Andre's Durafly SkyMule

Andre

Fly yes... land no.
Admin
I've not flown the T1000 yet. I'm going to load it into the T28 first since that is very easy to setup with the GPS right now.

A.
 

Foam Addict

Squirrel member
Beautiful work Andre! That's a great build. I really like your photos, they look very professional.

Btw, how do those B grade lipos work out?
 

Andre

Fly yes... land no.
Admin
Err thanks :) iPhone. I'm to lazy to grab the Canon these days ;)

I need to work on my build corner so I can shoot better videos and photos.
Those carpet shots annoy me but not to much I can do.
Have lots of plans and ideas to do more videos but need some key pieces of gear first. All of which have been ordered.

I bought the B Grades after talking to a guy who flies a big Buffalo UAV plane on some 3S 5000s.
He said he's had over 75 flights with no issues. So figured for $10 a battery I'd try it.
I'm going to track them with an ap just to see if they last. I know it is a risk but I'm curious.

A Zippy Compact 3S 4000 is $20. After 5 mins on the first flight I was showing 3.95V per cell still.
 

Foam Addict

Squirrel member
Interesting, often it's the skill of the photographer rather than the quality of the camera.:D

I might need to get a couple B grade 2200s, since I generally am a test pilot flying experimental designs, my 2200s don't last long. A couple of beater 2200's that are semi disposable would be very nice.
 

Andre

Fly yes... land no.
Admin
Well thank you then :)

I know. When I crashed the Spectre I wrinkled 2 of my Zippy's and was so upset. Crying over 2 $10 batteries ;)
Luckily they are my first set of Zippys and almost a year old now. I still fly them.

Andre.
 

Andre

Fly yes... land no.
Admin
What a day!

I have to say the SkyMule is fun to fly.

Took her out for 4 flights.

Even managed to do some loops and rolls.

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Andre

Fly yes... land no.
Admin
Hi Andre, you never did get to say, in the Podcast, how you glued the fuselage together. So ???

Sorry about that Richard. I used goop!
Now from my experience go light.
If you apply to much it will soften the foam and take a few hours extra to dry.

I suggest applying the glue, press the 2 halves together and then separating them since goop is a contact glue.

Then you can re-press the fuselage together and apply some gentle painters tape the help hold everything together.

I hope this helps.

Andre.
 

Andre

Fly yes... land no.
Admin
Wiring and motor update.

Swapped out the left motor last night and installed a Turnigy Servo Signal Reverser (Long) from Hobby King. This is hooked up to the nose gear metal servo.

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I'm using this to free up a ports on the receiver. I added a Y connector to channel 4. I had tried to setup the arm on the servo to avoid this but it never worked out. Would have been nice if I could have flipped the servo but did not realize the issue until afterwards.
 

Andre

Fly yes... land no.
Admin
No flights this weekend but I did put in a little piece of wood to help the nose gear.

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Andre

Fly yes... land no.
Admin
Sorry Andre, just wondering why did you choose Goop as opposed to say CA or Epoxy??

Great question Richard.

I decided to use goop for a few reasons.

First, I had it on hand. I have used it to build and repair the Spectre V3 Twin.

Second, Cheap. I have a tube of foam safe CA and that stuff is used only when needed :)

Third, The glue that comes with the kit is more like goop then the other options.


I just figured for the amount of surface area I was trying to cover when putting the fuse together I wanted something that would fill in all the gaps, not run and ooze everywhere and was as foam safe as possible.

I used Expoy when I rebuilt the T-28. ParkZone T-28 Trojan. Never retire an old warbird

I found the epoxy just came out rock hard so it is suitable for some repairs but I dont think I'd ever assemble with it.

Hope that helps.

Andre.
 

Andre

Fly yes... land no.
Admin
Winter Mule

I think I have a new favourite winter plane.

First I was able to confirm it will fit in the car with the wings on.
Putting those tabs on in the cold was simply no fun.

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I had the plane out on Saturday with the T-28 but ended up flying the SkyMule more due to a technical issue with T.

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The SkyMule is such a nice flying plane. 8.5-9 minutes easily off a 3S 4000 back.
And as you can see in not the greatest conditions.

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I was unable to remove the wheels before going out which meant I had to take off and land in the parking lot.
It has been a year since I'd done that ;) so I spent my time getting comfortable lining the SkyMule up.
No issues for the Mule. Just the pilot was rusty.



After the flights I was finally able to remove the grub screw and install the skis.

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As you may have noticed in the video I have a vibration issue.
I've replaced and balanced the props. And also cut down the prop shafts.
I'll report back after if that as helped.

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