I am honored and humbled to announce that the Bugatti build project has been sponsored by Hobby King. It is a tremendous opportunity to showcase the availability of quality parts available for those who make their own models.
Flite Fest 2017: Bugatti 100P
- Thread starter willsonman
- Start date
HilldaFlyer
Well-known member
That's awesome! Congratulations.
Congrats! I'm looking forward to seeing how you work out the details on this plane.
Michael9865
Elite member
Neat! Does that mean they are going to develop a reasonably priced coaxial motor?
Good question. My mind went there also.
The contra-rotating motor will still be of my own design. The demand for these is just not there so the variety for different applications does not exist.
No progress lately. I have been VERY sick. Getting up to check these messages has been the most amount of work I have done in a couple of days.
No progress lately. I have been VERY sick. Getting up to check these messages has been the most amount of work I have done in a couple of days.
Thanks guys. Suffered through the weekend and feeling a bit better but still not on my A-game for work.
As I am on the mend I snapped some images of the first two parts supplied by our friends at Hobby King.
Sullivan has been making hobby parts for years right here in my home state of Maryland, right down the road in Baltimore. Their experience has been shown many times by releasing products that just work. Their Skylite wheels are exceptionally durable for the weight. Their hubs are over-engineered to handle all sorts of awkward situations and there is enough "meat" on them to be drilled out for larger axles. The design uses a foam core with a robust urethane outer skin that is durable. It reduces bounce on landing and prevents flat spots when a model sits for awhile. I certainly am happy to use these as I expect the landing and take-off speeds to be higher than most most models I fly.
Next are the 140mm oleo struts. I've used this line of oleos on my Sikorsky build and I have been very happy with them. They are a strong alloy that handles loads well. They come with nylon spacers for the wheels and I will outline other features below.
How the assembled leg will fit into the model. Be mindful that I need to also use a retract module.
39g for the oleo... the same weight as stated on the Hobby King website.
48g for a 3" wheel.
The axles use a flared end to retain the wheel and these two grub screws secure the axle to the oleo. It is a secure way to keep the axle in-place. I've used other name-brand oleos that use a single larger grub screw and I like the redundancy here.
The oleo is secured to the retract unit using the same dual grub screw setup. Again, I love the redundancy. The retract mounting pins that are included have a flat spot for these grub screws to keep the oleo aligned.
One quick tip that I will give is to use a little bit of the graphene dust you can buy for pinewood derby cars. Alternatively, take a pencil and some 400 grit sandpaper and you can make your own! It will reduce rolling resistance and add a bit of "weathering"
I hope to make a little progress this weekend. I do have plans to do a little flying with some of my buddies from these pages.
Sullivan has been making hobby parts for years right here in my home state of Maryland, right down the road in Baltimore. Their experience has been shown many times by releasing products that just work. Their Skylite wheels are exceptionally durable for the weight. Their hubs are over-engineered to handle all sorts of awkward situations and there is enough "meat" on them to be drilled out for larger axles. The design uses a foam core with a robust urethane outer skin that is durable. It reduces bounce on landing and prevents flat spots when a model sits for awhile. I certainly am happy to use these as I expect the landing and take-off speeds to be higher than most most models I fly.
Next are the 140mm oleo struts. I've used this line of oleos on my Sikorsky build and I have been very happy with them. They are a strong alloy that handles loads well. They come with nylon spacers for the wheels and I will outline other features below.
How the assembled leg will fit into the model. Be mindful that I need to also use a retract module.
39g for the oleo... the same weight as stated on the Hobby King website.
48g for a 3" wheel.
The axles use a flared end to retain the wheel and these two grub screws secure the axle to the oleo. It is a secure way to keep the axle in-place. I've used other name-brand oleos that use a single larger grub screw and I like the redundancy here.
The oleo is secured to the retract unit using the same dual grub screw setup. Again, I love the redundancy. The retract mounting pins that are included have a flat spot for these grub screws to keep the oleo aligned.
One quick tip that I will give is to use a little bit of the graphene dust you can buy for pinewood derby cars. Alternatively, take a pencil and some 400 grit sandpaper and you can make your own! It will reduce rolling resistance and add a bit of "weathering"
I hope to make a little progress this weekend. I do have plans to do a little flying with some of my buddies from these pages.
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MORE PARTS!
Big and heavy package arrived so I'll give the run down.
E-tracts are awesome. The metal trunions give a very robust feel and no slop in any direction. Per the usual HK construction, the mounting pin can be removed by grub screws through the axles. Speed is 4 seconds. Its a good overall speed.
HK's latest and greatest batteries. This should provide a max of 225A of output.
YEP ESCs are some fine electronics. Rubicon capacitors ensure high-quality pulsing and linear response. While they come programmed for helicopters, there are instructions on how to set things up for fixed-wing.
The heart and muscle comes in the form of two NTM EF-1 motors, specced for pylon racing. These are 1300kv motors that can handle nearly 1000W, EACH! For sure, this will be the biggest challenge of the build as I am working on getting parts machined to modify these two motors for a contra-rotating setup.
