Dan Workman Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 After having a brief go with a dreamflight Ahi, and liking it, i thought would it be possible to design something with similar flight characteristics out of balsa? This is my first attempt, its all built now just need to cover and chuck it off a slope. Another motivation was maybe to sell a few kits, so hopefully it flies well enough to put it into production. Anyway this is it so far. Its mainly 3/32 laser cut balsa. Bit of 1/4" for the tail. Its light at the moment at 137g, so is probably going to come in under the targeted 350g Can of Stella for size reference! Its 1.2m span Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Beautiful Dan - clearly a candidate for transparent film Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Dan that is gorgeous, up to your usual standard and you can see the Dan DNA in it. Looking forward to the flight reports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Workman Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 Cheers guys, yes it will be covered in transparent, be a shame to cover it up! Im waiting on servos for it, so maybe next weekend it will be ready, then i'll need to find a good slope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Fisher Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Looks good. I would like one. Any idea what the kit cost would be if it goes into production? Malcolm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Posted by Dan Workman on 26/06/2020 18:51:02: Cheers guys, yes it will be covered in transparent, be a shame to cover it up! Im waiting on servos for it, so maybe next weekend it will be ready, then i'll need to find a good slope! Or stick a motor in its snout. No hills here on the Norfolk / Suffolk border Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Workman Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 Malcolm, i'm not entirely sure yet as i've already got a list of modifications to make, for ease of build and for rigidity. So not sure yet how much wood and laser cut time there will be for the final version. What i was looking to offer though was a full wood kit, ie more than a short kit so it has all the wood you would need to build it and leave the buyer to provide hardware, electronics etc Ron, maybe a powered version will come shortly after. Depends how easy it is to strap a motor on and make it look pretty at the same time!! Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Workman Posted June 27, 2020 Author Share Posted June 27, 2020 Few coats of halfords spray cans before covering with clear oracover... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 A novel idea Dan! Really interested to see how that works out with clear Oracover! Be interesting to use the same technique on decorating an all sheet structure - like an F3A model! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 Now that is clever as it will give a 3D effect due to the colours going into the structure. Edited By Ron Gray on 27/06/2020 13:56:48 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ashby - Moderator Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 Looks great Dan, following with interest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Workman Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 Tried to maiden at the weekend but it was too windy. Took it down the field last night in the flat calm and it went pretty well, looking forward to getting it on the slope! Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 08/07/2020 05:59:25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ashby - Moderator Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Looks promising Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Looks great with the painted balsa & clear oracover, although my slope experience tells me that the vegetation on some slopes can be a bit course and can make little rips & tears in thin coverings, (not all slopes have long, lush grass), so for me I'd be tempted to cover the wings at least with a very thin lam film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Very nice Dan. How did you do the rib alignment in the wing? They're all at different angles, is it a self jigging sort of structure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Workman Posted July 8, 2020 Author Share Posted July 8, 2020 Steve, i used oracover lite which was great to use, it will probably get a tear here and there but being clear you'll barely see any repairs. Darker colours maybe. I've never used any laminating film, how is that applied? Nigel, they all push into slots on the leading and trailing edge and on the spar. Once thats on you then add the top and bottom spars, l.e sheeting etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Looks impressive - a mix of Ahi, Phase 6 and my old favourite the Limit EX. Stick and underslung fin on and that will DLG even better from the flat; it might help knife edge on the slope too! Fishy fishy fishy… Edited By MattyB on 08/07/2020 14:05:52 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Posted by Dan Workman on 08/07/2020 13:18:53: Steve, i used oracover lite which was great to use, it will probably get a tear here and there but being clear you'll barely see any repairs. Darker colours maybe. I've never used any laminating film, how is that applied? Dan - Lam film is ironed on, but in the opposite fashion to Oracover in that you start ironing from the middle and work your way outwards as it doesn't shrink. So for example, if I'm covering a foam wing I no longer use GF cross weave tape but iron on a fairly thick, (70 micron) laminating film, which will really stiffen the wing but it has enough flexibility to be ironed around curves. I then roughen up the surface with glass paper before applying my choice of coloured iron on film. Once that is done I then apply a 40 micron layer of lam film over the top. This may seem like overkill but it works great, protects the coloured film and years later my foamie gliders still look as good as the day I built them. I have also used the lam film for hinging as well, like a live hinge, where I've extended the lam an inch over the TE and onto the control surface. Edited By Steve Houghton 1 on 08/07/2020 15:39:45 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Laminating film does shrink! But you need more heat than with covering film. I use 38 micron and it covers solid and built up surfaces really well and is very strong, much stronger than film. The other nice thing with it is if you need a hole for, say a cable, then you can just heat up a piece of wire and push it through. It will melt the hole through the lam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Posted by Ron Gray on 10/07/2020 10:33:04: Laminating film does shrink! But you need more heat than with covering film. I use 38 micron and it covers solid and built up surfaces really well and is very strong, much stronger than film. The other nice thing with it is if you need a hole for, say a cable, then you can just heat up a piece of wire and push it through. It will melt the hole through the lam. Shrinking has not been my experience, or if it has then it's not been noticable. Maybe I just don't have my iron set as hot as you. I tend to use a lowish setting, (120° at first to adhere it to the wing, then increase the temperature and go over it again at about 140° C. Maybe I haven't noticed shrinkage as I've only used it on foam wings and not a balsa framework? Edited By Steve Houghton 1 on 10/07/2020 11:34:35 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 I think that your temperature is too low for shrinking Steve but that then poses a problem for foam! I have used it on foam but have, like you, set a lower temperature. On balsa and open structures you can really up the heat as it is much more tolerant than normal covering film and I am using =>140. At the higher temps you can feel it suddenly start to shrink! My brother recently used some, for the first time, then complained that he still had wrinkles in the film, I told him to up the temp so he used his heat gun, immediately he got a drum tight finish. It really is good stuff and very cheap too. I would have thought that for Dan's Swoop, where he has sprayed the colours onto the framework, lam film would be an ideal covering solution, especially flying on slopes where the terrain can play havoc with 'normal' covering films. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers Bowlan Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Do you buy your laminating film on a roll or sheets Steve? I have never tried it but I have an EPP wing (SAS Fusion) that needs recovering so I may give it a try, thanks. Any particular brand or is all laminating film born equal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Sorry Piers, I know your question was directed at Steve I got mine from here Lam Film Also get it from eBay Edited By Ron Gray on 10/07/2020 12:26:47 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers Bowlan Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 My question was directed to anybody really Ron and that info is very helpful, thanks . I will give it a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 I bought a load of lam in 70 micron & 40 micron from the now defunct flyingwings.com and I haven't had to buy anymore since, but it's great for giving a light but tough covering, even on top of regular iron on coverings, as in my Flying Wings Genesis below which was built for slope combat a couple of years ago, and my SAS Wildthing MK2 which had to be rebuilt after nose diving into the ground. Genesis covered in 2 layer ofs lam film SAS Wildthing crash And after the rebuild and 2 layers of lam. The 1st straight onto the foam & the 2nd on top of the yellow covering. I call it the 'sandwich' method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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