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The Annual Dark Nights Fix-up.


MattyB
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Last flown around 1994 ( and crashed). Fuselage and bottom wing damaged etc. At the time repaired the fuselage and built a new bottom wing. (original wings were foam).   Then packed in flying. Started again this year. Repaired my Southerner 60 and built a Quaker Flash for training on. Now want something a bit more exciting to fly. 

Domino.jpegDomino b.jpegGot around this week to glassing the bottom wing joint and fitted a servo. Fitted ailerons and recovered the fin. 3 servos fitted inside and elevator rod fitted. Now needs re-covering and tidying etc.

Have to decide which motor to fit. (40-60 2 or 4 stroke) and sort out a new cowl and canopy.

44" span Galaxy Models "Domino"

 

Edited By John Wagg on 27/09/2020 21:10:39

Edited By John Wagg on 27/09/2020 21:17:06

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Posted by MattyB on 20/09/2020 08:10:40:
Posted by Dad_flyer on 19/09/2020 16:19:36:

2. E-fair. Second hand to me. I had a go at slope soaring...

img_20200919_160130831~2.jpg

It looks quite fiddly to get the TE back, but I shall try. The nose is also bashed, and probably needs a new motor.

Looks like you found out about the acronym for S.L.O.P.E (Smashed, lost or pulverised eventually) the hard way! laugh

I make that 29 and counting, provided John Stones promises to crash his shock flyer as soon as it's built in order to qualify... wink 2

Got some left over bits of LEDs I could fit, to go with the Dark Nights theme, n a servo with a broken lug. winkmoon

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I had a rummage in the rarely encountered naughty corner of the workshop and sorted out my two models I hope to repair during the Dark night fix up.

Luckily the damage isn't as bad as I remembered.

The first is a fixed wing and an OD, this canard flew extremely well until its hatch departed during a fast low inverted pass. Not a mark on the hatch so I have something to use to size the missing lower front fuselage and foreplane.

20200929_105355.jpg

The second model is an autogyro called the PT-25 kitted by Aerobalsa in the USA, this had a bump many years ago due to a receiver pack failure and I designed the Panther to replace it. Again, on inspection its not that bad though I always felt it could have done with a bit more power and stronger servos which I can put my hands on. Rotor plate used on this model is the delta 3 flexible hinge type with a 15 degree offset, blades are aerobalsa (which I haven't found yet). I think I may give this one a recover also.

20200929_142259.jpg

Rich

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Excellent Rich - will be good to see both those get back in the air. I like the canard, and have seen that before when the component that causes the crash miraculously emerges unscathed. Murphy huh...!

OK, I make that 34 (I have added fixing up my paramotor after it's latest brush with death) - to save time I will create a little tracker in Google Docs that people can update if they want to add a project or report one as complete. Watch this space...

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Posted by Paul Marsh on 30/09/2020 13:26:02:

So far all my aircraft are airworthy, and as was furloughed earlier in the year, literally everything was checked and repaired, even built a few kits/plans to boot.

Better get out there and break something sharpish then Paul! wink 2teeth 2

OK, we are green to go - get repairing! Here is the tracker in Google Drive - I have added all 31 models declared so far. Anyone should be able to view and edit their entries; let me know if you can't.

Once your repair work is complete simply post here and (if you want) update the tracker so we can see how we are doing collectively  I will also ask the mods if they can inject this link into post 1.

Edited By MattyB on 01/10/2020 13:02:13

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Posted by Stuart Quinn-Harvie 1 on 01/10/2020 15:50:19:

Can I play?

I have this: 20201001_152137.jpg

Which used to look like this:

dscf0007.jpg

dscf0008.jpg

A Chilli Breeze by Mike Delacole. as well as a rebuild/repair, I am going to replace the fuselage mounted undercart with a wing mounted one, as per advice on here, and give it a new colour scheme.

Nice model, have added it to the tracker...

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Posted by John Wagg on 01/10/2020 17:04:49:
Posted by MattyB on 01/10/2020 16:54:27:
Posted by kevin b on 01/10/2020 14:07:44:

Still looking for something.

Can I join later ?

Join whenever you like - the only deadline is April 1st when the fixes need to be finished for the virtual fly-in.

2021 ? embarrassed

Yes - all the info is in post 1... wink 2

  • The challenge runs from 1st October 2020 to 1st April 2021
  • All models must have flown previously (either for you or a previous owner) – no NIB kits or plan builds! Other than that anything goes; sport, scale, foamie, scratch built, kit, ARTF, glider, electric, IC, multirotor, free flight, control line, flying pig… teeth 2
  • Those participating declare the model(s) they are going to fix in this thread, complete with a photo in its current state.
  • At the end of October once most declarations are in I will count up and set the target of how many airframes we are shooting for.
  • Participants post highlights of their fixes in this thread, or if it’s a bigger project in a separate linked thread just for their model.
  • Once finished participants post a pic or video of the completed model RTF so we can tot up the final results on April 1st.
  • We all fly our “new” steeds at a socially distanced virtual fly in the w/e of 3rd/4th April 2021, taking and posting as many photos and videos as possible.
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Apart from models that are not complete and have never flown there are two models that might qualify. There is my second hand Super 60 that has only flown with Junior 60 wings and could therefore do with it's own wings. The original second hand aileron wings were so badly put together I just could not use them. The other plane that may well have flown in the past is a Veron Concord. My original plane was stolen 32 years ago from a lock-up garage apart from the wings which were left behind. I bought a second hand plane on E-bay for £18 that needs refurbishing. I have about 5 years ago bought all the necessary accessories to complete the refurbishment but have never got round to it.

