Forza 2.5

[Hill Hobbit]

Ok fellas, shall I talk about how to achieve easy and free, servo friendly flap throw of up to 90 degrees on literally all bottom hinged mouldies here, or a specific (sticky?) thread dedicated to the subject?

Actually, the same technique also applies to the aileron hinges to get more throw on Artur Blejzyk’s beautiful foam/poplar veneer wings, and it really helps too when using film covering rather than the varnish method.

What do you folks think?

 

[Wayne]

Sure, sounds great.

 

[Doc J]

Ok fellas, shall I talk about how to achieve easy and free, servo friendly flap throw of up to 90 degrees on literally all bottom hinged mouldies here, or a specific (sticky?) thread dedicated to the subject?

Actually, the same technique also applies to the aileron hinges to get more throw on Artur Blejzyk’s beautiful foam/poplar veneer wings, and it really helps too when using film covering rather than the varnish method.

What do you folks think?

Yes indeed!

Doc.

 

[Grover100]

Very nice quality wiring loom, finished off with some heat shrink and potted for extra protection

 

[Hill Hobbit]

Hi Martin, you ok? Have you sorted out the flap throw now?

Cheers
Jonty

 

[Grover100]

Hi Jonty,

Not yet - I had to work today, so not much progress Have done a few minor bits, but nothing major.

Really enjoyed our chat yesterday

Martin

 

[Hill Hobbit]

 

[Grover100]

Onwards and upwards…

Moving to the ballast tube, the length on mine is 288mm, which means that I can only get 6 x 35mm long slugs inside, not the 8 as mentioned in the manual. I can’t see any practical problem with it being too short, or should I buy a longer one? I reckon it should be 336mm to house 8 slugs with the loading hole and end stop.

Any thoughts?



Martin

 

[Doc J]

Onwards and upwards…

Moving to the ballast tube, the length on mine is 288mm, which means that I can only get 6 x 35mm long slugs inside, not the 8 as mentioned in the manual. I can’t see any practical problem with it being too short, or should I buy a longer one? I reckon it should be 336mm to house 8 slugs with the loading hole and end stop.

Any thoughts?

View attachment 21385

Martin

It's heavy enough as you have it, Martin.
cheers,

Doc.

 

[Grover100]

Actually, i think it will be a problem :-(

With the ballast tube balance point (between slugs 3 and 4) set on the 99mm CG point, the loading slot does not fall within the cockpit area. It’s about 8mm too short. It needs the extra length and slugs to make it work.

Maybe I’ve missed something? Need to find a workaround.

See photo:

 

[Doc J]

Actually, i think it will be a problem :-(

With the ballast tube balance point (between slugs 3 and 4) set on the 99mm CG point, the loading slot does not fall within the cockpit area. It’s about 8mm too short. It needs the extra length and slugs to make it work.

Maybe I’ve missed something? Need to find a workaround.

See photo:

View attachment 21386

I use half-length wood slugs to position Grover.

Doc.

 

[Grover100]

Ok, thanks Doc that’s an option.

I’ve calculated that if you make 6 off 38mm long slugs, it will work with the supplied 288mm tube and use 38mm length spacers/blanks.

As long as the total slug length is 230mm, all is good i.e.

6 x 38.3mm
7 x 32.8mm
8 x 28.8mm

35mm slugs x 6 will need an extra 10mm+ spacer at the front end before the loading slot to hold the ballast in position.

 

[Doc J]

Grover - I just checked my own Forza. The manual is wrong.

Fuselage ballast should be supplementary to the wing-loaded ballast on this model.

Hence, only 6 slugs. I'll get the manual amended.

Actually, 6 slugs at 35mm = 510g, which is well enough extra weight for this model.

Apologies for the confusion.

Cheers,

Doc.

 

[Grover100]

Thanks for the info Doc - I’ve ordered the brass rod to make the wing and fuz slugs and yes it gives plenty of options for adding weight.

I hope you don’t mind me bringing up issues as I go through my build. I’m actually super pleased with my purchase. She’s just soooo sexy looking and everything slides together beautifully

Off to France tomorrow for a few days sloping, so will leave you in peace for a bit…

Cheers, Martin

 

[Doc J]

Thanks for the info Doc - I’ve ordered the brass rod to make the wing and fuz slugs and yes it gives plenty of options for adding weight.

I hope you don’t mind me bringing up issues as I go through my build. I’m actually super pleased with my purchase. She’s just soooo sexy looking and everything slides together beautifully

Off to France tomorrow for a few days sloping, so will leave you in peace for a bit…

Cheers, Martin

Hey Martin - I strongly encourage people who have enough faith in me and my designs to buy and build a model to post any comments or advice for improvement. I love constructive criticism! This is the way I learn, as I'm not 100% failsafe and often can't see the wood for the damn trees!

I incorporate many improvements that my great customers have passed on to me, and often, these find their way into my other designs.

Thanks, and have a great time en France! Bonne Noel! - Post pictures!

