I must admit, I am a bit late to the skywalker 'scene' as it were, this my first one!
I recently brought one to fill a gap in my hanger of a long range FPV model!
Components I will use:
3DR Pixhawk
90amp sensor
MinimOSD
Ivor Bluetooth module
Turnigy 60amp ESC
Propdrive v2 910kv brushless motor
Aerodrive 12x9 carbon prop
Turnigy 4s 5000mAh lipo
Hitec Full metal servos
ImmersionRc 600mW VTX
ImmersionRc EzUHF 8C RX
Gopro Hero3
600 TVL board camera
HK 3 way camera switch
Lets begin...
Wings:
So, having read a few reviews, the inboard aileron location has poor performance so the first thing I have done is re-located them to the out side, on the section with the dihedral.
They are 12inch long, 2inch wide, starting 1 inch from the wing tip
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/8v4mn15t03yr2r6/20170429_173637.jpg?raw=1)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/nghpiuv706v8pq9/20170429_173650.jpg?raw=1)
its always nerve racking cutting into new wings, but I am sure it will be worth while!
Wings: EzUHF/VTX
I quickly decided that I would like to the ImmersionRC EzUHF and the 600mw VTX out in the wings, but I just did not want to cut holes and be done with it. I wanted something a little more secure, maybe a little more crash resistant (and to look nice too)!
I was left with 2 holes where the old servo locations were, I already had a starting place, and there was already a nice wide channel down the spar cover for servo wires, so these locations were ideal! As I am running PPM Muxed from the RX to the Pixhawk, I will only need one servo wire to power and use all of the 8 channels available to me! Bonus!
So I turned to my 3D printer to provide a few boxes that would sit nicely in the wing.
Here is my V1 design
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/bp497ber5rfwvll/IMG-20170426-WA0008.jpg?raw=1)
I was quite happy with the first design, they were just boxes for size. Next was to build some location slots into them for a nice snug fit.
Both V2 parts turned out very well, as you can see they have a nice fit.
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/e1v8zohachw6ges/IMG-20170427-WA0006.jpeg?raw=1)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/pptclu2tiqpmv6z/IMG-20170427-WA0004.jpeg?raw=1)
Here is the factory locations for the servos, the boxes are designed to fit in after extending them.
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/mzzu6tng12yxj8u/IMG-20170427-WA0010.jpg?raw=1)
I like to take my time and not rush, so the above was completed over a few days.
Now it was time to get them fitted into the wing, they look really clean. Much better than hacking foam out and just leaving it!
Here is the boxes I designed fitted;
V2_ImmersionRc_EzUHF8Rx_Wingbox
V2_ImmersionRc_EzUHF8Rx_Wingbox_Cover
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/0xqr48p26pkvabr/20170429_182530.jpg?raw=1)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/rrp4ak1ckr2y11i/20170429_182453.jpg?raw=1)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/to0h6iu4ylewx2n/20170429_182539.jpg?raw=1)
V2_ImmersionRc_600mW_VTX_Wingbox
V2_ImmersionRc_600mW_VTX_Wingbox_Cover
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/235eoue3zw4pwz0/20170429_193359.jpg?raw=1)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/w67yrx0ra87n5hg/20170429_193408.jpg?raw=1)
Both electronic pieces will have the antennas going through the wing, of course leaving just a hole was really ugly!
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/dtitkuvs5kweb78/20170430_193942.jpg?raw=1)
Up next for the 3d printer was some nice covers.
V1 covers were designed to sandwich together, and they drop into the locating hole provided by the wing boxes. They looked great on the design suite, but in real life never really cut it. Its fast 3D prototyping and printing really comes in handy for these kinds of reasons!
On the left is V1 and on the right, much more of a simplistic design!
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/jfqic7yjl5ym971/20170430_193825.jpg?raw=1)
Both are only 0.4mm thick, so I will make a small recess for them to sit flush with the wing.
I am also very happy with the neatness of these!
