This is the first open class full house ship I've flown. Wow! It
    handles a lot different than the little 2 meter I've been using. The
    wing is plenty strong 8^) and the controls seem fine. The elevator
    rates need to be lower than my initial settings. Boy is a large ship
    pretty in the air. It's going to take some work to get the landings
    down but that will just mean I'll need to fly this more often 8^) 8^)

    Yep, it flies like a big glider. Covers lots of sky, and stays up a
    long time. I had my little Predator up at the same time and the
    difference in performance was pretty evident. 
    
    Once Jim gets his trims figured out and practices those landings, he
    should have a real competitive ship. Of course, there's a down side to
    this Jim: No More Excuses :-)!  I EXPECT to see you in the winner's
    circle this year. 
    
    Dave
    

Hopefully the Pulsar won't be too far behind. I finally got the left wing panel
successfully in the bag(1 core and 3 spars later ;-} ) yesterday. Seeing that
beautiful Alcyonne fly gave me the needed boost to get things back on track with
the Pulsar. My goal is to have it ready for intial flights by next Monday. 

Ya got a beautiful looking(and flying!) ship there Jimbo!


-Lamar

    My intent is to keep the heat turned up 8^) I'm going to fly the
    Alcyone pretty regular the next couple of weeks to get all the trims
    straightened out and get familiar with it for the April 5th New Boston
    contest. Next Monday is a pretty agressive schedule but I'll do my part
    to give you plenty of incentive 8^)
    
    Inspection of the wing panels shows no signs of damage from the flexing
    that took place. I couldn't find any sign of where they flexed and the
    wing rod is still straight. I talked to Sal on saturday and he seemed
    to feel that the "wandering" I was seeing at the top of the launch was
    due to keeping too much flap in at that point in the launch. He
    suggested flying it faster at that stage.
    
    One other thing that I didn't mention friday was that I found that the
    Alcyone was neutrally stable in the dive test. It would have flown into
    the ground if I hadn't recovered from the dive. Gotta keep that in
    mind...

    John Ihlien, flying at the sod farm for the first time this season,
    reports poor windy weather performance from his Alcyone. 
    He has no room to add ballast and was unable to penetrate well at
    wind velocities >15mph.
    The only other planes out there this weekend were F3B types, so
    maybe his performance suffered in comparision but wasn't so
    bad in comparison to lighter birds.
    
    I wasn't there so can't add my own judgement. I usually don't
    bother going to the sod farm until April.
    
    Let us know how your windy weather performance is.
    
    Terry

    Well, friday was probably 10-15mph and I didn't see any problems going
    upwind. A click or two of down elevator and it really moved out. I'm
    running 72ozs with this one so I'm "pre"ballasted 8^) It seems clean
    enough in the air that pushing the nose down will get you anywhere you
    want to go and it maintains the speed pretty well. I dove to check the
    trims and such and recovered most of the altitude bled off. I'll let
    you know as I play with reflexing the flaps as time goes on. I'm
    strongly considering separate flap servos in #2 which frees up the
    compartment at the CG for ballast. John might consider drilling a 1/2"
    hole into the wing from the roots and installing some model rocket
    body tubing as ballast tubes at the CG. With the wings clamped together
    it isn't going to go anywhere. We have an industrial park upwind from
    our site in Acton at lunch that I intend to overfly on a regular basis
    so I expect I'll be checking the penetration both there and coming back
    from following lift downwind. I'm holding off on #2 until I get a
    better feel for this one. We're supposed to have good weather the
    middle of this week so I should get another three lunchtimes out with
    it then.

    Jim,
    
    	In the Adante manual, they suggest that if you want to do zoom
    launches with a ship that has flaps, you should do the following.
    
    Use normal launch flap. Just as you go over the top, go to neutral
    flap. As you go into the zoom, go to reflex.
    
    Steve

    Well, I went out again today and it was interesting. I find that I need
    more elevator compensation in the first bit of deployment than I do at
    a full 90 degrees. I launched with different flap deployments and
    finally launched "clean". They all ended up at about the same height
    but the flap launches were steeper and started getting squirrelly near
    the top. There was little to no wind today so it was a good trim day. I
    got more practice straightening out crooked launches and I'm starting
    to get the delay figured out. Final launch of the day I went across the
    street and found a little bump. I circled several different ways and
    finally found the stronger part of it. Slowly it carried me down wind
    and I got a great ride out of it. Kay was standing with me and in his
    usual manner got me to "push the envelope". It loops pretty well
    without loosing much and will roll with down elevator applied while
    inverted. The roll rate is nothing to brag about but I did get it to go
    all the way around without embarrassing myself too bad finally. Made a
    pass down at us that had Kay hiding behind me and managed to pull up
    into a reasonable pattern. The ship makes very little noise as it
    boogies past at speed. I'm getting more comfortable with turns near the
    ground and need to stop feeding so much up into the turns. Landings are 
    going to take a LOT of work. I managed to put it down and shift the wing 
    so it popped the two 4-40 alignment bolts (but not the 1/4-20 main bolt). 
    Final time was 13:10! I'm going to enjoy flying this ship!
    
