bracesport DLG

[bracesport]

A bit more progress today - I decided to make a simple V tail in FB without any chord simply because it’s a first test of the overall concept.

Call me an idiot but I used my micro cable tie method for the hinges again! I like it because it’s mechanical and in my opinion very robust - the PP is a great live hinge, and by folding it in half and wiping the file over the fold it creates a nice hinge! Epoxy the cable tie into holes in the FB edges.

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[bracesport]

@flyboa - I picked an Arduino BEC today so that should allow me to run with my 2Cell Nano Lipo without frying the servos!

The main wing is marked up, cut, and sanded ready for glueing - I taped the leading edge and underside of the main fold so that if the gorilla glue leaks at the trailing edge it can be sanded before the aileron taper sanding followed by the final taping of the top surface.

I roughly marked up the sanding profile (shown below) - I only sand the internal top surface to create the aerofoil section.

The main wing is 1.2m with a root chord of 14.5cm

 

[bracesport]

making some progress with the glueing - the front edge is taped to the board and the trailing edge is supported by a ruler and some weight - at this point, I have not glued the tips as they are angled and so I plan to do a second round of glueing and sanding.

when the wing was folded and glued the top trailing edge was short of the aileron by 3mm. (will adjust that next time). Otherwise, the template is working quite well so far.

 

[bracesport]

here is a bit more detail on the sanding

I mark up the leading and trailing edges and remove the paper as a reference line for the sanding - after first sanding the trailing edge and leading edge, I sand a bevel at the fold line on the underside surface of the wing - following this I remove the paper and use the gorilla glue to do its business. As this is hopefully a DLG wing I added 'flyboa's' drywall reinforcing tape to the left wing for the launch handle.

If it all seems complicated it's not! The template, cutting, and sanding is one hr max, with a three-hour cure for the glue being the constraint. Obviously, as this is my first build the proof will be in the end result.

I am hoping this will be a viable alternative to 'flyboa's' awesome techniques!

 

[bracesport]

made some control horns while the glue was setting!

 

[bracesport]

the final assembly of the wing halves went quite smoothly - sanded the tapers on the ailerons then to cut them free and finish the taping - the wings feel quite strong but the ailerons are delicate so I decided to tape hinge them for a bit of support - the wing is quite angular so I need to think on any adjustments overnight before making the centre join!

the tape brings the wing weight up to 90g for a total wing, fuse, and tail weight of 160g - I wonder I if can get this bird under 200g!

 

[bracesport]

With the small error in my template, the wing chord is undersized from my 15cm spec (ended up 13.5cm) - I'm thinking to build another wing to perfect the template which means I can use this wing for my V tail TT build - I'll sleep on it!

 

[bracesport]

@flyboa - I made a quick sample to test whether sanding both halves of the internal surface from the high point of the aerofoil section would allow me to keep the card on both surfaces of the aileron and with the glue joint giving a tad more structure. In my sample, the trailing 1/3 is still a tad thick, but I think it can work ok with more sanding prep!

My updated template below is adjusted to a 150mm (6") chord at the root.

 

[bracesport]

@ flyboa - The second attempt at the 1.2m wing has gone pretty smoothly so far - this time I have tapered the trailing edges of both glued halves to keep paper on both sides of the ailerons once separated from the main wing. I tape the underside and leading edge in the first stage which allows me to tape the top surface in straight runs covering the angled tip at the same time.

The root chord is better this time at 15cm (6") - I did, however, have a small misalignment in the trailing edges of the angled tips, but I think it was more probably my markup that was slightly off - this time I also glued the main wing and angled tip in one go.

Time from mark up to glued and clamped 2.5hrs +3 hrs of glue drying time.

 

[bracesport]

After glueing the wings look pretty sweet - a bit of trimming and taping and now they are ready for aileron separation and joining at the centre with a dihedral - the trailing edges are heaps more robust with the glue in the sandwich and card on each face - thinking critically, the leading edged could be a bit sharper but all in all its a great result with the Adams FB, glue and tape!

The WIng is 1.2m in length, 15cm root chord, 11cm tip chord (before angled tip), 10mm at the thickest part of the chord, AUW 110g

 

[Grifflyer]

Looks really good!!

 

[bracesport]

@Grifflyer - thanks for the comments - I have been following your amazing work - I have been more focused on learning to fly with the trainers and they are quite simplistic compared to your replicas!

@flyboa - I got my wing halves sorted but they are heavier than yours at 110g (probably all down to the tape) - and did a trial run for some electronics without an ESC in the V tail TT - without getting any new micro gear I picked up some smaller Lipos and a BEC from electronics shop down the road which gives me a 75g gain (I should remove the Rx case). The TT is weighing in with a ready to fly AUW of 260g.

For the DLG the carbon and RP fuse are 75g, the wing is 110, the electronics are 75g, 3x5g servos, tail and pushrods (maybe 15g) - so I could be looking at 290g or at least under 300g! QUite a beast compared to yours, but possibly a good first start!

 

[bracesport]

Small update - 1.2m wing, 15cm root chord - ailerons taped in.

 

[bracesport]

Glued the dihedral targeted at 13 deg with gorilla glue.

 

[bracesport]

so with a bit more effort I built the tail and glued both the wing and tail in place - control arms also in place and I dry fitted the aileron servos - I am thinking it is all getting a bit tight for space - I especially need to double check the battery and Rx fitment!

@flyboa - can I ask you what hole are you using for the control wire to the servos - or, what is the dimension from the servo arm centre to the hole that you are using (currently I am the third hole down from the top of the servo arm).

 

[flyboa]

@bracesport I use short servo and control arms. First hole on servo arm. My planes don't need much control travel and I don't use flaps for braking.

 

[bracesport]

Finally some quiet time to work on my aileron push rods - @flyboa I went with your push rod design with the shrink wrap wire keepers.

The ailerons worked a treat powered up to the Rx!

I need to get the elevator pushrod and servo in next - to be honest I am thinking I will need to reconsider my current Rx and battery as I’m chewing up space in the nose!

Given my issues launching the DL(TT)G with rolling over I have been a bit hesitant in completing this one! For the TT I added a small vertical stabiliser under the V tail to add some increased tail authority, and tinkered with some launch mode options to counter the left roll - still waiting to test her out when the weather settles.

Luckily this version of the DLG is 100mm longer in the tail!

 

[bracesport]

@flyboa - I will put all your advice into finishing this assembly, testing the CG and adding the launch peg!

 

[Wildthing]

Finally some quiet time to work on my aileron push rods - @flyboa I went with your push rod design with the shrink wrap wire keepers.

The ailerons worked a treat powered up to the Rx!

I need to get the elevator pushrod and servo in next - to be honest I am thinking I will need to reconsider my current Rx and battery as I’m chewing up space in the nose!

Given my issues launching the DL(TT)G with rolling over I have been a bit hesitant in completing this one! For the TT I added a small vertical stabiliser under the V tail to add some increased tail authority, and tinkered with some launch mode options to counter the left roll - still waiting to test her out when the weather settles.

Luckily this version of the DLG is 100mm longer in the tail!

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Very slick, nice build

 

[bracesport]

@Wildthing - thankyou for the comments - building is awesome and can be done regardless of the weather, but I am time poor with the flying (windy Wellington New Zealand)!

I’m here for the long haul so for now patience is a virtue!