Pem-Tech's Level 2 Build - "Certify With Us" program

Pem Tech said:

...Ladies and Gentlepeoples, I present the upscale HMAS Bonestell!

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You have great sci-fi designs Layne, nice choice for a L2!

AHansom said:

Good luck on motor choices. I also like to play with this site and compare thrust curves side by side.

https://www.rocketreviews.com/compare-cti-j280ss-to-cti-j250sk.html

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Thanks Andy, I wasn't aware of this feature.

dpower said:

You have great sci-fi designs Layne, nice choice for a L2!

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Thanks! I know you are dying for a upscale Bucky.
Maybe soon...

OK, here is a photo of almost all of the components, the LOC av bay, 5.38" tubing, and 78" chute arrived today. After careful consideration and conferring with others the plan has changes a bit since post #1. She now will have a 54mm MM, the AV bay, a MAWD, and a key chain cam. Flight profile as follows, launch on J280SS, deploy 24" droge at apogee, main is popped at 500' and she should land at about 10 mph.

I gotta hand it to you Layne, you certainly do have balls! Four of them is not exactly *normal*, but......

:rofl:

G.D.

P.S. Even if your L2 project isn't ready, you should come up to Red Glare to ridicule my L2 attempt!

[video=youtube_share;gJ3tqIukBKg]https://youtu.be/gJ3tqIukBKg[/video]



Later!

--Coop

Looks great. With all those parts, I can't wait to see it come together.

Nice looking parts! Nice game plan as well..I however would change the main deployment to 700'..But that is just me. .It does take a bit of time for a 78" chute to open properly. You don't want it 'popping' open..If you feel comfortable at 500', then go for it.

gdiscenza said:

I gotta hand it to you Layne, you certainly do have balls! Four of them is not exactly *normal*, but......

:rofl:

G.D.

P.S. Even if your L2 project isn't ready, you should come up to Red Glare to ridicule my L2 attempt!

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Thank you...
Thank you....
We will have followup press conferences to keep all informed on the status of my Ballz.

Coop said:

[video=youtube_share;gJ3tqIukBKg]https://youtu.be/gJ3tqIukBKg[/video]



Later!

--Coop

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:rofl:
Now we have theme song for the launch!!!

cwbullet said:

Looks great. With all those parts, I can't wait to see it come together.

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Thanks! The ceremonial cutting things begins this weekend.

Pantherjon said:

Nice looking parts! Nice game plan as well..I however would change the main deployment to 700'..But that is just me. .It does take a bit of time for a 78" chute to open properly. You don't want it 'popping' open..If you feel comfortable at 500', then go for it.

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This is the kind of advice I am looking for. Having never flown a DD this is all new to me.
When I bagged the chute it looked unbelievably HUGE, so I will take your advice. 700' it is!

5.38 tubing? Did you supersize from the original post?

Nah, the 5.38" tube is for the tail ring, the BT is still 4".

All righty then, the formal cutting and smudging of components has begun.
Skipping over the measuring and cutting of BT's here is the last "Will it all Fit" test. We have a 26" long section of LOC 4" tubing that makes up the aft airframe. In that will have to fit 14" of 54mm MM (with a bit of overhang for the 5.4" ring at the aft), a 71" chute and half an Avbay. Even doubled over the chute seems to slide out pretty easily.


Sure enough it all fits...

Next is the fore airframe...
This one was easy, a 4" PML NC, a 24" droge chute and the other half of the coupler.


And here is the entire airframe dry fitted.


Looks like we are just at 58"

Time for adhesives!!!
Gonna' start with the simplest bit, the 5.4" tail ring and 5.4" to 54mm CR. Here I am squaring it up with my new Easy-Touch hand sander received form my SS. Thanks again SS!


Then the dy fit...



Then a bit of glue...


Press the CR in place and fillet the heck of the entire mess.


Ain't it purdy....

On to the Avbay.
This is my first Avbay and it was indeed a learning experience.



The bulkheads were a bit large and had to be sanded to fit inside the coupler.


Draw a center line on the coupler and a target mark and glue on the coupler ring.


To keep the build simple and traditional I had decided to use wood glue on the entire build. But when I tried to slide the coupler ring into place I realized it was a mistake to use wood glue. Yep, it seized about .25" from the target line. So my avbay coupler is catty-whompus.

:bang:

I am thinking this would be a fun rc glider...

MasonH said:

I am thinking this would be a fun rc glider...

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If one could build it light enough, that would be a blast.

Pem Tech said:

To keep the build simple and traditional I had decided to use wood glue on the entire build. But when I tried to slide the coupler ring into place I realized it was a mistake to use wood glue. Yep, it seized about .25" from the target line. So my avbay coupler is catty-whompus.