    I don't see any of the skidding around the corners that Lee mentions in
    the NSP catalog so I'm going to build the second ship with 6 degrees of
    tiplet dihedral also. Dual flap servos is the way I'll go on that ship
    too. The recommended flap linkage is going to tear the fuselage apart if 
    I really twist the wings on a dropped tip landing. I find that it circles 
    nice and flat and seems to stay up forever. Can't wait for some real 
    thermals to pass through...

        Re:       <<< Note 1404.39 by RANGER::REITH "Jim (RANGER::) Reith - LJO2" >>>

        Jim,
        
                The flap compensation effect you see is normal.  At first
        the flaps increase  the  camber  of the airfoil and increase lift
        dramatically.  With full flaps they are stalled and they generate
        tons of drag and less lift.
        
        Anker

    I'm glad it's normal because it's happening consistanly. I only got one
    flight in today... It's tough working on landings when you stay up for
    39:03! I also did my first launch unassisted. Grabbing the fuselage
    behind the wing in a fist really is easiest. I've got to back off on
    the ailerons in crow mode and then I'll be ok. They go to the stops and
    I seem to have slightly more on one side so it twists left as it comes
    down. I'll probably reduce the throw to about 20 degrees up and still
    have usable flaps. I've still got to laterally balance the wings too.

    Oh yeah... Yes, Dan Miner, 39 minutes even with me stalling it all over
    the sky. I swear this ship could make anyone look like a great pilot.
    

    Well, the Alcyone is no longer pristine. I went out with the crew today
    and managed a 9:45 initial flight. I then decided that I would work on
    crow (read: didn't find lift) and managed a couple of good landings
    with about 50% aileron deflection mixed in. I then went back up and was
    circling over the field and caught the chute coming back down on one of
    my circles. It tangled in the tail and the Alcyone went in inverted. It
    was over in a matter of seconds. The wing is fine but the fuselage is
    broken at the rear of the wing and both bolt blocks pulled free. The
    flap servo also pulled out. Probably an hour to repair but I'll put it
    off until the weekend and take my tiome and make sure there isn't
    hidden damage. Now that I got that out of the way I can really see what
    it can do. I'm glad the wing survived intact.

    
    Well at least you got that 39:00 minute flight before the dent :-).
    

    Back in the shop/field/shop...
    
    I took my time fixing the fuselage over the weekend and put some 6oz
    fiberglass strips over the seams (from the inside) and that really
    beefed up the joints. I took it back out yesterday and got in a flight.
    The weather was iffy but we went anyway. I got in a couple minute
    flight and set up to land at my feet. I came in hot and Crow mode
    didn't slow it down fast enough (I deployed late) and I dorked it in to
    avoid taking my shins out. I popped the rear bolt plate again. Last
    night I spent a few minutes looking it over and then decided to put
    1/4" spruce around the three glue joint sides underneath the plate.
    That sturdied it up quite a bit and we'll see how it holds up to the
    next "contest" landing.
    
    I actually don't feel that the landing was all that heavy for
    competition standards but at least all the fuselage repairs held other
    than the 1/8" ply rear alignment bolt plate. It now has a 3/8" gluing
    surface on all sides.

    Re: .36 Performance in wind
    
    Today was probably the windiest I've flown the Alcyone in and I must
    admit, I'm pleased with the performance. Down elevator is your friend
    but once you pick up speed, it retains it and you can then transfer it
    back to altitude when you get where you're going. I followed one good
    thermal downwind pretty good (and pretty high) and was able to push the
    nose forward and scoot back upwind. The wind was strong enough that I
    was also able to hover.
    
    The plane did everything I asked it to today but I'm still not flying
    as smooth as I should. I had more exponetial throw in the aileron
    previously and I was smoother then. I'll put it back. Crow seems to be
    coming right along but I have to deploy it higher than I have been to
    let it settle into a predictable descent. I put back in some of the
    aileron deflection and it seemed to slow down more. Landings for points
    are going to take work but then they always have.
    
    On my list of things to do are a stretched set of wings as well as a
    standard class set of wings. The balsa I ordered should be in next week
    and I want to get bagging again. I still need a standard class ship for
    the Nats.

    Well, after New Boston last weekend, I reconsidered things with the
    Alcyone. I landed hard, shifted the wing, and broke the fuselage side
    out with the flap linkage. I knew it was going to happen and it did.
    
    I bought two Futaba 5102 metal gear micro servos last week and saturday 
    I installed them in the wings about 9" out from the root. Installation
    took a while due to being careful and I managed to get them in and
    working during the Red Sox game (on the radio in the shop) Fortunately
    it was 19 innings 8^) I'm very impressed with the precision of these
    servos and how slop free the geartrains are. I set them up for full 90
    degree drop and about 10 degrees of reflex. I then started to reprogram
    the 347. I had had only one flap servo so I didn't set up full camber
    changing or fullspan ailerons but I have them now. On my 3 position
    switch I have elevator-flap coupling on the top position, disabled in
    the center position and reflex in the bottom position. I changed the
    throws on the "throttle" stick so that I have normal crow in one
    position and then a maximum of about 20 degrees of full camber flaps
    for launch in the other position all proportional to the "throttle"
    position. I hope to retrim and test fly it later this week.