ImmersionRc VTX has a 10mm hole
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/4a822pkzyj1o9uo/20170430_194700.jpg?raw=1)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/3sh80jg1om0v2vh/20170430_194716.jpg?raw=1)
8mm hole for the ImmersionRC UHF
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/9o0pqhjiomand8y/20170430_195021.jpg?raw=1)
Wings: Servos
I already had the the new aileron location, and were already cut out. Now I just had to make some pockets for the servos.
To get perfect alignment between both left and right wing, I quickly designed a jig/template and printed it out 0.4mm thick. It was a brainwave I had, they don't come often!
The servos are 30mmx40mm and I wanted them both 100mm from the trailing edge. There was a 4mm stop on the end to locate it on the TE
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/ishxuqwla0st9a4/20170430_195224.jpg?raw=1)
Now all I had to do was measure in 6inch and tape down my jig and make a simple mark. This will give me a 20mm bias toward the root edge of the aileron.
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/4i9kndroqlm9gql/20170430_195410.jpg?raw=1)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/fcg287ia1xnzsi9/20170430_195713.jpg?raw=1)
Checking with a rule, it was a near perfect match with both wings!
Next it was simple to cut and pluck some foam and place in the servos.
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/7z06qxaib3sy2z2/20170430_201029.jpg?raw=1)
The servo wires will have its own channel in the wing, well away from the VTX & UHF wiring so to cause less interference (cant be too sure)
That's it for now, hope you have enjoyed my first part.
Please sub if you have enjoyed the read, more soon!
They have come out very good, what printer and software?
Thanks!
I use Rhino CAD, into Simplify3D and printed on a CTC Dual that i converted to Laser/1x Extruder
(https://s27.postimg.org/8qjo8hgjj/IMG_20170405_215637_149.jpg) (https://postimg.org/image/8qjo8hgjj/)
Having trouble with posting images today!
Nice and neat, I like :)
Thanks Ian :D
This thread is destined to make me feel bad about my Skywalker build. I don't know why I even looked :laugh:
Don't fret Steve, every thread I read makes me feel bad about every one of my builds...
Awesome, this is looking great so far! Did you buy this from Snoozedog? If so then it was mine to begin with, glad it's finally getting built! :D
As per one of the other threads though, your diversity antennas are wasted in that configuration as they are both on the same plane, so if you bank they will both be out of the signal path. Better to have them in a V. It will work fine the way it is, just defeats the purpose of diversity a bit.
Do you have some more details of the laser conversion? I've been thinking of doing the same thing with my Malyan M180 (another makerbot clone) so the process should be similar to the CTC.
Quote from: Steve W on April 30, 2017, 11:43:24 PM
This thread is destined to make me feel bad about my Skywalker build. I don't know why I even looked :laugh:
I sold him the Skywalker! I feel like my wife has left me for a man with a bigger penis..... I feel very inadequate :goodnight:
Quote from: iwan_canobi on April 30, 2017, 11:56:31 PM
Awesome, this is looking great so far! Did you buy this from Snoozedog? If so then it was mine to begin with, glad it's finally getting built! :D
As per one of the other threads though, your diversity antennas are wasted in that configuration as they are both on the same plane, so if you bank they will both be out of the signal path. Better to have them in a V. It will work fine the way it is, just defeats the purpose of diversity a bit.
Do you have some more details of the laser conversion? I've been thinking of doing the same thing with my Malyan M180 (another makerbot clone) so the process should be similar to the CTC.
Iwan. It's not the one you sold me. It's a long story. The one clipped got was a brand spanker. No pre cut holes etc.
P
Quote from: SnoozeDoggyDog on May 01, 2017, 12:00:52 AM
Iwan. It's not the one you sold me. It's a long story. The one clipped got was a brand spanker. No pre cut holes etc.
P
Ah ha, did you end up with 2?
Looks lovely. Wonderfully over-engineered.... and by that I mean that I'm just jealous because I could never do such a neat job
Quote from: iwan_canobi on April 30, 2017, 11:56:31 PM
Awesome, this is looking great so far! Did you buy this from Snoozedog? If so then it was mine to begin with, glad it's finally getting built! :D
As per one of the other threads though, your diversity antennas are wasted in that configuration as they are both on the same plane, so if you bank they will both be out of the signal path. Better to have them in a V. It will work fine the way it is, just defeats the purpose of diversity a bit.
