KITS - Suggested Improvements PEL-AERO KITS (PETER LLOYD AUSTRALIA)
PERFORMANCE MODELS WITH THE WINNING EDGE
Nothing stays still if one wants to stay in the race. There are also more ways than one to do a job. Peter Lloyd is open minded and has been looking at suggestions as to how his line of kits could be improved. The date below has been extracted from Peter's "Backroom"
To quote Peter:-
The "Backroom" takes its inspiration from the famous Skunk Works of Lockheed Aircraft and while I'm no Kelly Johnson (the chief designer) I do look for new ideas that are worth incorporating into the Pel-Aero¨ range of kits as a result of testing, customer input or technological advances pioneered by others in the same or allied fields.
POTSHOT A recent tendency displayed by this model was the lack of responsiveness in turbulence and while no one has commented on this, when compared to prototypes built in South Australia, it tended to mush and drop, a case of too long a moment arm i.e. distance between wing and tail. Lee Hines (California) came to the same conclusion and after a comparison with his and other designs supported the reduction of the moment arm to 8.0" (203 mm) For details see: Image. Image.
Modification to the kit is simple, just measure back from the wing trailing edge on the plan to establish the new tail position and allow an additional 15 mm behind the tailplane trailing edge for the fin and sub fin. The kit plan is being redrawn to include this change.
WAMIRA Although it is an acceptable kit for the beginner to expand their skill base before tackling other designs, the one problem not addressed is a reliable D/T system and two versions are presented here.
The image shows the tip up tail version used up until recently (and detailed in the Epsilon kit); it is simple, effective and the kit can be modified to incorporated the feature (the carbon reinforced fuselage is recommended due to the vagaries of the balsa supplied and the need to reduce the amount of weight required to balance the model) For details see: Image.
The following images represent a major departure from the kit but can be incorporated during construction and introduces the "Broken Back" D/T system in conjunction with a hand tapered carbon tube fuselage made from 4 mm diameter pultruded tube. For details see: Image. Image.
The wing, tail and fin are standard kit items and you will need 0.8mm ply for the side cheeks, a 10 BA (1.5mm dia) bolt and a length of 4 mm carbon pultruded tube or one of the new untapered 4 mm dia AVIA Sport superlite carbon tube available from kite shops. There is a second method shown below that can be used to achieve the "Broken Back D/T"
KATAMAX Lee Hines described the process for making a 1 piece carbon reinforced fuselage to me at Narrandera and I have taken the process one step further to produce a 2 piece fuselage that duplicates the tapered tube system but falls within the skill range of the average modeller and has applications in other areas . By changing some of the fuselage timber sizes and purchasing some 0.004 thick carbon sheet, 30 second cyano glue, 0.8mm thick ply and a 10 BA bolt (or metric equivalent), a new light (3.4grams) and very stiff fuselage boom can be made. The images show briefly, the steps taken however a detailed "how to sheet" will be available shortly. Stay tuned! For details see: Image. Image. Image. Image. Image.
KATMAX CLG version We have now completed a "pop-up" wing model with a carbon/balsa/carbon sandwich fuselage (bonded together with epoxy instead of 30 sec cyano) and integrated a "Pectoral fin, finger grip" as seen in the image rather than a plywood "after thought" down near the tail like other designs. The second image shows the general layout that will form the basis of the 2005 kit.
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