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After burning the late night oil the TechPod is completed & (I hope) ready for a test flight tomorrow .
It’s carrying twin 3S 2200mAh LiPo batteries for correct CoG (even with the GoPro 9 in the nose) but I haven’t made up a parallel connector yet so only one will be connected tomorrow.
It is likely that one only will still give around 30 minute flight time so all should be OK.
I was hoping for a TechPod maiden tomorrow (Tuesday 10-05-2022) but it looks like I’m going to run out of time to complete the GoPro camera & battery installation.
Ailerons & Flaps are now connected to their servos & all tested and functioning correctly.
The other side of the Pod is now in place as are the hatches etc. The damn thing seems to grow bigger every time I work on it !!
With the GoPro 9 and 3s 2200mAh battery installed forward in the nose pod the CoG seems about right.
Just making a temporary ply mount for the camera and battery as the camera needs to be slid back to switch it on and off so I’ll mount the flight battery on the same tray (at least for the first test flight or two).
I also checked that the plane (all 2.6metres of it) will fit in the Outback without removing the wings, because of the short tail boom it fits easily with plenty of room for other models.
Today I also added a bit of colour to the lower wing area to hopefully make it more visible against the clouds
I’ve covered the downward facing camera window with reinforcing tape as it currently not in use and I need to see how the plane lands. I suspect a couple of skids may need to be fitted as there appears to be nothing in the design to protect the lower window when belly landing.
Now to finish the forward facing GoPro 9 camera/battery tray and somehow make it secure in the pod.
One final update, I’ve flown two flying days (and several flights each day) since adding the tab (above post).
The little mod to the canopy worked a treat, no more problems with the prop getting stuck now.
Another quality production Mr Kermit.
I think you should be in line for the Peoples Choice award this week for that mammoth effort.
It’s been a while since any work was done on the TechPod so today it was time to progress a little more towards completion.
The Motor, ESC, iNav system & Rx have now all been fitted & wired up.
It all tested ok so just need to tidy up the wiring and make a few minor changes to the iNav programming and then assembly can be completed & she is ready to test fly.
The RHS of the main pod has been glued to the form-work for rigidity however the LHS will only be attached with reinforcing tape (as suggested by several TechPod owners online) as this makes working on the internals much easier.
Just a quick update on the Excalibur V2 Hotliner.
The V2 flies beautifully (both fast & slow), glides well & thermals when the conditions are right.
I normally fly with a 4S 2200mAh 40C LiPo battery but have also flown multiple times with a 3S 2200mAh 30C LiPo and the only real difference is the speed and perhaps just slightly better thermalling.
I was disappointed that the original ESC played up on only the second flight but this was quickly replaced by HK under warranty.
Still had some motor “stutter” issues with the replacement ESC but setting the timing to High rather than Auto seemed to fix that.
There were occasions, usually after a High Speed dive with no power, that the motor failed to start & I wasn’t sure why. Noted on line that there were a couple of reports of the prop catching on the canopy so on last Sunday when the motor again failed to start I made some low level passes over the field & checked the prop position.
Turns out that the prop was indeed catching on the left side of the canopy on occasions after a dive. I suspect that during a high speed power off manoeuvre the cooling air flowing through the numerous vents in the V2 creates enough pressure in the cockpit to push the canopy out ever so slightly and allow the prop to get caught and the motor fail to start. This is probably what caused the failure of the original ESC from applying full power whilst the motor was jammed.
After the problem was identified on Sunday I flew the remainder of the flights with a velcro strap around the canopy which fixed the problem (although not looking that neat).
Today I have added a small plastic tab (taped onto the fuselage only) that covers the canopy join on the LHS and prevents the prop getting caught (hopefully).
No doubt next fly day will be the test.
Another option is to tape the side of the canopy but that sort of defeats the purpose of having a clip on canopy for easy removal.
Thanks for the comments Tug, always appreciated. Been a little while since we heard from WA. How is it all going over your neck of the woods?
Its always a challenge to come up with something different when videoing from onboard planes but near on impossible to video from the ground when you are flying, We’ve tried lots of options but a decent zoom camera is the only thing that really cuts the mustard. Hat Cams, TX Cams, fixed cams etc just can’t get close enough to the action.
Still waiting for Kermit’s contribution from Sunday. He spent more time on his camera than he did flying so it should be a beauty (and probably length wise a match for “War & Peace”)
Certainly beautiful clear water you are diving in, thanks for the video & looking forward to the drone footage.
Yes Sunday was another great flying day, of course we missed our old mate Mr Moose (still in ICU) but everyone had some fun none the less.
Just waiting for Kermit’s video contribution but he did say it would be a day or two late as he went to his shack at Dunalley as soon as we finished flying.
Thanks for the update Kermit, here’s hoping he keeps on improving and is back enjoying his flying soon.
