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Scale Wendell Hostetler 30% Piper Cherokee Glass Fuselage Build.

TonyHallo

TonyHallo

640cc Uber Pimp
Put five flights on the plane today, in total I have about 10 flights on it. It flies fast and lands faster than my liking. It's getting a little better and working out a few bugs. The engine performs flawless, the starter is wonderful, the spark plug sensors are getting hit with EMF or RF and causing constant alarms but I have enough time to know the engine is not overheating.
Have a three day Warbirds and Classics event starting tomorrow at the BAMS field, the CD is a great guy! I have at least six flights on it so good to go for the event if I have any time to fly.
This past Sunday flew the plane at the Indiana field, the approaches are not as good as the BAMS field, ran long into the weeds and dinked up the left wing, it's repaired and primed but not painted, going to leave it that way until things are worked out.
Thinking how to loose weight on the next one.
Oh, the Kevlar wheel pants are great, had to pull it out of weeds and the pants remained intact.
 
TonyHallo

TonyHallo

640cc Uber Pimp
The spark plug temperature sensors spike up to 482F and it is very annoying since I have the alarm set at 330F. Added .1uf caps across the sensor wires and this didn't help at all. Removed the sensors and twisted the wires and added braided copper shielding. The wires are rerouted away from the spark plug wires and we shall see what happens. The shields are grounded on the sensor side. Broke the prop and waiting for replacement, 22x 10 seems to be the right size so I bought two this time. $90 landing fee!
I would image I have about 1/2 gallon through the engine now which doesn't sound like much but you are burning 3-4 ounces per flight it takes some time, the plugs look great at this point.
Next time out I plan to see how slow it will fly, I'm pretty sure I can slow it down a bunch and help on the landings. Rookie mistake, should have done this a long time ago! The weight is playing tricks in my head. I know I'm landing fast, occasionally during the roll out the plane will become airborne if I hit a roll in the field. and the roll outs are long.

IMG_4806.jpeg
 
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TonyHallo

TonyHallo

640cc Uber Pimp
Quick update, twisting and adding shields to the plug sensors eliminated the spiking problem. Flew 4 flights yesterday with numerous take offs and landing, add a up trim and slowed the plane down quite a bit, landings are improving. Winds were 10-15 MPH. Feeling better.
The braid I used above was 1/4" id from McMaster Carr, I have since ordered 1/8" that will clean the install up a bit, plan to change next time the cowl is removed.
It's amazing what 15 degree cooler temps do the plug temps, was running 300+ at 85F, now 220 f at 70F.
 
AKNick

AKNick

640cc Uber Pimp
Nice with making your own twisted shielded pair! Weird you were getting enough EMI to effect the readings. My spark plug thermocouple leads I made had about a 50% failure rate and would spike the reading to some LAVA temperature... guessing due to vibrations wearing into the lead and shorting it out a bit. I was looking at the FrSky PT100 sensor that appears to be bolted onto a cylinder fin for $8.... and just to think the on your using is $4 and Futaba version is $78... 😵‍💫. I'm getting more excited to make a jump to FrSky
 
TonyHallo

TonyHallo

640cc Uber Pimp
The thermistor resistance at 300F is about 1800 ohms, at 482F the max of the sensor hub the resistance about 240 ohms. I would image a very small inducted voltage could effect the readings. AI recommended using Felpro C5A anti seize compound for coupling due to temps over 300F. When I stated my career we used C5A for every bolt in the power plant, had a can on the shelf that's almost 50 years old!
Bought 10 PT100 sensors on Amazon for couple bucks, I would need an amplifier to use them with the XIAO boards, the sensors are rather large compared to the thermistors.

IMG_4822.jpeg
 
TonyHallo

TonyHallo

640cc Uber Pimp
Winds were light and variable yesterday, four flights yesterday, one lasted 23 minutes with takeoff and landings. I'm guessing over 30 take offs and landings during the day. Just about the time I think I have it figured out I bounce a landing. When I do bounce I just fly right out. Changing the elevator linkage today, making the control horn longer to increase servo resolution. Only flying on low rates (50%) with 30% expo. The stabilator with the functioning anti servo tab is very effective, I think most of my problems here are rookie mistakes, Oh how I hate to admit it!!!!
 
AKNick

AKNick

640cc Uber Pimp
TonyHallo said:
Winds were light and variable yesterday, four flights yesterday, one lasted 23 minutes with takeoff and landings. I'm guessing over 30 take offs and landings during the day. Just about the time I think I have it figured out I bounce a landing. When I do bounce I just fly right out. Changing the elevator linkage today, making the control horn longer to increase servo resolution. Only flying on low rates (50%) with 30% expo. The stabilator with the functioning anti servo tab is very effective, I think most of my problems here are rookie mistakes, Oh how I hate to admit it!!!!
Click to expand...
Stabilators are crazy effective no doubt. Once you fine tune it, I'm sure its going to be great. Kinda reminds me of Burt Rutan talking about his canards lol
 
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