Stevens Aeromodel G-480 Groove

[rreid7]

Thanks for the heads up on the discount at SA. I took advantage of the deal and just ordered a G-400x Stella. Similar to your G-480 but a little smaller and maybe a little more 3D biased. I've wanted to try my hand at 3D, so I went for that, plus we have a Granddaughter named Stella which made it a no-brainer in my wife's eyes!

[stuart]

Ron!! what a brilliant idea!!! now i just need to find planes with names of my children or nephews as part of there titles.....

anyone know any kits with chis,katie,jt,josey,jenny,richy,logan,zoey........

the jenny[will search the family tree for a name curtis just in case i need more influenece...lol]!!!!!!may place the order after talking about my nice to pave the way....outstanding idea Ron,simply amazing how cunning a plan.

[Stevephoon]

Originally Posted by rreid7

Thanks for the heads up on the discount at SA. I took advantage of the deal and just ordered a G-400x Stella. Similar to your G-480 but a little smaller and maybe a little more 3D biased. I've wanted to try my hand at 3D, so I went for that, plus we have a Granddaughter named Stella which made it a no-brainer in my wife's eyes!

Glad I could help! I was thinking the Stella at one time as well, but being able to reuse batteries with other planes won out...

Originally Posted by stuart

Ron!! what a brilliant idea!!! now i just need to find planes with names of my children or nephews as part of there titles.....

anyone know any kits with chis,katie,jt,josey,jenny,richy,logan,zoey........

the jenny[will search the family tree for a name curtis just in case i need more influenece...lol]!!!!!!may place the order after talking about my nice to pave the way....outstanding idea Ron,simply amazing how cunning a plan.

You can always create your own plane design and name it after them or just name the plane after them (ie nose art...)



Well, a little further... The rudder and ailerons are hinged up and all of the pushrods are hooked up. I didn't use the included easy connectors, I just bent the rods were needed. Then I use sub-trim on my DX7 to get it perfect.. Now there is one less failure point... I have also gave a first coat of paint to the cowl and wheel pants.

Steve

[Stevephoon]

The sun was out so I thought some quick pictures were in order. I just popped the wing in place, put the landing gear on and then set the cowl and canopy on. Nothing is attached or bolted in, but it should give you a good look at what the plane looks like. The weather is supposed to be bad the rest of the week, so my guess is that the maiden will wait at least until this weekend.

Steve

[rcers]

Looks awesome.

[rreid7]

That's a good lookin' airplane, really nice lines. Nice covering job too, I especially like your black/silver treatment at the nose, and the transparent adds great accents. I can never resist sticking stuff together for a preview either!

[riverrat]

NICE!!!

[Stevephoon]

Well, She's ready! All buttoned up and raring to go - the weather is not .

I switched to a black spinner and prop just for the looks! Some experimentation and flight trials are needed to select the best combination. A quick test with a 2200 mAh 30C battery at storage charge and the black 1060 GWS prop, I was pulling about 220 Watts and 19.8 amps according to my little WattsUp meter. Seems like a good starting point.

Weight of everything except the battery - 18.5 oz. which means a flying weight in the 23-25 oz range depending on the battery.

It all sounds perfect! Now I just need a good day for a maiden!

Steve

[Forge]

Steve,

Wow. Really nice looking build. And, I really like the transparent film... shows off the nice bones of the plane

Very cool! We need video of the maiden. Good luck!

Forge

[Stevephoon]

Notice the plural in the title...

1st Madien--- Not so good. The hatch opened up right at take off.... I had visions of the hatch breaking off and destroying the tail.... So I immediatly powered down and was preparing to glide to the ground. Well... The elevator trim was off... Too much up, I was holding a little down in to keep gliding. But about 2 feet above the ground.... STALL and a 3 point landing... Nose and wheels. Unfortunately, one of the landing gear bent back and punctured the wing even through the top.
I figured out that one of the magnets broke away from the top hatch. I think it actually happened a while ago and I just never noticed.




I have fixed the covering, glued the magnet back in (and covered it with tape so it would not hold as strong) and bent the gear back... So..

Maiden 2: This one went as it should! A couple more clicks of down elevator and a couple of clicks of right aileron and she was flying straight and level! This time the hatch stayed on! I tried a few stalls and flew some circles and she flies nice! After about 5 minutes I brought her down..... A nice soft landing this time! YEA! A quick check with a battery tester and I still had 60% battery. Sounds Good!

Next Flight: A little more aggressive this time motor performance is acceptable, but not great. A little more power is needed... Inverted flight needs some down elevator, so the CG is still a little to far forward. (It was on the spar per the instructions, the safe place to start..) Landing is another non-event. This plane just floats in...

I decide to switch props to a TowerPro 10x5 prop. (Clone of a APC E-Prop) from the GWS 1060 I started with. This means changing spinner so the prop fits on the spinner... Which means the cowl needs to be pushed back. It was just taped on, so I untape it and push it back and push the tape back down. The new prop and spinner are installed. A quick test shows this prop pulls about 275 Watts peak with a fresh battery. A little high, but OK to try. Now it's time for flight 3!

This time I have plenty of power... Yeee Haaa - THEN - SCREECH - The cowl had come loose and is bound up with the spinner and prop.. I cut power and glide down. This time there was a nice soft landing. (Trimmed out now!) The tape did not hold... The cowl is scraped up a little bit but not damaged. Lucky!

Retape the cowl back on with new tape. (With bigger pieces as well) and one last flight. Yeee Haaa again... This time no mishaps! Tried some loops and rolls, inverted is better, but CG can go back even more... Knife edge pulls to the bottom some. And now I can hover at just over 1/2 throttle and go straight up as high as I want at WOT. Perfect!

I just need to repaint parts of the cowl and clean the spinner. I'm planning on screwing the cowl on with small screws now to make sure it stays put!

Happy Camper Steve.

[rreid7]

Congratulations! I'm glad you got the gremlins out before they did any real damage. And now that the "first scratch" is out of the way, no more worries! Have fun, she's a real beauty!

[drummaker]

Originally Posted by Stevephoon

I've now attached the rest of the sheeting and I have given the fuselage a quick rough sanding. It's looking pretty good. It's also really light. I have not weighed it yet but I will when the wing is complete. I also added the two magnets for the battery hatch and built the motor mount. I used thin and thick CA on the mount per the instructions. The mount is supposed to break first when something bad happens. SA does not recommend epoxy for the mount. It's also made out of thinner ply than some of my other similar sized planes. This plane is designed to be very light.

Hopefully tomorrow I can start on the wing!

Steve

This really does look like a really nice model. Do you suppose there is a technical reason for the grain going different directions?

[Stevephoon]

Originally Posted by drummaker

This really does look like a really nice model. Do you suppose there is a technical reason for the grain going different directions?

I am assuming that you are talking about the sheeting on the top of the nose and front of the battery hatch?? In general, it's done for strength and to control warping and/or just keeping things straight... I don't know specifically on this kit, but I would think for strength.

Steve

[Stevephoon]

I touched up the cowl and attached it with screws. I'm ready to fly again when the winds subside. (Hopefully this evening.) The manual does warn of a pitch to the gear while in knife edge and suggests some mixing to eliminate it. I programmed my DX7 with it and I'm itching to fly again!

It's sunny today, so that means more pictures!



Steve