My N-1R build log

1975 control line guy wrote:Rodddie,

The lead outs on the COX plastic bird go through the inboard pod.  You have the 2 blocks of solid wood in your nacel/pod that could be drilled through and install brass eyelets; if you think there is enough rigidity built into it.

Yes.. there's a few options for going through the nacelle-tube with guides.. I just need to settle on one.

rdw777 wrote:Nacelles look great Roddie…. Maybe some plastic tubing thru the nacelle for lead out guide’s?

Thanks Robert, Tubes would work well for the solid-wire lead-outs. I may switch to stranded-cable though. I'm "all over the road" with this one... but what else is new.

so..... I spent some (considerate..) time.. trying to engineer a tail-gear. This model was conceived to utilize a tail-dragger gear of some sort.. whether it be grounded by a wheel or a skid. This gear must support (in suspension) the "rear-moment" of the craft.. as well as providing a pin-stooge link for unassisted launches.

I'm leaning toward a single-strut of .062" music-wire, mounted rigidly on the underside of the center-section.. and extending rearward, so as to raise the tail.. for shock-absorbing ground-handling.

The below photos are of a failed attempt..















That's the floating-caster arrangement that I wanted to try.. but I don't like it.

I think that it would be better to design/apply a rigid tail-gear mount, that raises the model's tail.. but also has the damping effect that I'm looking for. The .062" wire is bent to form an arc, to provide shock-damping.. with an "eye" bent at its' termination for a pin-stooge link. If excessively nose-heavy; I could add a tail-wheel.. which is functional added weight.

I'm trying to build options into this design.

I found a little piece of Oak that I cut into a tail-gear mount.. and it looks like it's going to work well enough to end-up on the drawing.. when I get around to doing some drawing..

Looks good Roddie…. I like the bolt on design…. Gives you options if you wanted to do something different or add a loop for remote release….

Do use a vice to bend your landing gear ?

akjgardner wrote:Do use a vice to bend your landing gear ?

I mostly use a "Harry's Z-bender" (by Harry Higley) which is held in my bench-vise. I made a fixture to wind the coils into the main struts.

Looking awesome Roddie….  Very robotic looking….. R2-D2 would be proud

rsv1cox wrote:Your "tail" wheel approach is probably the best to address a difficult problem as something on the end of your flex tail would never work.  

Are you going to strengthen the flex tail?  Lengthwise 1/16" square balsa spars top and bottom might work.  Provide strength and flexibility.  roddie, if you ever get this thing to fly you should receive a CEF's award for courage and innovation.......

I'm going to leave the tail as it is for the most part. I may run strips of "filament-tape" along the edges of it. Being tapered; I'm hoping will lessen the tendency for it to flap violently in the wind.

The plan for today is to get the lead-outs done.. then I can wrap the nacelle-tubes with that chrome-vinyl that I sourced.

rdw777 wrote:Looking awesome Roddie….  Very robotic looking….. R2-D2 would be proud

Thanks Robert! My wife Lynne wants to paint the R2 unit. I need to glue his head onto the pill-bottle's screw-on cap..





I don't know what type of glue would secure the ping-pong ball to the cap.. I may put a screw through the top.

That’s wonderful Roddie that your wife wants to help!!…. By all means encourage that and let her have some ownership in it…. I’m fortunate my wife likes to see what’s going on in the shop…. I tell her it’s the same skill set that keeps the house fixed and in order…  

I made lead-out guides from aluminum tube and epoxied them into the inboard nacelle.

They're raked-back quite a bit.. but I wanted to play it safe.



Then I used an awl to pierce/mark the nacelle tube for the guides' entry/exit points. Three of the four holes could be accessed with a paper-punch. The fourth hole had to be drilled.  

The tubes had to be filed at an angle, to fit inside the tube-radius.  













I might try the chrome-wrap tomorrow.

This photo clearly shows the amount of "rake" when hanging by the lead-outs, in front of the plumb block-chimney.

Now that the lead-outs and their guides have been installed; the next order of business was to make screw-mounts (X2 per side..) for the nacelle-tubes.

I pierced one hole at a time using my "small awl".. drilled a .062" hole and started a #2 wood screw until all four points were established.

This inboard/port-side tube has the four lead-out holes in addition to the two tube-mount holes. The vinyl wrap will need those 6 holes opened-up.  



Below photo is of the outboard/starboard-side nacelle-tube.



The nacelle-tube circumference was measured by using a strip of masking-tape wrapped-around it.. and then the tape's length measured..





The "chrome" vinyl that I sourced is supplied on a roll; 6 inches wide X 60 inches long.. which is ideal... because the nacelle-tubes are under 5" long. There will be enough vinyl to correct "screw-ups" which will no doubt happen when trying to apply it for the first time.

I prepped the 1st (outboard) nacelle-tube by wiping it down with 91% isopropyl alcohol. Then I marked and cut a piece of vinyl.



The 6 inch (vinyl roll-width) is a little longer than it needs to be.. but the excess is wrapped-around to the inside of the tube. The vinyl was very easy to work with.. and sticks quite well to the tube material that I'm using.

rsv1cox wrote:Is this "sticky backed" vinyl like the roll that Robert showed?  If not what adhesive did you use?

It's "sticky-backed" Robert. IDK what material rdwRobert showed.. but this material was sourced by me through Amazon. It has a heavyweight paper-backer that's easy to peel/separate. The small (5" X 6") piece that I cut from the roll was easy to handle.. and was laid-out without curling-up.

I really like this vinyl material..  It's very easy to work with.