Big and heavy package arrived so I'll give the run down.
E-tracts are awesome. The metal trunions give a very robust feel and no slop in any direction. Per the usual HK construction, the mounting pin can be removed by grub screws through the axles. Speed is 4 seconds. Its a good overall speed.
HK's latest and greatest batteries. This should provide a max of 225A of output.
YEP ESCs are some fine electronics. Rubicon capacitors ensure high-quality pulsing and linear response. While they come programmed for helicopters, there are instructions on how to set things up for fixed-wing.
The heart and muscle comes in the form of two NTM EF-1 motors, specced for pylon racing. These are 1300kv motors that can handle nearly 1000W, EACH! For sure, this will be the biggest challenge of the build as I am working on getting parts machined to modify these two motors for a contra-rotating setup.
Since the current rating for the XT90 battery connectors is only 90A I needed new connectors to carry a load of up to 120A. I used my trusted 5.5mm bullet connectors. These easily handle over 100A of current and charging connectors are cheap too. They also provide a level of short protection.
Using my Turnigy Reaktor charger, I measured the internal resistance. 1 milliohm across the board. Pretty much what I expected. My Zippy 45C batteries, when new, were around 3 milliohms.
A lot of ESCs come with plugs for the motor and the YEPs do not. I dug through my stash of parts and found some 4mm connectors that all had matching male and female parts. The Motors come with 3.5mm male connectors but I only had three female ones. I soldered all the female ends to the ESCs and replaced the male ones on the motors to match.
Programming the ESCs is a bit tricky so I highly recommend using a programming card.
This is the overview of where to start. When using larger props, some users have noticed a squelching sound when quickly ramping up the throttle. You can adjust timing and startup speed to eliminate this. I went through and set everything for airplane on both ESCs. I also calibrated the throttle while I was at it.
I will be using an internal BEC. 6A provides adequate current for the servos and E-tracts. I will remove the +(red) wire from the connector of one ESC and use a Y connector to the Rx.
Using my Turnigy Reaktor charger, I measured the internal resistance. 1 milliohm across the board. Pretty much what I expected. My Zippy 45C batteries, when new, were around 3 milliohms.
A lot of ESCs come with plugs for the motor and the YEPs do not. I dug through my stash of parts and found some 4mm connectors that all had matching male and female parts. The Motors come with 3.5mm male connectors but I only had three female ones. I soldered all the female ends to the ESCs and replaced the male ones on the motors to match.
Programming the ESCs is a bit tricky so I highly recommend using a programming card.
This is the overview of where to start. When using larger props, some users have noticed a squelching sound when quickly ramping up the throttle. You can adjust timing and startup speed to eliminate this. I went through and set everything for airplane on both ESCs. I also calibrated the throttle while I was at it.
I will be using an internal BEC. 6A provides adequate current for the servos and E-tracts. I will remove the +(red) wire from the connector of one ESC and use a Y connector to the Rx.
HilldaFlyer
Well-known member
I've been crazy sick with one nasty cold so I apologize for not getting back to this thread sooner.
Hillda: I'll be using some ply inserts with hard bass spars embedded into the foam. The ply inserts will probably be able to be tied into the main spars to help distribute the load. The spars will carry the brunt of the load but any major catastrophe and they should just rip right out of the wing leaving the inserts and spar intact. I've seen this method used quite a lot and have done it on one other airplane of mine in the past.
Saiga: Yes, it comes along with the program but take a step back and look at the big picture. This subject is something that most people are going to be interested in. If I can share as much info on where to find things and exactly what I am doing, it can be an invaluable resource to help others out. The motors for sure will be screaming. I need to disassemble one to have the bell sent off for work.
Club meeting tonight so Not much work to be done here. I'm also slowly repairing the S-39 so I can fly her again soon.
Hillda: I'll be using some ply inserts with hard bass spars embedded into the foam. The ply inserts will probably be able to be tied into the main spars to help distribute the load. The spars will carry the brunt of the load but any major catastrophe and they should just rip right out of the wing leaving the inserts and spar intact. I've seen this method used quite a lot and have done it on one other airplane of mine in the past.
Saiga: Yes, it comes along with the program but take a step back and look at the big picture. This subject is something that most people are going to be interested in. If I can share as much info on where to find things and exactly what I am doing, it can be an invaluable resource to help others out. The motors for sure will be screaming. I need to disassemble one to have the bell sent off for work.
Club meeting tonight so Not much work to be done here. I'm also slowly repairing the S-39 so I can fly her again soon.
saiga556
Full of...
I personally wish more people would spec exactly what they are using on their project. My joke was merely that. I hope to copy your motor setup myself in the future. I have thoughts of a 48" "Precious metal" or something. Seems like it would be a fun project on the lathe.
The Bugatti has always been one of my favorites. Looks like you are doing it justice.
The Bugatti has always been one of my favorites. Looks like you are doing it justice.
Thank you! I hope to do it the justice it deserves.
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