Well, yesterday was really nice flying weather so I didn't get too much done on the TH Edge. I do have the fuse top on now and I put the landing gear into the frame but I didn't secure it yet (I.E. I can still pull it out). I'll need to get another tube of Welders to finish it.



I had to take the wife to the airport yesterday so that cut down on my time out at the field a little bit. I just took the Slick and the TREX 600N. I finally got the CGY750 trimmed out on the 600N and also got really lucky. There are a couple bell cranks that connect the aileron and pitch servos to the swash. A bolt that holds those bell cranks to a shaft was backing out. My heli was quietly but noticeably blade farting while hovering on the 3rd flight so I landed and caught it. After re-securing the bolt, I took it back up, went from hold to rate mode for the aileron and elevator and got it trimmed.

I ended up chasing the needles on the Slick through the day and couldn't find a sweet spot for the midrange. It was bogging in knife edge and high alpha again (but not as bad as before the vent line mod) so I put it back up on the table to check vent line from the diaphragm. I'm thinking that maybe I need to replace the diaphragm and the other stuff in the carb because the vent line seems fine. I will also check the line carefully for any leaks.

A guy from Plainview that works as a mechanic stopped by the field and said that the super unleaded doesn't have any ethanol in it but I'm not sure I buy that. He suggested to try the SEF, which I have thought about doing. There's a gas station in Amarillo that has gas without ethanol in it that I may try.

I may also split the engine cowling while it's off, but I'm not sure I'm going to have time and may wait until later.

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A.K.A. ben_beyer

I've been busy with work unfortunately and traveling a big so I'm quite tired. While I was gone, I ordered some additional Welder's glue and I also ordered some more props. I'm hoping the props sold by Twisted Hobbys are as good as or better than the APC slofly props.
I'm replacing the gaskets in the carb of my DA 60 since I've been running pump gas with ethanol. The motor started bogging again in knife edge so I'm assuming the gaskets aren't as loose and not able to freely move back and forth. I have also ordered an velocity stack for my DA 60 and I got some of the Secraft canopy bolts to go with it.

Made some progress on getting the TH Edge done today. I didn't install an extension on the rudder servo before I installed the top half of the fuse so I made an access door underneath it. I will probably just close this up with blenderm. I also got the rudder glued on, the control guides installed, the tail control horns glued in, and started gluing the pushrods for the tail together. I used the tail pushrods to make sure things mostly lined up for the tail and to minimize any binding.

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A.K.A. ben_beyer

Still trying to recover from my trip so I was a bit tired and I had to return a movie tonight. The closest kiosk wasn't even on so I spent some time running around.

I think I spent as much time chasing small parts as working on the TH Edge tonight lol. But I got the elevator and rudder controls mostly set up. I need to anchor the servos with hot glue before making the final adjustments. Hopefully I can quickly get the ailerons set up tomorrow and set everything with hot glue (the cool temp kind).

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A.K.A. ben_beyer

It's getting there, Ben!

Speaking of hot glue, what kind of gun do you have? I have an ancient one with a hot/cool temp switch, but it's seen better days. I got one of the Surebonder "cordless" ones which is kinda neat, but it is a "one temp" gun and the glue gets so hot it melts dollar tree foam.

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Chris Boultinghouse

It's actually my wife's lol.

I think it's just a cheap 10 watt glue gun from Joanne's.

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A.K.A. ben_beyer

Well, I got some more done last night and it turned into one of those times when you look at something and say "I should be able to knock that out in 5-10 mintues..." and then you finally finish it an hour later.

I began by working on the aileron linkages which seemed pretty easy until I tried putting the brass pins that go through the control horns in. I think I spent most of the time hunting them down after they popped out while trying to install them lol.

After I got everything in and lined up, I used some small clamps to hold the control surfaces in the place and get the pushrods with thin CA to permanently mount them to the control linkages.



Next I moved on to the landing gear. There is a skeg in the back so you don't drag the tail. A little slit was cut with an x-acto and the skeg was glued in with Welders. Next I set the fuse/wing assembly off to the side and went on to the main gear. I placed some masking tape on the areas that I needed to mark and drill. The holes for the axles were pretty easy and the holes for attaching the main gear to the fuse took a little more. I found the center and marked it and then took out my caliper to measure the 1.417". I think my caliper needs a new battery and was acting up. Seeing as the 1.417" seemed like an odd number to me, I did the conversion and it's 36mm so that's what I set the caliper to by hand.

After all the holes were drilled, I hit the backside/underside of the landing gear with some thin CA since it's unfinished on that side.

While assembling the axles, I noticed I wasn't getting enough clearance between the wheel pant brace and the wheel so I used the second nut to add clearance. To retain the axle and wheel pant brace to the landing gear, I just used some 2mm lock nuts. I also misplaced the second screw for holding the landing gear to the fuse and used a slightly smaller but short and stubby #2 x 5/16" wood screw. Lastly I used the hot glue to set the servos in place and glued the wheel pants on the brace with Welders and called it a night close to 10:30.

I'm hoping to finish it up tonight minus setting the control throws. I lack installing the motor and ESC, putting extensions on the rudder and elevator servos, close up the access panels I cut for the rudder and elevator servo, mount the receiver, reinforce the ailerons and elevator with Welders, balance the plane, and set the throws. My goal is to get everything done except the balance and setting the throws. It seems that it is going to be windy all through the weekend so maybe I can run down to where they are building a park area in our subdivision and catch 2 flights in the next few days if the winds calm down in the evening.

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A.K.A. ben_beyer

Pretty cool Ben

Looks like a very nicely designed kit

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Home of Burntwood RC

Yeah, it's pretty nice especially for a foamy.

I really like their control rod set ups. Simple to do and they don't seem to have any real slop in them. My one complaint is that they have you glue the servos in as the last step and you have to cut up braces to get to the servos. It's not that big of a deal and I don't have much in the way of suggesting alternatives at this time.

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A.K.A. ben_beyer

Well, it's finally pretty much done. I had to make a small hole in the foam for the shaft that sticks out on my motor. I used a cheapo Hobby Iron from Harbor Freight. The black on the tip is remnants of Robart Hinges from a gasser I used to have. I wiped it off before I made the hole. After that, I set up the extensions for the rudder and elevator. To pass the elevator and left aileron lead through the fuse, I just cut a slit in the foam and pushed them through. I'm hoping my receiver location is OK and I don't get too much interference from the carbon fiber. The manual stated to put Welders at the tips of the aileron and elevator controls and then put a piece of Blenderm on it to help reinforce it. I'll probably go back and to the inner part of the hinges on the ailerons.

So now I just need to drill out a prop adapter and check the balance of the prop, set the CG, and then adjust the control throws.







After that, I got the Slick back on the bench and started removing the carb thinking I would save some time and hassle. It didn't.

So I put a paper towel over the carb and reed assembly on the bench and put a piece of masking tape on the intake manifold to keep dust out. I will finish removing the engine completely tomorrow and get the velocity stack and new gaskets installed prior to hopefully at least bolting the engine back on. Chock that one up to lessons learned the hard way.

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A.K.A. ben_beyer

Well I found the source of my engine problem. There was a somewhat opaque film on the screen in the carb. I put in new gaskets, diaphragm, and of course a new screen that was included in the kit. Guess this will become a once a year routine but I'm going to look into if adding Seafoam helps.

The biggest problem was getting everything hooked back up. From now on, I'm going to leave the throttle and choke linkages hooked up to the engine and reattach them to bellcrank and servo when I get done. Would've been a LOT easier.

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A.K.A. ben_beyer