    I flew the Alcyone at lunch today and was pretty pleased  with the
    results. The first flight had too much down elevator mixed with the
    flaps so I didn't get much out of the launch. I had had 90 degree flaps
    in the old configuration but I cut it back so that the full camber
    changing was only   to about 20 degrees for use on launch. I didn't
    reset the elevator compensation so when I launched with the flaps at
    mid-stick, I had too much down elevator. Next flight had that problem  
    fixed but the wind  was across the field so I didn't get much of a
    launch. On the  third and final launch I waited for the wind to return
    to the launch direction from it's previous crosswind direction and got
    a good launch. I found some lift and got a reasonable (7:40) flight
    which ended with a nice Crow landing. No  fuselage damage for a first
    time! The bad news is that the 4-40 alignment bolts that keep the
    trailing edge of the wing in place, broke on every flight. The NSP
    catalog mentions this as being "modified" in kits after 2/92 so I guess
    I'll have to give them a call tonight to solve this last problem. I'm
    convinced that the 4 servos in the wing is the way to go with this ship
    and I'll be bagging the kit cores and finishing the second fuselage
    shortly. I also tried the reflex switch and  found that the plane
    really moves out in this mode (just like it should) With the flap servo
    out of the fuselage, I've even got a ballast compartment at the CG. The
    plane is finally coming together. Now I've got to get some  time in on
    it.

    Talked to Sal this morning and he said that the method they're working
    on to keep the wing aligned is to use two 1/4-20 bolts. I think I'm
    going to try 6-32 nylon next and see if that makes a difference. I'm
    also going to use some rubber around the main bolt to reduce the twist
    tendency.
    
    Sal is doing the mail-order stuff full time days now so business must
    be pretty good. He's flying a 58oz Alcyone himself!

    Jim,
    	I take it your talking about using a bolt at the rear of the wing
    as an alignment pin/retainer bolt.  Is this right?  Most pattern ships
    use a 3/8" wood dowl at the LE and TE of the wing with a brass tube
    glued over the wood for alignment.  Then a rubberband streatched from
    one panel to the other or a nylon bolt is used to retain the wing to
    the fuse.
    
    Tom

    I'm   just concerned that the dowels would be too much and cause damage
    to other things. The bolts shear and nothing get broken but they shear
    too often. The 6-32 might be enough to   make it every other flight. I
    still  want the bolt to be the weakest link in the system but I want to
    be able to do normal spot landings  without worry. I'll install the
    6-32s for Biddeford and report back on tuesday.

    Jim
    	Are the bolts you are using completly threaded?  If yes, try and
    find some with a shank (area with aly threads adjacent to the head)
    This will double the area of the bolt and add strength. On a 4/40
    bolt you're talking a very marginal amount of cross sectional area.
    
    Tom

    Yeah, these are all threaded. These are the boxes of 100 that I picked
    up/searched for last year. That being the case, the 6-32 bolts should
    provide about the same cross-section threaded and I have a box of those
    too. I'll probably use a single 8-32 on the second ship (which gets
    started as soon as the servos get here from Tower). This ship was to
    learn the weak points so the kit cores/fuselage could be done right the
    first time. I'm still reserving the right to switch to the fiberglass
    fuselage.

    >>I'm still reserving the right to switch to the fiberglass fuselage<<
    
    Exercise this right and most of your problems will disappear.
    
    A few minor ones will remain, such as having a two piece wing
    that sits on top of the fuselage rather than plugging in on the sides.
    And not being able to easily go to a three piece wing with a solid
    center section at the point where it mates with the fuselage, allowing
    the lesser flight loads to be felt further outbd. where the outer
    panels mate with the center section, rather than concentrating them
    at the root along with the greater part of the landing shocks, etc.
    
    The Southwind suffered from these sort of problems on a lesser scale,
    being smaller and lighter, and used the same sort of mounting scheme.
    
    Terry

    Steve Savoie from Biddeford suggested crossdrilling the 1/4-20 bolts
    where they penetrate the holddown plate to allow it to shear easier.
    I've meant to do this but...

    I got out with the Alcyone today and managed 3 flights without a major
    mishap. I've replaced the 4-40 alignment bolts with 6-32 bolts and had
    no problem with breakage today. I need more practice with the plane
    since the flights were very unsmooth and I was all over the place in
    the turns. I did manage a 3 minute and two 4 minute flights in
    generally dead air with no wind to launch into. I've got to label my
    connectors better since the first time I installed them I had the
    flap/ailerons swapped. With all the mixing I've got that could be a
    problem in the air. Not even a broken bolt today so things went well.

One more update before the Nats. I really like this plane. 4 servos in the wing 
and a computer radio really makes it shine. Yesterday I went out in minimal lift
(as called by a BOT flyer) and managed to stay up and beat his times. I've 
changed some of the setup which I wanted to let anyone interested know. I've 
reduced my full camber flap deflection to about 20 degrees full stick travel.
Along with this I've removed my down elevator compensation. I need a couple of 
clicks of down on launch but I find that it really helps to partially deploy the 
flaps in thermal turns. Without the down compensation I get the "up" I normally 
hold in in turns for free. Crow mode really doesn't slow this ship down too much
and I've found that pushing the nose over builds up speed pretty quickly. I've
had no further bolt problems since I changed the alignment bolts to 6-32 nylon.
I flew it unballasted yesterday and had a great time and managed some good 
flights. I should be very competitive next season after I've built more time on
this ship.

