Stinger 64

[earthsciteach]

Bonez,
They have a 64 mm combo just for you!
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._750w_4s_.html

[Fishbonez]

Originally Posted by earthsciteach

Bonez,
They have a 64 mm combo just for you!
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._750w_4s_.html

Well allright,
A little more pricey than I thought it would be but this is definitly going on the wish list. Surpisingly my fan has withstood quite a bit. More than my buddies whose fins went kablooy after a very minimal crash of his. I figure I better put this on the wish list because I dont know how much more mine can take
Thanks Teach for the link

[Fishbonez]

Well I may have totalled my Stinger. Lately I had been having trouble hand launching unless I had some wind and to day the wind was blowing at anout 15 mph and I got hard headed and through her into. At first all seemed well when suddenly I either stalled it or it got a cross wind unsure of which. Eitherway she nosed into the ground really hard. Front end is moosh to put it politely not sure if I am going to have remake a new front end or replace the fuse completly. The battery also took some damage and am unsure if she is reusable. The wing cracked but I currently have her glued back up. I fear that the amount of glue it will take to repair her will make her to heavy.

[Fishbonez]

The carnage to the front end and wing is just unrepairable. I am going to try to rebuild a new front end and see what I can do. However I know Hobby-Lobby International is selling spare parts but they do not have any pics and I am unsure if the wing/tail wing sets come with the servos. I know I can save and reuse the ones I have but for the price...I have tried to call them but I get nothing but an answering machine. Has anyone tried a purchase like this before.
Here is the link to the parts I am interested in purchasing if that might help.
Thanks in advance to all of you

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/stinger_6...36470_prd1.htm

and

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/stinger_6...36469_prd1.htm

[Fishbonez]

Ok I think I may have my Stinger back in flyable condition. She looks rough however and the front end has been totally replaced using a Styrofoam cone I found and a craft store. I am just not sure how sturdy Styrofoam is but I put some tape around it in hopes that will sturdy it up. If she does not fly I am caught in a dilemma. Hobby-lobby.com does sell a new wing and tail sets and I did finally get through to speak with them and they do not come with the servos and at that price I could almost purchase a brand new one. So keeping my fingers crossed in hopes it flies. Hope to try it out sometime this coming weekend in hopes the winds and warm weather die down enough.

[solentlife]

Pink or blue closed cell foam from a builders suppliers is good enough and strong. It can be cut, carved, sanded better than standard white packing foam.

My ME109 is totalled as far as fuselage front end is .... so I shall use above to recreate a new front end and scarf joint it on.

To create battery boxes / electronics areas ... build it like a box from pieces to make sides with good glueing areas at corners. You build up the areas as needed. This gives more accurate areas for battery size etc. than hollowing out solid blocks.

Never say die with foam !!

[Fishbonez]

Agreed Never say die!!! Just not in my nature to give up to easily. Finally got to take out the Stinger with her new nose cone/front end and it did fly well. Mildly surprised and had a blast with it again. I really enjoy this plane. However I made a mistake and got disoriented and did not realize I had become inverted in a roll and as all we all know inverted up and down are opposite. Well give ya two guesses as to what happened. DOAH!! The Styrofoam cone, even with tape to hopefully strengthen it, just shredded to pieces. Well the cone came in a 2 pack so as I was drinking a bottle of water and I thought to myself why not put the cone in the bottle heat shrink it and hey new nose. So that is what I have begun to do as we let some glue dry. I plan to cut a smooth piece of foam board to the front portion of the stinger then mounting foam/bottle to the front as my new nose. Will it work? Who knows but worth a try. If this don't work then I shall fabricate a complete front end with fan fold foam.

[Fishbonez]

OK that idea was nothing but a complete disaster so...thankfully I have bought some spare parts time to begin transferring electronics. To a new fuselage. I also purchased the landing gear so we will also install that as well. Hope to have her airborne by this weekend

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by Fishbonez

OK that idea was nothing but a complete disaster so...thankfully I have bought some spare parts time to begin transferring electronics. To a new fuselage. I also purchased the landing gear so we will also install that as well. Hope to have her airborne by this weekend

Keep old fuselage .... get to a builders depot and get hold of pink or blue dense closed-cell foam .... While enjoying the new model ... rebuild the old with this foam ..... the beauty of it is that you can carve it like soft wood ... sand smooth etc.

If you want a stronger construction ... then 1/4 x 1/4 basswood spars set into fuselage leading forward, wet and bend nose ends together ... drill, epoxy cocktail stick through and tape it up to dry. This gives the nose form you want .... now build up with foam blocks to create battery box, rx box etc. etc. Sand to shape and paint.

