Mini Telemaster Kit-Bashing

BridgeInspector

Flite Test Groupie
Curious how the flaps will work, as it looks like you removed the trailing edge wing root that sits on top of the fuselage too. Are you going to add that tapered part back?

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rockyboy

Skill Collector
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Curious how the flaps will work, as it looks like you removed the trailing edge wing root that sits on top of the fuselage too. Are you going to add that tapered part back?

Umm.. yeah... nothing to see here... move along :p

I could try and spin some story about how I was planning all along to reglue that piece, but as discussed earlier in my wiring tube screw up, I plumb forgot the wing halves join together and not to the side of the fuselage the night when I made that cut and the flap planks. Putting that piece of the trailing edge back in place is on the task list for next building session :black_eyed:
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
With flaps and a very minor head-wind you'll be able to land with zero roll-out. My Mini Telemaster is fantastic for hand-launching and is super for lazy days at the field.

And yeah, flaps don't normally extend INSIDE the fuselage! :)
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
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With flaps and a very minor head-wind you'll be able to land with zero roll-out. My Mini Telemaster is fantastic for hand-launching and is super for lazy days at the field.

Excellent! That is the goal with this build - be able to crush the spot landing contest at the clubs fun flys this summer. :applause:

And yeah, flaps don't normally extend INSIDE the fuselage! :)

Picky, picky, picky :p

As I said before, don't build when you're too tired to think straight. It just means more work fixing things later. When tired, spend time cleaning the shop instead. Or maybe not - you might not see that tap and die set you put away until next fall. :black_eyed:

On the positive side, building with balsa like this makes these fixes very simple. I've still got the piece I cut off - I'll just sandwich in a piece of sheeting as thick as the saw blade and put it back on.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
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Slotted hinges with the point well below the joint. If it were a bigger model I'd be tempted to make little two part aerodynamic covers to protect and streamline the hinges. Still need to do a little sanding on the trailing edge of the flaps & ailerons to smooth things out and add the top sheeting on the wing.
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Here's flaps at full deflection - or perhaps even a little over full deflection in flight. The target is to open up a gap that's a maximum of 5% of the wing chord according to the source I found. Any gap beyond that and it's a sharp curve of decreasing lift, which is the opposite of what flaps are supposed to do.
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Gluing in some hing mounting reinforcement blocks for the aileron hinges.
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Adding back the part of the trailing edge I cut off that sits on top of the fuselage. I do think this was the best way to make this modification - a long straight cut is easier to be precise compared to ending in the middle of the trailing edge and doing a sharp 90 degree change of direction of cut. But I can't claim I got to this by planning - it's just a happy accident.
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To take the dihedral out of the wing spar, I just glued the pieces to each other upside down, and then cut off the parts that stuck out and didn't look like a straight rectangle.
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That worked just fine, so with a little sanding here's the wing clamped in place with the reinstalled trailing edge. And here's where we look at those wiring tubes in the wing and think "gee, if only the wing clamped to the sides of the fuselage they would be setup perfectly!" :black_eyed: *sigh* drilling an access hole for wiring and removing the last segment of tube is on the task list. Dihedral at this point is 3mm at the wing tip, which is pretty darn close to nothing.
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Couldn't resist pinning on the wing tips and seeing how she's going to look. :)
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PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Nice way to convert a mistake into a "Feature" and still be functional. Will that need to be actuated by two lever arms to keep it from twisting when they get deployed or is there some kind of mechanical thing that keeps them squared up as they deploy?
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
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Nice way to convert a mistake into a "Feature" and still be functional. Will that need to be actuated by two lever arms to keep it from twisting when they get deployed or is there some kind of mechanical thing that keeps them squared up as they deploy?

Always look for the silver lining :)

I've had other ailerons and flaps of similar size be just fine with a single arm connection as long as I keep a hinge close to the control horn. That way it doesn't start to flex the control surface away from the stabilizer. But I will definitely want to test this out long before covering in case I need to add some stiffening up stuff to them. I would probably do that by getting some balsa pieces with the grain running at a different angle built into the control surface - glue joints tend not to flex under compression like balsa, and the cross grain aspect would also do some good.

The other thing going in my favor on the flap connection is these only get deployed at slower speeds so the forces involved are lower. I would consider this setup way under powered for a 100 mhp plane :)
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
I was just picturing the three hinges extending different lengths as the air pressure starts acting on them with only one lever arm moving it. Maybe I see it wrong and those type hinges AND having three will not allow that to happen. STILL a noob at this hehe.
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
There will certainly be flex in the balsa and wind pushing on the flaps possibly unequally over the length, but for this plane those issues are pretty minimal.
 

foamtest

Toothpick glider kid
Anyone else like watching the balsa builds knowing full well that you will never have the patience to build one? ....or am I the only one?
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
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Anyone else like watching the balsa builds knowing full well that you will never have the patience to build one? ....or am I the only one?

Sure you can do one!

Here's my secret - I try to keep two projects, only two projects, and always two projects going on simultaneously. And I try to keep those two very different types of projects. Then when I lose motivation for one I jump to other. One can scratch my itch to see quick progress while the other can be a very challenging likely to fail exploration of new techniques. A lot of the time I try and keep one balsa and one foam going. Or one plane and one CNC machine project.

Then building a balsa plane can be as simple as 10-15 minutes per building session gluing in the next couple parts with a slow drying glue and pins - not that speedy results CA stuff that tempts you to go super fast - and then go cut and glue up some more foamies. Before you know it you'll have a balsa plane taking shape :)

I would recommend for a 'side build' first balsa project like this

A) a Guillows kit and do it as a free-flight rubber band per the design for a low cost/low time investment option
B) one of Brian's Mountain Models kits like the Dandy, Switchback, or EVA for great performing plane and building experience!
C) Laine's Plane's Cuda - a very simple build and a screaming fast forward swept wing! If you're a pretty decent pilot who loves speed, you really ought to build this one :)

Links to lots of good balsa kit builders can be found over here: http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?35042-Balsa-Kit-Manufacturers

So come on in, the sawdust is fine :p
 
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willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
Manzano laser has some great kits as well. The McKellar Gee Bee Z is a fine kit that does not even require plans. I can personally vouch for the design and she is a real pussycat to fly. Seriously, jump right in and have a new experience. Start a work log and let us cheer you on.