Progress Report

[Tomstoy2]

Bad news, bad news, good news, good news.
Don't worry, none of it involves the Cub.

For months now, I have been chasing my tail with my fpv gear.
Between my surgery, the Cub and the weather, troubleshooting has been practically non-existent.
2 days ago, we go out and I can't get the CinTank out more that 60 feet before signal turns to snow. Started thinking about it, recalling what troubles I have had, it became obvious my problem lies with my goggles. So, yesterday, I confirmed the issue with my Zeis goggles on the ground station. Rock solid.
These goggles, (AIO), we're part of my original purchase into my indeavors into fpv. In fact, of my original purchase, these were the only things that worked, and exceptionally well to boot. Having them go out is kind of like having your dog die.

We have our annual Hartsel meet next month and I need a set of goggles that aren't teathered, so I've done some research and ordered the new Headset goggles, version 2. The reviews all ravish praise upon them. Plus, the price is right.

At least, though testing revealed a problem with my goggles, it also revealed all I am taking to Hartsel is good to go.

Now to get back to finishing the Cub,,,

[Tomstoy2]

Got the Headplay's in early today, so I called Greg and we headed out to the field.
I'm very pleased with the Headplay so far. The screen is H.U.G.E! Took me awhile to figure it out. I has to be on source AV1 for 5.8 to work. That was my only issue. Other than that, you just plug them in and hold down the top button for about 5 seconds. The display starts to flash fast, you let off the button and she automatically looks for a signal. Pretty simple. I was finally able to ride along when Greg flew either is wing or quad. He's Fatshark, I'm Boscam.
My Zeis goggles are sharper. No suprise. The are OLED. For $700 they ought to be! Seriously, I love the Zeis. Plus you look cool under them. Just a pain in the ass dragging along the ground station, but for long range you have to have the ground station.


But, I think I'm really going to love these, too. They are comfortable, block out all light. You don't need to wear glasses at all under them. In fact, I prefer not wearing them. They weigh nothing.
The display is not as sharp as my old AIO's. This is not the fault of the display, just it being capable of any resolution you put into it, it has a tendency to show how bad NTSC broadcast really is.
I tried the multiplier lens, and took it out. Much better without.
Yeah, more time will tell, but I did do around 10 flights and I am impressed.

[Tomstoy2]

Damn, just took stock of what I have left to do on the Cub,,, and it ain't much!

1. Set servo travel on all servo's

2. Mount cowling and prop

3. Final fit the wings to the fuselage

4. Install windows and windscreen

5. Fix door handle

6. Mount wheels

7. Mount springs on tail wheel steering

8. Balance

Damn,,,,

[sutty]

I can't wait, and I'm similarly keen to read your reports from Hartsel this year.

[Tomstoy2]

As usual on this pig, nothing works as planned.
Just got done with the servos. Took all damn day.
First off, despite bench testing, I had 3 servos not work.

One had a pinched wire, signal right at the end of the frigging strain relief.
I had a spare servo, so that was easy.

Next up was a servo on a wing. Bad connection. Had to remove, reconnect and rethreading the extension cable threaded thru the wing. Fun.

Last one was throttle, needed a digital servo. The one with the damaged signal wire was the only digital I had left, so I had to jumper the bad area and plastidip the whole strain relief.

Good, all working now?
No, the rudder had a stripped gear. Find a gear and swap it out.

Now, ALL the freaking electrics work.
That's hopefully the second longest task on the list. Windscreen installation is a giant pain, being hand made, and then trying to install without fingerprints. Really looking forward to that,,,

[Tomstoy2]

Close now. Had a delay finding material to make the windscreen out of. Got some pteg, .030 thick coming.
Still need springs.
Balance, should be the same and I still have the ballast.

Three lousy things left.

[Tomstoy2]

As I said, nothing is ever easy.

Got the pteg material in and started the windscreen. After 3 trys it is installed. Would have been 4, ( got a nice glue smear on one side, but I was running out of material ). Just got some touch up to finish off, then install the rest of the glass, which is a snap.

Then, it's just install 2 springs on the steering and balance.

[sutty]

So maybe I didn't quite follow. Is there a smear or not. Hopefully in the end you got it spot on!

