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Great planes Viper
#1

After racing rarebears and calling for SRL at one of the Pylon days at Pittown a while back, I got the chance to fly a Viper. When one of the races was over Steve handed me the radio and let me burn up about the last minute or so worth of fuel in the tank.
It had been a long time since I'd flown anything with an IC engine, the air was filled with the sound of screaming engines and the smell of caster and methanol, something must have clicked because..........
For some reason I began harmlessly pricing parts and reading various forum posts and articles about these machines. And well, It seemed that, before you could say "Thunder Tiger 46 Pro" a series of Boxes and parcels began arriving.

Vipers fit the Q-500 class rules and I guess do 160-200k or there abouts, 200 if your very lucky. To race these things you really need to have two, so that if some tragety should befall one, you can still continue the days racing.

To cut a long story a thousand words or so shorter here's a few pics of the progress so far.

These planes come as an ARF in either white or red. I've removed most of the covering from the top of the wing and recovered it in similar colours to my rarebears.

   

   

   

Edited to correct speed estimates (200Ks with a tail wind, going down hill and a with savage dog chasing it)

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#2

Awesome! Love the inboard control surfaces.....
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#3

Jason Smile Hook line and Sinker, Got The speed Bug Biggrin

They Look Great

Steve Smile


What Do You Mean Theres a Throttle Curve ?, Its Either all the way up or all the way down Tongue_smile
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#4

Great stuff Jason, will be worth the trip to wherever you fly them just for the spectacle
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#5

Thanks Wayne,

I've been making some more progress with them this week despite feeling a bit under the weather

Here's some more pics of the progress thus far

   

   
(15-10-2012, 05:16 PM)kizza42 Wrote:  Awesome! Love the inboard control surfaces.....

Yes Extra low drag !!

Quote: Posted by samste - 15-10-2012 05:51 PM
Jason Smile Hook line and Sinker, Got The speed Bug Biggrin

They Look Great

Steve Smile

Yes, go fast and turn left.

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#6

well it looks like we have a secantogive trademark colour scheme now . they look good and remind me of snapshot remnants of yesteryear in RC .
I remember my reluctance to get into electrics last year, it's wont be the same without the smell and sound of nitro i said , and you brushed it off as hogwash . hmmmmm .
i bags a fly !!!! .
by the way have you seen HK's new 1400wingspan rarebear ?
is there any particular reason you've side mounted the engines ?

patience !!Biggrin paaatience !!Paranoid paaaaaatience Tounge paaaaaaatieeence Lol dooooohhhh !!! Upset


DANGER WIFE CAN READ FORUMS . love you darling . sig changed .
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#7

(23-10-2012, 10:03 AM)wingtipper Wrote:  I remember my reluctance to get into electrics last year, it's wont be the same without the smell and sound of nitro i said , and you brushed it off as hogwash . hmmmmm .


Arrrgh Yes the old days of greasy fingers and oily sun glasses that you can never seem to get clean!!
Electrics are much easier and nicer and they last longer cause they are subject to much less vibration. They don't go lean in the air and for a field like McCoy park, when you need some power to climb out and go round electrics are much more reliable. Glow engines are not that forgiving and there's a lot that can go wrong with them. One bit of crud in the fuel and ...........silence

Quote: i bags a fly !!!! .

No probs You'll have to let me get used to them first tho Wink
Obviously it'll have to be somewhere like Vinyard, Blacktown ect.

Quote:
by the way have you seen HK's new 1400wingspan rarebear ?
is there any particular reason you've side mounted the engines ?

No I havn't had a look at the bigger rarebear

The Motors are side mounted because that's the only way you can mount them, with what comes in the Kit. There would be no room for the throttle cable if it were mounted in an upright way, the fuse it pretty narrow. So much so that the only tank you can fit in there is a Thunder Tiger 4oz tank.

Also the motor is attached to a back plate mount it doesn't use the lugs on the side of the engine for mounting. The mount is a 1/4 thick plate of alluminum with a slots and a hole for lightening in the middle.

The other thing is that the exaust points at the ground and this keeps some of the oil off the plane. If it were mounted right way up it would point at the Leading edge of the wing......Messy to clean.

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#8

They are both finished, checked, fuel lines plumbed, radio all set up with Mixing balanced and ready to fly........................at Last Smile

   

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#9

Well after the sad dermise of Viper #1 caused by a mid air colision with another Q-500 on the first turn of the first lap of the first race...................................What does one do, but put another one together ??

Here are some pics of the recomended mods, most people do to make them a little stronger & more durable. It's to keep them flying not crash proof them.

I've used a bog made from WEST Systems Epoxy laminating resin filled with mostly "WEST systems micro light" filler to bulk it up and a little "WEST Systems Micro fiber blend" filler to make it strong.

What you have with then, is an epoxy bog that can be used to make fillets that add great strength and it's about the same weight as hard Balsa. It also adhears like the proverbial.

The fire wall is reinforced by adding some peices of ply as a gusset into slots cut with a double hacksaw blade at 45 degrees through the corners. These are dremmelled off flush later.

The tank bay is painted with WEST epoxy to fuel proof it

   

The fuse sides are made thicker where the wing sits so it has a wider bearing surface and doesn't cut into the wing sheeting

IC engines vibrate heaps and these models need to be able to take it including the radio gear!!

   

The red covering was removed from the top of the wings and replaced by my usual colour scheme. This is to make it easy for the judges to identify it.