I picked up a copy last night because of the review/cover photo. Boy has this
magazine gone down hill since the last time a bought it.

The reviewer built a 3 servo version and a second wing with two embedded aileron 
servos. He mentions in the article that a single standard servo has trouble with
the rudder and both ailerons so he put in a second servo to run one of the 
ailerons in the 3 (now 4) servo version. He whines a lot about the plans not 
having two fuselage sides shown and about the stabs. I found that I built the 
tail boom (both sides) over the plans and then finished the side shown and
clamped the second side (with wax paper between) to the built one and glued the
boom on so it matched back to back. I built two of the stab sides shown and then
flipped it over to align the rods. They're symetrical so it doesn't matter and 
they don't get sanded to shape until they're complete anyway (which is where 
you'll make them different if you're going to).

His came out at 72oz with 3 servos! I guess I didn't do too bad at that weight
with 4 servos in the wings. He does rave about how it flys. Even in the wind it 
holds it's own. 4-5 page article that's probably worth reading if you might
be interested in building one.

His comment about the price was the same as mine. It's a great plane if you 
can't justify a >$300 open class ship to your conscience or spouse. In my case 
it was the latter. I also feel that is still goes to show you that you can 
still compete with a wooden fuselage (for a $150 kit). We'll see sunday...

I went out with the Alcyone again last night to practice landings. One problem
with landing practice is that it tends to put a lot of stress on the plane. By
the time I was done last night I had again split the root rib section where the 
alignment bolts pass through. When I got home I looked at the fuselage and wings 
and have decided to modify this area further. I'm going to cut away a small area
of the foam/top skin and put a plywood wedge in to the inside of the root ribs. 
This will separate the bolts a bit more and move the threaded holes closer to 
the fuselage sides on the holddown plate. Since the screws will pass through the
plywood wedge perpendicular to the grain, this should be stronger than passing
through the layers of the root ribs. I hope this puts this problem to rest.

I went back out with the Alcyone last night to do some more practice. I think 
I've got the flying into a tree competition wrapped up. 8^(

I used a piece of 1/16" plywood on top of the wing and drilled new holes 
through everything. I also fixed a wing alignment problem where the elevator and
wings were misaligned. The turning was even to the left or right. On landing I 
pancaked the plane into a set of bleachers from about 20-30' up and didn't do 
too much damage. The bolts held and the wing seems to be seated better. I'm 
planning on putting some time into the actual kit cores this weekend so I'm 
closer to getting that one ready in case I do something disasterous in the 
retrim flight(s) next week.

Over the weekend I did all the repairs. One thing I did find which surprised
me was that my final silicone hinge came loose. I've now gone back to the tape
hinges. At the CMRCM contest, Jim Tyrie mentioned that he was giving up on the
silicone hinges also due to failures. 

Well, the Nats are over and the Alcyone survived. I broke a tow hook on the 
ground between rounds and had to hustle to get ready but answered the call.
The plane flew well and the conditions were good. I got two 7 minute max 
flights and a 5 minute one and made one 78 point landing. Good enough for 
30th out of 73 contestants.

Stan and Sal from NSP were there but not flying and I saw a new 2 meter Alcyone.
I'll be ordering it real soon. Available 7/15 with a price of $99.95. Looks 
like a little Alcyone (wow, what a concept 8^) weighs 25 ounces and has flaps,
aileron/rudder mechanically coupled and the classic wood fuselage. They expect 
a glass fuselage in the future. It also has a long enough tail moment that they 
expect a standard class wing for it soon.

With the CRRC contest a week away I started looking over the Alcyone. My 
biggest problem recently are the tape hinges on the wings. With flying at 
lunchtime, the glue on the tape softens in the heat of the car and the hinges 
move depending on how the wings are laying in the car. Several sessions I've 
had to restick/replace hinges and this throws all the trimming out the window. 
This weekend I finally had had enough. I replaced all the wing hinges with 
monocoat hinges. This means I've gone full circle with this plane. I usually 
use monocoat hinges and have had good luck with them in the past. The kit and 
this notesfile talks about the F3B guys using tape hinges so I figured I'd give 
it a try. They were very convienent and worked well initially. I think from 
replacing them several times I built up a glue layer that might have allowed 
the later problems I saw. Since the tape was migrating and changing the trims 
I decided to try another popular method, silicone hinges. I did my ailerons 
with it and it gave a very nice hinge but pulled loose after about a dozen 
flights (or maybe it was the dozen landings 8^) I went back to the tape hinges 
as a field repair.

The monocoat hinges seem very tight and I'm getting no vertical movement at the 
hingeline like I was with the tape gap. I have contrasting colors so it was 
pretty easy to do the hinging and the yellow monocoat on top blended in well. 
I'll probably use this method on the second one I'm slowly finishing up. I guess
the big thing that made me finally go and do it was seeing several people with 
them at the Nats on open class ships, including the top people

    I use the Monokote hinges on my Predator, but I don't know if I would
    trust them on a bigger plane. I found that the hinges fatigue and start
    to come apart after about a season of flying. (This hasn't been a
    problem on the Predator since no tail section yet has lasted a season.)
    