Do you have some more details of the laser conversion? I've been thinking of doing the same thing with my Malyan M180 (another makerbot clone) so the process should be similar to the CTC.
Yes it is :P
The antennas are not ideal i know, i would rather put it out on the boom, but i will already need a lot of nose weight as it is! I will use a L configuration. Not the best but this will be a start. If its poor i will get some extensions and do a V on the wing.
My long range is sub 8km...i have learned that my long range is the distance i am prepared to walk on any given day :laugh: some days my LR is 1km some times 5km!
I might even put a camera in the front and use it for mapping (will help with the CG)
Laser for the CTC was a total bitch and i would just recommend buying a laser platform with real Gcode. There was so many teething problems!
Firstly the CTC runs on 24v, the laser on 12v the TTL driver 5v. So that was 2 converters. I had to solder on the EXT fet to the board (not a hard job) to fire the laser (M106 & M107).
Because these mightboards use binary, it wont recognise arcs in most programmes so i had to make custom profiles and faff blah blah...it was just a pig really :P
Totally understand, I'm the same really, I've never pushed beyond 5km for that reason! :)
Looks like I'll need to do some more reading on the laser front, what I've found so far makes it sound simple but looks like it may not be! I had thought about getting a laser + module and only using the fan signal to turn it on and off. Will need to have a look at the Malyan board, not sure what voltages it is running at, although I know the fan is 12V. I'd factored in having a separate power supply for the laser though. What power is yours?
Anyway, sorry for the de-rail, the Skywalker is looking excellent so far, look forward to seeing the next steps of progress! Great images as well by the way, always makes the thread more interesting! :D
looking really good bud.
;) G
Thanks all for the nice comments!
It's a 2.5watt down ramped to 2.2watt to prolong the life of it. Anything over 2watt is over clocked (if you want anything bigger just get a small Co2 tube to save the heart ache)
Off to print a pixhawk vibration plate now!
Quote from: ClippedWing on May 01, 2017, 11:51:34 AM
Off to print a pixhawk vibration plate now!
"Waiting to see your design", will you be cutting flaps for your Skywalker?
I designed a new vibration mount today for the Pixhawk, nothing to ground breaking. I wanted to use some of these small vibration buttons I had hanging around
As they stick out 2mm from the end, I counter sunk them into the bottom part of the print. I also added a bumper in the middle to support the bottom. I did not feel that the whole bottom needed to be supported. This is 2mm thick, I did not want to make a huge plate to keep the weight and print time down.
Here is the bottom of the mount
Here is the top
The top plate was made slightly bigger, and 2 bumpers were placed on the side to central the Pixhawk in place without conflicts with the connections
Here are all the parts ready for fitting
And here is it completed
Has just enough movement to absorb some of the energy, Pixhawk will tell me in the diagnostics if this is working or not. Too much movement, and to rigid will upset the pixhawk so i hope this is in the middle somewhere!
Would of got more done today, but my Wife & I are expecting our second child any day now so priorities and what not :laugh:!
Happy with progress so far!
More soon!
I use the same dampening system in my mini talon.
P
That's good to know, hopeful it will work a treat then!
This only took a hour or so from start to finish!
Just a little more progress tonight.
Continuing with the wings and servos, I really don't like connections half way in the wing. Its not that I feel it will come undone its just very messy!
First job was to open up the 2 Hitec servos carefully and unsolder the existing cables.
Hitec cables are made very well and all of the ones I have opened up in years I have been flying, they all come soldered well and secured with a hard glue
A small bit of heat from a soldering iron with a clean tip breaks it down so you can gently pull off the cables. Afterwards it makes it easier to get some small tweezers and peel away the reaming glue.
I always dab a little bit more clean solder on the pads ready for the cables
The hardest part about soldering servo cables is how hard it can be to tin the bare wires. Small gauge wire wicks the heat away really quickly so I have a simple method to make it easier for anyone finding it a hard job.
