Tyco/KPOO Designs

[briant]

I've purchased the Tyco "Canned Heat" system as described in the Sep. and Oct. issues of Microflight. I also bought one of the "E-Charger" planes described in the June issue for the motor(comparable to the KP00). Now I just need an airplane to hang it all on! I'd like to use one CR2 battery for power. I like the Sperry Jenny and the Kerswap planes, but I'd rather make something along the lines of a stick type construction. I really like the Micro Flyer Pusher shown in the Sep. 2000 issue. Does anyone know if there are plans for this plane available on the web? If not, could I possible adapt the Scientific Olympiad plan for this gear? What about using the wings made for the Plinker? Does anyone have any plans or ideas of what might work with this gear? I need sub 2oz. wing loading! Thanks,Brian.

[briant]

Well, here I am conducting my own forum... I ended up building the "Cloud9." I found a tiny graphic of the plan in the April issue. I built the wing to 30 inches for added "float" affect. I covered the wing/tail with Reynolds. The model is 1.5 oz. and has 165 sq. inches of wing area. That little echarger motor is a rocket! The gearing is 2/1 and it hefts the plane with ease! The airplane flies very slow and is quite docile. Flights last over an hour on the CR2. I used the wire from the armature of the stearing actuator in the Tyco car. I neod. magnet from Radio shack did the trick. I can't believe no one is interested in this! We are talking about a $40 SUB-2OZ. MICRO RADIO CONTROL AIRPLANE! Great stuff for Xmas presents! -Brian

Originally posted by briant:

I've purchased the Tyco "Canned Heat" system as described in the Sep. and Oct. issues of Microflight. I also bought one of the "E-Charger" planes described in the June issue for the motor(comparable to the KP00). Now I just need an airplane to hang it all on! I'd like to use one CR2 battery for power. I like the Sperry Jenny and the Kerswap planes, but I'd rather make something along the lines of a stick type construction. I really like the Micro Flyer Pusher shown in the Sep. 2000 issue. Does anyone know if there are plans for this plane available on the web? If not, could I possible adapt the Scientific Olympiad plan for this gear? What about using the wings made for the Plinker? Does anyone have any plans or ideas of what might work with this gear? I need sub 2oz. wing loading! Thanks,Brian.

[Jason Nowell]

Briant:

Your post sparked a chord in me, but I had no good suggestions. The only thing I can come up with is Bob Selman, he's got some VERY micro RC stuff flying great.

I am interested in this, I've wanted one of those Dynamics Unlimited 3 grams flight packs, but can't see spending the $225 for an RF version.

I've been pondering the Tyco article and E-chargers drive system for a while. I just bought those "Rare Earth" magnets from Radio Shack, they also had a pack of "Magnet Wire" in 3 different sizes, I got that too so I'm basically ready to build my own actuators. Any comments or references to more info, like proportional control (I know it exists) or conversion to 3 channels etc. would help me a bunch.

Keep posting your findings and I'll try to catch up. I have already done a 15" span Bi-plane and have some smaller ones ready.

Thanks,

Jason Nowell

[Chris Feole]

Originally posted by briant:
Well, here I am conducting my own forum... I ended up building the "Cloud9." I found a tiny graphic of the plan in the April issue. I built the wing to 30 inches for added "float" affect. I covered the wing/tail with Reynolds. The model is 1.5 oz. and has 165 sq. inches of wing area. That little echarger motor is a rocket! The gearing is 2/1 and it hefts the plane with ease! The airplane flies very slow and is quite docile. Flights last over an hour on the CR2. I used the wire from the armature of the stearing actuator in the Tyco car. I neod. magnet from Radio shack did the trick. I can't believe no one is interested in this! We are talking about a $40 SUB-2OZ. MICRO RADIO CONTROL AIRPLANE! Great stuff for Xmas presents! -Brian

[Chris Feole]

You have done something fun. I like the progects that are cheap and fun. I'm now going to look into doing the same thing. I have played around with some micro airplanes aswell. I have a Hacker Tiger Moth with WesTech servos and motor. Flies very well on 7 50 mah cells. I have also flown a Flying Styro Corsair. It is powered with a G-mot 300 co2 motor. I have read the posting by Jason on the B-2 motor powered foamie. I wonder if it would fly with nmh cells, as the 100 mah nmh cells are the same siZe as teh 50's. Keep us up to date with the project.

