Psyborgs Team Rockyboy Caudron build

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Thank you for the compliment. This is only my second build with foam. I did a baby baron, and then a remake. Other then that I paid attention to Mr. J. B. when he does all them build videos. I must be a monkey... Monkey see Monkey dooo.!!

I was informed it WILL be at FFE.. if that means it gets my seat for the ride it WILL be there hehe. I am down to finishing things to get it airborne. Battery tray needs to be cut.. I ran outta usable balsa. The aileron mounts and ailerons need to be finished. I also seem to have misplaced my stupid servo horns for the control surfaces so they will have to be acquired at FFE when I get there. Then its cover the underside and set up the radio system.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
I've got a handfull of servo horns in my kit we'll reserve for this :)

See you at FFE soon - I'm on the road tomorrow morning!
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Jim is already on his way here so we should be leaving here around noonish should hit FFE around 5:00 or so.

Im all packed and ready to go.

Packed.jpg
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
She's a beauty, and I'm just blown away at the build quality - and considering it's Psyborg's 3rd freakin foam board build, we should all expect more amazing things coming from his workshop in the future. :)

For this project however, I've formally accepted custody for the next year and pledge to provide a nurturing and challenging environment for her next stages of development. Static and video documentation of growth, grades, and extra-curricular activities will be provided to the community on a regular basis as agreed.

And if I don't do something horribly wrong and smash her into little bits, I'll be bringing her to FFE18 so everyone can see her fly! :)
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Rockyboy, participation with all your encouragement an support on top of getting to meet you in person at Flite Fest and get to spend as much time as we were able to was more then any one could have asked for as a reward. If you want to put it on the wall as a memento, finish where I left off, or merely take a picture and send it on another life elsewhere this project has MORE then been a success in my eyes. In any case if you do complete the build enjoy what ever the results are good or bad just get us some video so we can share. For now I will drop a few pics in here so people can see what point it made it to on the journey to Flite Fest to meet you.

Getting to be part of a team with people that have never met me nor knew me and be accepted as openly as you guys have feels amazing. What made it more was the success that all of the Teams entries completed the tasks they were meant to and we nearly even pulled off a win!!! I think we will be proud to have taken second for a long time as there was some serious competition.

For all of you who have no idea what we are yakking about here are the final pics for my entry in an attempt to complete the Caudron 460 for the static display pretty plane part of the competition. It IS meant to fly but I procrastinated a bit as I was sure I would not be able to make it to FLite Fest. That was all made possible by JimCR120 for whom there simply is no words right now that I can use to thank and praise him for the incredible time and journey we got to experience these last six days. Thank you my two newest family members as I will forever call you brothers.

Turtle deck 1.jpg

Primer 1.jpg

FC bad light 1.jpg

FC bad light 2.jpg

FC bad light 2.jpg

Final 1.jpg

Final 2.jpg

Final 3.jpg

Final 4.jpg
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Thank you sir. Unfortunately I procrastinated too long for that and with it being swamp fest the first two days well. Maybe if there was not solid rain the first two days it might have had a shot at least at a maiden. I am sure at some point Rockyboy and Wilmracer will give it a toss and see if it is a bird or a brick.

Rockboy was able to get some time in to try while we were there but with the craziness and the volunteer schedules trying to get time dedicated to anything was a bust. Besides there was no way my non skilled fingers was flying that in a race. I got to spot for Rockyboy though when he made the run.

Oh hehe probably should say what was left to do. Finnish aileron mounts and shape ailerons. Do control horns on all surfaces. Trim the rear turtle deck to make sure control rods move free, make and position a battery box to work with cg. toss in a receiver and do final set up. I got close.

Over all there were two complete fuselages made, Five full tail feather attempts with varying design changes and ideas and one main wing as you see it
 
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Tench745

Master member
It's a beautifully executed build of a clever and historic model. I was jealous of the fit and finish when I saw it.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
She is a beauty for sure! I keep both a 'Long List' and a 'Short List' of projects I want to work on, and completing this lady through a maiden flight is on the short list. Right after the half-built Balsa Cuda occupying my workbench, and repairs from FFE :black_eyed:
 

JimCR120

Got Lobstah?
Site Moderator
Aw shucks PsyBorg, the honor and privilege were all mine. I would do it all again in a heartbeat, next week if I could. Everything about Flite Fest was a huge enjoyment. And you sir are now not only a shipmate but a dear friend. Thanks for keeping me company on the ride and to you Rocky, and Litterbug for the company at camp. And thanks for pushing me into real heli flying. I hope I can manage it.

