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Post by atmosteve on Mar 14, 2008 23:36:14 GMT 10
Hey Steve, It is something relaxing to fly so be relaxed about the build. You won't see all those bumps as soon as it is 5m away and you have a beer in your hand. What do the instructions say to do about it? Eric Vanders and Ezza you can pop in for a coldie anytime, a comfy seat and the nice view here whenever you like , when you do we can relax to the sound of Bob Marley and decide just how we can best cover stuff like superficial blisters on the old EZ glider. Its true I can love it or leave it in my own time, but you must admit that filming a surface like this is the easiest of all surfaces and can end up looking super nice after, skid patches too. One thing with this model is that i can hand local friends and their kids a transmiter and they have a chance at flying it with some basic instruction, whereas with todays foamie wings and planks they tend to daunt newcomers right from the start. Thats the point of having the EZ here, give people a fly in open spaces for the fun and education of it. But i would like it to look ok, even if its a superficial need of mine.
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Post by atmosteve on Mar 15, 2008 11:08:33 GMT 10
Yep after playing with some film late last night that will be the covering. But it wont be profilm, the local hobby shop is offering lighter film cheap at the moment so that will do. Trims will be red, pretty standard stuff. I'm having fun with this. Where is Skyzking, I believe he knows the EZ pretty well, I think he hotted his up with a brushless.
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Post by skyboyken on Mar 15, 2008 23:25:27 GMT 10
Steve,
I believe that Multiplex recommend you don't cover this plane. I have its big brother the Cularis and they certainly recommend not covering that.
All I've done on mine is to lightly sand the pimples flush. It flies fast and smooth like that, so I think there's a good chance yours will too.
Would you consider flying it uncovered first and covering it later if you feel it needs more slickness?
Ken.
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Post by atmosteve on Mar 16, 2008 0:32:20 GMT 10
Ken I cant find any mention about not covering the glider in the EZ instructions. Having a poke around RC groups it seems the odd EZs have been film covered with no reported ill effect. The elapor surface hasnt reacted badly to my experiments with it so far but one shortcoming i can forsee is the glider will naturally have a bit of flex, film doesnt adhere as well to elapor as other surfaces so its possible it could wrinkle and delaminate with stress.
Its a very light glider with light radio gear, I dont imagine the little bit of weight in the film will effect it greatly. I think I will cover it and see how it goes, if it doesnt work out and I stand corrected I will happily post the why's and wherefores of what went wrong and gladly fly it bare, though they do seem to attract dirt and marks quickly that way, its a pretty soft foam.
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Post by atmosteve on Mar 17, 2008 15:25:44 GMT 10
Servos just slot in everywhere and the leads are catered for in the moulds, as are the supplied control cables and horns. The aileron servo leads need at least a 600mm extension to reach the Rx under the canopy. If you are a DIY type its pretty easy to save some money and solder in 0.12mm extension wires between the aileron servo and plugs, sealing the joins with heat shrink tube. The 10mm FG wing spar is up to the job, if not you could always use it to kill cane toads or ward of aggressors.
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Post by atmosteve on Mar 17, 2008 15:32:31 GMT 10
Ready to glue the fuse halves together with medium CA and activator spray. When using an electronic speed controller you can leave the usual Rx battery out of the equation, the ESC usually powers the whole recieving end via the throttle channel of the Rx. The only thing not suppied is an ESC and a battery. I'm using a cheap novatech 20A esc and a 7-cell 8.7 volt (I think?) nimh pack I had sitting around. Most people usually end up going to LiPo packs and brushless motors for better performance before long, but this will do me.
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Post by felix on Mar 17, 2008 16:58:39 GMT 10
hey there i tried profilm on my bee and as a few can atest it quickly looked like a yellow garbage bag.....my wing is currently covered in signwriters vinyl.it looks great,doesn't wrinkle at all,super slippery,sticks like cr*p to carpet and very cheap at $5.60/mtr.