Firstly with some cheap automatic wire strippers, I clamp and pull all 3 wires at the same time. This pulls away around 10mm of bare wire, with the plastic insulation still hanging of the edge like so
Now you have all the 3 wires exposed, you can go in with a soldering iron tinned, and heat the wires together rubbing some solder in as you go. To start with it looks like your just clumping the wires with solder, as it wicks away it tins all the 3 wires perfectly.
After that, its just a case of snipping the end off to your required size, generaly I go 2-3mm. Quite short, but when you solder them back onto the pads, the insulation melts another 2mm so it keeps it nice and neat.
For the servo connectors, the process is the same, strip, tin and then snip!
Grab your servo connectors and crimps and simply crimp them on!
Always and I mean always test your servos before installing them in your model. I learned that one the hard way. A cheap servo tester has no doubt saved me many tears!
All were working nicely, I gave the little connectors a few thorough tugs while testing, and found one of the servos stopped intermittently. A quick crimp again and test sorted it out. I take my time with this. Something you cant rush!
Now all that was done, a quick clean up and admire your work!
Thats it for tonight, only managed a few hours.
More soon!
I hope this gives you the confidence if you haven't done this before to give it a go. Saves having loads of servo cabled coiled up somewhere in your model!
Quote from: ClippedWing on May 01, 2017, 06:29:27 PM
Would of got more done today, but my Wife & I are expecting our second child any day now so priorities and what not :laugh:!
Happy with progress so far!
More soon!
Congrats man! I'm in a similar boat, we are expecting our first in 6 weeks, so I'm trying to get as much building done as I can before then! :)
Great write up on the servo wire extensions, I normally cut the wire and solder extensions on, but this way is much neater! I did the crimping once but almost had a nervous breakdown as it's quite fiddly and I kept crushing them! I was probably using the tool wrong though!
Just while I am faffing around, I just designed this little tool to cut servo wire channels in foam.
One of them little things you hardly need, but wish you had!
It will take 2 size 11 blades to give me a width of around 1mm wide. It should just let me push blades in and let me cut a 8mm channel that I can then pluck out.
It has a runner, 1mm from the edge as that how thick my big steel rule is, should run down nicely!
Looks good on the screen, will test it tomorrow!
Quote from: iwan_canobi on May 02, 2017, 10:59:05 PM
Congrats man! I'm in a similar boat, we are expecting our first in 6 weeks, so I'm trying to get as much building done as I can before then! :)
Great write up on the servo wire extensions, I normally cut the wire and solder extensions on, but this way is much neater! I did the crimping once but almost had a nervous breakdown as it's quite fiddly and I kept crushing them! I was probably using the tool wrong though!
Ah congratulations to you too mate, its mega rewarding!
My first is now 2, loves flying so i am well happy to have a new flying buddy! :P Will have 2 boys, so my Mrs is well happy that they will be out with me all the time ^-^
Cheers! Looking forward to it, we don't know what we are having so it will be a surprise either way, currykittens videos give me hope though that even a girl can enjoy the hobby with me! :D
It's all lies. It's not rewarding. It's a constant grind. You can't take a shite without someone disturbing you. You're time is never your own and when it is you're clock watching!
Leave while you can!
🙏
Quote from: iwan_canobi on May 03, 2017, 12:07:53 AM
Cheers! Looking forward to it, we don't know what we are having so it will be a surprise either way, currykittens videos give me hope though that even a girl can enjoy the hobby with me! :D
It's all clever editing, you should see the strops that she throws :o
Just kidding, you'll have a blast with your young'un. Lets you be a kid all over again (even more so than playing with planes all day) :D
Ah, strip and tin all 3 wires at the same time.....Got to try that now, it's so obvious huh..?
I have some nice wire strippers for this, and yet I always strip each wire in turn....Never too old to learn something new.
My Runcam Swift Mini loom came with no servo connector on it, so I can try this method tomorrow.....Not sure why Runcam have made this Camera cable with those tiny 3 pin white plugs on both ends..?....weird.
So, I will cut the cable in the middle, and end up with a spare one.
Nice Tip...Thanks.