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imga0027.jpg

 

p2150146.jpg

p2150158.jpg

I would have to re-cover the Mini Concord and replace the wheels which have rotted. I have an OS 10 meant for the original Mini-Concord bought at Heset Model Supplies South Croydon in 1976. The Mini Concord was a single channel RC design as pictured in last month's RCM&E magazine. My model has an elevator fitted which looks too small. I will need to fit new radio, but I think I have already bought new mini-servos?. In terms of flying it would seem to be a backward step but most suitable for an old timers fly-in . I am sure it would need a hand launch.

Edited By Mike Etheridge 1 on 01/10/2020 20:09:59

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Well made some progress with the Mini Astro Hog, having done some planking for the first time in ages and fabricated a replacement battery hatch I worked on figuring out how to fit a 3s1p 2250mah lipo pack where the fuel tank had been. I figured that an inclined ramp was the answer. making the effective pack length a bit shorter and easier to insert. This also leaves a space under the battery for the ESC. I didn't get any photos, but will do so tomiorrow.

This morning was all about motor testing -so I knocked together a test stand, with somewhere to fit ESC, Lipo, an old retired receiver and my wattmeter. I made a generous ply plate to which I could secure a couple of motor mounts to fit the two motors I wanted to check out. The ply structure was tied together with a solid piece of timber that could be clamped in a vice. I'd hope to incorporate my tacho, but that was thwarted by the LED lights in the workshop, which gave some very spurious results.

Then, I made up a ply motor mounting plate that I could screw into the existing ply firewall and the sawn off engine bearers. Seems solid enough and I can make up a second plate for the other motor if this one doesn't work out. There wasn't really room to fit the captive nuts for my preferred method of radial motor mounting with stand offs, and the extra lhickness of the ply mounting plate will accomodate the rotating collet or protruding motor shaft, whichever motor I end up with.

Last thing was a bit of strengthening and filling in of the sawn off oily nose section, so that I can use it as a master for vac-forming a lightweight plastic cowl. All in all a good day.

Here's a couple of piccies of the motor test stand - I had fun with that. Motor Test Stand II

Motor test stand

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Permission to join in please, my Kyosho Spit 90, went from this

s2090019.jpg

to this

img_5728a.jpg

img_5732a.jpg

all due to the diligence of fitting a new rx battery and it dropping a cell during 2nd flight of the day, the wing is in a similar state. the idea is to repair and improve the scale outline without affecting the great flying characteristics. I had repainted the model in the colours of my uncles Spitfire so has a bit of a sentimental link to it also.

Linds

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Posted by Dave Cunnington on 02/10/2020 14:26:05:

Well, it was finished, then I realised it was too low to the ground. When I tried to bend them, the legs were not as secure as I would have liked so now it's major surgery time !

Anyway, when I've done that I can always build another one

That’s good, it means it’s already been repaired to qualify for this challenge...! wink 2
 

Posted by Lindsay Todd on 02/10/2020 20:17:13:

Permission to join in please...

No permission needed! Have added you to the list...

Edited By MattyB on 03/10/2020 12:01:16

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Ok, so last night I did a bit of “recommissioning” on the Mibo Vision Plus I picked up secondhand a month ago. Has had some linkage tweaks, and had to solder up the little Frsky XM+ redundancy RX and install alongside my vario equipped G-RX8. Setup is via Mike Shellim’s excellent E-soar plus template for OpenTX. CG seems bang on with a Graphene Panther 3S 1300; just need to range check and refine antenna positions, then test fly (wings are too big to have the tip panels on in my modelling room!):

3ee8997d-3741-4aad-a17e-839fbc6ebbdd.jpeg
ce73d898-5954-4087-a558-3770190adbc7.jpeg

I’m quite excited to own my first “proper” 3m+ thermal ship, though getting it finished in early Oct was not the best timing! Never mind...

Edited By MattyB on 03/10/2020 12:12:18

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Not as much as I would have liked to do on the Mini AstroHog today - three attempts at vac-forming the cowl failed, with extreme webbing and no usable results. I've now cut the cowl block in half to try and get something less extreme to form properly. If that doesn't work I may have to resort to putting together a wooden cowl after all.

Did get the motor mounted, the ESC and U-Bec in, along with the battery tray and scoped out the servos too.

Mini Astro Hog Motor mounted

Decided on the larger motor which the tests showed will work better with the 7x4 or 7x5" prop that the original OS.10FP flew the model nicely on. The smaller motor would have really needed a 10x5" prop and I'm not aure the model would have the ground clearance. If it doesn;t work out, it just needs 4 woodscrews to be removed to change the motor plate.

MiniAstroHog progress

Here's the new battery hatch in place - I plan to have the cockpit area retained by screws into small blocks glued to the fuselage sides and only removable for maintenance. The battery hatch retention will be by magnets,

The battery tray is retained with four tiny screws, to access the ESC underneath - I'll add a cooling cut out and scoop to the fuselage side- and an exit hole for the warm air behind the wing.Battery tray

3s1p 2250 G-Power Lipo is a snug fit and well retained by a velcro strap, and a small piece will be added to stop any sliding.Battery fit

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