[Jason Nowell]

Well Briant, you did it now. I had to go by Wal-Mart this afternoon and somehow, a Canned Heat RC Durango and E-charger plane fell in my basket...huh.

I've already dismantled the Durango, unsoldered all the wires, drawn a schematic so I know where everything goes, and torn the E-charger apart and cleanly removed the motor.

I played around with a quick actuator with the wire and magnet from Radio Shack described in my earlier post. The actuator just kinda bumped when I gave it control, it worked, but not well enough. I too have dis-mantled the sterring actuator from the Canned heat system, and am planning to do one with it. Chris, tell me what you did and how, this is really my first foray into electronics at all..16.5 Ohms of Impedence? Beats me!

I haven't decided on a plane to put it in yet, but i have decided one thing, I want rudder and elevator control with constant full throttle. Any thoughts or suggestions on building an actuator for the other channel? I assume it would have to be different based on the higher current that I'm sure the throttle puts out.

Thanks in advance, glad to see there are other "Tinkerers" out there. http://www.rcmicroflight.com/ubb/smile.gif

Jason

[Jason Nowell]

Chris:

I haven't tried NmH cells yet, but I'm incluned to think it would. Those little motors draw very little current...of course, there's two of them, but duration on a 50mAh tells me that a Hydride could handle it. Let me know if you try it, and I'll do the same.

Jason

[pilot0059]

Can someone help me with actuators. I have been so confused lately. So will someone please explain how an actuator works and how I can build one. I read the instructions in the Tyco article and I was still lost.

[briant]

As for the actuators, they are sort of difficult to describe with words! The article gives the dimensions of the coils with the proper resistance. The wire is gauge 40 (.0048 inches). You need to wrap it until the coil is almost 1 inch in diameter and has a 1/8 inch hole in the middle. It's about 1/8 inch thick also. I used the wire from the steering motor in the car. -Brian

[Jason Nowell]

Thanks Bryan, that helped me out. Somehow the plain and simple made the complex description make sence. Now I feel dumb though.. http://www.rcmicroflight.com/ubb/smile.gif

I bought another one on channel 27 giving me the 27 and 49 mHz versions. I think I will make a 4 channel version by mounting the two controller electronics in a project box from Rasio shack. I'll only use 3 of them, so I'll rotate the second set to make the rudder the elevator in I should be OK.

Still haven't chosen an airframe yet though, I'm thinking about scratch building a "powered glider" design for the first one.

Thanks again for the help and patience Brian, I promise my end result will be cool enough to make it worth your trouble.

Jason

[pilot0059]

I was just wondering around the site and I saw the Plinker. It looks like it would work with the e-chargers motor, and the Tyco reciever. And if it is too big you could always scale it down. I am thinking about using that one, or the flying aces stick. I might have to scale down the stick a bit but I think it would work good also.

[briant]

I can't wait to hear if the 4 channel plane works. I think the important thing to keep in mind with these planes is the wing loading. They need to be big and light. You could probably use the Plinker, but that wing won't be enough to carry 1oz. of gear and the airframe. I recommend the Cloud 9 plan from the April issue. I extended the wing to 30 inches. Good luck! -brian

[Jason Nowell]

Brian:

So far so good, I wired up the motor and both recievers on one batter, throttle rudder and steering from the second transmitter all worked in conjunction with no problems.

I gotta figure out how to combine the transmitters. So far, my thought is to replace the throttle on one transmitter with a 3 position switch so I don't have to hold down the throtytle button. I can fit the second transmitter board under the original. All I have to figure out is if I can un-solder the micro switches from the rudder channel of the second board and mout them close to the original rudder switches in the elevator position. I'll have to move the little red light also, or eliminate it completely.

I'll keep you informed, If it works, I will be cleaniong my Wal-Mart out of Canned Heat systems. It's a lot of work, but it sure beats spending $225 to get a 3 ounce flight pack from Dynamics Unlimited.

Later, I'm off to wind actuators.

