Phoenix Accipiter Build Thread

[CHELLIE]

the wing on that plane is Narrow, it looks like it will have very very low drag to it, I think its going to be a very fast Plane, take care, Chellie

[Sam_K]

I'm actually excited about my entire-nose-as-the-battery-hatch idea, I have devised a solution for easy bolting on and off and I've already bought some of the hardware I need to do the job.

If I were going to drill from the front then yes I would need to drill through the cowl because the locations where the motor mount bolts need to go will not line up with the shaft hole in the front of the cowl.

Of course another possible future option would be to dispense with the entire original cowl and make a new one out of plastic or fibre glass. There is a guy in our club who has been making his own cowls from both techniques and he already said he'd be happy to help any one else who is interested, so I may look into that in future. Definitely a post-maiden project though.

As for the wing, yes I had already come to the same conclusion that this is going to be one very slippery plane. The wing is both thin and shallow. However my Mini Ultra Stick is hideously overweight (920g, 40% overweight) and fast and I have no problem flying that so I don't think this will present too much of a challenge to my skills.

Oh and, thanks for the compliment

[Sam_K]

I had another good hard stare at the firewall and cowling area tonight, I also removed the glow motor mount while I was at it. I am thinking now that I may still be able to get away with drilling the firewall by using some kind of extension for the drill and reaching through the drive shaft hole in the front. I won't know for sure until the motor arrives though.

Not much I can do now until various parts arrive. I'm hoping the motor and ESC will arrive on Friday.

I ordered some 3" nylon wing bolts for the tail section so I can't do anything there until they arrive either.

[Sam_K]

Here is a list of jobs left to be done in no particular order.

• Bolt on wing mod
• Ensure stab and fin are aligned
• Mount the motor, spinner and prop
• Mount the ESC
• Mount the receiver and servos
• Mount the control horns and install push rods
• Build a battery tray
• Set the CG
• Set control throws
• Test the power system

There's probably more. I'll add them as I think of them.

[CHELLIE]

Have fun with your build Take care, Chellie

[Sam_K]

My motor and ESC arrived yesterday! Hoping to get some more work done tonight.

[Sam_K]

Last night I was buggered after a long day at work and didn't get much done. Tonight was not much better. However I did have a closer look at my new motor, mount and ESC (pic 1) and checked the fit of the motor and mount in the cowling. (pic 2)

The motor mount is too long by about 20mm. In that picture the rear X-mount is lined up with the firewall and you can see that the motor would be half sticking out of the front cowl. Also the design of the mount is such that it cannot be easily shortened. The rods are not hollow all the way through, they are only drilled and threaded at the ends, so if I cut them down to fit then I have to drill new holes in the ends and tap the threads. Not only would I have to buy the thread tap needed but I am not confident I could do the job with an acceptable degree of precision.

So I'm kinda back to square one on the motor mount.

[son of alpea42]

You'll probably have to make a lite ply box the right length. You'll like the Turnigy motor and the Plush 60A ESC though. We've used that power set up wth higher Kv on many planes.

[fbm224]

Hi,

I´ve been looking to your progress, and I believe you could do the same I did with a 50-55B turnigy, using a wood dowel / rod, you cut four pieces of it 2 or 3 mm longer than you need (so you can sand them flat), and then drill a hole in the middle to let a screw through it, and attach it to the firewall with blind nuts. I did use 3/4" diameter rod and a screw about 4mm.

You only use the original "X" next to the motor, and use it to mark the new holes in the firewall. And don't forget to fill the old ones.

Hope this help

[Sam_K]

They are both good ideas, thank you!

I'm leaning towards the ply box idea because I won't have to drill any holes in the firewall too attach it. (do I?) Which neatly circumvents the problem of getting access to the firewall with the drill.

[iFLYrc_Vic]

I have used both methods to mount motors on glow conversion projects. I attached photos of both types. The rods used on the Speedy Bee are plastic tubing from the hardware store normaly used for bathroom plumbing (the pipe that goes from the toilet tank to the shutoff valve).

[Sam_K]

Hi Vic,

Thanks for posting your photos! I appreciate it.

