John Laverick

As it happens I've just been working on the Swordfish, here's a couple of photos Edited By John Laverick on 24/04/2018 17:58:54

Hi Jerome, sorry not been on site for a while and didn't get your post, AUW was 9lb 7oz, I've not flown it yet but I will when the weather gets better in a couple of months. Terry and David I have no idea what motor would be suitable? I only deal in electric trickery and really have no knowledge of engines, sorry. You've got a job on your hand building from scratch Terry, I did it with a fairey swordfish !!! I won't be repeating it ! CNC cut parts are a real bonus, you feel as if you're building a plane from the plans, just a bit easier. Good luck with yours

I'm thinking of doing the 50" TN hawk for a winter project Martin, so will be watching yours with interest John

Thanks for the feedback guys, I decided to reverse engineer and disconnected the speaker system. Guess what? It was the Transmitter! I only went 2.4ghz last year and pretty much bought a level entry TX, turns out the TGY-ia10 suffers with one gimble movement interfering with with another. In my case when I throttled up the ailerons activated. I took the back off, tightened the gimble up (they were very slack) tugged at a few wires and it worked!!! The only problem, I put it back to factory reset so guess I'm gonna be busy recalibrating and binding all my models. Thanks again John

Has anyone installed and used the bang-good speakers? I've installed them on two planes and I'm getting interference with the ailerons on both? As soon as the speakers start the ailerons basically become sluggish and movement is reduced to only about 20% with the port aileron going up and the starboard going down. Strangely this is identical on both set ups and doesn't affect any of the other functions. I can't get the RX and speaker set up any further from each other being at least a foot apart! Doing my head in, cos it sounds brill and would be a shame not to use it.

Simon, this was one instance where the Bec output wasn't put on the Esc! I agree they normally are. I normally go with the rule of thumb that Dave suggested, 40 amps and over I use an Opto or disconnect the power lead and add a Übec. I think I just got lazy. I think Someone needs to design a Übec that plugs into the power source straight from the Esc instead of having to solder it on? Or, why don't Opto Esc's not come with an attached Übec?

Why? I don't think the enjoyment of model building is necessarily about what you achieve in the workshop, nice though that is. I think it's about lying in bed trying to figure out what you're going to do next, or how you're gonna overcome the next problem. I put my head on the pillow Every night, and think " what can I achieve with the build tomorrow "? Wether I achieve it or not is irrelevant, I know the model is still there, and the problem is still there and one day I'll get to it. I'm lucky I guess? I'm in the position to spend at least a couple of hours a day in the workshop. However, I really appreciate it

Well, I thought I'd solved it, until I went into the garden to do a test on the Wattmeter to see what the motor was pulling. Then everything went mental again!!! Just buy chance I read on the forum about inbuilt bec's only providing 2 to 3 amps to the servos. Then the penny dropped, I've always used separate Ubec's but for some reason I thought 70 amp Sbec would be sufficient for this model? What a numpty, 7 servos and two of them being electric retracts, of course it would go mental!!! Anyway, I've put a Ubec on it and it all works sweet. I must admit, you would think electric flight Would be plane sailing, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Thanks guys John

Ta Colin, how's the Chippie coming along?

That might be 150 watts per lb! I said my maths was bobbins!!!

Thanks Alan, and everyone else for the kind remarks. If you've ever built one of Tony's kits, you'll know they pretty much follow the same pattern. Once you've built a couple you can pretty much guarantee they'll follow the same form and become much easier. I don't know if Tony gets the kudos for his excellent plans, but he defo gets it from me. As it happens I can report a bit of progress with regards to the motor and functional set up. I was having real problems with the servos! When I moved the gear the flaps moved, when I put in aileron the rudder moved. It was doing my head in!! I tried changing Rx's, servos, everything, but then the penny dropped. I have always used a übec on my models. For some reason I thought a 70amp Inbuilt Sbec would be sufficient for this model? I only chance read that in built Bec 's supply 2 to 3 amps towards the servos. Nowhere near enough for 7 servos, two of them being retract servos!!! What a numpty? I've stuck a Übec on the ESC, and guess what? Yup, sweet as a nut. Everything running perfect. Can't believe I was so simple. Arghhh, two days I'll not get back in my life! Anyway, I've managed to do a prop, motor ESC test, and I've got great results. Set up is a Turnigy G60 400kv, 3 blade 16 x 8, 70 amp ESC with a now 5v übec, on a 6s 4500 mah lipo, giving me 1500 Watts per pound on a 9.5 lb model. Even my poor maths would reckon it's capable of lifting off the ground? Again thanks for the kind words. John

Tony Nijhuis Zero in silver scheme