Black Widow??

[themudduck]

Alpha I am curious, after 200+ flights how is your bird holding up from being out in the sun? Can you post a closeup pic?
Is this plane made from the same kind of foam or was there any tweaking to help it hold up to the heat?

(I plane to fly mine only at dusk. Because it deserves it.)

[sharpy1071]

Well the P61 has landed! I picked it up today and brought it home along with a Marauder for a mate of mine. First impression is positive, it is a V1 with car type tyres but I think if I put them into a drill or similar they could possibly be sandpapered down to a more round profile. the second photo is of a paper covered foam board P61 which I am in the middle of building from a plan published by flyfoamrc.com. It is a new technique to myself and it needs lots of practice to get right, but I will persevere with. I might do a build blog and give some of my views.

[CFIT rob]

Sharpy...very interested in your build and flight of the widow. Its one im going to get as soon as motion has it available. I have the marauder so im hoping you and your mate can give a report. Suggested Cg working?...build tips etc. Alpha has given us a head start but nothing better the first hand field reports.

[sharpy1071]

Having taken the kit out of the box to check everything, I am wondering if something can be done about the wiring loom. It is a rats nest!! I will look into soldering wires together and eliminating joiners. The instructions leave little information. I at the moment cannot find which cable is for the airelons also there is a servo type joiner with four cables, I am a bit loathed to join it before I know the voltage. I think this is a feed for the lights. Also I am going to invest in a programming card so I can better balance the ESC's. That's it for tonight I will look at some more tomorrow, Brian.

[Piano0412]

Hi Sharpy! I received my Spider plane on Monday. Already posted some pics @ RCG. I just wanted to do some first steps of assembly and have troubles when inserting the strut in the wings. How far should the struts be pushed into the fuse part of the wings? Are you facing the same problem?

[Piano0412]

Hm, by force it seems that I got the struts deep enough inserted into the outer wings that they would fit to the fuse part of the wings. But to hide the plugs and wires are a PITA :Not-Talking:

I just saw there are four very short struts (in the package with the guns). What are they for? The manual is pretty poor..... :Thinking:

[sharpy1071]

Hi Piano Yes had the same problem with struts, will get everything out of box today. The manual is beyond poor, I haven't found these short struts yet!!. Just found them, there are 4 and think they are the guns, gentle force for the main wing struts is required. I'm ordering a servo tester to try and sort out the rats nest of wiring. The 4 pin servo plug is for the lighting via yet another lead with a resistor/blinking light circuit. Just gone to do the cutaway in the fuse and wing for wiring and a lead weight has come loose in the rear cockpit!!

[Piano0412]

Could you give us some pics? Where are lead weights?

Oh, btw, I was told today to check the plastic parts which are glued on the fuselage to screw the wings on. They seem to be not glued very well.

[sharpy1071]

Piano0412 I've put some pictures up. The lead weight is in rear cockpit. There's one of the wiring loom, a servo and tip light wasn't working the connections weren't that good so I took the panel of and I tied the connections together with Dental Floss, they don't come apart that way! also there is a picture of the wing cover I'm thinking of taking out the piece I've marked with a X and putting the receiver in there for easy access. I also doodled on the fin with silver pen to see how the access covers looked highlighted, a prelude to weathering the whole plane. I will also put invasion stripes on the underside to help orientation.

[crankestein]

/// the second photo is of a paper covered foam board P61 which I am in the middle of building from a plan published by flyfoamrc.com. It is a new technique to myself and it needs lots of practice to get right, but I will perceiver with...

persevere

[sharpy1071]

I decided make the hole in the wing centre covering plate and try the receiver in there it appears to work and help clear the battery hole of wire and give easy access to the receiver. Another wire came adrift today in the boom that carries the elevator and rudder servo wires. I managed to get it through and tie the joints together, this is a point I would think needs addressing when building, do not tug too hard on any wires as you are likely to break a joint!

[NoDirt!]

Bummer, I was hoping the top turret would traverse a bit.

[sharpy1071]

NoDirt with a bit of fiddling it would be possible to make the turret turn. I've spent today shortening the wire circuit and soldering joints as opposed to push fit. Where it is impractical to solder certain joints I've tied with dental floss to make them positive and safe. One main u/c is a little hesitant in working (both ways) but it appears once cycled it is OK so maybe work it a few times before take off. The wiring I have cut out weighs 43g (1.5ozs) but there is solder and heat shrink to add back on, so probably no saving in weight at all but a much better wiring loom and neater, also plenty of room for a 4cell battery.

[CFIT rob]

Also bummed turret doesnt traverse but wont keep me from getting one. Looking fwd to both your maidens. One thing i will do is a gloss black paint job. Anyone have thoughts on how to achieve a high gloss black? Minwax poly?

[TiredIronGRB]

Already got my graphics...

[DonRhone]

Also bummed turret doesnt traverse but wont keep me from getting one. Looking fwd to both your maidens. One thing i will do is a gloss black paint job. Anyone have thoughts on how to achieve a high gloss black? Minwax poly?

While I normally use the Miniwax satin finish which is a low gloss my flying buddy uses the Glossy finish Miniwax. On the dark blue Corsair the finish really shines, on black I would bet it would be as glossy, if not more.

[Twowingtj]

[QUOTE=TiredIronGRB;n103939]Already got my graphics.../QUOTE]

Great choice TI. I like it! Shows the aircraft lines better than the all black. More "solar friendly" too.

[borntoolate]

Already got my graphics...

Nice scheme, George!!!! I like it. Mine will be OD/grey as well.

Bob

[sharpy1071]

Today I decided to fit the props and do a performance test. First thing props touching bottom of cowl due to down thrust. I took out one dummy engine and soon saw that the dummy engine was fouling the foam surrounding the outrunner. So I removed a sliver of the foam and an improvement. I then removed some foam from the top of the firewall marked red in photo. I now had about 3mm of clearance. Ran the engines up on 4cell Lipo 3600MAh. Results 31Amp total draw, 390watts draw and peak volts 11.74Volts.

[rifleman_btx]

Well crap... hopefully an isolated incident. But something tells me hold off a bit