:vulture:
Quote from: English Turbines on May 03, 2017, 12:48:30 AM
Ah, strip and tin all 3 wires at the same time.....Got to try that now, it's so obvious huh..?
I have some nice wire strippers for this, and yet I always strip each wire in turn....Never too old to learn something new.
No problem, its the little things that help the most! :P
Bit odd having 2 molex connectors! Don't even bother trying to solder them!
Looking for covering ideas?
I always struggle with this part! I might spray the tips for the wings and then laminate the whole lot!
Thoughts?
A few more bits done tonight!
Well, my servo channel cutter worked like a dream! I had to take 2 passes but cut a perfect gap. I will redesign it again but to take 3 blades rather than 2, so I don't have to squeeze it in and not depressing the foam so much!
made life so much easier! I taped my 1 meter long down in place and just cut the foam out, it was a bit of a squeeze so had to push them in quite snugly
The next little task I wanted to work on is the spar covers. They are 1.3mm too thick, so they stick out like a sore thumb!
I taped a blade to a rule and tried to drag it down, but it just did not work. Tried to free hand, but I knew it just wouldn't look good or work well!
So i set out to make a small hot wire cutter!
I had some guitar wire in my workshop from other hot wire projects, I used to have a large bow and a home made feather cutter so this was left over.
I found that 0.20mm was the best.
Next I taped 2 bits of balsa down on the back of a clip board, and set the screws at around 8inches.
Next I pulled the wire down really tight before adding 2x 1mm drill bits. The wire will stretch when current is applied, I never had any small springs to take up the slack but it would work ok.
This is the gap I had between the 2 drill bits. I made sure that the cutting end was up and I would be pushing against the blank.
I tried a 7.2v lipo first, and you can tell fairly quick how warm it gets, if it sits up, the voltage is too high. I then used a 5v BEC and it was just enough but quite slow. I could live with that!
This is the complete set up. Took around 10 minutes to do.
Here is a better shot of the lip from the spar cover.
Obviously, you need to cut the right side, cut on the inside it would reduce the width and it would make the spare channel into a oval making the carbon rod hard to fit.
With a light push, making sure the part is flat on the balsa, it cut a 1mm thin piece of foam from the spar.
Very satisfying! It excited my OCD lol!
Here are the results with the covers put back in test the the fit...
Over the moon with that little hot wire cutter! Did the job perfectly!
Sit back, admire my hours work!
I am looking for covering options though now, I am thinking of spraying the tips and then laminating over the whole wing for a bit of extra ding resistance!
My workshop is only 2x2 (Yes 2 meters by 2 meters) so I'm getting a lot of hangar rash!
Hopefully again there is a few tips in there you can use for your own projects!
Thanks for looking, hope your enjoying this build as I am!
This is mental :D
Love it!
Top marks for quality and innovation, nice to see a precise build and attention to details.
PK :)
Amazing top quality build ! Passion of details is so visible in your work. This is inspiring. Congratulations.
But now I feel ashamed of what I am doing. :-[
Ah, thanks all for your nice comments!
I should really build something more scale and put all my efforts into that, but I enjoy the process!
Should be able to get a few bits done tonight, i am not sure what though as i just make it up as i go along :P
I love the attention to detail with this build !
Please don't lawn dart it on the maiden :)
:thumbsup:
Just a small update!
Tonight I worked a little more on the wings and wing harnesses to provide signal to the EzUHF and Signal/Power to the VTX
The EzUHF harness was made the same way as I normally do, both ends are 3x1 male to 3x1 male. The connections inside the fuselage will obviously be female.
The VTX needs 2 wire harnesses.
One for Signal/Ground/Power (+5v to power the board camera) 5x1 male to 3x1 male. The reason I use a 5x1 male for the VTX so it fills the space inside the VTX connector.
The power one is 2x1 male for the VTX and then to a 3x1 for the other end.
I use a 3x1 on the end that plugs into the model for assurance reasons. The middle pin will always be positive. That way even if I somehow manage to plug it in the wrong way round into a female 3x1, the positive wont change and potentially cause damage from reverse polarity.