[Fishbonez]

Sounds like a great idea. Definitly following your advice

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by Fishbonez

Sounds like a great idea. Definitly following your advice

Scroll up to the general flight section and my thread on Rebuilding my Ultimate EP Biplane ..... there you'll see spars + foam building. Quick, strong, gives you all the shapes etc. you could want and above all is lightweight.

Here yer go - save the huinting !!

Broken removed, rails glueing in ..



Blocks cut roughly on bench jigsaw ..



Slotted and Glued in place ...





Rigged showing that lines are still maintained and waiting new motor mount etc.



Total time to do the above ? about 45 mins. Seriously ! Took longer to wait for glue to dry than actual construction.

You can always fill in dips and dents by either sheeting with thin balsa or filling / sanding back powder filler - but NOT Polyester based .... that will eat most foams ... Use wall paste filler ... water based is best. But careful on weight build up. To seal the filler / foam ready for painting ? PVA wood glue .... light skim all over ... or just use heat shring film to finish.

Nigels $5 fix !

[Fishbonez]

Thanks a lot man. That looks like alot of years in experience on that repair.

[solentlife]

I'm one of those who loves finding alternative uses for materials .... just because it says builder, plumber, or whatever on the label - doesn't mean it has no use for us ..... look at the Depron revoltion. A material produced for high grade insulation use.

Not only do I save money, but also end up with a more personal model.

I fill up scrap boxes from parts from old models - even broken parts ...

My quest at present is an alternative source for motor shafts ... I have an EDF motor that doesn't fit the DF unit as shaft is too short ... DF fan uses a 3.17mm threaded centre, not a shaft adaptor on a short motor. Drilling out a fan is a difficult job to keep fan truly balanced and centred, so I want to source a shaft longer and strong enough to do the job. Even RC timer doesn't do a shaft long enough and they have some really good shafts !

With you in USAF - I'm sure you have access to some interesting materials ... I know in air industry - self adhesive tape with alloy finish is amazing.

[Fishbonez]

Originally Posted by solentlife

I'm one of those who loves finding alternative uses for materials .... just because it says builder, plumber, or whatever on the label - doesn't mean it has no use for us ..... look at the Depron revoltion. A material produced for high grade insulation use.

I could not agree more.

Originally Posted by solentlife

With you in USAF - I'm sure you have access to some interesting materials ... I know in air industry - self adhesive tape with alloy finish is amazing.

I do but I must make sure the tax ayer get his moneys worth and then sum first I am not on the flying side of the house however I am a Vehicle Mechanic and I am oftem saying "Hey dont throw that out I can use that" LOL

[Fishbonez]

Well she took one to many nose dives this week and just became glue heavy. (is their such a term) I was able to balance but I could tell that it was just going to overall be to heavy so...I had just ordered some spare parts for her because I intended to use the wing and fuse to experiment with an afterburner type lights in the rear but who knowes I can still make it work. I am going to keep the old fuse and wing to experiment with or try to rebuild a complet new one. Never know.

Here is a pic of the new "reimstall Singer"

[solentlife]

Glue heavy is a common problem especially if you use epoxy or hot-glue.

There are other alternatives on the DIY shelf .... PVA normally used for wood - this evaporates of water content and is a light strong but slow joint. Solventless contact glue - again an evaporating glue ....

Personally I only use CA for quick fixes and wood joints. And I never use Kicker ... because in my book - if a joint doesn't set-up in secs with basic CA - then the joint is not correct. CA relies on joint having no air space and moisture. An uneven or poor joint - the CA will not set ... How many times have you had a CA joint that you've had to keep adding CA to. That is a poor joint.

[Fishbonez]

Well as you may or may not know I added landing gear to the Stinger. It works pretty well with gear but requireas A LOT OF RUNWAY. Today I went to take off and after giving it full throttle and about 3/4 of the way down the parking lot gave it full up elevator. She cruised on up. The only problem there is a small fence at the end of the parking lot. Well...DOINK clipped the bottom of the landing gear ripping it out of the servo. So now we wait for a new gear mount. Argh just one more foot and we would of cleared it. Thw plane survived so next weekend will go for it again

[solentlife]

As understand it - you've ripped the bottom out of the servo box ? that holds the short leg ...

To others - the Stinger nose wheel setup is a box with 9gr servo in ... the arm engages a rod over top in form of an L. This rod then drops down front of servo in a slot in the box to be a short spigot out bottom of model. A grubscrew long collet then connects the nose leg / wheel to it.



Here is the nose wheel assembly on scales ...

Total U/C for those interested ...



Mounting of system :











Here final installation ... showing that mine works fine in designed config and no need to turn mains other way ...



Video of in use ... please go to Youtube : solentlifeuk - I'm uploading the video now of the T45 on stock power with Stinger wheels etc.
The take-off run you see in the video was longer than necessary as I love to do as near a proper run as possible. She would have lifted of about 70% of that run..... about a normal 2 lane narrow roads width.