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It looks straight... I'd let it go. The switch band being a quarter-inch fore or aft isn't going to make a measurable difference in how she flies. However, I'd recommend using epoxy on the coupler insert, definitely...



Later!

--Coop

After the unfortunate wood glue incident I set on on an expedition to the garage to find the West System epoxy that had been seen earlier this year. After driving off the tribe of pygmies that had taken up residence in the one of MANY large boxes of ballz, we made our way SE towards the the washtub. Before attaining the summit of the washtub we came across epoxy sign. A terribly stained box and foul odor. The epoxy box was extracted and returned to civilization.
And here are the fruits of our labors.



After running a test batch to be sure the components were still viable, I broke out "The Stiffy".

WHile trying to epoxy the stiffy inside the coupler I remembered why I hate epoxy so badly. In just a few moments the stiffy was slathered up, stuffed inside the coupler and all available surface area within the surrounding block was smudged with epoxy.



:bangbang:

Coop said:

It looks straight... I'd let it go. The switch band being a quarter-inch fore or aft isn't going to make a measurable difference in how she flies. However, I'd recommend using epoxy on the coupler insert, definitely...
Later!

--Coop

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Reference the above post...
Thanks Coop....

After quick bath in acetone I moved on to the sled. Here is the sled after being glued to the all thread guide.


On to the fitting of the hardware....
A test assembling of the avbay showed that the all thread wouldn't extend far enough through the bulkhead for the wingnuts to catch.



And let me clear about this....
I like LOC parts and Barry is a great guy, but I called him everything but white and employed while trying to build this thing. I could not make heads or tails of the instructions, and the parts weren't fitting together properly. Ended up having to trim the sled guides by eye to get the entire assembly to go together.

After the cursing came to an end, the avbay sled and hardware were assembled, but with Gorilla Glue and not epoxy. Here is the assembly hug out to cure.

Pem Tech said:

After quick bath in acetone I moved on to the sled.

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Waterless hand cleaner with pumice is the best answer to epoxy on your skin.

-Kevin

troj said:

Waterless hand cleaner with pumice is the best answer to epoxy on your skin.

-Kevin

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But those don't give me that "Special" feeling....
:wink:

Hey, would anyone know why the top of the hardener can is so stained? Looks like iron oxide but looks more like deposition than corrosion.


Here is the hardener:


For comparison here are both the resin and hardener:

Perhaps the epoxy got everywhere because you're using laminating epoxy as an adhesive?

Using the right epoxy for the job is much more pleasant. When working with structural epoxy, I rarely ever need gloves to protect my skin because it's viscous enough to not run, and because I make sure than I use only exactly enough and no more.

Have to say I was struck by the weight of the empty avbay, over 12 ozs!


So, here is the Avbay with its new Blowhole:


Sometime back I had played with installing the MAWD on a basswood sled, but it was put aside. Now to decide on the layout of the avbay in real life.
How about his?


Nah, without a fancy battery holder the idea was to use a zip tie to hold the battery in place, but this arrangement would allow the battery to slide out of the zip tie under acceleration.

So, how about this?


This would hold the battery properly and left plenty of room for the microswitch that was to act as an arming switch.
So let it be written...
So let it be done...

CarVac said:

Perhaps the epoxy got everywhere because you're using laminating epoxy as an adhesive?

Using the right epoxy for the job is much more pleasant. When working with structural epoxy, I rarely ever need gloves to protect my skin because it's viscous enough to not run, and because I make sure than I use only exactly enough and no more.

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What?
I have the wrong kind of epoxy???
&^%$#)(*!!!!
No wonder it is so fluid.
Well, with the money invested, it will have to do.

It would be great if you were glassing everything...

Nah,
It'll work fine. Just use microballons or colloidal silica to thicken it up for fillets. Being more fluid allows it more time to soak into the cardboard. If you think the West is runny, try ProLine. That stuff is almost like water.

Adrian

MasonH said:

It would be great if you were glassing everything...

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Nope nope nope...
No need for glass, and I am a traditionalist.
Cardboard and wood glue for me.

Pem Tech said:

What?
I have the wrong kind of epoxy???
&^%$#)(*!!!!
No wonder it is so fluid.
Well, with the money invested, it will have to do.

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https://giantleaprocketry.com/products/components_composites.aspx

For 25 dollars you can get a pint kit of Aeropoxy Structural Adhesive (ES6209), which is a 1:1 mix, doesn't run much, spreads thin, and soaks into wood and paper with zeal, strengthening the bond. It is not carcinogenic and doesn't smell bad. Since you probably won't do any fiberglass layups, this is really what you want.

If you control how much you use (it doesn't take much at all), a pint will last years. And you'll probably be more inclined to use it than the laminating epoxy you have. If you get used to it, you might just start using it instead of wood glue for anything which doesn't require initial tack.