    Why not use regular ol' Dubro glued-in hinges? I don't use them on
    small gliders just because they would weaken the 1/8" thick sticks, but
    the Alcyone shouldn't have that problem.
    
    Dave
    

The wing hinge lines really want to be at the edge of the surface. I'd be 
tempted to go with glued in hinges but I'll give these a try. I'll be happy 
if I can get a season out of these hinges. I've had at least four sets of 
hinges since the maiden flight in March. I was surprised to notice Kiesling
using them on that custom T tail he was flying at the Nats. Joe Wurts and 
Larry Jolly had them also. What's the worst that can happen? I replace them
again with something else. I'll be inspecting them for tears frequently.

    Jim, what kind of tape were you using?
    
                                                Regards,
    
                                                Jim

I was using the 3M vinyl tape that I've seen referenced several places 
(including Terry T in here) Yes, the mylar tape some kits come with might 
have been better. Vinyl stretches as well.

Well, the Alcyone survived 11 rounds over the weekend. I did get to check out 
Sal DeFrancesco's 58 ounce bird. Yes, it's light. I'm not sure the effort was 
worth 11 points over 7 rounds. I feel pretty comfortable bringing mine in hard
when I need to. I don't think Sal's would survive bending wind rods like mine
has. The monocoat hinges came through without a scratch. I did find that I was 
able to use crow a lot more effectively and had much better luck with the lower
amount of down elevator compensation. I even came in high once, deployed crow 
and just pushed down elevator and it dropped right in. I think I have a set of 
settings that I can practice with. Several people mentioned that I wasn't 
launching with enough flap. I made a few launches with about 30 degrees and got 
much better initial height. I also seemed to gain more speed for my zoom because 
of the steeper launch angle. I also tried deploying a little flap while 
thermalling and it gave me a nice slow circle. Now that it's flying well, it's 
time to clean up the appearance a little bit. The wing root area is getting a 
bit ratty. 8th out of 24 on saturday and 6th out of 16 on sunday.

My 2 meter Alcyone kit finally arrived. I'll review it in this topic as work 
progresses. I have a few projects ahead of it in the queue but initial looks 
into the box show a typical high quality Culpepper kit with all the little 
accessories included. Super quality yet again. The kit does include the 
redesigned tail to allow pull-pull elevator as well as rudder. I was surprised
at the two full plan sheets (considering it's a foam wing) and all the little
details. The instructions even include initial throws for the servos (which
I really thought should have been there for the open class ship). They bill
the kit as a low cost medium technology. Cost was $100 and it has elevator,
rudder, ailerons and flaps with the ailerons driven by the rudder servo in 
the fuselage. They include the Sullivan locking ball link connectors for this 
installation in the kit. (like I said, it's a complete kit)

It's going to be tough keeping away from this kit until I finish up my other 
projects but hopefully it will provide the incentive to finish things up on 
some stalled projects.

>>It's going to be tough keeping away from this kit until I finish up my other 
>>projects but hopefully it will provide the incentive to finish things up on 
>>some stalled projects.



     Do I smell Balsa-slo?   8^)

Why do you think I haven't dared pick up my Tupperware bowl from the cookout?
Think of the supply you could hide in there!

I need to get my GremTwin finished for the combat contest!

I ordered a kit also(but you already this Jimbo!) I hope it's twin brother 
won't be too far behind in delivery. No building races this time!

-Lamar 

Is it time for the annual building race already? 8^) I think we both need to 
get a good dose of motivation and get things going in the shop this next month.

I hate to say it but with the temperature at dawn this morning in the thirties,
I think the building season is almost upon us.

> I hate to say it but with the temperature at dawn this morning in the thirties,
> I think the building season is almost upon us.

... where is global warming when you need it?

>Why do you think I haven't dared pick up my Tupperware bowl from the cookout?
>Think of the supply you could hide in there!


  Nah....I would't do that to you.   I'm saving my entire supply for Mike L.,
Fran, and Rene of CMRCM fame(?)!  I figure one good dose should keep them
away from the field for the rest of the Winter!.....I can dream anyway...8^)

This weekend I actually opened the box to my 2 meter Alcyone. I extracted the 
plans and instructions and settled into a comfortable spot on the couch. By
the time I was done I had decided on a plan for building over the holidays. I'm
planning on also building a standard class set of wings and will do each of 
them slightly different. I don't like the aileron cables into the fuselage
route so I plan on embedding a servo in the wing ahead of the spar and having a 
single continuous aileron cable from surface to surface passing through an EZ 
connector. I'm also planning to use a flap servo behind the spar instead of the 
fuselage mounted servo which gave me fits with the open class version. This 
keeps the weight inboard and the cable lengths short. For the Standard class
wing I'll do the same thing except I'll have dual aileron servos so I can use
crow and full camber changing. An interesting find was that the 2 meter version
uses the same templates as the open class ship, just closer together.