Jason

[pilot0059]

I found the best 1 channel system in the world. And it comes with a battery and charger. If you can find one, check it out. Its made by Racing Champions (they make nascar collectables). Its like a remote control hot wheels car. The charger it comes with takes 4-AA batterys. The batterys in the car I think are lithiums. Cause when I charge them for 1 minute and a half I get about 10 minutes of runtime. You will have to add an antenna to the reciever cause the iron body in the car acts as the antenna, a very heavy antenna. And the transmitter is very small, but still big enough for comfort. If you happen to run into any pick one up. I cant find any around here, so I am buying one from a friend of mine. I think you can get them off the internet also. I am going to build a Science Olympiad like airplane for it. I will keep you informed on how it goes.

[pilot0059]

I was looking threw some of plans and found the Moogallo. Do any of you know if that would work good scaled down with the E-Chargers motor and the tyco radio gear. It looks like it would work pretty good, but I am not sure.

[Jason Nowell]

Brian:

Yes, do let us know your results, I too have 4.5 gram actuators, I thought they felt kinda heavy.

I'll look at Radio Shack tomorrow and see if they have the reed relay or anything else with Micro Wire.

I hope it works or my design is starting to look REALLY tail-heavy http://www.rcmicroflight.com/ubb/smile.gif

Jason

[briant]

That sounds interesting. I did see those in ToyRUs for 9.99! Let us know how the range on the radio system is. I wonder if you can use the tiny motor for a simple actuator on that. Also, will you need a separate battery for the flight motor? How much does it weigh? I am going to try to get some pictures of my little Tyco plane this week. Also, a note on the wire. I think the wire needed for the actuators is size 36 AWG. You need 40 feet to arrive at 16.5 ohms resistance. If you can find 38AWG, you need only 25 feet of it. The smaller the wire, the lighter the coil. My original coil (made from the Tyco steering actuator) was very weak and heavy(5 grams!). I have pulled some wire from a 12 Volt DC Reed relay from Radio Shack. I don't know the size, but it is very small and not easy to make coils with. More testing tonight! Thanks,Brian

[pilot0059]

The 1 channel radio system I mention earlier gets about over 100 feet of range, and thats with the factory child proof antenna. I think you could get some more range if you added a longer antenna. As for the circut board in the car it weighs a little less than the tyco one, but the size is much smaller. I am going to build a scaled down version of the Moogallo from the July issue and see how it works. It looks as thow it would work well for this sytem.

[briant]

Well, my plane has flown with the first actuator that I made out of the steering motor wire. I thought that the flight was decent. The tail was too heavy though. And the action of the rudder was bumpy. For some reason, the actuator is much stronger pulling to one side. The bottom line is we need to find the exact wire that was described in the article! 40 feet of 36 AWG making for 1 gram coils. I did build some coils from the wire in the Reed Relays but the wire is too small--meaning way too much resistance. The article mentions using a scrap solenoid. I am not sure what kind of solenoid, but I assumed he meant a Sprinkler type. I bought one for $5. I cannot open it! It is made of Lawn mower proof plastic. I tried a hacksaw, but I ran into some kind of steel cage around the coil. I then sacrificed a soldering tip and tried to melt my way in. The plastic is very tough and I could not reach the coil. I may use a minitorch, but this is ridiculous! I found a web site called www.wiretron.com (http://www.wiretron.com) that sells wire. I am giving them a call today and will let you all know the cost for 36 AWG enameled copper. This project is getting a little pricey for such a bargain! I did email the info@microrc.com address to get more detail on the coils, but they have not replied to me! -Brian

[Jason Nowell]

Brian:

Dumb question...again. I got some enameled copper wire from Radio Shack, but it says it is 36 Gauge. Is this the same as 36 AWG? They call it Magnet Wire and it comes in a three pack with 22, 30, and 36 gauge for $3.99

Thanks,

Jason

[briant]

I got that pack too! I thought that the smallest one was 34? 36 AWG is the same thing as 36 gauge. According to the software from www.wiretron.com (http://www.wiretron.com) that stuff is .005 inches in diameter and you should use 40 feet of that to reach a resistance 16.5 ohms. The thing is, that wire looks larger than the stuff out of the steering motor to me. ...hmmm... John Worth told me to try to contact Fritz Mueller about making the coils. I have not gotten around to it yet though. Let me know how it goes! -Brian

[pilot0059]

I was in toys-r-us today and I found some of those racing champions 1:64 scale r/c cars. And when I went to the little scanner thing on the wall it said it was $4.90. So I grabbed the last 3 and bought them. I dont know if it the same price in every toys-r-us but 5 dollars isn't bad for a one channel radio system.

