Willy Nillies Gentle Lady

speedbirdted

Legendary member
2-3 degrees of up-thrust should do it. Many seaplanes that have podded engines mounted above the wing have about that and a sailplane power pod is really no different. Little side thrust will be needed - less than 1 degree probably. Even that much might be overdoing it as the rotational mass of a peewee 020 and propeller is just so low compared to the rest of the airplane.

Thrust angles matter less when the throttle setting doesn't vary as any unwanted pitching can be trimmed out for good, but that then affects glide trim.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Other half of the wing is together, power wires strung, and resistors being glued into the ribs so they stay put. This time I've got the power wires situated more vertically on top of each other with the thought it might be easier to solder up the led's that way - tomorrow I'll find out if that was a good idea or not!

PXL_20210213_002754863_copy_1024x768.jpg
 

Polkadot

New member
This is super cool but anyone doing something similar should also be aware of WS2812 programmable strips.
The problem with something like a WS2812 is you need some form of microcontroller to interface with them, you can't just apply power and call it a day, so they're a little overboard for something like this.

That aside. It feels like everywhere I turn lately the world wants me to dig out and finish my old Goldberg Gentle Lady, but color me intrigued on this new smaller version.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
This is super cool but anyone doing something similar should also be aware of WS2812 programmable strips.

Those are cool, and I've used LED lightning strips on my other recent night flyer (Lazy Bee). They are great in fuselages, but there is a problem with putting those in the wings. The spacing of the LEDs and surface mount resistors doesn't line up with wing ribs really well, so you need to make notches or other cuts into the ribs to get the strips in place. On a larger plane that's not a big deal at all, but on something this small I didn't want to be cutting into the ribs.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
For anyone curious about the wiring here's a close up. Maybe a touch sloppy, but I'm happy with it!

PXL_20210215_015301284_copy_1024x768.jpg


Finished up the fuselage...
PXL_20210217_234242073_copy_1024x768.jpg


And stuffed all the electronics inside (bottom view here)
PXL_20210218_020928900_copy_1024x768.jpg


And here she is in the bones!
PXL_20210219_021705169_copy_1024x768.jpg


Just need to glue on the rest of the wing top sheeting (now that the wiring is all done) and then on to final sanding and covering :)
 

Quinlan Sauter

Active member
This build is looking awesome, I think I'm going to get one of this kits!!

what electronics are you using?(esc, receiver, servos, etc.)
 
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rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
1306 2000kv motor, 6 amp esc, and 5x3.5 folding prop are the power bits - receiver is a FrSky x4r and I believe the servos are 2.8 gram - but they are el-cheapo blue ones from fleabay that have been in the back of the drawer for a while. Nothing really special - the receiver is the most expensive part in there!

Tentative color scheme below so the covering lines up with the lighting colors. The green and yellow will be translucent Solite, and the white will either be opaque Solite (if the LED's shine through enough) or clear doculam with a light airbrushing of white paint to create a semi-transparent effect.

Gentle_Lady_Covering.jpg
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
How much time did you spend just to make those skins? I was almost fooled at first glance.

Just a few minutes using Inkscape - imported the picture and used the "Bezier line" tool to click where I wanted the vertexes of the shapes to be, then fiddled with the colors. I can try a quick screen recording demo if anyone is interested.