Scale Soaring UK

Just to get this thread back on track.
I found a few minutes between other build projects to make up two outrigger assemblies which can be plugged into hardwood blocks mounted in the wing, rather than permanently fixed as per the plan.

ian davis wrote:Well off thread. Do you know that Totnes is twinned with Area 51.

I apologise but couldn't resist it.

Ian

I know that I am going to regret this, but someone will have to explain...



BC

Interestingly, I note that the Aeronaut electric setup (from instructions found online) uses a motor capable of 2.5KW which is approx. 3 times that proposed by Mick Reeves. Although Mick's recommendation is to use a power level suitable for long take-offs, I have decided to increase the power level to 1200W or so to give a bit more of a margin.
Thus I will try a Motorolfly DS3620 750Kv which should give me up to 1200W off 4S or 1600W off 6S if required.

Best of luck with soaring the RF4.
My plan is to use the 1/4 scale RF4 as a taster for the 1/4 scale Milan I plan to build soon. This effectively adds a standard class glider wing to a RF4 fuselage & should soar much better

I've managed to squeeze in a few jobs on the RF4 whilst building yet another 1/4 scale Olympia.
Canopy frame is now finished & ready for painting before the canopy itself can be fitted. The canopy shouldn't need to be regularly removed, but is secured with a couple of magnets, with toothpick dowels in the sides to maintain position once fitted.
I have also nearly finished tidying up the cowling mounting blocks now that the initial motor choice has been finalised and mounting defined. The cowling will shortly be positioned based on the spinner backplate location and the securing screws fitted.
The flight battery bay occupies the IC version tank area and the hatch for this area has been fitted with a magnet retention setup as for the canopy. This bay will also house the radio battery, switches and flight battery isolator as the hatch is easily removeable and well clear of the prop.
I then need to prepare the mainwheel doors and the fuselage will be ready to be 'glassed' in lightweight cloth & resin to toughen up the fuselage surfaces prior to painting.
Wings & tailplane will be covered in Profilm already sourced from Stan Yeo. I just need to do final surface prep and coat with Balsaloc or similar to ensure a good bond to the balsa flying surfaces.
I will add a workshop photo of fuselage once cowling is in place as it is too wet & windy to do anything outside!

The promised photo of the cowling once screwed into place with spinner to check clearance.
Just need to trim rear edge of cowling to clear battery hatch join, otherwise it will not lift off with cowling in place.

Many thanks for that Andy.
Mine is now pretty much complete except for red trim, so I ought to weigh the parts & check what the O/A weight is likely to be.
As you can see from my build thread, I built mine with a conventional 2 part wing which fits to fuselage in similar manner to the plan. However I did beef up the wing spars and use a steel strip joiner. The tail is fully sheeted, but your comment has made me think again about the rather heavy scale tailwheel arrangement I was thinking of using.
I have probably gone for overkill on the power train as I wanted to make sure I had enough power rather than be borderline. Your power train certainly looks to be even lower power than the one Mick Reeves suggested - although your weight is also rather lower than expected. It will be interesting to see where I come out.
It looks to be a lovely model, so I am looking forward to getting mine into the air before too long.
Peter

Andy,
Just completed the covering & hanging of control surfaces, so weighed all the bits plus a possible motor/battery combination. My AUW is likely to be approx 8.5lb as long as I don't need much additional nose weight, thus my initial intention to use approx. 900W will be plenty.

How did you add the red trim on yours? Was it all painted, or a mixture of paint & trim tape?

After a long time sorting out the power train, I have settled on a BL2820/07 motor running on 4S with a 12x6 prop which gives just over 750w.
My initial intention to have more power on hand resulted in a very nose heavy model !!
The nearly complete, but ready to fly (still needs trim, decals and pilot figure) model has an AUW of 8lb.
Radio gear has been set up, so should hopefully get the maiden undertaken sometime during the next week.

Hi Peter,

Nearly there!!!
Looks nice and success with the maiden!

Noël