[pilot0059]

I was sitting at work today, I looked over at the Thunder Tiger Raptor helicoptor. I looked at the tail for a while then it hit me. The blade on the tail of the helicopter moves it left and right and a rudder does the same. So I am going to build a plane that has a motor with a prop that will move it left and right. I will keep you informed on how it goes.

[Jason Nowell]

Brian:

I went to 3 electronics stores yesterday and couldn't find the right size wire at any of them.

I did manage to locate a small relay that I think has potential. It is an unusually large diameter relay that has a very thin profile. It has the ohm rating right on the side and it's 35, after looking at the dimensions, if you could slice it in half, it would be almost perfect, and it theoretically would have about 17.5 ohm's of Impedence/resistance...right? It is also very light, even still in it's case it weighs practically nothing.

I also found some replacement coils for a Hummingbird depth finder I think. The appear to be the right dimension, but using very small wire (I mean hair-like). They were only $0.39 so I bought two of them. Can you measure impedence or resistance in ohm's on a fancy digital volt-meter or is that impossible?

Thanks, and keep me posted on how yours is coming. I've got the board layouts all ready to go, but there are some SERIOUS modifications that have to be done. never thought I'd take my Dremel to a PCB, but I have been hacking them apart, soldering on them, etc. I wonder if its gonna actually work http://www.rcmicroflight.com/ubb/smile.gif I sure hope so!

Jason

[briant]

Hi Jason,

You can measure resistance on a nice electronic voltmeter. Many are not calibrated down to 16 ohms though. I got a ten dollar one from Wal-Mart that has the option. I guess you couldn't find a comparable relay to the one you did find in RadioShack? There are not alot of electronics places out here. I finally got into a solenoid only to discover huge wire inside! I'm going back to Radio Shack to forage tomorrow. Until then, I've got some built-up wings going for my Lite Stik! another topic I guess! -Brian

[Jason Nowell]

Brian:

Too funny, I have a Bi-Plane version of a Lite Stick that I'm working on when this frustrates me.

My voltmeter has a setting for 200 ohms, I put it to the coil, and it has a resistance of 181 ohms. The wire is so small that it will be hard to wind, but I'll figure it out. I figure I'll wind it too big, and then remove winds until I get the desired resistance.

This thing better be cool when I get done http://www.rcmicroflight.com/ubb/smile.gif cause it sure has been a pain. If I can get a good actuator made from this wire, I'll pick you up one and mail it to you. They have a whole box and I think they were .39 cents. The way it looks, one coil would make about 10 actuators.

Jason

[briant]

OK! I've got it working pretty well. I gave up on finding the right wire. I've taken the original wire from the steering actuator in the car and wound a coil that was 1/2 the size of the original. It is less that 1/8inch thick and weighs 3 grams. The secret seems to be in first not using too thick of rubber band for the hinges and second using a perfect half-circle of copper wire to connect the magnet to the rudder. I had a shaking action until I tweaked the magnet holding wire through the coil slightly. It should stick out on the far side about 1/16 inch. For some reason this works flawlessly! No bounce, about 1/2inch rudder movement either side of neutral and pretty smooth action! Pictures coming very soon! Thanks for the help! -Brian

[briant]

Just a note, it seems to be that even larger wire can be used to make light coils with less turns! Only minimal turns of size 30 is required to create good action! -Brian

[This message has been edited by briant (edited 12-27-2000).]

[Jason Nowell]

Brian:

Great to hear! I too got a working actuator from the small wire in the post above. It took a BUNCH of it to get the right impedence. I had the shaking problem, but I think your experience has fixed that.

The 3 channel version is almost complete, I'll post a few pictures and tell you guys what i did when I get it finished and working.

Thanks, this has been fun so far.

Jason

[fritts]

Hey Guys,
I thought I would open this thread up again. and find out how everyone is doing on their projects and if someone has posted anything on the actuator. I have almost everything ready to go. But I definetly need help on the actuator. I bought the rare earth magnets from radio shack, they are about .200 in diameter and .050 thick right? and have the wire out of the steering unit from the car. To what specs do I roll the coil, like feet of wire, inside and outside diameter and thickness? Any help would much appreciated. Thanks

[biplaneman]

anybody know what the reciever antenna length is for the 27 and 49 canned heat car radios?

