• Administrator
  •  
    Before your membership becomes valid, you will receive an email that must be answered.
    Please check your spam folder or this email.
     

E-Diamond

All non-scale topis should go in here for discussion.
User avatar
Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: E-Diamond

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Well, I bit the bullet & ordered some parts from Stan Yeo at Phoenix Model Products on Thursday evening & these arrived today.
First up, was to cut 60mm off the front of the fuselage (in 2 bites - just in case) & slide the 41.8mm Glass Fibre 35 size motor mount in from the canopy opening.
I fitted a long M6 bolt into the central hole of the mount, both to help pull it forward & also to check alignment of the motor axis, before fixing in position with polyester resin, leaving a resin fillet on both sides.

The 45mm cool nose spinner fits nicely once the fuselage cut has been cleaned off parallel to the spinner backplate.
The rest of the airframe is now ready for covering, so can also complete that using transparent Oracover.
Photos to follow tomorrow when daylight improves chance of clear images.
User avatar
Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: E-Diamond

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Pics of the installed motor mount plus view with cool nose spinner in position.
Also a shot of the cockpit area with 3S Lipo & 60A ESC in position.
Can now get the model covered and make a pair of NACA duct style air outlets under the wing roots.
Also need to check the model balance to see how much lead is needed.
Attachments
Mount for 3548/05 motor
Mount for 3548/05 motor
Spinner fitted
Spinner fitted
ESC and battery
ESC and battery
User avatar
Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: E-Diamond

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Model now covered & control surfaces hung so its time to do an overall weight & CoG check.
With just a couple of small items to finish off (canopy latch, Fuz. MPX connector cable to fit, Unilocs to fit, flight battery tray & wing servo links) the overall weight comes out at 1.82KG (4lbs) and the model balances 75mm back form the LE (33% of inner wing) complete with 3S Lipo, but no additional nose weight, so I am very pleased :)
Hopefully, everthing can be finished off, ready for a maiden next week, if the weather calms down ;)
Attachments
Overall model
Overall model
User avatar
Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: E-Diamond

Post by Peter Balcombe »

The eagle flew this morning at the Woodspring Wings field.
Pleased to report that after a clubmate gave a firm flat hand launch for a test glide, we had to walk 30m to collect her.

The subsequent hand launch under 50% power saw a 25-30 degree climb away with no need for any power trim.
Subsequent flying was gentle & the stall is a non-event. The only ballast fitted is approx 80gm taped to the forward part of the 3S Lipo. A gentle dive test gave a gentle hands off recovery.

A 2nd flight was done using a self launch, which proved to be no problem with another steady climb out
I will probably try removing the small ballast weight for the next flight but all looking very promising.

These initial flights were conducted with flaps disconnected as the RH one didn’t want to work for some reason :(
(Wiring checked at home & everything works ok now)
So maybe able to try some thermal flap during the next outing.

Just for Brian, here are a couple of shots of the electrics. I am using a small G-RX8 FrSky Rx ((with built-in altimeter/vario) which is velcroed to the side of the Fuz just behind the Elev servo.
Attachments
Cockpit Left.jpg
Cockpit Right.jpg
B Sharp

Re: E-Diamond

Post by B Sharp »

Nice to hear that the maiden went well Peter. There appears to be plenty of room in there for all the sparky bits.
Brian. :)
User avatar
Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: E-Diamond

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Flying pics now obtained, so that brings the build thread to a conclusion.
Attachments
Fly_pic5_crop.jpg
Fly_pic3_crop.jpg
Fly_pic2_crop.jpg
Fly_pic4_crop.jpg
Fly_pic6_crop.jpg
User avatar
Martynk
Posts: 61
Joined: 23 Mar 2017, 21:23
Location: Willaston
Contact:

Re: E-Diamond

Post by Martynk »

That looks superb. A beautiful looking glider
User avatar
Murat Kece
Posts: 3
Joined: 04 Aug 2020, 09:25
Location: Aberdeen

Re: E-Diamond

Post by Murat Kece »

Hello Peter

I have sourced the redesigned wing kit/plan for E-Diamond from Cliff. I have the previous (old) fuselage from Chris Hall Models, which is slightly shorter and has smaller tail fin/rudder.

May I request your views on a few clarifications:
- This is my first polyester fuselage build. I assume I will epoxy in ply double/cuppings inside the fuselage into the wing seats where the connecting tubs/rods ill go through?
- I will go with a 3536 motor (400w, 3S 2200 MAH LIPO) with a 41.8 mm firewall from Stan. I think this is more than adequate. What is your view on this as you used a much more powerful motor?
- Rather than enlarging the tail fin, I will increase the rudder size to give an equivalent rudder/tail area. Do you see issues with this in terms of stability/flutter etc?
Thank you in advance. Regards.
Murat Kece
Aberdeen
User avatar
Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: E-Diamond

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Hi Murat,
If you have one of the original fuselages from Clive/John Hall (Clive is John’s father) then I understand that the nose length is a bit shorter as well as the tail moment/fin being a bit smaller, so you may well need a bit more nose weight than I used. The nose cross section also wasn’t as circular, but you may be able to ‘persuade’ it once the extreme nose has been removed.
I fitted my motor mount from the rear, leaving as small lip at the front to take a fillet of polyester resin, followed by carefully forming a small fillet at the rear afterwards.
I also used a threaded rod temporarily fitted in the motor shaft hole to align the mount. I didn’t use any side or downthrust - it’s far easier to try to install & align centrally with a rod protruding back inside the fuselage.
(Try it all without any resin to start with, then fix with a little resin on the disc edges, then add fillets from & rear. The resin is very runny so hold fuselage vertical when waiting for resin to cure, otherwise it will tend to run to the lowest point).

You will probably be fine with the smaller motor as I made sure I would have enough, not knowing what the total weight of the new design would be.

When glueing items into a Polyester resin fuselage, I tend to first abrade the surface to ensure good clean surface, then bond using a Polyester resin (David’s Isopon or similar, easily available from car accessory type shops) rather than Epoxy resin. People say that epoxy resin will bond ok is the surface is clean & roughed up, but I like to use the same type of resin. (Polyester resin cures much faster than epoxy, especially if you overdo the catalyst).

I would think that increasing the rudder area would work, at least for the vertical tail surface.

Please note that although I designed the wing to allow the tip sections to be removeable (taped on), I ended up glueing mine on as the tape fixing wasn’t rigid enough for me.

Good luck with the build & remember to firmly secure any nose weight to stop it going into the rear of the motor in the event of a sudden stop.
Peter
User avatar
Murat Kece
Posts: 3
Joined: 04 Aug 2020, 09:25
Location: Aberdeen

Re: E-Diamond

Post by Murat Kece »

Thank you Peter. I appreciate your feedback.
I am planning to use Pattex Stabilit Express as the glue.
I am also going to fix the wing tips as you did.
I will keep you updated as and when I make progress by adding to your existing blog if that is ok with you.
Best regards Murat
Murat Kece
Aberdeen
Post Reply