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Mark's Ballerina MK1


Mark Elen
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Hi Gents,

Thank you for your kind comments. (The only reason those leads are so neat, is because they were all cut to length and new connectors crimped on.)

I got a little more done tonight. Port aileron hinged up and linkage done.

I also got the little man glued in too😃

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I glued the hinges I using superphatic and I've been deliberating about pinning them as 'belt and braces', but, tonight's ordeal has made me have a rethink. I mistakenly fitted the correct aileron, but 'upside down', fortunately, the superphatic had only had about 3 minutes to set. I had a proper job on getting it back out so it could go in correctly.

Cheers

Mark

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Hi all,

Some more done tonight, got the starboard aileron hinged up and pushrod made and all linked up. Prop and spinner fitted. I also filed the flats on the main undercarriage legs for the grubscrews of the collets to seat on. Just the fairings for the undercarriage legs to make and the small 'anti-rotation' devices to make and solder on and the windscreen to make and fit. Nearly there...

image.jpeg

Cheers

Mark

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Thanks Gents👍

I am pleased to say that the Ballerina flew on Friday. It was a bit of a handful to start off with, but mostly that was my own doing.

The first mistake I made was programming the throttle at the field, because the carb is upside down and you can't see the opening, I left that so that it could be done with the engine running.

I ended up with hardly any movement at the low end of the stick and pretty much full throttle at anything over half stick. This was caused by my programming the tanaris in mixer, adjusting the weight and offset.

The second thing that caught me out was how much power the Saito gives, I was using the prop recommended for running in and general sport flying (a 10 X 7)

The field is grass and it was pretty wet on Friday, so much so, that when I flew the RM trainer first, it took a lot more of the field up before it got airborne. Not so the Ballerina. It was off in just a few metres. It needed a lot of up trim and a few clicks of right and once that was sorted, apart from the throttle issue, I was pleased with its performance.

Unfortunately no flying pics, but here she is ready to go

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Back home and over the weekend, I have pretty much cleaned up my programming, taken all of the stuff out of the mixer and programmed it back up in the outputs, I've adjusted all of the pushrods to take out the trim and sorted the throttle, it is now how it should be.

Looking forward to next time.

Cheers

Mark

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Hi Peter,

The stress was all of my own making. I'm still working away on the bathroom at home and so haven't had as much time as I would have liked to thoroughly set the Ballerina up.

Hopefully, next time will be a little less stressful.

Here's a pic of bathroom progress

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Cheers

Mark

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Congrats on the maiden, Mark.

And indeed the following flight should be a lot less stressful.

Really like your bathroom colour choices. In fact they're totally in accordance with the one I designed for Iris' apartment some time back. Black & white and some grey shades in between. Well done, young man.

Cheers

Chris

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Thanks Guys👍

I think I may have sorted the photo issue I have been having. I'm using an iPhone and uploading the photos straight off it, it seems that if the photo is shot in portrait, the forum rotates it, but if it is shot landscape, it orientates correctly.

I need to do some more testing to prove this theory. 😂

Cheers

Mark

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Hi all,

Managed to get a couple of hours at the field this afternoon and apart from it being a bit waterlogged, I flew the Ballerina 3 times. Wow, what a difference. A much more pleasant experience.

Many thanks once again Peter, it's a beautiful design you have given us.

I will try and get some flying photos in the near future.

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image.jpeg

Cheers

Mark

Edited By Mark Elen on 13/03/2018 17:39:25

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Excellent. The "second maiden" is usually easier going than the first

I like your minimal IC toolbox. Nothing going for a free ride in there!

I imagine you are a bit like me, if a problem occurs at the field, you go home to fix it, rather than packing a stack of tools and glues and whatnot to try and effect a field repair.

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Hi Nigel,

Yes, I find that if it can't be fixed with a small screwdriver at the field, then it's much easier at home in the dry and warm. I don't take any hex keys with me on purpose, so if it needs the engine removing or servos out, I can't do it at the field.

That field box is great, it's about 20 years old now, I bought it at the Sandown show. Everything clips in its place, so apart from the tacho and chicken stick, as long as everything goes back in after charging, there is nothing to forget.

When I got home today, I adjusted all of the trim out, so we are onto maiden 3 next time.

Cheers

Mark

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