Archive for the ‘Elsewhere’ Category

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Overthinking Control Rods

Monday, August 4th, 2008

Control rod is adjustable via the elevon horn.

New Way. Control rod is adjustable via the elevon horn.

What’s the best way to rig a control rod?

Generally, I put a Z-bend in one end and thread the other end through a Du-Bro EZ Connector, which I use to adjust the deflection of the control surface.

Invariably, I put the EZ Connector on the servo arm and attach the Z-bend to the control horn.

Until yesterday, that is.

During combat sessions, we fly the Wild Wings close in. During the tumult of battle, we sometimes lose control of our aircraft.

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Make Your Own Control Horns

Sunday, July 27th, 2008

Tired of spending hard-earned money on fancy control horns that don’t give you the leverage you need?

Dave North came up with the design shown here. (I suspect this a generic design that’s been floating around for awhile, but I’ve only seen it on Dave’s planes.) It’s scissor-cut from 1/64 light plywood, stiffened with a coat of cyanoacrylate glue and epoxied into place.

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I Eat Carbon Rods!

Monday, July 14th, 2008

This little cutter makes quick work of sizing carbon fiber rods.Cutting carbon rods is a pain.

Compression cutters such as side cuts mash the ends of the rods, fanning out the fibers.

I’ve been using a little Dremel-driven abrasive cut-off wheel to do the job, but in the process it spews carbon dust, which is Very Bad For You.

The turtle-faced cutter pictured here nips right through carbon rods up to 1/8 inch in diameter, producing a clean cut with no squished ends. No dust, either, and it doesn’t take much pressure to lop through the carbon.

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A Versatile Cutting Tool

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Razor Tools

When you need to cut deeper than 1 inch, single-edge razors won’t reach. Nor will a typical hobby knife blade.

You need a box cutter, one with a slender snap-off-blade that extends out to about 3 inches.

(A single-edge razor reaches only half an inch. A #11 hobby blade has a 1-inch cutting depth.)

I noticed that Butch, the Boomer guy, regularly uses a slim utility knife, AKA box cutter, for carving jobs.

So when I decided to carve out a battery bay in the nose of a foam Wild Wing, a box cutter was my tool of choice. It’s long enough to slice out the bottom of the pocket, no problem.

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Harold High Up

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Harold’s Aerial Photo

Last weekend, Harold Hasselbach drove to Nevada, seeking wide open spaces where he can fire his cannon.

He ended up in Carson Sink, about 60 miles east of Reno. According to Wikipedia, Carson Sink is a 300 square mile playa in the Lahontan Valley of northwestern Nevada. It’s the central portion of prehistoric Lake Lahontan, which existed in northwestern Nevada at the end of the last ice age, between 20,000 and 9,000 years ago.

As Harold says, “I finally found a place where there are no crowds.”

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