Limobob Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 After reading the article in the latest RCME, i went put and purchased the Alpine as a handy model to pop in the car for a bit of relaxed flying. A few questions though for all you learned people out there! Firstly, what does one glue it together with? I thought epoxy but maybe this is not suitable. Secondly, i have a Futaba 2106 rxer available but would this give sufficient range for this particular model? I have read, i think on an American forum, that the range is 1000ft but Futaba are non commital and just list it as being suitable for indoor or park flyers. My last question, the space inside the fuselage looks pretty small to me and when they talk of using velcro type material to mount the innards, i'm not sure my chubby little fingers will allow this. I've seen some of the guys in our club with narrow fuselaged gliders stuffing everthing in and then sqashing it all down finally with a Lipo before forcing the lid on. Not good practice surely. They don't seem to worry at all with getting the aerials properly orientated. Any help on my queries would be appreciated. I am basically a 'glow man' and am fairly new to all this electric stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Epoxy does not work well on the EPO foam, it gives a superficial joint but can fail with repeated stress. The manual recommends Multiplex Zacki Cyno, as an alternate any medium cyno (preferably not foam safe - it's not needed on EPO) such as the green Zap will be fine. Can't help with your radio selection I'm afraid. As for cramming it in, yes it's not uncommon, but it's not good. On tight installations on small foamy's I tend to drill a 1mm hole & route the end of the aerial outside clear of all the gubbins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Watkins Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 1000 ft is a long way out for a small model Bob, and 100ft for indoor/parkfly being adequate with micro RX. Google Earth the place you fly from, your pilots box And track out a ruler for 1000feet, and you will see just how far away that is In my case, I would be infringing our no fly zones at 800 feet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limobob Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 Thanks for that John. I will have another look but i believe the manual with my model just states 'glue' so again many thanks. The aerial idea is brilliant, i hadn't thought of that at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limobob Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 I agree with you. Our club president has a transmitter that talks to him and i am always suprised how difficult it is to judge height and distance when he is flying. A friend i was with out our field recently lost orientation whilst facing towards the sun. He was not wearing a hat but i managed to shade his eyes and all turned out OK. When we discussed it we agreed that he was probably only 3-400 feet away but with a small model this is a long way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Posted by Limobob on 20/10/2017 17:09:32: Thanks for that John. I will have another look but i believe the manual with my model just states 'glue' so again many thanks. The aerial idea is brilliant, i hadn't thought of that at all There may be different versions of the manual, I suspect this one that I quoted is for/by the UK importer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Robertson 3 Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 I have a built-but-as-yet-unflown Alpine 1200. Multiplex Zacki works VERY well on this material. It's a thick CA, so let it have PLENTY of time to cure - I favour overnight to be certain, and the instruction caution DON'T use any accelerator I fitted a Lemon Rx inside the fuselage with Velcro - just behind the rear of the canopy and on the "roof" of the space. A pinkie-finger was my "special tool". I used Ares's own 2s 1000maH pack on the floor, towards the front. Velcro again. Yes, it's all a bit tight, but not too bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limobob Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 We are driving home tomorrow to our home in France. I have lots to do when we return so will in good time let you know how it all goes with the petite Alpine. We had a spell with zero wind on our patch during late summer which is very unusual - normally a nasty crosswind but still loads of space and no traffic on the roads. We are in UK at present but when we left home for eurotunnel, albeit early mornng on a sunday, but drove over 40km, including a chunk of motorway before we saw another car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limobob Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 I know - pretty boring actually!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limobob Posted October 23, 2017 Author Share Posted October 23, 2017 We are now back home and i took a bit of time to inspect everything. Apologies to John Lee, it does in fact recommend the Zacki ca - must read the manual in future! One thing i was very suprised at was how stiff the moveable surfaces are. The elevator in particular needed quite a bit of grunt to move at all and then only really near the horn. I tried flexing back and forth but this did not seem to make much difference. I feel the full length hinge needs cutting to produce a few 'normal' hinges. There must be dozens of people who have the same thoughts. A lot of pressure on a tiny servo does not seem correct. No mention in the manual so am i being too fussy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hall 4 Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 I have been flying an Alpine 1200 for some time - an excellent flyer! However, the aileron travel as given in the guide results in severe control problems. The down going aileron cause inverse yaw due to the increased drag. I have set mine with considerable differential far more up than down! This has resulted in a far better flying model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Robertson 3 Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 "... severe control problems …". That sounds like mine! I had a few test flights 2 - 3 months ago and found that, as a glider, the thing flew perfectly well, landing around 40 meters away after a modest