[Tomstoy2]

No, there is a smear. Damn fingerprint touched it with glue on it. The other 2 were a hell of a lot worse. Really didn't see it until it was too late. Might be able to clean it up later in time. After it sits out in the sun the pteg will relax slightly weakening the bond. Hopefully I can just chip it clean. It's really not as bad as it sounds. Like I said it's off to the side, not that damn noticeable once the wings are on. Sure, won't take long to find it, but it is a sport scale, and I do have to keep reminding myself of that fact as I am getting anal, again.

In the mean time, I don't have enough material left, after all, to finish the top window. So, I do need more.
That's ok. I forgot to add my braces in for the top window. Easy enough to install, but I need more blue paint. What the hell, it's just money, right?

[Tomstoy2]

Just a few shots to wet your appetite. Lord knows I need a beer every time I walk out of that room now, I dehydrate from drooling so much!

I'm real close now!
Had to order a few things I'll need. Got the wrong size wheel collars in. Need a filter to pick up fuel out of the fuel can, and fuel line to refill with.

I'm at a point I need to balance her now. For that I need to get Greg over to help me. At 35 pounds I can't do it anymore. I'm such a wimp.

[sutty]

Consider it well and truly whetted.

Great job, and it almost goes without saying that I'm looking forward to more. Beautiful!

[Tomstoy2]

Thanks, Andrew.

Gawd, am I close now!!!

Balancing went well. It was the easiest project on the bird, actually.
Origionally, she weighed in at 35 pounds. During reconstruction I put her on a diet, and reduced weight in the tail where I could, continually reminding myself a gram back there is better than an ounce in the nose.
I was able to remove one block of steel I used for ballast, reducing the weight by around 2 pounds!
Considering the BalsaUSA Cub comes in at 31 pounds, I don't feel so bad. Especially considering mine is super strong.

Only thing keeping her grounded is wheel collars!

So, checking the weather forcast for next week. It's been raining it's ass off here. Rain lets up, but no sunny sky. Looks like Thursday may be the day to take it out to the field, see if she starts,,,,

[Tomstoy2]

Today's the day!

Weather is perfect, got everything I need, everything charged, gas/oil mixed. I got no excuses now.

Expectations:

Most important, I don't know it will even start? Should.

If that works, see how well she taxi's,
then get her light and see how she feels.
Then try a lift off of about 3 feet and throttle back with minimum fuel load.
If that works, a final inspection, refuel and take off.

It's not like she hasn't flown before. She performed beautiful before. Fantastic flyer. Nothing should have changed but for the better.

So, I'll post up the full report afterwards.

[sutty]

Fingers crossed bud. I'm sure she'll be a dream.

[Tomstoy2]

I did mention that this bitch has fought me every inch of the way, right? Or in this particular case me fighting it,,,

So, we get out there, get her all set up. I go to put gas in her and the next thing I know is I see gas all over the bottom of the fuselage!?!!
Took about 10 paper towels to sop up about 10 ounces.
I pull the battery, so no chance of an accidental spark, then pull the cowl and the tank out.

Back when I painted, I installed the landing gear with only 2 of the 4 straps. Last week I installed the other 2 straps and drilled the holes. I hit the low corner of the tank, couldn't have drilled a more perfect hole if I had chucked it up in a press first.
My fault.

So, she's back on the bench drying out. Got to go get a can of k2r tomorrow and spray it in there to pull as much of the fuel and oil out as I can. After that, I'm not too much concerned about it.

Ordered up a new tank. It's pressurized by the crankcase so I won't even attempt repairing it.

Greg got some good shots of her assembled, at least. I'll be adding those later.

So, it'll be about a week before she'll be ready again.

More bad news. Our fpv meet in Southpark is in 12 days. I told Greg today I won't be going this year. My knee just isn't ready for me to abuse it like that . Believe me, I am damn happy I'm not working on it this time around. I have no idea how I returned to work, not once but twice after having all this done. A third time would have been impossible.

[Tomstoy2]

Some pics

[Tomstoy2]

Ahh jeeze, should have known.

Ok, pulling the soaked fuel out of the fuselage was a breeze. Nothing a can of k2r can't cure.
However, learned something. k2r is highly corrosive to servo connectors.
Shorted out all 3 wires feeding the servos in the tail. So, I'm waiting for 3 each 3 foot long servo extensions.
A bit of a pain, but easily enough done. In all, got off easy.

[sutty]

Glad you pulled the fuel out nicely, and also that you spotted the issue with the connectors. Sounds like you'll soon have it fettled.