:cool:Now to plan for next year...
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Psyborg's Caudron is back on the workbench! :applause:

Finished painting, hinging and connecting the ailerons last night, hinged the top hatch, and installed the rudder pull-pull control horns.

The to do list is pretty short on this baby now;

- Finish hooking up the rudder control rods.
- Hook up the elevator control horns and rods. This one will be a touch tricky as the two rods are hooked into different holes on the servo arm. This means that one of the rods actually travels a little bit more than the other. And that servo is installed really solidly - not pulling it back out now :) So plan A is to make the control horn for one of the elevator sides longer by the difference in the space between the rods at the servo end. It makes sense in my head anyway, I'll see if it works soon. :)
- Install battery tray
- Install prop & spinner (which I seem to have lost in the shop somewhere....)
- Final balancing & binding
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Now that you had some time to poke and prod it whats the verdict? Ya think its good enough to fly or will it just be a pretty lawn dart? Oh yeah and I found the other props I meant to send with it but they were hiding on a shelf here and I did not grab them. I can send them out to you as well. Like I said in the FW thread.. gimme a good time to call or ring me up and we can work the details out.

Oh and btw.. When I put the servos in I worked them back and forth and I believe there is already offset on the servo horns inside. Maybe put some marks on the wires and work the servos so you can measure travel. I did think about that when I put them in before covering them. Whether I did it correctly well... Also if it is too far off there is always the option to clip one of the rods and make it a single sided set up. That is why I did not close the bottom up yet and I sent the plate and the textured paint for the belly with you.

And now I am nervous as all I can picture is it getting launched, the fuse filling with air pressure and the whole thing swelling up and exploding in mid air.

Oh and one more thing I just remembered. I did the motor so it has adjustable thrust angle (which will probably be a huge pain to adjust now that its all together) but I did not however offset the mounting position to accommodate keeping the motor centered once the thrust angle has been set. It is however set higher then the original design as that was discussed during the flight testing to mount it higher. HOPEFULLY that does not throw the pull to far off center line and give it really bad tendencies. Sorry I was not aware that was a necessity at the point I was working it all out.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
I'm sure she will be able to fly. I am way less sure of my ability as a pilot to land her properly. :black_eyed:

No need to send me the props - I've got a whole mess of different sizes from various online sales. What size was on that motor originally?

I'm pretty sure the elevator horns will work out - I made up the set last night and gave them a coat of paint. Plan to install them tonight. Finished up the rudder controls last night - works perfectly smooth and stable, no wiggly bits! And there is plenty of venting at the back - I'll make sure she doesn't act like a weather balloon. :)

The higher motor thrust line looks great - just like my final big blue one. I did notice the thrust angle was a little strong for my taste, and I'm glad to hear it's an adjustable mount. I've got a small inspection mirror I can use to see how to adjust it - hopefully without tearing anything apart :black_eyed:
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
The motor mount is long bolts loctited into metal stand offs so they dont spin. (Still accessible I believe from the under carriage if the main wing is off) Then nylocks on either side of the motor mount. Small crows foot wrench would be perfect but I did it with a straight wrench. You may have to remove the motor to get to the back ones with the nose glued on OR you could eyeball the alignment and cut slots in the top to allow for wrench access without doing too much work. This is what I thought I might have to do after permanently attaching that top section anyways.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Looks like I would need to cut her open to adjust the thrust angle... and it just might be an elective procedure, so I'm going to leave her with this angle for maiden.

The one prop collet I have in the drawer that fits this motor shaft won't tighten up with the spinner installed. So she'll be a little exposed till I figure out what type of spinner/prop mount I need to get for her.

So all that's left now is the battery tray and balancing :)

2017-10-16 21.41.04.jpg

Might even get her out to the field this weekend if it dries out down here....
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Wow did you clear coat that too? or just buff n wax it? It looks much shinier in your pictures. Once that has been tested and maidened a cockpit would complete it. I started to design it and I think I left you the pattern and the blueberry package lid to cut it from didn't I?
No biggie without it as long as it flys for you I will be very happy and glad you took time to finish it up.

Did you go with my idea to line the aileron cutouts in balsa or did you do something different?

Oh yeah forgot to answer you about original prop for that motor when it was on the Pitts.. manual says 13x6 and I sent all the ones I had with you for that. The speed controller is a 50 amp in case you cant dig in and see in case you want to run numbers for different props. The motor is BM3720A-KV650 and I believe they are
both made by Detrum
 
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FAI-F1D

Free Flight Indoorist
Good to see people are still playing with these race birds. My Folkerts is sitting forlornly in a corner hoping to fly again someday. I think my wife would be really happy if I never ever flew it again though!