hand launch. However, the moment I added power I got into trouble. BIG trouble. I simply couldn't control the thing either in pitch or in yaw. 4 flights, 4 crash landings. This is the first time I can recall having had such a poor record in the best part of 40 years! After the last one the nose area was too badly damaged to continue without major repairs, so I put it aside in disgust - to be attended to at a later date. I like the plane's looks, its size and its glide performance, so it's a keeper. The contents of the nose have now been totally stripped out - quite a job, given that the motor had been fitted by a person with hands half the size of mine! Not to worry, though. It's all in the past and I now plan to bond a plate to the nose to allow easier servicing and adjustment of thrust lines. As I had stiffened up the tail somewhat in anticipation of some wild weather later in the year, this will help with addressing the CG issues. I will bear in mind differential settings as mentioned by Chris Hall 4 and get her flying properly in a goodly number of test glides on both our local shinty pitch and from a small bluff overlooking the same Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Z Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Posted by Chris Hall 4 on 19/06/2018 18:05:26: I have been flying an Alpine 1200 for some time - an excellent flyer! However, the aileron travel as given in the guide results in severe control problems. The down going aileron cause inverse yaw due to the increased drag. I have set mine with considerable differential far more up than down! This has resulted in a far better flying model. Hi Chris I’be just bought one of these. Any recommendations on the amount of travel you’ve used in your diffential set up? The manual talks about 6mm either way. Sounds like I might be looking at 9mm up & 3mm down? Is that the sort of figures you used? Thanks in advance - and if anyone else can make recommendations before I start I’d be glad to hear them. S Edited By Stuart Z on 12/10/2018 14:34:56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Z Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Robertson 3 Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 "Any Thoughts?". Not from me, I'm afraid. See post of 19th June. My airframe has now been repaired and is ready for radio and motor installation, but too many conflicting jobs have halted progress. I too will be interested in others' recommendations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Z Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 Thanks John, I’m sorry to hear of your problems, hopefully some good suggestions will be forthcoming. I’ve seen the videos of it flying well so there must be a “right way” to set it up. S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Z Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 Hi John, Some research into set up of a model glider **LINK** Of particular interest the section oh aileron differential set up. Another article that gives a similar perspective **LINK** At least a starting point to use anyway. If anyone else can add anything? Who knows, if I get this right I might get into gliders more? S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Evans 1 Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Bought one in December, but moved house and now only chance to fly. Now due to house move, I havent flown since last October, so to prove I still could I flew my venerable acrowot foam e and all went well. So battery in the Alpine, c of g somewhere near, 3/4 throttle and a lob, and hell fire, off nearly vertically, and a massive uncontrollable role left and cartwheeled in. Bit bent nose end but ok for another try. Moved battery forward, and the same but managed to catch it with full right aileron, and off it went needing loads of down held in. Gained some height, off with throttle and amazingly needed no trim for a nice flat glide. Open throttle and will then try and go vertical but with insufficient power it stalls left. Part throttle and seems to have the makings of a pleasant flyer, but its the first model ever that I have crashed on a maiden. Had 3 flights of limited pleasantness and on the final landing coming in nice and flat a gentle squeeze on up elevator to flare and flicked in from 6" with no damage but I conclude the following........ c of g may be too aft. Will try a throttle to down elevator mix to control the pitching up when power is applied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Z Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Gareth, It definitely needs ballast up front. Mine was still a bit of a wild flight even with 40g in the nose. Now upped to 50g but as yet untested. It is a very light model in the breezy conditions I had on it’s maiden - but at least no damage suffered. Differential on the ailerons was fine. S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Z Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Hi Today I flew the Alpine 1200 with 50g up front and it was much more enjoyable. The day was breezy so still a bit of concentration needed especially to get back down on the flat field, it floats on a ways. I have not tried it on a slope yet. C of G is per instructions S Edited By Stuart Z on 30/04/2019 16:49:20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilco Wingco Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 Just bought one of these at a club auction. Reading all the comments the surface movements and CofG seem pretty critical. I have read all the info I can find but there is no mention, in the instructions that i can see on either. Any help would be appreciated as I don't want to write it off on my "maiden" . Cheers Chaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 (edited) Not got one, but having read the instructions I would set it up with the stock movements in the manual but with 50% diff programmed in, and triple rates for aileron and elevator set up at 100%, 75% and 50%. For the starting CG just use one of the online calculators; this has proved reliable for me whenever instructions have been lacking, it also takes into account tail volume as well so shuld be a little more accurate... https://www.ecalc.ch/cgcalc.php Edited February 16, 2022 by MattyB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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