   



“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#10

nice gussetting idea .

patience !!Biggrin paaatience !!Paranoid paaaaaatience Tounge paaaaaaatieeence Lol dooooohhhh !!! Upset


DANGER WIFE CAN READ FORUMS . love you darling . sig changed .
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#11

(16-11-2012, 05:06 PM)wingtipper Wrote:  nice gussetting idea .

Yes it works great, I have to admit it's not my idea originally but I can certainly see it's merit. The grain is in the perfict direction to lock it all together and it keys it in and holds it in every direction.

Thunder tiger 46's are known to shake the firewalls on Vipers loose
and that can be dangerious if it happens to be going flat stick at the time, (which is they way they mostly fly)


“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#12

I also put a few dozen laps of Kevlar thread around the out side of the fuse where the fire wall goes in to stop it from coming apart It should keep everything held tightly together in that area, as I put it on, under fair a bit of tension.

Here's some pics of the airframe set up to bond the V-tail on.

I use west systems Epoxy resin mixed with the usual fillers for strength and lightness. The other good thing with using this mix is that it has a working time of 20-30 mins so there is plenty of time to get things set up perfictly and double check them as well.

It's nice and easy to get the required zero incodence by measuring everything up from a large super flat surface !!

   

Nice fillets to reduce drag and add some extra strength

   

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#13


Here's some video from running in the TT pro 46 that powers the viper,
You just don't get the sweet smell of burning caster from electric motors. When they make smoke it smells really bad !! Smile


http://youtu.be/2C24BAdRqd4

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#14

Well here it is ready to go for the weekend

   

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#15

MAAAAATE !! That really looks shweeeeet .

patience !!Biggrin paaatience !!Paranoid paaaaaatience Tounge paaaaaaatieeence Lol dooooohhhh !!! Upset


DANGER WIFE CAN READ FORUMS . love you darling . sig changed .
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#16

Good luck Jason....

Hope you kill 'em

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Hobbyking Voltigeur, Funfighter T28, Mirage 2000, Minimoa 2.4m Glider
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Spectrum DX9i , DX6

Don't ever let the fear of landing keep you from taking off!
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#17

(27-11-2012, 06:03 PM)wingtipper Wrote:  MAAAAATE !! That really looks shweeeeet .

Thanks Frank, It should be easy enough to see, orientate and distinguish from the others. Usually race with 4 planes in the air at a time, so having something distinctive helps, the plan forms and shapes of all the Q-500s are very close to the same.




(27-11-2012, 09:24 PM)gbanger Wrote:  Good luck Jason....

Hope you kill 'em

Thanks Gazz !!

I'll be super happy to bring all my planes back in one peice.
If I get a little higher up the score board than last time It'll be an added bonus and I'll be wrapped !!

I think some of the Smart money will have to be on SRL to bring home the bacon from PRCAC. With a 3rd at Pittown and 2nd last time at Marulan he's gotta be the man to watch in the Q-500s, certainly in form and going in the right direction !! You should have seen him flying last time, AWSOME !!

I'm hoping Frank R will be there too and if he is he'll definatly give the FFC guys a hurry up with his RareBear.

By the same token Claudio and I are not mucking about we are going there to push it as fast as we can.

One thing for certain is that win, loose, draw or crash and burn we'll all have a dam fine time of it !! It should be another fantastic weekend of racing, flying and shooting the breeze. I'm looking forward to it !!




“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#18

good luck guys . bring back the vids .

patience !!Biggrin paaatience !!Paranoid paaaaaatience Tounge paaaaaaatieeence Lol dooooohhhh !!! Upset


DANGER WIFE CAN READ FORUMS . love you darling . sig changed .
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#19

            I've been working on two new Bears.
The Vipers are flying well so no changes are needed. I just need no cuts ,better engine tuning on the line and a good hard push off to beat Mr Intel.
Also looking forward to the on site indoor Saturday night.
srl
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#20

The score board says it all !!

Well Done SRL !!
Congratulations !! and a special thanks Steve for calling for me in the next heat.
For those that wernt there, heats were run alternatly in two groups of 4 this meant that, Steve being my caller didn't
get a break in between heats. It gets fairly busy and means you have much less time to re-fuel or check your plane over and you get eight goes at getting 10 turns dizzy in a row with out a break when you both fly and call for another pilot.

   


“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#21

Some repairs
   

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#22

Memories memories

Well I find my self right back here again, Proof that history does repeat it self Smile

Hopefully I'll have them ready for Marulan well that's the plan got to get the Tailplanes glued on them both tonight !!

Interestingly enough we are now racing against an electric version as well. James has put one together that runs on batteries Hopefully he'll be there to race against!!

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#23

   


Some tinkering on the fuse widening the wing seat if it sits on the really narrow fusalage side it eventually bruses a line in the wing skin which can lead to a catastropic fail during a high G turn

   

Wings on ready to align the V tails

This is allways the fun bit

Setting up the tail straight and true

   


“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#24

And heres the second one set up waiting for the epoxy on the tail to cure

   

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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#25

Heres some video of an electric one

http://youtu.be/JYb-EL1DNOY

Here's Pete Kerney Flying His IC powered Viper at Marulin a while back.
This actually a race
http://youtu.be/kyQAwgsbDSg

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw your machine at the ground and miss.”

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your thoughts turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."  ~Leonardo Da Vinci
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