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Author Topic: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider  (Read 1807 times)

Andy M

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Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« on: June 19, 2020, 08:26:24 pm »

I swapped three bodyshells for a quadcopter, it has really bad fpv transmission, a picture every 3 seconds, not really ideal for flying purposes, so I chopped the gearboxes off for small plane projects, these are nice little units, I found the bare motor is higher in power using the same prop as the tiny delta, it now has one fitted and is definately faster.
 I decided to build a 1/3rd scale glider to use my F949 board, its a 1/3.2 scale glider to be exact. As the original was a model of 116 span, mine ends up as a fairly small 36 inch span, with its high aspect ratio wing, the model is only 15 inches long. The wltoys F949 board fits with a bit of room to spare and an e-cig cell sits in the bottom of the pilot area. A clear moulded cockpit will be fitted soon. My carved cockpit moulding plug was covered with masking tape and painted matt black just to see how it looks. This will be removed before moulding. It has flown with this 3.5g bit of solid balsa, very slightly nose heavy, so a plastic canopy, balsa base and glue should hopefully knock a gram or more off compared to solid balsa. The wing folds in half, to allow it to fit in a reasonably sized box for rucksack transportation.
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2020, 08:27:54 pm »

The smaller version was made to be carried about on a quadcopter. It was too small to fit the board in.
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2020, 09:00:28 pm »

Prop spinner from ferrero rocher packaging, took me a lot of attempts to get a good one.
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2020, 09:04:06 pm »

Total weight with balsa canopy mould plug is 43.5g.
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2020, 09:14:06 pm »

I originally built the wing as an undercambered single sheet of 1/32 balsa,with ribs, it flew, and was really slow and floaty, but if too much speed built up, the wings started fluttering, twisting down at each tip and flipping back into shape. This dropped it out of the sky, luckily with no damage. I ended up putting a sheet of balsa on the bottom, this has really stiffened the wing but it added 10g. It flies fine with the extra weight, 43.5g is still light.
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RST

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2020, 10:03:36 pm »

Not my interest of modellng I'm afraid but looks good.  It'ts been a long time since I flew an aircraft (badly, and not for long).  The "Abbassador" should be proud of you though!

Ferrero Roche used to come in clear boxes which were very useful for bits and pieces.  Shame not now!
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ballastanksian

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2020, 11:25:47 pm »

I like what you did with the forrero rocher tray. That spinner came out well. I like dipping into the other hobbies section to see some interesting builds and ideas. Nice job Andy  :-))
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2020, 11:03:50 am »

Thanks, the spinner is very, very thin, it was hard to glue to the 1/16 balsa disc behind the prop. There was some superglued skin stuck to it after it was done......
Just the cockpit canopy to mould now, had a few attempts so far, not produced a decent one yet.
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2020, 05:30:34 pm »

Here is the grinding stone I used to make the spinner. I also made a balsa version, it was a bit short. I liked this little plane so much that I am now building one for my friend. I have just finished sewing the control surfaces on, this gives a slop and friction- free hinge that is perfect for this size of model. The wing roots are sanded to give dihedral and the lower surfaces of the wings are held together with a strip of masking tape and a smaller piece holds them together on top. Sounds a bit dodgy but it works perfectly, amazingly strong and easily replaced. Take the top strip off and the wings fold to 18 inches to fit in the planes transport box. My box could have been smaller, but I wanted the tailplane glued on rather than banded, all the controls stay connected doing it this way, no fiddling about straining tiny servos to get things connected up. I think thats what killed my tiny servo before.
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #9 on: June 20, 2020, 05:32:51 pm »

Two wings turned out very close for sanding the dihedral by eye.
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ballastanksian

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #10 on: June 21, 2020, 01:37:01 pm »

Looking good, as is that rustic looking stove behind! I bet that makes the workshop toasty in the winter?
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #11 on: June 21, 2020, 06:45:15 pm »

Home made from a gas cylinder, it can get well hot. Its good for heating plastic for moulding purposes as well.
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ballastanksian

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #12 on: June 21, 2020, 09:23:51 pm »

I hadn't thought of that! Multi use mate  :-)) 
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #13 on: June 21, 2020, 09:34:06 pm »

Its also good for disposing of unwanted furniture as donated by friends and family. Its also had 2 of my full size boats put through it, chopped into small bits of course. (The boats sadly had terminal rot)
Myself and friends reckoned it kicks out heat in the 10kw range when fed on dry wood.
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #14 on: June 21, 2020, 09:57:04 pm »

Here are some mouldings I have produced using the stove as heat source
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #15 on: June 25, 2020, 12:30:19 pm »

After fitting one of my new motors in my tiny delta and also managing a fairly neat installation of another one in my Ridge Runt, I am probably going to fit one in the Elmira. I am thinking of building a block balsa nose on the front, meaning I dont need a spinner anymore, I think this was blanking a certain amount of the prop disc. The Ridge Runt turned out looking pretty good so Elmira will get the same treatment. The new motors are well up on power compared to the motors I was using. The delta has a very good climb rate now, almost vertical. It was definately worth swapping some old bodyshells to get these new motors.
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #16 on: June 30, 2020, 04:27:52 pm »

Elmira finished, my pilot carving skills aren't that good, better than an empty cockpit. Lol. I have included the non Rc version to show the difference the cockpit makes, the small one has the cockpit as it is supposed to be, and mine is the 'tried to mould it 5 times and ran out of patience and suitable plastic and gave up' type. Not to mention overheating with my stove door open. I still have my mould plug so will have another go when plastic turns up. Its amazing the difference just changing the cockpit canopy makes to the whole look. I like the original style but I think mine looks nice too. My cockpit mould weighed more than twice what my finished cockpit does (1.24g) The photo holding it up by the wingtip (ready to fly with battery) shows how strong this little wing is, no spars and joined with masking tape! Try that with a 1/4 scale job! I have a flair K8 1/4 scale, and wouldnt think of trying anywhere as much leverage on the wing. It might do it, but I aint trying it. The other photo shows the little one getting same treatment, its just a single skin undercambered with few ribs, the same as the bigger one was before I decided to skin the bottom of it. The little one is good bit lighter with no rc gear.
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Andy M

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Re: Truck bodyshells to quadcopter to 1/3rd scale glider
« Reply #17 on: June 30, 2020, 04:29:24 pm »

Some weird colour effects after I resized the picture, looks mouldy. Lol.
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