Sunday, November 30, 2008
Aileron Easy Star Modificaiton
Put some pictures up below of my aileron mod to my easy star. I put carbon fiber rods in the foam to help give it more stiffness. Also, just used simple packing tape for the hinges after cutting 45-degree slices out of the bottom of each mating surface. Then, used Hitec HS-55 micro servos in the wing. Had to use some extensions for the cords (should have probably put it in closer and might have been able to avoid having to use extensions). I only had 24" ones right now, but I think 6" ones would be just fine. I'll swap them out when I get the chance.
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Flew the mod today. I had setup my radio with Flap->Elevator mixing on, as well as Aileron->rudder mixing. The rudder trim was too much to the left still, and with the mixing, I think it fedback into the aileron too much. Took a lot of right aileron trim to get it to fly right. Also, there was way too much up elevator (again, I think the flap->ele mixing was playing into that). Anyway, flew it and got it up to some altitude without crashing it and got it trimmed up. Noticed that the motor seemed to be cutting out at times (and the controls would go bonkers when it did) for just a split second. Not sure what that is about. I brought it down and adjusted some of the settings on the radio and control surface linkages. Turned off the flap and aileron mixing. Now airbrake/flaps work without looping, but need more work on that. Still wants to stall out when gliding, and takes a LOT of down elevator. Oh, well, once I get my ATC2K helmetcam on there, it will balance out the slightly tail heavy CG more anyway...grin.
ReplyDeleteThe motor thing is sort of concerning me. I'm not sure if something is shorting the coils in the motor (burnt out or wearing out???) or if the ESC is doing something...but seems like whatever it is, ALL POWER is being shorted out, as the reciever is obviously losing power and causing servos to wig out...
I really need another LiPo to do more flying when I get the chance. Right now, both my typhoon and the EZ* use the same 3S1P 2200mAh LiPo. I really want to get more flight time on both (that means 4 of them charged and ready..grin). I have a 3300mAh and another 2200mAh coming from Hobby City that should be here any day...that will help. Now, do I wire the helmet cam to also accept an input from the LiPo? I could probably wire up a servo wire that could plug into the reciever and get the 5v supply (think it is only 3v on the cam, though)....hum....grin.
Forgot that putting the servos, and tape and control horns and rods on for the aileron mod (all of which is behind the already marginal CG dots on my wing) would probably make me even more tail CG pushed. I'll check CG on it tonight, but I'll bet that is part of the elevator difference now.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it occurred to me just re-reading my comments, that maybe the motor isn't the source of the problem, maybe there was some sort of issue in my Tx/Rx gliching. It could have zero'ed my throttle and full railed my other servo settings. I hope that is it, since that will mean the motor/ESC/battery is probably ok...but now, what do I do about the signal issue??? Hope it isn't having the 24" of servo extension wires all crammed into the cockpit...if it is, getting the shorter 6" ones should help...grin.
Got my new order from Hobby City of new lipos and outrunner motor and 40A ESC.
ReplyDelete3S1P 20C 3300mAh Zippy LiPo 274g
3S1P 25C 2200mAh Zippy LiPo 174g
3S1P 20C 2200mAh Zippy LiPo 164g
2S1P 20C 2200mAh Zippy LiPo 116g
I also got my first aerial video on my ATC2K helmet cam on my Easy Star. I'll post it on my main blog soon!
Well, it looks like I was about 1/8" off on my servo matching distance from the base of the wings. That has been the MAIN issue with my slight tendancy to want to roll to the left. I was trying to figure out how far out I should put the servos, and just put them past the spar a little inside of the center of the control surfaces for minimal flex on the surfaces. I should have thought about how much torque the servo weight was going to account for and cause tip stall to get worse. I may have to buy new wings and redo the aileron mod again...grin. Slow speed is still SUPERB on this guy and I'm not sure how much more you can get out of flaps, but with about 60% of flap movement and about 15% up elevator mix, it floats pretty well.
ReplyDeleteI can not emphasize enough how important proper CG and centerline balance is for good stable performance throughout the speed window. If you try to TRIM OUT "bad habits" you will forever be fighting the trim.
I'm taking bets that those Aileron horns will be ripped off, probably along with the ailerons, after about the 2nd or third long grass landings.
ReplyDeleteHA! You'd bet wrong.
ReplyDelete