Just another Ballerina

[Chris Barlow]

Posted by AndyD on 28/02/2016 21:34:40:

your writeup describes mine exactly,i found it alittle floaty as well,lovely for slow flybys though,you looked as warm as i was today,roll on summer.

Yes it was quite cold at the field but with a few layers on and waterproof over trousers I was quite warm. Then the sun popped out from behind the clouds and I was toastie warm!

[Chris Barlow]

Posted by Martyn K on 28/02/2016 22:06:42:

Hi Chris

thats great news. That is at least 4 completed now. I have enjoyed this mb more than most. It's nice to get back to a one model community project

regarding your nose down in turns, have you considered aileron differential as being a possible cause? Just a thought if the inboard aileron was more draggy rather than the outer one - a bit like reverse aileron yaw.

Best wishes

Martyn

Yes I agree I do prefer a one model mass build. Definately more interest following the other blogs.

I might have too much diff on the ailerons but I have also added quite a bit of trim on the elevator too so I'll evaluate it tomorrow during the post maiden inspection. When I get the cowl off to check the engine mountings I'll also re connect the remote glow connector I pulled off to change the plug!

For reference I have o% expo on the ailerons and 30% on the elevator which was probably just as well as it was very responsive in pitch.

I'll measure the throws and AUW tomorrow.

[Martyn K]

I tend to stick to about 30 - 35% rates for all surface controls but reduce the EPA rather than increase the 'rate' value when I want less sensitivity. I found that the ailerons were very responsive on medium 'rates' - the elevator less so. However, it was never twitchy. I'll manually reduce the travel on the aileron servo arms so that at medium 'rates' , 'll have it flying as I want it it.

I noted that on full throttle vertical uplines, it was leaning decidedly to the left. I may be ale to fix that will a bit of programmed in right rudder deflection mixed in with the throttle. It wont be very easy to add additional right thrust without having to do some metalwork on the cowl

Martyn

[Martyn K]

Posted by Chris Barlow on 29/02/2016 00:18:25:

The video camera is a Sony Handycam HDR-CX330. I set it on landscape mode for flying videos as it doesn't seem to hunt for focus so much.

I was quite impressed by how well it maintained focus. I'll have a look around

Thanks

Martyn

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Yep i'll go with that as well, lots of variety around a common theme and you've all behaved very well

John

[Chris Barlow]

Possibly my last post in this blog. I put most of the build photos together in a 10 minute video (with some pretty music) so anybody can sit back and watch the photos instead of trawling through all the posts.

Thanks to everybody who followed my blog and to the guys (and gals?) also building the Ballerina's for making it another fun mass build to occupy the dreary winter months.

Hope to meet some of you at Greenacres for some Ballet in the sky.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Been a pleasure Chris

John

[Low pass Pete]

Chris thanks for your blog. It has been the first mass build for me and it has been very interesting following everyone.

My offering is now way behind yours but I hope to be back on it soon. (delay due to health). I hope to be at Greenacres for the 1st time this year.

Cheers

Peter

PS Just watched your video.  Excellent and a masterclass indeed.  Well done. 

Edited By Low pass Pete on 05/03/2016 06:40:50

[Luther Oswalt]

Vise-Mounted Wire Bender

Click Image to Enlarge

List Price: $25.50 Sale Price: $19.95 Item #: 60346 Qty: Share!

Description

Watch Video

Make Perfect Bends Even in Hard Music Wire

Wire, rod and strip bender makes angles, loops, eyes, U, C & S shapes in brass, copper, and steel, quickly and easily. Even bends the hardest music wire up to 1/8 inch diameter. Made of steel with rust resistant black oxide finish and hardened radius pins. 7 inch-long arm and rubber grip gives extra leverage for tough materials. Must be locked in a vise during use.

Vise is not included.

I miss the simple cut and paste and some how things appear! Here is a tool like you are making.

Leo

[George coleman 1]

Posted by Chris Barlow on 09/01/2016 05:03:43:

This morning I woke up happy. Went downstairs and opened the curtains to a lovely bright & sunny Saturday morning. I felt happy because it was the start of the weekend and I had all day to get a good start on my Ballerina...

Then I woke up again. But this time it was still dark and worst of all, it was still Friday! It was all a dream!

It's funny how things like that can put you in a bad mood for the day so this evening I cheered myself up by starting my Ballerina for real! I started by marking out and cutting templates for the formers on paper transfer tape. This is very similar to masking tape but comes on a big roll 8" wide. These were transferred to a ply sheet and 1/8th balsa rectangles already cut out.

My bad mood briefly returned when I sheared the screw off whilst tightening the blade grip on my scroll saw, leaving the remaining thread deep in the metal grip! Not really feeling like cutting the couple of ply parts with a coping saw I set about removing the grip ready to drill the broken thread and extract it with a stud extractor. My bad mood disappeared immediately when the drill bit started cutting but then gripped the thread and wound it straight out for me! 5 minutes later it was all back together ready to start cutting again. Must be a good omen?

So after an hour or so of cutting and sanding on the bench sander I have a pile of formers ready.

Unfortunately I didn't have enough full lengths of 3/32 to cut the fuselage sides so they're on hold pending a shopping trip in the morning.

Finding a single length of medium 1/4 I cut and jointed the parts for the fin and rudder. No fancy built up framing for this Ballerina.

Then onto the fun part, the wing ribs!

I started by making a template in ply which is basically the same for all the ribs except the tips. I then started cutting the ribs, marking them as I went to keep track of what I had cut and what was left. A lack of 1/8 lite ply meant I couldn't complete the set and that's on the shopping list for tomorrow as well!

More progress tomorrow and hopefully this good mood will continue!

It is amazing how you have cut these your self! really good craftsman ship. i would like to know what kind of tools you use to do this and what kind of time period it will take untill completion??

Thanks for the photo

[Chris Barlow]

Hi George, welcome to the forum.

For the fuselage formers I usually trace from the plan and transfer it to the balsa or ply. For wing ribs I cut a ply template first then cut around that. If it's a tapered wing I use tracing paper the same as for the formers.

I have several hand tools for cutting. A heavy duty "stanley" knife, a heavy duty scalpel, a thin scalpel, a modelling saw, junior hack saw and a coping saw. I also have an electric scroll saw for thicker plywood.

With sharp blades and a steady and precise approach it doesn't take long to produce your own kit of parts.

[George coleman 1]

Hello Chris

Thanks for all the info, Most of the hand tools are easy enough to come across but when you say heavy duty what brand would you recommend? and possibly a nation wide store/website

Thanks chris

[Peter Miller]

He said Stanley knife. That is one of those witha retractable blade, The blades are double ended and so can be reversed,

If you don't want to invest in a powered fret or scrol saw you can buy hand fret saws which take a little practice to use but are the best tool for plywood. and a lot cheaper.

When I first started power models I bought a KK Ladybird kit which had a lot of 1/8 ply to cut out. I asked a more experienced modeller if he would cut them out for me. He didn't refuse but he did the best thing. He just didn't do it. I had to go and buy a fret saw and that one kit taught me to use it!! That was in 1954. Now I have a lovely power job which gets an awful lot of use.