Doc

 

[Grover100]

Here you go Doc…

Nice afternoon flying near Sangatte in northern France in a strong north westerly wind.

This slope has the channel tunnel running directly underneath it - the buildings in the background are at the top of the ventilation shafts. if you look carefully, you can see the white cliffs of Dover across the water.

Alpha was rock solid with max ballast (500g) in the strong slope lift. Flights were short ‘cos it was bloody cold…

martin

 

[Doc J]

Here you go Doc…

Nice afternoon flying near Sangatte in northern France in a strong north westerly wind.

This slope has the channel tunnel running directly underneath it - the buildings in the background are at the top of the ventilation shafts. if you look carefully, you can see the white cliffs of Dover across the water.

Alpha was rock solid with max ballast (500g) in the strong slope lift. Flights were short ‘cos it was bloody cold…

martin

View attachment 21437

The picture is a bit small to see the white cliffs, but freezing or not I envy you for the flying time.

Looking closely, the X-Tail Alpha in your picture looks much like the re-engineered RCRCM Typhoon—even the tailplane rear cutouts, which are unnecessary in this model. The wings are exactly the Typhoon's extended profile. From the Aloft shop, it looks like the V-Tail version is a bit different, but it also looks like a re-engineered RCRCM model.

OK, I have it. This is one of the first models that Jerry at TJIRC did—the very first being the "Dream," an almost direct Typhon copy, which, to his credit, Jerry did ask me if he could copy/produce as I was the original designer. All is clear.

It's nice to think my old designs are quickly metamorphosing into more good new models!

Cheers, and have fun Martin!

Doc.

 

[Grover100]

Happy new year everyone!

Good progress on the Forza during the Xmas break

I successfully installed the 2 tail servos in the fin, which took a lot of tweaking and fiddling to get the throws correct, with no binding.

One thing i did do was drill small access holes in the rudder post and bottom of boom to allow me to unscrew the servo arm, if required in the future. A larger hatch would be a great upgrade to this model, as that would give better access to the servos and linkages and maybe allow the servos to be removable.

The elevator linkage works well with the brass ball soldered in to the centre of the actuator rod. I’m getting +/- 10mm travel on the elevator, which should be plenty. I opened up the slot in the fin to allow the ball to slide in and made the slots a bit longer to give more elevator travel.

Just casting the nose weight now…

Martin

 

[Doc J]

Happy new year everyone!

Good progress on the Forza during the Xmas break

I successfully installed the 2 tail servos in the fin, which took a lot of tweaking and fiddling to get the throws correct, with no binding.

One thing i did do was drill small access holes in the rudder post and bottom of boom to allow me to unscrew the servo arm, if required in the future. A larger hatch would be a great upgrade to this model, as that would give better access to the servos and linkages and maybe allow the servos to be removable.

The elevator linkage works well with the brass ball soldered in to the centre of the actuator rod. I’m getting +/- 10mm travel on the elevator, which should be plenty. I opened up the slot in the fin to allow the ball to slide in and made the slots a bit longer to give more elevator travel.

Just casting the nose weight now…

Martin

View attachment 21532
View attachment 21533

Good stuff, Grover - you'll soon have it Aloft! (sorry)

Thanks for the hatch suggestion - I'm giving this model's ease of assembly much thought.

My problem is that I'm sometimes too much of an engineer, too close to the design. So, I need input from the great guys who fly the models to open my eyes a bit.

Doohhh...Moment:
In the original design, the "single servo" Hatch houses only one 10mm servo for more discrete elevator control. In contrast, the Rudder servo was meant to be in the fuselage with a carbon rod to actuate it. And then...Servos suddenly got smaller!

One small word of advice: From your picture, it looks like the elevator servo has a threaded portion running directly in the servo arm. The thread reduces the surface area in contact and, therefore, the bearing surface. It might be a good idea to replace it with a plain wire or check this often to make sure it hasn't worn and isn't getting sloppy. Like all my models, the Forza has a very capable elevator, so slop is not so good.

I'm sure Jonty (Hill Hobbit), the official Aeroic Build guru, was just about to comment on that, but I get up 8 hours earlier in Taiwan!.

It's a nice model to fly, as you'll soon find out.

Cheers,

Doc.

 

[Grover100]

Thanks Doc, really looking forward to getting her in the air.

I’m really pleased with how the tail has gone together but i wont deny that it was a challenge. I was advised to go with the rudder servo in the nose, but decided that if done well, it would give a more precise and slop-free installation.

The slight downside to this is that the nose weight will need to be greater than with servos up front - my initial balance test indicates that I’ll need around 230g of lead to give me 99mm cg with the 2S 1600mah LiFe pack.

On the plus side, there’s now enough spare space up front to store my lunch…. Ha ha

Of course I’ll need to do it all again soon because I also have the electric fuselage to build

I’ve got a power train in mind (and to hand) that should make it go ballistic.

Martin