I managed to bag one inboard panel this weekend. The other is waiting to 
go into the bag. Since the panel is a 10"->7" taper, I used 4" and 6" 
sheeting to accomplish it with only one seam per side. Once the panel
came out of the bag I trimmed it up and tried the cable in the embedded 
tube. Smooth as silk. I should be able to bag the second inboard panel 
the next few nights and then on to the tips. If I concentrate on getting 
the wings done, I'll fly through the fuselage(s). On the open class ship
I did the fuselage first and the wing dragged on. Doing the wings first 
should accelerate the process.

The kit calls for a single 7/8"x3/8"x18" spar in each panel. I didn't 
have any 3/8" balsa at the time so I sandwiched a piece of CF laminate 
between two pieces of 3/16" balsa. I then capped this with two pieces 
of 1/2" wide CF laminate while bagging, creating an embedded I beam which 
I hope to test significantly next season 8^)

Panel 2 came out of the bag wednesday. Comparing them I find that the main spar 
has wandered in opposite directions. They cut notches inthe cores for a front 
and back center brace. Glue migrates into this slot and the spar doesn't stay 
put. I will bandsaw new slots and install the braces. They should have left the 
foam straight and then resawn the slots as part of the normal procedure. I hope 
to cut and bag the tips by this weekend and attach them and set up the controls. 
My goal is to have a major part of this done for the DECRCM meeting tuesday.

On the open class ship, the wing was the slow part so I'm hopeful of making my 
self-imposed March deadline for this and the standard variant. The fuselages 
go together in about an night a piece. I've heard that another noter is having 
trouble lifting the cover on his kit box. Maybe he'd better go to bed early 
another couple of nights 8^)

>> I've heard that another noter is having trouble lifting the cover on his kit 
>> box. Maybe he'd better go to bed early another couple of nights 8^)

Okay, ya shamed me into it. Yup, I'm the "other noter" Jim refered to. Yes, the
box is still on the shelf while I finish the Electric Breeze(only needs a little
more covering to complete.) I also agreed to another building race. I'll never
learn! What kind of "Fribble" did ya want again Jimbo?? :-)

-Lamar

Well, the race has tightened up with the rumor of Lamar "opening the box". I
managed to bag my tip panels monday night and they looked great last night. 
I'll clean the overlap up and get ready to assemble the panels this weekend.
I still need to cut a set of stabs and the standard class wing panels before 
I can fully settle into building mode. I hope to have the wing ready for 
covering by the end of the weekend. The biggest slowdown there is fiddling 
with the flap and aileron servos/linkage. Most of the prep work for that is 
easiest done before final joining of the one piece wing.

Yup I opened the box last Thursday and found out I was missing all the long
spruce and balsa sticks. I gave Jim around 9:30 and told him about it. When he
got up off the floor from laughing, I asked him if he could bring in the pieces
I needed(from his wood order to build a few "extra" fuselages.) He agreed and I
picked them up at lunch on Friday. Over the weekend, I got all the wing sheeting
ready, one main panel bagged, and the other main panel in the bag Sunday night.

I started on the fin Sunday night as well and continued working on it Monday
night. The fin contains the pull-pull bellcrank for the elevator. I crimped the
wires on(as the instructions state) before I had the belcrank support glued in.
This was a mistake! The crimps were too far forward when the plastic guide tubes
were installed and the crimp would allow full elevator bellcrank movement. I
cut the wires off and re-crimped new wires with the bellcrank installed in the
support. This is a much better way to do it! No guess work on where the crimp
should go. 

I also got both tip panels in the bag last night as well. I finished up the shop
session by gluing one of the 1/64th ply fin side in place. Tonight I'll 
(hopefully!) finish up the fin and move on to the rudder and stab core prep.

-Lamar

Lots of progress this weekend:

I managed to get the wing in one piece and hinge the flaps and ailerons and 
connect up all the linkage. I went with a single embedded aileron servo 
instead of the cables coming into the fuselage. I found that the rear wing 
section between the flaps is very weak. I broke it twice before getting 
everything together. I'm going to use a single piece of 1/16" ply over this 
area and up above the hinge line to reinforce this area in general. The joint 
will get a coat of 6oz fiberglass on the bottom also to reinforce it (I'm 
going to use Hobbypoxy Smooth and Easy for this since it sands so nice when 
cured)

I still have to cover the wing and cut out the flap servo location but I 
should be ready to start the fuselage in a couple of nights. March suddenly 
seems realistic 8^)

Over the last couple of nights I've been busy with non-RC related stuff. 
I did manage to get the rear center section reinforced with plywood. This 
method should help in two areas. First it reinforces a section which has 
little strength by spreading out the force. The rear holddown bolt goes 
through here. And second, it reinforces the inner corner of the flap 
cutout which seems to be a place where the open class wing likes to 
separate. Here's a crude drawing of what I ended up with:


                              ^
                             / \
                            /   \
                     wing  /     \  wing
                          /  ply  \
                         /         \
                    --------+   +-------
                     flap   |   |  flap
                            | o |
                    --------+---+-------

Last night I stopped down in the cellar and had a few spare minutes. I 
tried to set up the aileron servo in the center section. Due to not 
allowing for the wing bolt block, the servo has moved forward in the 
wing and the servo interferes with the cable movement. In trying to 
"assist" the movement, I broke the aileron horn out of one aileron. This 
was very disheartening and I unplugged and turned off everything and went 
back to the couch. Ever have one of those days...