[ButtonFly]

It is a 1-3/8" loop of wire in a horizontal plane above the car. The whole antenna is made from one piece of wire, with the wire attached to the car, extending vertically, and then bent 90 degrees to make the loop.

[This message has been edited by ButtonFly (edited 01-17-2001).]

[briant]

I've finally uploaded some pix of my Tyco/Echarger plane! The plane is from the "Cloud9" plan found in the April issue of RCMICROFLIGHT. I extended the wing to 30 inches and made the wing removable with rubber bands around two CF rod lengths. The total weight with 1 CR2 is 50grams. This is a two channel, non-proportional $40 aircraft!
www.jps.net/schauer/tyco1.jpg (http://www.jps.net/schauer/tyco1.jpg) www.jps.net/schauer/tyco2.jpg (http://www.jps.net/schauer/tyco2.jpg)

Check them out! -Brian

[tom]

The kp00 flew on the gears and prop that it came with running 3 blades

[cartwrigh]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by pilot0059:
I was in toys-r-us today and I found some of those racing champions 1:64 scale r/c cars. And when I went to the little scanner thing on the wall it said it was $4.90. So I grabbed the last 3 and bought them. I dont know if it the same price in every toys-r-us but 5 dollars isn't bad for a one channel radio system.[/QUOTe

My local toys-r-us does not have the racing champions cars. The brand name would help with further search.

[pilot0059]

The Racing Champions cars are made by ERTL. I think you can find them on ebay. Good luck finding them.

[Jason Nowell]

Hey guys, didn't want you to think i had dropped off the planet entirely. I found something REALL interesting today. Got check our http://www.rc-mtech.com

Jason

[pilot0059]

Hey Jason do you know if there is a dealer in the US that sells those cars?

[Jason Nowell]

I found it on Ebay. And searched around until I finally found the site. There is one available in the US on Ebay though, I think it's still got a few days left on the auction too.

Jason

PS. Check out my new topic on the new Acro Bipe!!!

[LarryF]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have the Cox echarger and have just bought a similar product from Harbor Freight HF (I have not idea why they are selling toys). The one from HF is similar to the echarger but smaller and lighter. I took them both apart and I'm guessing they come from the same Chinese vendor. The little motor in the HF one seems to blow pretty well although I haven't dome any quantitative testing yet. They have one for sale at http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/taf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=43678 This looks similar to one I bought (mine looks like a Cessna). The specs say AA bats but I think that refers to the Charger. Anyone familiar with these? Might be fun to experiment with.

[LarryF]

FYI:
eToys.com has the Canned Heat cars (in both frequencies) and the echarger planes on clearance. They kind of nail you on shipping, but still a good deal.

[briant]

Hey guys, if anyone is stuck on the acuator building, i sent this step by step to a guy via emai. I hope it helps! Also, there is a great write-up on the Tyco RX at http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/bhabbott/tyco.html


Find an old battery powered Quartz clock. Take it apart and remove the little coil of wire. Wrap the wire in a coil around a pen or something until it weighs about 1 gram. Apply some light glue and let it dry a while. Remove the coil from the pen and attach it the fixed side of your rudder near the hinge line. Buy the little rare earth magnets from radio shack. Take a peice of 28AWG copper wire and bend it around a nickle. CA the magnet to one end of the wire. You should have a half circle of wire with a magnet at one end. Align the wire such that the magnet swings through the coil. The magnet should extend through the coil about 2 mm. Attach the other end of the magnet arm to the moving rudder. Hinge rudder with strips of thin paper. It should return to center without assistance. Hook up your coil to the leads on the RX and you are in business.! Let me know if you run in to trouble. -Brian

[perryphilip]

I have the receiver from the canned heat car, the kp-00 motor, and an acuator. now i just need to put it in a plane. i was thinking maybe the plinker scaled down, or the science olimpiad scaled up. any suggestions as to what plane i should use?

[This message has been edited by perryphilip (edited 01-28-2001).]

[hector375]

Hi Guys
Could somebody please tell me the Radio Shack part number for the magnets your all using, I'm having trouble finding them up here in Canada.

I'm interested in building one of these ultra light planes and was wondering if the free flight plan in February's Model Flyer magazene would be suitable? It was designed to use the KP00 motor, has a 16' inch span (I'll probably need to enlarge that?)and most importantly, looks pretty good. Any info,advice or suggestions would be welcome

I'll put a picture of the designe (called: Mini-Watt) on the picture page.

