Hybrid Fidget

[BTCat]

Mar 24, 2010 20:05:37 GMT -6 akent said:

If you want a relatively huge setup, I have extras for:
Turnigy 2730-1300 (comes with prop saver, motor mount and ESC connectors)
Turnigy 18a esc
HXT-500 (tiny) or HXT-900 (9 gram) servos

I'd sell em to you at HC cost, plus UPS. UPS ground is overnight to Dallas from here.
I'm on my last 8x4 GWS prop, but I have one dinged one that I could throw in there. I also have a new 9x5 and some 7x??. I would need to look at those for the pitch.

You could have it all probably by this weekend.

Note that if you use two aileron servos, then you can set them up as spoilerons or flaperons. I have done both on my Yak, and spoilerons really help with the stability of high alpha. Flaperons just make it fly super slow, which doesn't really matter as it flies super slow anyway. I think it was Gabe who talked about doing spoilerons. They are a hoot when you flip it on! The Yak just pretty much stops and points it's nose up! I have those tied to the idle up switch.
Kent

PM me a price on what is extra, Kent. Don't include anything you are going to use later, though. I don't want to raid your stash. I will build a Yak or Edge eventually, too.

Got to go lay down. Maxed out on pain meds and the world is looking way too happy right now

[akent]

Man, I hope things get better for you, BT.

I sent you a PM.
Kent

[BTCat]

Well, I finally put the Fidget in the air today (kind of) I have a small motor ordered from China and I really need to get a smaller battery, but I had to try it so I put the Turnigy 2730-1300 on it. I put the rudder and elevator servos in the rear, but I may move them later. I went with two servos for the ailerons, even though I think this is an overkill. If I make one out of EPP in the future I will tweak a few things. It won't glide at all with all the weight I have on it now.

The wind calmed down enough, I thought, to play a little in the front yard this evening. I hovered it a little and played with the battery location. That motor and prop (I started with an 8-4) made it too quick for a front yard flyer. Dam near took my nose off with it . I had just let go of it and had it hovering about two feet above my head and a yard or so in front of me. A little gust of wind hit it square in the belly. Ducked just in time. I turned and almost caught it. Instead I hit it enough to make it go hard nose in on the concrete. At least I had time to cut throttle. It landed square on the prop. No damage though.

Some pics below. I copied the linkage from someone else over at RCGroups. Can't remember who. It makes it very easy to adjust them and also makes them more ridged as long as they are kept relatively short.

Take a look at that UGLY mount. That is the result of a combination of pain meds and one of my shop lights going out. It turned real messy real quick. Never take drugs and work with glue ;D

Did you just see what I just saw?

[19000rpm]

That's a lot better than mine would have turned out with your circumstances. And, it flies and that's 90% of what an airplanes for.

That's a nice control rod adjustment device. Just a little pinch or stretch for mechanical trim just like the PKZ ultra micros.

What's wrong with that last pic. When you reverse the direction of the bend in that control rod that aileron might even work correctly in both directions. ;D

[akent]

Hey BT, check your rudder and elevator servos! I think those servos came with hold down screws!!!

That's awesome that you got it flying! That thing is pretty small, so I would guess the 2730 motor is way overkill! I like it!
Kent

[BTCat]

Kent wins the prize! I left the servo horn screws out on the elevator and rudder. I didn't see it until I looked at the pics.

HK hasn't shipped yet. Seems they had a big move to a new warehouse or something like that.

Too windy anyway

[19000rpm]

Sharp eyes Kent

I must have flown my G2 for six months without a screw in one of my servos. Boy was I lucky the arm didn't come off. Now I put the screw in the SECOND I get the arm centered. ;D

[BTCat]

Apr 12, 2010 5:41:55 GMT -6 19000rpm said:

That's a lot better than mine would have turned out with your circumstances. And, it flies and that's 90% of what an airplanes for.

That's a nice control rod adjustment device. Just a little pinch or stretch for mechanical trim just like the PKZ ultra micros.

What's wrong with that last pic. When you reverse the direction of the bend in that control rod that aileron might even work correctly in both directions. ;D

PZ! So that's where that idea came from. I just copied someone else who copied someone else. Nothing more than an amanuensis.

19, what are you refering to on the bends of the control rods? Which one should I reverse to get better results? I am assuming you are refering to the Z bend???

[BTCat]

Okay, wrong prop (8-4 GWS), wrong motor (2730 Turnigy), too windy. What the heck! I flew it anyway. I did pick a slightly overgrown field to cushion the crashes, though.

The wind was somewhere around 10 or 12 mph steady and it pushed that thing around quite a bit. Too much for a good controlled flight, but that little thing had some fight to it since it is over-proped and over-powered. I only flew part of one battery before I cracked the elevator. I actually flew it one more time with one side of the elevator kind of flapping. It's made of 75 cents worth of foam and about that much in Gorilla glue. So I wasn't very concerned.

What I learned: That thing lives up to it's name. It fidgets all over the place. I used expo to tame the controls some (-60% expo on all three). It responded very quickly even with that. I need to slow it down some and adjust my D/R. With the quick reaction to the controls and the shear speed for its size, it was more than I could keep up with at times. A real adrenaline rush especially since the wind didn't let me get much more than 30 feet of altitude ;D

I did a few glides, and it did okay with the Clark-Y. I don't have anything to compare it with, though.

I think I'm going to make a little larger version out of mostly EPP with cheap foam for the top of the airfoil. This stuff is stiff and the wing seems very durable. The rest of is isn't, though.

Best way to describe this thing's flying attributes: A fruit fly on crack!

[19000rpm]

Apr 17, 2010 12:13:40 GMT -6 BTCat said:

Apr 12, 2010 5:41:55 GMT -6 19000rpm said:

That's a lot better than mine would have turned out with your circumstances. And, it flies and that's 90% of what an airplanes for.

That's a nice control rod adjustment device. Just a little pinch or stretch for mechanical trim just like the PKZ ultra micros.

What's wrong with that last pic. When you reverse the direction of the bend in that control rod that aileron might even work correctly in both directions. ;D

PZ! So that's where that idea came from. I just copied someone else who copied someone else. Nothing more than an amanuensis.

19, what are you refering to on the bends of the control rods? Which one should I reverse to get better results? I am assuming you are refering to the Z bend???

The left aileron bend looked like it might contact the wing. If it does, turn it to face down.

All of the 3D planes with large control surfaces act like what you're experiencing. Very small stick movements generate big changes in direction. Once you get used to it that's where all the fun is. ;D

[akent]

Yep! My Yak is similar, but it has a much longer fuselage compared to your Fidget!
I would think that thing would dart all over and turn on itself!

The Yak is a handful at speed, but if you go slow, it is actually pretty docile. All of the control surfaces have a 45 degree plus movement!

These are fun! If you get good enough to fly that Fidget around, then you are good!
Kent