My servo ends do not have locating pins, it will make more sense when I build the harness board for the fuselage connection. I wont have visible cables.
The cables have been run in the channels but I have not fixed the spar covers in until I have fully tested them all working with the Pixhawk/OSD and power connections.
There is a little more work to do on the root caps before I glue them on though but here is where I am at tonight.
If I have huge trouble on the test bench with masses of interference (I have run longer cables with out shielding and haven't had a problem) I will order up some 3 core shielded cable.
I better go order some more bits from Hobbytroniks, I am running low on a few things according to my inventory!
Thanks again for the nice comments and following, it makes it easier to put the effort in if people are enjoying the build!
Love the hot wire cutter, that's some real dedication but the result looks worth it!
I'd go with laminate for the ultimate protection, paint underneath as you say and you'll get a really nice finish that is wipe clean and adds loads of strength. I've used vinyl on top of laminate before to get some nice patterns, but it does add a bit of weight.
Only took 10mins to build so was well worth it!
Yes I think I will go laminated, I have got some ultra thin micron laminate that will do the job! I will no doubt laminate the ailerons at the same time and cut them out after for the hinge!
I am really poor at finishing models off, so hopefully it will come out looking OK!
But of spray paint underneath should do the job!
You've now taken my OCD to a completely new level and I'll no longer be happy with perfection.
Thanks for that.
(there was a compliment hidden in there somewhere) ;D
I was low on supplies, so I had to wait a few days to progress!
I have redesigned the Pixhawk tray. I don't know why I made 2 different parts, when I had to screw it onto the service tray inside the model anyway!
I killed 2 birds with one stone and but the vibration balls into the tray, if anything it removed 3mm, no huge space gain I must admit! Makes it look better anyway!
I always put off gluing the model together. I don't know why, I guess its just a final thing and you can't really undo it if you forget something!
I made sure the T tail was nice and square, and set it up overnight....no going back!
Next job was to tackle the top plate for the servo and assorted wing wiring. I set out to make a plate that I already had in mind.
There is 2 wires coming from the right wing (Servo/EzUHF) and 3 from the left wing (Servo/VTX/Power). I made 'pockets' for the male servo connectors to pass through, and then it was capped the other side to hold the female connectors.
There is also a flange to support the crumple zone, it gives a little more support where I had to cut away around 50mm of foam. Here is the plate dry fitted.
As I will be pushing down to connect, it makes the system a lot more safer and cleaner. No finding cables buried inside, its all there for me to just plug in!
As there is a Y servo cable for the ailerons, I had to splice the wires after I had dry fitted them, it was the only way to pull through the female servo cables.
Would of been fairly upset I had soldered it up and then realised that!
You will also notice I have cut away the middle section, so I have a easy access panel to the Pixhawk. It will be good to confirm GPS lock and to aid me in servicing if I need too.
The Pixhawk will have its own bluetooth dongle, so I wont have to plug in a USB cable for updates or configuration, all that will be done via my tablet.
This is most likely the slowest Skywalker build, and yes I am going way, way overboard but its a good test of my Modelling/Printing/Soldering skills.
I will have lots more time this week to do a few more bits and bobs, so far its going well!
Surprised you didn't print those thin covers rather than wire cut that fragile foam, but Im impressed with your attention to detail without doubt.
The other day, while finishing my Mini Talon, I told myself to stop being so precious and just get on with it....because it takes me so long to finish stuff off while I debate the best way to do stuff.
Its a good job we dont have to make these FPV models as well.....like when I was younger.....:)
:vulture:
I still scratch build from time to time! I'm designing something for when this is done! Will be beautiful lol!
Moving forward slowly at the moment now that I am getting closer to the end, its all the electronics that snap me!
One of the things I really hated was the servo connections into the Pixhawk, I have also decided to split the ailerons into 2 channels for flaparons.
My original idea was to use channel 1/5 and then use the mix inside Pixhawk. So I split the ends of the servo connectors and fitted them into servo blocks
As you can see it now has 6x3 blocks and 4x3 blocks. Its a good job I tested it all before I put it all in properly as my old Futaba 7C that is my long range radio dedicates that channel 5 can only be used for a switch!