Till Next Time...

[Buddly6]

You and I are having trouble. All my local radio shack(s) have are 1/2 inch magnets. Maybe on their website?????......

[Jason Nowell]

Guys:

My Radio Shack carries them and I have a box at home. I'll get you the part number tonight. In the mean time, they are called Rare Earth Magnets and are on www.radioshack.com (http://www.radioshack.com)

Good Luck,

Jason

[Jason Nowell]

OK Guys, here you go:

Radio Shack Cat. No. 64-1895
Pkg of 2 Rare Earth MagnetsThey are approximately 1/4" in Diameter and 1/16" in height.

Even the Radio Shack in our Mall carries them, they are usually next to the soldering equipment.

Jason

[hector375]

Thanks for getting us the number Jason.

Unfortunately the Radio Shack chain in Canada doesnt carry them and say they can't even get them from their southern cousins.

Anyone in Canada trying to get these things can order them from " radioshack.com"

[Buddly6]

I have a gaggle of old cobalt magnets, maybe they would work

[mialutz]

How about going to our sister page for that answer...
http://www.hpiracing.com/ubb/Forum11/HTML/001787.html

Mark


Originally posted by LarryF:

[mialutz]

Or what about this little system...

ME LIKE
http://www.kyosho.co.jp/models/car-ep/mini-z/MiniZ-e.html

Mark

Originally posted by mialutz:
How about going to our sister page for that answer...
http://www.hpiracing.com/ubb/Forum11/HTML/001787.html

Mark

[james_a_moles]

I know it might be a little late, but I posted pictures of my Tyco RC plane over at my new website:
http://slowflyersandmicroplanes.rcplanet.com/

It's so cool and flies pretty well. For more info, though, you'll need to check out the site!


James

[pease1]

OK - I'm hooked - going to get my gear and spend the weekend building a 2oz $40 plane. I need a true indoor flyer anyways!

Questions:

1) Any chance you could use a nicad cordless phone pack to power the Canned Heat/Echarger plane?

2) The Cloud9 plans, If I enlarge the wing to 30" span do I enlarge everything else?

3) Does the Cloud9 really only have 5 ribs? How does the thing keep from collapsing? How do you get the renolds wrap to keep an airfoil shape across such a large span?

4) covering with plastic wrap: glue with what glue? How do you get it tight?

Thanks!
Al :eek:

[pease1]

SUCCESS!!!!

First test has throw of 5mm to each side, I think I will get a full 1/2 inch if I change the diameter of my fire loop, I seem to be running out of throw on the magnet not power. Radius of a nickel might be too large, I'm going to try a penny.

Also, for the correct wire, get a relay from radio shack, their part #: 275-206c. The coil in the relay comes apart easilly and has enough very fine wire to make 5 or 6 actuators. I'm going to experiment with amount of wire but 15 feet worked for me. I didn't have a meter so don't know what the resistance is. Pictures follow....

Al


http://pease1.sr.unh.edu/aew/xfer/Dscn0769.gif
http://pease1.sr.unh.edu/aew/xfer/Dscn0765.gif

[pease1]

OK, I went back to Radio Shack and bought a decent votmeter, I made a second coil, wrapped around a pencil for inner diameter, outer diameter was 3/8" and width was 5mm. Weighs under a gram and has resistance of 16 ohms on the nose! I shrunk the control arm radius so that it's mounted on the tail right near the hinges. I get a good 3/8" throw to both sides. Motor control works, I guess I have to build the wing and fly it!

Too much fun :D

[james_a_moles]

Allan,

I suppose you could use a battery pack intended for a cordless phone in the plane. I, however, was going for the most volts and capacity with the lightest weight...that's why I used the CR2. I can't really answer anything about the Cloud 9 plane because I haven't built it. About the Reynolds Wrap: I use a glue stick to apply it to the frames. Just put glue all over the entire structure which you want to have covered, lay the wrap on, sooth out any wrinkles, and then use an iron to shrink it. I like to set my iron on its highest temp and then shrink the wrap and then I trim all of the excess off. I know when I trim the extra off first and then try to shrink it, I all ways shrink it too much and it pulls up on to the frame. Hope this helps!


James

[pease1]

Tyco also sells a radio controlled miniature boat. The transmitter is a little larger and takes a 9-volt battery. The boat is fairly small, I didn't buy one but wondered if it had the same receiver in it. If it does the transmitter may have a bit more range.