Well after having such a lousy time installing the Futaba S5102 servo for the 
ailerons, I tried an S9601 instead. I also changed the mounting method so that 
it bolts in from the bottom but the wheel is bolted on from the top through an 
access hole (which I'll monocoat over). The flaps got another S9601 and 
everything is in working order. I now just have to fiberglass the center section 
and cover to complete the wing. Time to start the fuselage. The truss work is 
tedious but straight forward.

Looking at the specs, the 9601 is 2.4 kg/cm and the 5102 is 2.2 kg/cm. My 
observation is that the 5102 is generous and the 9601 is conservative.

I also managed to sneak in a little more progress on my 2M Alcyone this weekend.
The fuselage side are complete and joined along with the veritcal fin. The truss
work on the rear portion of the fuse was a pain(lots of mitered cuts), but I 
took my time to make sure the joints were nice and tight. I wasn't able to 
finish, becuse I was missing some more balsa(3/32" sheets) from the kit. 

I finally called Sal about the missing wood, but he already knew about it. Seems
a lot of the two meter kits were missing the long balsa and spruce pieces. Sal
suggested that I call Culpeper to "expedite" the replacement wood. I told him 
that I already replace the missing wood, and he said that he'd "give me a break
on my next order." 

I still need to join the wing halves. I went a different route on the control
hook than the one Jim(and the kit) recommend. I'm going with a servo for each
surface. I weighed all the individual components(2 s133 and servo leads) for 
each wing half(including the wing) and came in around 7.75 ounces. I'm hoping
I can finish the wing at around 18+ ounces total.

The only major constuction left to do after the above, is the stabs. Then it's 
on to gear installtion and covering.

-Lamar

I managed a few more hours on my Alcyone this weekend. I started off putting the 
fuselage together and had it all framed except the nose block on saturday. On 
sunday I spent some time aligning the wing and getting the incidence correct. My 
wing now seats with 2 degrees positive incidence as per the plans and the bolt 
blocks are all drilled and tapped.

I then started concentrating the stabs. I had decided that I wanted locking stabs 
so I made holes in the stab tubes and soldered collars into place. I found that 
the stabs I cut were too thin but I put them together anyway as an exercise in 
lightness. I'll probably recut a new set of cores tonight and make another set 
and try both. I had found that the open class ship required the airfoil to be 
thinned 65% to match the built up stabs. The 2 meter ship doesn't need them 
thinned.

Left to do:

Build the rudder
Build the canopy
reinforce the center section of the wing with fiberglass
finish the stabs
Install towhook block
install fuselage radio equipment
cover

If I manage a couple of nights in the shop this week, I should be covering by 
the weekend.

I got the last bits done this weekend and installed the rudder and elevator 
servos. The only thing needed now is covering and the tow hook block.

Initial balancing shows a need for less than an ounce of nose weight and a 
weight of 35 ounces. Covering will add 1-2 ounces and probably need a full 
ounce of nose weight but I'm pleased with the results.

The pull-pull elevator is a little stiff so the centering isn't perfect but 
it seems to be getting better as I work it. The flaps needed to be worked a 
little to loosen up also.

I should be able to cover it in a few evening sessions and be ready to fly 
it for my February flight. How about it Lamar? Ready for thursday/friday? 8^)

After calling Lamar on saturday for a little incentive boost (he was about
ready to cover his) I decided I couldn't wait for the stabs to get bagged.
I ended up using 30 minute epoxy to skin them and used two boards and 4 "C" 
clamps to "press" them. I was very pleased with how they came out but they're 
probably a little heavier than I could have done with slower epoxy (I didn't 
scrape as well as I could have due to the 12 minute working time which was 
probably shorter with the use of my heat gun to "thin" it down). I also used
4 embedded wheel collars to lock them on where I could have probably gotten
away with fixed wires and just two collars (alternating sides for lateral 
balance). I'll probably investigate replacing the stabs to remove the nose
weight in the future.

As Jim mentioned in .88, I began covering my Alcyone this weekend.  I did an 
initial balance of mine(using a balance point 1/2" in front of the spar) and it 
took almost 4 ounces to balance her out.  Damn! I was at 36 ounces all up weight
before this(includes 4 s133 servos in the wing.)  If I can find a narrower battey
pack, I might be able to loose some of the "useless" weight.  The pack I have now
will only fit about 1.25" inches from the nose. I also hope to remove some of the
weight after I do some dynamic balancing in the air.

Yup, I'll be ready Thursday! Then I can move on to building the Falcon.

-Lamar

 

Lamar flew his Alcyone 2M at lunch today and WOW! It flew great 
right off the board. Just the incentive I need to finish up 
covering mine. Congrats Lamar!


I've got the BOTTOM of the wing covered... that's the important 
part, right? 8^)

Jim_the_stalled

    
          Its nice to see that SOMEONE is building something AND actually
    flying it! Hope I get a chance to see it fly sometime!
    
                                                            Dan

Yeah, it was a great feeling seeing her go straight up the high start launch.
No bad habits at all! I wasn't happy with having to add 7 ounce of lead to the 
nose to get the ship balanced out(as recommended in the instructions.) I hope 
dynamic balancing will allow me to take out some of the weight. I picked up a 
smaller square 800mA pack which is slightly narrower than the square 550mA pack
in the ship now. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it closer to the nose block since 
the 550 pack is almost an inch and a half away from the nose block.

