Yes, I certainly have a sense of having got 'old skool' after that session. After I've put the kids to bed, I'll be putting on the finishing bits and pieces after 3 solid hours of 'craft session' with glydr. Still needs the servo tray and boom to be glued in, wings screwed on, control surfaces hooked up, motor mounted and prop and spinner attached. The maiden will be tomorrow rather than today unfortunately.
Replacement for my Bixler...
- Thread starter lobstermash
- Start date
Just found an annoying boo boo... The second little piece of ply that sits under the aileron servo is meant to face up to allow travel over the other servos. Haven't glue the tray in yet, so trying to fix that now!
Nope, the servos are too tight, so I made up a small piece of ply that half moons around the aileron servo. Works nicely.
Huzzah! It's finally almost complete! My estimation was half an hour left to finish the build. In reality it took about the same amount of time again. I'm reminded of why I don't like clevises and why screwing stuff in can be problematic. I've programmed the V-tail and the only thing left is to find some way of securing the canopy that will allow for quick battery changes. This part seems to be where Thunder Tiger just couldn't give a stuff any more, molded a piece of plastic that kind of looks like carbon fibre, couldn't be stuffed cutting it out for you, and didn't give you any way to attach it to the fuse!!!
The solution is going to have to wait until the morning. Good night all.
The solution is going to have to wait until the morning. Good night all.
Here she is, all together and in her right mind (for now).
So, the Bixler story continues... The AXN was plunged into the ground from a great height. The Bixler's brand new ESC fried. The former caused by an undertrained pilot, the latter by a new pilot (competent enough in the air) who overcharged a battery when his charger read 50% on one cell when the rest were >90%... A simple wiggle of the balance lead would have averted the fire, but thankfully the plane is fine. A new ESC is on the way, and I'm wishing I didn't hand my Bixler over for certain destruction 
I'm pretty happy with it. I've got a lot to learn to keep it in the thermals, as it doesn't fly anywhere near as slowly as the Bixler nor does it have the same level of authority on the throws, but in its own right is a thing of beauty.
The rudder may as well not happen, except in conjunction with the ailerons. There's enough throw on the elevator to get you by. Roll rate is a little slower than the Bixler, but hey, you don't get a glider to barrel roll. The motor/prop combination is torquey, but not very fast. Most of my climbing was at half throttle or less, getting around 30-40 degree climbs with no issues. Orientation is really tricky at first, but I got to know what I was doing after a bit of flying.
I only used about 1500mAh of charge between the three batteries I used.
The rudder may as well not happen, except in conjunction with the ailerons. There's enough throw on the elevator to get you by. Roll rate is a little slower than the Bixler, but hey, you don't get a glider to barrel roll. The motor/prop combination is torquey, but not very fast. Most of my climbing was at half throttle or less, getting around 30-40 degree climbs with no issues. Orientation is really tricky at first, but I got to know what I was doing after a bit of flying.
I only used about 1500mAh of charge between the three batteries I used.
OK, I've put a few more hours into flying this plane. I've just come back from a great session thermaling in beautiful 22 degree Celcius sunny weather, with a 10-15km/h northerly breeze (that's the warm one for the Northern hemisphere peoples). I figured out where the thermals were and how to catch them with this beauty of a plane. I'm completely sold on the V-tail for gliders now. It creates a wonderful stability and retains a meaningful amount of lift to help between thermals. I was able to flat turn using the ailerons and rudder with ease. Batteries are still charging, but I'm estimating that I only used around 900mAh for the first flight of about 40-50 minutes (little bit of aerobatics, but mostly thermaling) and I've got no idea on the second battery, which was mostly used for powered flight and aerobatics.
I have to say I think it's wonderful and worth the build time. I'd call it a barely-warm liner that's great for thermals when you know what you're doing (which I think I do now...).
I have to say I think it's wonderful and worth the build time. I'd call it a barely-warm liner that's great for thermals when you know what you're doing (which I think I do now...).