If you've bought the boat let me know. I may have to get one to take it apart.

Al :rolleyes:

[pease1]

OK, I was going to save this util I had the thing flight tested completely, but what the heck....

Al's Canned Heat Page (http://pease1.sr.unh.edu/aew/rc/cannedheat)

Photos of complete construction sequence with detailed description of my techniques. Photos and quicktime movies of my model in flight.

Enjoy, comments welcome.
Al

[LarryF]

Allan,
looks good. What kind of range are you getting? What mods did you do to the antenna?

[pease1]

<Blushes> Was too caught up in getting it trimmed for flight that I didn't range check it! I'll do that tonight. I did get at least 70' or so though.

I made an antenna out of the coil wire and ran it down the fuselage and around the whole elevator surface. I attached that to the receiver. Whole antenna length is almost 45" and adds nothing to the weight except the CA to hold the wire down. The wire from the relay is as fine as a human hair.

Al

[Jason Nowell]

Allan:

Thanks for you hard work on this. For once, I think everyone can get one flying! We weren't too good at explaining what we did during the early tests. Mine system is identitcal except the wire (I used a 12V Reed Relay, but it did NOT come apart easily).

Good Work

[pease1]

Thanks Jason, I still have a way to go on it but I think I got the details down.

As for range check, I did one outside my house and I get good performance for about 60' then things go wonky. Inside might be a bit better with walls to bounce the RF about. I'll check that when I can. Also if you could find some very low-temp solder to attach the antenna to the receiver that would help I'm sure.

[corey c]

I was wondering...on the canned heat system I noticed you guys use the steering channel for the rudder actuator and the other channel for the motor on-off.Can you use the motor channel for a second elevator channel? probably not! I think I will build one of these planes because it sounds like a fun project and I already have an e-machines plane! Neat stuff guys and thanks for the info of what works and what dosn't.

[pease1]

I'm not sure that you can but I suspect that
you could. My question is how would you control your motor? Always on full and land 'hot'? I suppose that would work if
you had elevator.

With the lithium battery you can't count on it running down quickly - it should last an hour or more.

Al

[corey c]

I was thinking that if the rudder elevator thing work then I would have the motor on full power and have a little wire or carbon rod that would hang under the plane, when the wire touches the ground it would push up and activate a push button switch to cut the motor right before touchdown.Might work...only one way to find out!

[Jason Nowell]

Corey/Allan:

Your conversation brought an idea into my head. Have you seen how they couple the rudder and elevator on the Horizon Firebird? I'm sure you could make one smooth enough to be operated by an actuator. Just a thought!

[pease1]

I assumed the firebird was a standard ruddervator setup? Explain how it works please? Can it do rudder and elevator on one channel (especially a non-analog one?)

Al

[cartwrigh]

FYI -- Here are the answers to all your questions. This came from one of these foruns but I don't remember which. The answer to the elevator question in in the text - http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/bhabbott/tyco.html ;)

[miniflyer]

I have been reading about this "canned heat" stuff sounds like a good idea. Is it strong enought to fly in my back yard or only in a building? :D

[pease1]

While you COULD make a plane large enough to fly outside in dead calm conditions, you probably would be quickly outrunning the 60-75 foot range of the radio system. I'd say indoors is where this shines.

The 2 gram model I made got buffeted badly by celing fans over 40' above it.

Al

[miniflyer]

2 grams!! **** thats tiny.

[pease1]

Doh - my bad!

2 OUNCE model. **** metric system gets me all the time....

Al :o

[i_luv_r/c]

Hi

:confused:
How long will these planes actually for? (i don't mean how long until the batteries run out...will these planes actually FLY for on hour?). If anyone living in Canada has build one of these models...have you had any trouble finding any of these parts(not including the magnets)? and where can I find plans for this "Cloud 9" plane everyone is using. Thanks alot.

[fritts]

I run a kp01 and 3 50mah nicads. I have been getting flights of around 2 minutes, and then landing due to lose of power. I believe these planes could be flown for an hour. I don't use the CR-2 because I can't seem to get enough power to have decent climbs. The .6 volts extra really makes a difference in the attitude of my plane. I'm thinking of the Nimh 120's that should give me 5 minute flights. I think most of the power goes to the actuator than the motor. Funny how this works. I have also been using a different type of actuator, that I saw on the aeronats indoor foam rc planes web site. This works so much better than the one shown to us in microflight.