I had to disconnect it all and make my second flaparon into channel 6!
I also glued up the vertical, making sure to pass the elevator servo though the locking plates, I have a huge van so I am lucky that I don't need to disassemble my air frames to my flying patch.
It was a little of a pain to get it vertical, but its on there now!
The motor mount also got fitted, normally I would pin and then glue, this time however I have decided to glue first to get good contact and then pin it afterwards.
Next print job was the battery compartment.
Of course the 3DPrinter got a work out!
It timed it to be a 22 hour print, so I broke it down into 2 sections. Why build a battery tray when you can just strap it down? Because I can I guess! 5 hours total.
That tray fits in the nose, the void is a little bit longer so I can adjust the CG upto 40mm each way.
The 2 small holes in the top is for the MinmimOSD wires to come through as the OSD will sit on top of that plate. In my experience the OSD always needs tweaking so it needed to be handy so I could connect it up to the laptop, rather than digging it out.
The lip from the nose to the wooden plate was 65mm, so I added a block to bring the battery up. This block will also be pinned to the wood via a few blind screws to keep it solid. A 5000mAh is a hefty block so I don't want that moving at all!
Now that it was made, I marked it out on the wooden block so I can wire around it.
The board cam will be in the nose, so the camera switch will occupy the space down the side
a simple strap goes around the pack, and its free to move underneath. This is what it looks like with a pack fitted in the tray, its not moving anywhere
I have completed other jobs that I just have not had time to document yet!
More soon!
Great job, keep the pic's and hopefully a maiden vid coming ;D
I have been a tad strapped for time recently, so only a few bits done!
Mainly painting!
The nose first!
The black lines dip at the front, this will cover the black nose camera.
One of the problems I have found was the wings.
The cables obstruct the wings from joining together. Bit of a odd one really?
I can just close it enough that the 2 nubs are seated inside of the fuselage and it seats correctly?
I am not sure if I want to leave it, or remove the wood from the root so the servo and VTX cables can tuck under!
Bit of ventilation I guess!
It seats lovely at the back!
Bench fly! Excuse the mess!
The wings needed a bit of colour, so I masked up and sprayed a nice orange the same as the rest.
I was 50/50 if I wanted to laminate the wings, due to weight...decided it was minimal for the protection offered and smoother lines
Couldn't resist...
I'm happy with how it turned out!
The hinges are laminated top and bottom with a bottom reinforcement panel!
I have done a few other bits and bobs, so more soon!
What spray do you use? It looks perfect!
looks great. ;)
Looking really good! Are you going to laminate the fuse as well? Just thinking the black paint on the nose will crack after a while?
Quote from: ClippedWing on May 20, 2017, 03:02:49 PM
Excuse the mess!
He says with a picture of the tidiest workbench ever! :P
I think you may have a nervous breakdown if you saw my work area mid build...
OCD?
You forgot to install the horizontal stabiliser.
;D
Unfortunately this thread got lost for two reasons!
Photobucket completely ruined my links for a start, but more importantly my second son come into the world with loads of complications!
We spent 40 days in Intensive care.
Without loads of the details he was born in Bath, transferred to Bristol NICU and then onto Birmingham PICU. Quite a stressfull time for the family and I.
My Son is doing fantastically thankfully. I'm not a religious person but :-X me i prayed to anyone listening!
Since we been home and got settled time started to free up a little to get this Skywalker built!
Here is a few raw videos of its maiden and its second flight trying to catch the sun set!
Not up to my OCD standards, but for the sake of a closed loop!
Congrats on your new son, glad it all came good in the end for you all! Sounds like you've been through the ringer. I've also just had a son fairly recently, no complications thankfully but even then it's hard work so can't imagine what you must have been through!
Glad you've got it flying, looks like it's going nicely.
Thanks buddy, congratulations to you too!
Sat in the hospital as I write this lol but it's just for a checkup!
She flies OK, glides really nicely but doesn't like to climb nicely under power! Needs some tuning but it's airworthy for now!
Glad to see you got it airborne! And glad to see your little one is doing okay :)