On the Speedy Bee, do the mounting screws go right through those pipes and then through the firewall with nuts on the other side, or are they short screws screwed into the pipe itself with another set of short screws screwing into the pipe from the backside of the firewall? Or, to put it another way, are the plastic pipes just spacers on long motor mount screws or are they actually load bearing? Sorry, I hope my question isn't too confusing.

[iFLYrc_Vic]

Originally Posted by Sam_K

Hi Vic,

Thanks for posting your photos! I appreciate it.

On the Speedy Bee, do the mounting screws go right through those pipes and then through the firewall with nuts on the other side, or are they short screws screwed into the pipe itself with another set of short screws screwing into the pipe from the backside of the firewall? Or, to put it another way, are the plastic pipes just spacers on long motor mount screws or are they actually load bearing? Sorry, I hope my question isn't too confusing.

The pipes are basically spacers. I used a long screw that went through the pipe into a blind nut on the back side of the firewall. Surprisingly there was little or no wobble in the motor (I yanked on it pretty hard).

[vanepico]

I like my one, it glides like hell and it is good to make yourself good at landing! in a dead stick situation it is easy to bring back and it was my first glow plane! didn't go very well with my MDS 38 but was soon sorted with an SC 53

[thesmo]

Do you still have the accipiter?

[Mikejeff]

it is really useful for me, thank you for your effort.

[thesmo]

Originally Posted by Sam_K

Hi Everyone,

After a stupid amount of research and agonising I finally bought a Phoenix Accipiter today. "A what?" I hear you say. There is very little info on this model around on the Internet and it is not in production any more. In fact Phoenix now make a different model called the Accipiter which is a much more modern looking, 90 size, mid-wing, pattern plane. This is not that model.

I've been looking for a new aerobatic model at around the 60" wing span size for a couple of months. When the global financial crisis hit, the Aussie dollar plunged against the US dollar and as a result the prices of models at local hobby shops have shot up by around 40%. Feeling a bit despondent about the sharp rise in prices, I dropped into my LHS today to see if he had anything still sitting on the shelf at the pre-GFC prices.

Right up the back of the store, in the far corner, on the top shelf, almost completely hidden behind other ARF boxes was this old Phoenix Accipiter. The shop owner had to get it down with his ladder just so we could see what it was. It had been sitting up there since he took ownership of the shop 2 years ago and he immediately offered it to me for $180.00 which was $80 less than the price ticket on the box. (To put this in perspective for the US crowd, the Hangar 9 Pulse XT 40 has just gone up to $320 from local suppliers)

To cut a long story short it is now sitting on my dining table. My first impression is that this thing is bloody huge and looks awesome! I love the "scale-ish" details like the panel lines, access hatches and warning messages. I can't help the feeling that this was meant to be. I've looked at so many other planes on the Internet over the last couple of months and several times I thought I had made up my mind, but something always put me off. Now this dark horse rides out of the dusty corner of my LHS on an impulse buy with no research and I am totally smitten.

This Phoenix Accipiter is a low-wing, sport model with the following stats:

• 64" wing-span (160cm)
• 570 sq. in wing area (3680 sq. cm)
• Designed for .40-.50 size 2-stroke power
• 4 standard servos
• Tricycle undercarriage with steerable nose-gear

This will of course be an electric power conversion. I am intending to use a Turnigy power system but have not yet purchased a motor or ESC.

The model is designed for a single, centrally mounted aileron servo with torque rods, a servo each for elevator and rudder and a 4th servo for the nose wheel. I would like to try to convert it to dual aileron servos and have the nose wheel steered by the rudder servo. I have checked and found that there is ample room for two servos to sit side by side in the top of the wing underneath the fuselage.

The nose wheel servo position is right next to the rudder servo so attaching these two functions to one servo will hopefully be easy. In fact I am at a bit of a loss to understand why they would build it to require two separate servos.

There is no recommended flying weight for the model provided in the instructions or on the box. The weight of all of the kit parts except the fuel tank (which I won't be using) is 1.6kg.

For now I will leave you with some pictures of the box contents and a picture of the airframe parts dry fitted together.

Also, here is a link to someone else's completed Accipiter.

Do you still have this model or is it long gone?