Two Oceans PSS 2013

So far, Rudi and Dave are in to attend this excellent event flown off Chapman's Peak, to date. Full info at this link below:

Two Oceans Slope Soarers

Full trailing edge mix with the DX7

According to this excellent UK forum post, just by picking the correct two of the six free mixers, one is able to program to Spektrum Dx7 for crow (butterfly), full trailing edge aileron and full trailing edge camber for a four servo wing utilizing a 6 channel receiver:

Four servo wing full trailing edge mix for Dx7 
Detail re use of P Mix 5 and 6 for Dx7 trailing edge mix

Just in case the forum link should die at some stage, some extracts of this useful chat are pasted below, with appreciation to the modelflying UK forum:

Spektrum DX7 Program For Four Servo Wing

Gives flaps linked to ailerons for increased roll rate, ailerons linked to flaps for full wing camber, and crow braking (using the throttle stick) with elevator compensation.

This program is based upon setting the ailerons as flaperons

The instructions are for a 6 channel receiver.

If using a 7 channel receiver you can substitute Aux2 for GEAR which then leaves the GEAR channel free.

Please note that the programmable mix numbers used MUST be exactly as stated, as 5 and 6 give a different effect to 1,2,3, and 4

Ailerons

Enable flaperon mixing

Right aileron to AIL channel

Left aileron to AUX1 channel

Flaps

Disable gear switch by setting gear servo travel to 0%,0%

Right flap to GEAR channel

Left flap to THROTTLE channel

Set up PMIX5 as THROTTLE master to GEAR slave with setting of 100%,100%

This links both flaps together.

Crow braking

PMIX1 throttle master to elevator slave for crow braking elevator down compensation.

Rates are top 0%, bottom – whatever you need for your required down elevator compensation.

Offset value +100%. This sets the “mid point” of the throttle to stick full up and crow is activated by pulling the throttle stick down.

PMIX2 throttle master to flap slave. As the ailerons are set up as flaperons, the flap channel controls the ailerons as flaps. This gives both ailerons up movement for crow braking.

The throttle stick drives the left flap directly and as the flaps are linked by PMIX5, both flaps will move when the throttle stick is moved.

Full wing camber

The ailerons are set up as flapperons – use the flap system setting for the correct amount of camber and reflex, operated by the 3 postion flap switch.

Set the aileron travel first.

PMIX3 flap master to throttle slave this is the flap movement for camber and reflex.

As the flaps are linked by PMIX5, both of them will move.

Flaps moving with ailerons

PMIX4 aileron master to gear slave – moves right flap with ailerons.

PMIX6 aileron master to throttle slave – moves left flap with ailerons.

Had a bit of luck - well a lot of luck really- in setting up my Typhoon slope soarer in that I managed to achieve crow breaking, ailerons moving with flaps for full wing camber, and flaps moving with ailerons for increased roll rate.

There was one  puzzling thing which worked very much to my advantage so today I "borrowed" the receiver and battery from my Fusion and investigated.

Programmable mixes 5 and 6 are different to 1, 2, 3 & 4 in that the trim levers will adjust both the master and slave servos. 

There is another benefit of this feature.

With a mix set up on either 5 or 6, and a further mix on 1, 2 , 3 or 4 set up with the master of the first mix as slave, then both master and slave of the first mix are activated by the second mix. 

As an example, the flaps of my slope soarer are set up on the throttle and gear channels with p-mix 5 linking them together (throttle master and gear slave)  so that both flaps move from the throttle stick.

The ailerons are set up as flaperons so that they work off the three position flap switch to alter wing camber.

I have p-mix 2 with flap master to  throttle slave which links the ailerons (working as flaperons on flap channel) to flaps (on throttle and gear channels) to give full wing camber.

 Because the throttle and gear are linked on p-mix 5, and p-mix 2 has the throttle (p-mix 5 master) as slave, both flaps move together.

I originally discovered this by pure accident and it saved me a very valuable p-mix.

It only works if the first p-mix is on 5 or 6 and the second p-mix is on 1, 2, 3 or 4.

It is fate, September Fate

This just had to prompt a these days rare blog post for me. Some may recall the post below and Vic Schroeder kindly following up the the much needed information regarding "Lowrider", including a copy magazine lead, which culminated in me sourcing the magazine and plan for a one day scale to RC project...... To me this is the ultimate beauty in aircraft, no matter if originally penned as a free flight model.

Help!

Now, consider that this was penned in 1987 by the designer as a free flight cartoon scale version of the Loving WR1 racer, below, heavily influenced by the Peter Fonda movie "lowrider". The magazine plan article is a joy to read never mind anything else.....

The Loving has indeed been scaled to RC flight but it is Lowrider I one day wanted to catch the essence of, so you can imagine my gob is well and truly smacked to find out full size beat me to it, two and a half decades later!

 This aerie, September Fate, is just crying out for someone to model it!

Couple of update links for the RC model version:

IC RC pylon:
scroll down basinrace blog for IC RC pylon September Fate

EF1 RC Pylon:
Design and build of EF1 RC pylon September-Fate

Interesting RC plan find of similar looks:

Mike Gundry 1963 - 2012

The priest did quite a superb job of weaving his sermon in to the wonders of thermal soaring at the Kzn commemorative service, yesterday. The biggest impact for me was just how incredibly brave Mike had been during his decade long battle with cancer, even undertaking marriage to Ruth recently.

The Cape link is worth a mention for the present NvS slope combatants. Mike scooped the South African F3B thermal soaring title down in Cape Town in 1981, as a teenager, nogal. Mike also went to the F3B thermal soaring world championship and it is commendable that he did both with his OWN designs and OWN builds, the Witblitz glider going on to be a local Kzn legend. Probably a gross generalisation from my side but it was pretty close to three decades before Kzn folk Messrs Russ Conradt and Michel Leusch got to scoop some silverware off the Cape Peninsula, again! 

On a lighter note, it was not a small shock to see "young" Ron Uken reading one of Mike's eulogies from Mike's sister, having last have seen Ron with a shock of blonde hair - he now having joined the ranks of us grey haired ole geezers (sorry Ron ;-)