I just put three more flights on my Bronco this past weekend. We have been having nothing but windy days down here along with a crosswinds most of the time. The Bronco handles the crosswind with no problem. Since I went with 5s set-up I have been very happy with the performance and flight time, It also allowed me to remove dead weight from the nose. After my first flight it was still nose heavy so removed another 1.25 oz of weight. It's still a bit nose heavy and I'm going to remove another half ounce and see how it feels. As I have posted before I went with an E-Flite retract in the nose. I decided to try the x-wave retract and the method that they use for the attaching the strut. The good thing about the X-Wave retract is that it attached under airframe as opposed to the E-Flite which due to it's mounting flange must be put above the mounting plate with a spacer block to make up the difference. You can look at my previous posts to see the pics. The one thing that I like about the X=Wave is when using the spring to keep the strut in the trunnion block, it also helps keep the nose gear straight. With the other retract I had the nose wheel wander back and forth while taxiing. I also drilled the trunnion block a little deeper so that the set screw will also go into the groove on the strut and keep it from coming out. It doesn't take much and there is a steel disc at the bottom of the hole that will fall out when you drill.
Is anyone interested in my Bronco lighting system im putting together? Usual nav lights on wing and tail with upper and lower beacons. Using a 2 cell mini LED flashlight for the landing light with some modding, its 350 lumens.
Is anyone interested in my Bronco lighting system im putting together? Usual nav lights on wing and tail with upper and lower beacons. Using a 2 cell mini LED flashlight for the landing light with some modding, its 350 lumens.
sam51401 I would be interested in seeing your lighting setup, specifically what you're using for the clear covers for the wingtips and gondola beacons. Are you taking them from the Freewing 90mm T-45? Its dorsal LED cover is faired well.
What is the diameter of your "2 cell mini LED flashlight"? I used a 10mm LED but it was a bit too small, while the standard 20mm LED lens (from F-14/15/18 landing light) was too large. I don't have the model in front of me but I imagine 15mm or so should be just right?
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Ill throw together a shopping list and links tonight and post it a little later. I have a source of 5mm LED's that are bright and wide angle of view that can be found on Amazon and some other items from spudgun.com being prewired with resistors. Im taking the resistors off due to the simple contoller i choose that has proper resistors on the board. Yes MRC carries it.
Oh! L39 lens/plastic set also. The tanks teardrop lens for the wing tips.
The list will come but im having to back track on wiring issues with the Turnigy/GT Power light controller. Seems that it doesnt like to have a common shared ground on several of the lights. I thought i could keep the wiring to three wires and have the ground common but im having to revert to an additional ground wire and using Deans 4 pin micro connectors.
As to listing
1. GT Power/Turnigy light set, the one with the controller in yellow shrink
2. 5mm light set from Spudgun.com, found on Ebay and his website
3. 5mm red Flat top LED's from Amazon, supplier is Lighthouseleds.com for the upper and lower beacons along with more accessories
4. FW L39 plastic set with the light lens
5. Spudgun.com has a simple rc switch and will use two of those, one for the lights, other for the landing light
6. I'll post a pic but the landing light lens is from a pack of "rolling eyes", 2.5" dia found at Hobby Lobby
7. The landing light is a 2 cell led flashlight from Lowes. Ill find the package again and pic it.
8. Light lens for the beacons from Parkflyerplastics.com
I decided to use the controller for the beacon cycle as it more closely resembles a rotating beacon instead of the newer strobe. The lights from spudgun are brighter than the set lights and have a slighlty wider FOV. The lights come pre-wired with resistirs for 5v operation but using the controller, they can be removed as they are on the board.
More to come as i finalize the wiring and then a vid of operation.
Sam
Due to the corona virus thing i've been running out of supplies to continue the build.... so i made some panellines on the wings using a simple pencil, after a final coat of varnish it will be sealed...
I had the nice looking 3D printed exhaust still lying around unpainted, so they were next... upon looking at photo's from the full size i noticed a rather large weld seam over the entire exhaust... hmm.. lets see if we can make that as well..
The prints were primed and sanded, and i gave it a try with simple white glue.... result was exactly what i wanted...
So how many of us who have the ProFly version are going to order the new FliteLine OV 10? I'm on the fence although I like the way the wings come apart for transport. Too bad the ProFly doesn't do this. I had to make a special cradle to hang it in my trailer since I leave the wings on the fuselage.
Well being quarantined moved up my Bronco build and I'm quite happy about that. This project is really rewarding both from working on a model of such a great full scale aircraft and from working out all the internal equipment placements. It appears the only holdup for completion will be the Tru-Turn three bladed spinners. Until this virus slow down is over spinner orders are on hold. Today the flight controls were powered up for the first time, so cool. Still have plenty to do but am enjoying every minute of it.
Well, working from home and able to jump back and forth to the Bronco has me thinking way to much to get this thing flying. Anyway, i just could not pass on that big hole in the front with the nose gear so i molded some layered 1/64 ply last night. Im wanting to try a scale mechanical closure for the doors so no servo and sequencing will be needed.
Posting a question to the masses on a simple hinging method on the nose gear doors.
1. piano hinge, Thickness of the door may not allow a flush install and possible interference
2. small Dubro hinges, same issue with the piano hinge i believe, not allow a flush install
3. Sonic Tronics offset hinges, high probability but placement may interfer with steering
4. Monokote or tape hinge, simplest for a flush hinge in this case given the least amount of hinge work.
Durability is only question but works for control surfices
Still thinking up a mechanical means of actuation
New guy here. Putting one of these birds together. I see posts regarding these pilots from Mike. How do I contact Mike for a set of these pilots. Thanks, Jerry
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