I've still got to play around with the mixing to take full advatage of the four
servos in the wing. I'll be back out tomorrow for aome more fun(and to watch
Dick fly his Magic for the first time.)

Yes Jim_the_stalled, that chocolate Fribble will taste good! :-) Don't worry Dan,
the LA-1 will be in the air before you know it(if you can stay away from 
Aero Chopper long enough!) :-) Gettin' outta here quick! :-)

-Lamar

Boy, give a guy a little sticktime and he gets all puffed up. Better 
watch out or you'll have to modify all your doorways 8^) You're going 
to be right inthe midst of things one you get familiar with that ship. 
(and I hope to be challenge you at every chance 8^)

James, James, James, just trying to provide a little more incentive for you to
get your 2 meter Alcyone into the air. :-) Yup, I can't wait till we get familar
with these puppies. With all the high tech ships that will be flying down at the 
Acton field this year, we ASS's should have a good summer!

-Lamar

What's a fribble ?

Nigel

A Fribble is a trademarked name for a thick milk shake at a local New 
England place called Friendly's.


Can't figure out where I left that "spare time". I hope to get back to 
the covering this weekend and be able to head out flying with it next 
week. Weather man says friday might be a building day! Snow starting 
thursday night and continuing until saturday 8^)

After only 4 hours on my own models all last month (and that was preparing a 
Gremlin for my trip to Florida), I finally got back to the Alcyone 2M. I made
a commitment to fly it tomorrow so last night I spent 5 hours covering. I 
managed to get the stabs, rudder, fin, and fuselage completely covered. That
just leaves the top of the wing for tonight and I'll be set to go.

The evening wasn't without incident. I hadn't installed my antenna tunnel in 
the fuselage so I decided to do it BEFORE I covered 8^). I took my drill and
started drilling the hole into the fuselage rear section. The drill broke 
through and snagged one of the elevator pull-pull cables and broke it. I had
to take the 1/64" ply off one side of the fin to get access for replacement.
I finally got the wire replaced and got on to the original task of covering.

Tonight I'll finally do the top of the wing (I'm avoiding the starbursts I've 
planned for it) and install the switch and Rx. The programming was done back 
when I initially set up the radio gear and then I'll balance it and pack the 
car. I'm really hopeful about this one.

The covering got finished last night at 11:30. I have everything with 
me with the intent of balancing and flying it at lunchtime today. The 
plane has taken a while but hopefully it will live up to my expectations. 
Flight report after lunch.

Great job Jimbo! Can't wait to see it at lunch today. I've put about 8 or 9
flights on my Alcyone and it's beginning to fly pretty good. I went full house
(4 servos in the wing) and it has worked out great. The crow capability is
great and really slow the bird down. I've played around with the full camber
capabilities as well. It help me get a milk out a weak thermal and turn a so-so
flight into a nice thermal flight(11 minutes.) 

I'm still sorting the balance(CG) out, but am getting close. This is going to be
a very nice two meter!!

-Lamar

Really reminds me of the open class version. This is going to be a great 
replacement for my defunct Rude Bitch. Had a 2+ minute initial flight 
and then couldn't seem to get the trims adjusted (bunch of pop offs 
and 1:30 flights). I put another ounce in the nose (2oz total 8^) and 
got in some great flap launches. Last flight I worked for about 3-4 
minutes and finally started going up. At 10+ minutes I did a high speed 
pass and a loop and landed at 11:20, Very pleased. I need to work on 
getting more flap deflection (I'm only getting about 60 degrees right 
now) and more dynamic balancing (initial dive tests show it nose heavy).

Great job on the covering Jimbo, your Alcyone looks(and flies) GREAT!! Kay and I
tried working on our LSF duration flights(level III for me, and level IV for 
Kay.) We didn't quite make it on our first flight(the only flight for Kay.) We
didn't quite make it though! :-( I eneded up with a 23+ minute and Kay had a
43+ minute flight. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!!!! :-)

-Lamar

It is nice to have a 2 meter plane to fly at lunch again. It makes for a 
nice form factor and handles enough like the open class version to keep 
my skills sharp. Glad yo liked the covering design. You probably won't 
see it on any other of my gliders 8^)

Well, I haven't reported it in here but in mid-May I broke the back of my 
2M doing a zoom off my "killer winch". Last friday I recieved a fiberglass 
fuselage from NSP. The fuselage has a 1" wide piece of Kevlar running down 
both sides of the fuselage. the quality was great. The only down side is 
that this is a SparrowHawk fuselage and the fin needs to be removed and a 
built up fin installed. I have just finished grafting a new pod onto the 
built up tailboom so I'll probably fly that for a while until I press a 
set of new obechi wings for the fiberglass fuselage. I want to use 4 wing 
mounted servos this time. Lamar's with crow really slows right down.

    Yep, that new fiberglass fuse look pretty strong. I can't wait to see
    if your Killer Winch is up to this new challenge!
    
    Dave (who's Spirit wasn't "up to the challenge")