Jump to content
This is a snapshot of the forum as it was on Thursday 2nd Dec 2021. Not everything will work.
It is not possible to login, edit or make any changes and is provided for prosterity for those who wish to view the old content.
C.A.M.F.C - Members & Visitors area

Weston Magnum R with 50V1


Recommended Posts

I saw this plane at Sandown & instintly fell in love with it. It scares me it less!

 

Plus the other 2 kits I wanted was not at Sandown so you know what it is like when you are in a hall full of kits :D

 

WHAT THIS SPACE............................I have already built it (not a lot to build) so write up to follow.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I understand they lose elevator with speed (i.e. nose dive on the power & you ain't pulling out in a hurry)...........................Splat at 200mph into the ground.

I think I may have to look for a large flat area for its maiden flight as there is just to many trees at Fickleshole to try & dodge at high speed :D

Link to post
Share on other sites

There are a lot of factors I need to take account before my maiden flight, like my nerves, the weather & other people. I want to fly this thing with just me & an experienced flyer/spotter (like your self Joe) the all the factors have to be spot on. If I wake up the morning of my planed flight & do something silly like eat toast instead of cereal it is a no go.

 

But seriously it will be a few months before I fell I will be ready for the maiden flight, even the sky has to be blue, wind under 5Mph & blowing at 221°......oh & the most important, it must be just after payday so I can replace it when I hit the deck at 150Mph :lol:

 

Don't worry it should not be to loud, I opted for the mini pipe to quiet things down rather than a full on tuned one, Weston still reckon it is good for 180Mph

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

OK I have been meaning to post the build & pics so here it is

 

Building the Magnum

 

Well after seeing this fly I just had to have one, it has always been a life long ambition to be a fast jet pilot & this is about as close as I am going to get.

 

The kit is straight forward as it is an ARTF & the fuselage is pre-assembled & covered along with the one piece wing, 2 rear elevator & rudder fin.

 

The first thing I did was assemble the fuel tank, which was straight forward until I mounted the engine into the pre-drilled & fitted engine mount & tightened the self tapping M4 cap heads into the pre-drilled holes.

On blowing through the fuel pipes in had become apparent that the fuel tank was too close to the engine resulting in the fuel tube bending tightly & not allowing any flow. After a lot of try & errors I found that I had to reassembly the tank & pull the copper pipes into the fuel tank through the bung. The key was leaving just enough pipe to attach the external fuel tubes to & the bending the external fuel pipe into the rear crankcase cover thus not causing any sharp bends. The fuel tank it self is a very tight fit between the firewall & the front of the wing & does not allow any adjustment or movement.

 

After that caper I decided to do the part I hate which is mounting the hinges onto the control surfaces & then the wing. The manual tells you to place the fibre covered plastic hinge into the control surface & then apply 2 drops of thin CA to the hinge on both sides, then to epoxy the hole for the aileron torque rod & mount the control surface to the wing. After the mounting you have to apply some more CA to both sides of the hinge in the wing. Now I am presuming the cottony fabric on the hinge wicks the CA inside the pre-cut slot & glue to the wood inside, I also am not found of light CA as the light the CA the weaker it is. So seeing as the control surfaces are going to have a lot of pressure to deal with I was a bit…..maybe a bit to much generous (who said it was good to be generous) with the CA & have had to do a clean up after it dried out every where it should not have……At least I know they are glued good.

 

So after putting the control surfaces in the aileron & rear elevator it was time to epoxy the rear elevator & rudder fin in place, I quite like the swept back anhedral rear elevator, I think they make the aircraft look more like a BAE hawk (you got to love fast jets, I do ).

I used 30 Min epoxy instead of the usual 15 min stuff, just to add more strength to the speed merchant. I can only imagine the forces it may counter at 180Mph. The manufactures reckon this plane can do well over 200Mph with the right set-up but I am going to ease my self in slowly with a much slower set-up.

 

Time to put the servos in, a standard 3004 for the throttle, an ultra torque HS-645MG on the aileron & a super torque HS-625MG on the elevator. You need some powerful servos on this model as the forces on the control surface at high speed are very strong, I have heard stories of people not being able to pull out of a high speed dive because the servos were not up to it.

 

Time to link it all together, part of the wing linkages are already installed in the wing, when you mount the ailerons they fit onto a rod on each side of the wing, these rods meet in the middle & all you got to do is install a link rod from the installed rods to the servo……very straight forward.

I made up the elevator rear linkages with the supplied snakes, which join together at the servo & split to control each elevator. I have yet to mount the elevator control horn as I have quite lot on my plate at the moment.

 

I have also put in the receiver, mounted a on/off switch and cut & mounted a battery monitor inside the fuselage

 

So I have put in:

Engine

Fuel tank

All control surfaces

Wing servo & attached aileron linkages

Elevator servo& attached Linkages

Receiver

Battery monitor

On/off switch

Tufkoted around decals

 

Things left to:

Mount & epoxy exhaust

Connect elevator linkages to elevator

Short servo extension lead for ailerons

Foam padding for receiver

Radio set-up

Final check over

 

IMAG2727.jpg

 

IMAG2730.jpg

 

IMAG2734.jpg

 

IMAG2732.jpg

 

IMAG2731.jpg

 

IMAG2728.jpg

 

IMAG2729.jpg

 

IMAG2733.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

I cant wait to see that at the field.....if you need some help to fly I will gladly stand and spotter while you fly along side Joe.....With a bit of luck my Pylon racer will be ready for the weekend, but not sure she will be as fast as the magnum 50 mine only has a Q500 Mvvs 40 rear pipe running and 8*8 if I can get the damb engine to run..... the plane is a Lanier Predator 500 and it has an UC.