Hope this helps someone
Ryan Fritts

[fritts]

I run a kp01 and 3 50mah nicads. I have been getting flights of around 2 minutes, and then landing due to lose of power. I believe these planes could be flown for an hour. I don't use the CR-2 because I can't seem to get enough power to have decent climbs. The .6 volts extra really makes a difference in the attitude of my plane. I'm thinking of the Nimh 120's that should give me 5 minute flights. I think most of the power goes to the actuator than the motor. Funny how this works. I have also been using a different type of actuator, that I saw on the aeronats indoor foam rc planes web site. This works so much better than the one shown to us in microflight.

Hope this helps someone
Ryan Fritts

[pease1]

Ahhh glad you're getting into this - my try was quite a bit of fun for the short money I put into it. For a look at what I settled on try this link:

Al's Canned Heat Page (http://pease1.sr.unh.edu/aew/rc/cannedheat/)

[i_luv_r/c]

Hey,

I was just wondering what kind of range you guys are getting on these 'Canned Heat' radios? And what can I do to get more range out of these radios?
:D

[i_luv_r/c]

hi Allan,
I have been to your web site, it's very very helpful. But your movies only show the plane flying for a couple of seconds. Have you actually achieved longer flight times? Thanks
:cool:

[Micro Rotors]

Well I just put my electronics together. I attached the brown wire and ground to the motor for forward only, and I attached the blue wire and ground for up function to a second actuator on the elevator. Everything is going semi ok but the movments are a bit sketchy but they are all funtioning good.

Has anyone had real good sucsess with this or is it just fun to experiment???

[pease1]

I knocked out my rudder in my first test flights so I had to just circle from then on. Right after the first attempt they closed down the gym at the university to refinish the floor. Will be another 3-4 weeks before I can get another chance to fly it. The short duration flights were mainly because of bumping into the walls due to lack of control.

Al

[i_luv_r/c]

hey Micro Rotors,

Do you live in Canada? If you do, did you have any trouble finding any of these parts? If you didn't, that where did you buy them? Thanks
:eek:

[Micro Rotors]

Nope,,, Im from the Golden State,, California baby,, California :cool:

[Jason Nowell]

Tim:

If you don't mind buying over the web, you can get most everything we've talked about on this thread from the following two places.
http://www.toysrus.com
http://www.allelectronics.com

Both have search features, just search for Canned Heat, or magnet wire, etc.
Good luck, I know that both of these will ship to Canada.

G'day

[i_luv_r/c]

Hey,
Does anyone have plans for the Cloud 9 or any other similar type plane(in auto/auto CAD format)? If you could send them to me that would be great. Also, if you know of any web site where I could find a plan for this type of plane--for free, that would be great.

thanks--

[i_luv_r/c]

I have just found a great source for very fine metal wire. I had these old relays laying aroud...they're small, white, 6 V, made by "Schrack" (I think that's how you spell it). After you break open the case, there's a coil inside. Just unwind it, and you now have very fine wire to make your actuators with. :eek:

[Micro Rotors]

I just went over to an electronics outfit and purchased a 1/4 pound spool of #38 wire {.004** for $7.50. I should have actuators for the rest of my life :D

I found out I needed 24 feet for a resistance of 16.5 0hms, so I took a 2 liter 7up plastic bottle and wound it around it 21.3 times.

This makes it alot easier to handle and they are perfect every time. I just transfer it to a .250 nylon rod with 2 nylon washers on it.

[NMT_RACER_BOY]

OMG i am stoked about building one of theese... things i don't get is why do you use the echarger motor? isn't there a motor in canned heat? and what's up with the acutator stuff? can't you use the steering system from the canned heat to control the rudder? i am glad i looked in this forum... please help and thanx alot...

BTW i want to put the electronics on a small delta looking plane... does anyone have plans for small delta type planes?
please help and thanx alot

[all_fly_all_day]

I know this is like a year late but i think it was allen who mentioned that tyco mini R/C boat. I had bought that to use for the 2oz plane becuz i couldnt find anyone who sold the canned heat car. But it is twice the size of the canned heat reciever and almost twice the weight. it didnt work at all. and i only got about 30 ft or range.