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Post by skyzking on Mar 17, 2008 20:21:26 GMT 10
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Post by atmosteve on Mar 18, 2008 1:09:38 GMT 10
hey there i tried profilm on my bee and as a few can atest it quickly looked like a yellow garbage bag.....my wing is currently covered in signwriters vinyl.it looks great,doesn't wrinkle at all,super slippery,sticks like cr*p to carpet and very cheap at $5.60/mtr. Where were you flying it Felix, SC? My god any film covered model is doomed there. Hey everyone, i just recently bought my self one. Im not to pleased with it so i may get rid of it soon. On my post there i mention i liked it, but not anymore... What went wrong Abdullah? the EZ was never renowned as a performance item.
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Post by skyzking on Mar 18, 2008 7:54:51 GMT 10
Steve, im a little disappointed with its thermal performance. I think it maybe a little to heavy.
I had the easystar before this and it was much better in thermalling than the EZG. Saying that, i haven't really flown it on a calm day yet so ill see how it goes.
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Post by felix on Mar 18, 2008 18:15:24 GMT 10
yeah steve couple of weekends ago at SC.stuck great initially after i finished it but crashed into the rocks on it's maiden trimming flight and the whole lot just came loose ......hence why you may have seen me wrapping the wing in sellotape so i could keep flying for the afternoon. mind you the sign writers vinyl is great looking stuff and alot cheaper.
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Post by atmosteve on Mar 18, 2008 22:48:28 GMT 10
I am still chasing up something like the vinyl Felix, and the stuff thevon is using, but its a small town. Sign writers vynil should be easier to get I'm keen to give it a go on a Bee refit. I imagine it would be good covering for SC its a pretty rough and tumble place hey! The EZG has a fairly smooth slope to fly here, and the vacant lots next door are pretty good so the film should do ok for a while. Actually the film stuck really well to the wings and fuse, but was tricky due to all the compound curves. The only reason I filmed it was for practice before I tackle the S15, I hadnt used an iron on for years. There is no real benefit in filming an EZ aerodynamically or structurally that i can figure, though it has reduced flex a bit, but it could be easy to get it all wrong and have a twisted out of shape glider if not systematically done. Looks nice though. Abdullah I think mine will be even more hopeless for thermaling with the film on it, but nice enough on a slope and general flying about hopefully. For thermal I have a Discus- a bit fragile and not all that good at it but looks so sweet. I would love to scratch build a Sagitta 300 someday. Picture of my kitchen;
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Post by skyzking on Mar 20, 2008 16:12:06 GMT 10
I yesterday flew it for the first time on a calm day. The thermal performance was acceptable for the a plane this size and weight. I guess it doesn't like the wind to much, but i think it will do well in slope soaring.
Its sailplane version is built to fly slope, so it should be fun at the slope, especially with my sort of set-up.
Steve, what sort of setup are you running on yours?
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Post by atmosteve on Mar 21, 2008 1:55:41 GMT 10
Set up is fairly simple so far Abdullah, JR 6ch radio pushing hitec feather servos, the 400 brush motor through a novatech 20A ESC and 7 cell nimh pack, I needed its extra weight to gain the theoretical CG + 50g lead up front, I didnt bother putting the big BB in the rear of the fuse. Battery cycling is done with a Swallow ac/dc 2 unit. For slope I might remove the electric stuff and re-ballast, not sure yet, but the gliders extra weight might work on the slope. Have you tried flaperons on the EZ? I'm guessing a little elevator may need to be mixed in but I'm doubtful of them. I'm not certain of overall weight, not far off 1KG is a guess due to full profilm covering. Will be interesting to see if the motor and standard gearing will give the model any height. If not then it will be an upgrade to brushless. Hoping to give it some test runs tomorow.
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Post by sean on Mar 21, 2008 11:33:27 GMT 10
That looks awesome Steve!!!! What a makeover!
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