On my channel - you will also find videos of 'driving' the T45 around the runway. The drag of water or similar is considerable and can make or break a take-off with edf's. I only needed a couple of KPH more and she would have lifted ... but the water held her back.

[Fishbonez]

Well today my Stinger pooped out before even got off the ground. I think the ESC is fried. Not sure but the motor sounds gritty and after I also smelled some burnt electronic smell. I hope the motor is not fried as well. No real reason for it that I can see except for maybe just plain cheap ESC and motors. Good news is now I don't have any reason to nor go ahead with the flitetest afterburner mod. I had been holding off on doing it because I just hate soldering but now why not get her done. Well for now time to order a new ESC and possibly motor.

[solentlife]

Sorry to hear about ESC ... I know the feeling ... just before leaving for assignment - I went for a flight with the T45, had similar .. motor not running right ... turned out to be ESC fault.

As to ESC's - I've had really good results with the Red Brick ESC's on Hobby King ... simple but work. My 35A Red Brick has survived over 50A through it !! OK only on a short burst ... but it still works ok.
The 30A has flown my Parkjet at well over 35A ...

Yes I know - silly me !!

I've now ordered 50A Red Brick ESC's for my Parkjet and Ultimate Biplane .. they also have a good 3A BEC in which covers 3 - 4 servos well enough.

[Fishbonez]

Ok so last night I began doing the after burner modification to my Stinger. Since the ESC burned up and I dont quite know why. I am going with a Castle Thunderbird 54 amp ESC. For 2 reasons, frst since the 40 amp ESC fried for reasons I have no clue of and I am defintly not an electronics person by nature I figured it would not hurt to go up in amperage rather than risk burning up another 40 amper. 2nd it was cheaper by 10 dollars than a 40 amp ESC, go figure but best to save a buck. So anyway I also bought a turnigy 30 amp ESC as well as per the wrirng diagram, http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=6468
and of course some lights, I went with yellow instead of red because the many times while deployed to the desert I saw afterburners taking off they seemed more yellow than red
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=8943
and also bought some fiber glass cloth to give the appearence of the burst of flames coming from the rear. I hope it does not cause too much drag.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=10905

Here is the wire diagram I am currently using

For anyone intersted here is where I got the idea for this modification and thanks to Josh Scott and Josh Bixler and Dave for the inspiration for this mod
http://flitetest.com/forum/showthrea...D-Afterburners

[dahawk]

Fish,

Great post. I was thinking about doing this when the Red Arrows T-45 arrives from Banana, yes, Banana Hobby. They sent me an email saying it shipped. Keeping fingers crossed. I have a turnigy 20 amp esc left over from the HZ SC/LP. Probably only need like 2 amps for the lights app. Cheap is good. Will probably just go get a few strips from my LHS. Too small of an order for HK. Let us know how it looks with the yellow. I think that woud be a nice contrast on the Red Arrows.

-Hawk

[Fishbonez]

Originally Posted by dahawk

Fish,

Great post. I was thinking about doing this when the Red Arrows T-45 arrives from Banana, yes, Banana Hobby. They sent me an email saying it shipped. Keeping fingers crossed.

GULP you are a daring and risky guy fingers are crossed for ya

Originally Posted by dahawk

I have a turnigy 20 amp esc left over from the HZ SC/LP. Probably only need like 2 amps for the lights app. Cheap is good. Will probably just go get a few strips from my LHS. Too small of an order for HK. Let us know how it looks with the yellow. I think that woud be a nice contrast on the Red Arrows.

-Hawk

Go for it I would love to see what it looks like on a T-45

[Fishbonez]

Ok I got her all wired up and bench tested the lights and they work well. The more throttle you give the brighter they become. Pretty cool. However went to bench test the motor and something is still wrong. Something in the motor is causing it to chuckle if you will. I guess I need a motor as well as the ESC. Kinda thought I did but was hping it was just the ESC. So I placed an order with Hobby-Lobby for a replacement motor should take a couple of days. In the mean time I will take the old motor apart to learn the end and out and see if I can figure out what caused it to burn up the ESC or did the ESc burn up a motor

[dahawk]

Fish,

Can you take a pic of the wiring set-up? In looking a the eflite test diagram, it appears they use a Y connector to run the brushless and the brushed to the rx throttle channel. Looks like the brushed esc taps into the battery upstream of the brushless esc. RAF T-45 should arrive anyday, except, I'll be travelling till next Weds night. " Honey? Did a package arrive for me?" "Oh, Just put in my office"

Sorry to hear that you may have over juiced your esc and motor. Heck, when I coached girls basketball years back, I would get mad at them when there were no fouls. So, it's good you've pushed it. Well, you fouled out this time but next time you'll be able to get to 4 fouls and stay in the game !

Good experience with Hobby-Lobby?

Cheers,

Hawk