 

Hope to see you on the weekend at the field.... and a new 1/2a speed plane but with a .15 as opposed to a .09 as it was designed to fly with should be fast with a 6*6 but not as fast as the the Magnum.

 

With a bit of luck will have both ready for Sunday.

predator.gif.8794ac39376b20cd559e0e50cc4585d0.gif

shrike049.gif.85d3576fd66ec20e726a141dc71b1a3b.gif

Link to post
Share on other sites

If the weather stays as great as it has been for the last week or so, then maybe Nutz and your Magnum will bring in a new club speed record at the field :twisted:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Is that the fastet into a tree or fastest into the ground, I think Joes holds the fastest into the ground record though I could be wrong :D

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
I have done some searching on the net and loads of guys set there c of g at 140 mm not 130 as you will loose elevator effect at low speeds.

 

Food for thought.

 

I have also read this, with people putting the C of G as far back as 150mm. Would this make to a bit more inclined to induce a roll on hard back elevator at slow speed?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well first flight nerves and all that with help from Jimbo managed to get her in the air just...engine needs to be tuned better but after a hairy take off due to lack of rpm motor was not running well....limped into the air and flew around for 5 minutes but the engine would not come on to the pipe...but she was still fast man it ate up the sky.

 

It was a good thing as at full chap this plane is going to be a missile that's for sure. I am glad I set the CofG at 140-145 mm as the plane had a nice long glide and did not tip stall. Flair her in and plop her down. The landing was easy it seems a long slow decent works well bleeding off the speed as you come in landed slightly faster than a trainer more like the Acro Wot.

 

Well Will fly this plane again next weekend after I get the engine on song. So look forward to some nice low and fast passes down the field.

 

On and as for trimming in flight need a few clicks of down as i put a few clicks up for launch and three click on the aileron to get her level.

 

A nice plane but not for the faint hearted.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yer that take-off was abit touch & go for the few seconds, she just didn't want to play ball at the start :shock:

 

...But was a very nice landing tho at the end!

 

Looked great in the air and from far way it looks abit like Hawk "Red Arrow plane" and has the speed to :)

O my! When you get the engine up and running right, that thing is going to be like a yellow bullet :shock:

 

 

A nice plane but not for the faint hearted.

 

You can say that again! Count me out for many a year then :lol:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Her Klunk,

 

My piece of paper..........sorry manual says C of G should be 125mm-145mm from wing root. I am presuming it means from my red circle to my green circle as per this picture.

IMAG2729-1.jpg

 

I have just finished my one off & the C of G is 140mm ready to fly, just need to fuel her up, I might give it a bash this weekend, then again I might not. Will see how the weather goes.

 

Joe if you read this, are you around this weekend if the weather is good?

Link to post
Share on other sites

You got it in one there that's the correct way to measure the c of g..mine worked out at about 142 mm.

 

I will be trying a new engine in my Magnum on Sunday as the Old TT 46 pro suffered a bit. So I will be using a MVVS 40 Q500 engine not the same as the west 50 at 21000 rpm but will do 18000 all day long.

 

Her Klunk.

 

Another tip make sure you set your throttle cut switch as its better to land at our field with engine running and cut it just short of the run way to save the prop. I do not fancy the dead stick landing in this bird until you have a good feel for it. Its better to throttle back and idle the plane in in a shallow approach between the gap in the trees or up the valley.

 

My landing was sweet.....and besides the long grass is a good air break if you go short or long....no need to come in hot. If CofG is set right.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well I ran a few tanks of fuel on the Magnum on Sunday but was unable to fly it because of a fuel feed & spinner problem.

 

Her Klunk flow his Magnum & what an impressive plane they are, I thought he was going quite quickly............until he opened the throttle :lol: .

 

I have worked on my Magnum tonight & will bring it up on Sunday to run another tank on the ground to see if my gremlins have cleared.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well flew Magnum again on Sunday in very windy weather and the engine was well playing up a bit...switched to 9*7 prop and the launch was just as hairy as the three previous launches on a 8*8 prop.

 

I think this time it was just an engine tuning issue which will be resolved..it flew well in the wind which is to be expected and was fast but not ballistic.

 

The engine died on the down wind leg of a pass in heavy wind at a moderate speed (was just trying to get a feel of the windy conditions at a lower speed in preparation for landing at about 40 feet and had to execute a hard right turn a bit to close to the pits as I could not go left over the oak tree or more like into the tree. Anyway called heads up and brought it in in front of the dead tree and just over the new path and ran out of elevator....and crunch....just need 6 inches and nose would have cleared the ground and not have hit first. Just need to hit the rates switch and would have had more elevator, the wind did not help as it landed cross wind and heading more down than upwind.

 

Buts the nose just as fuse meets the wing and cracked the cowl and bust prop.

 

On examination at home having stripped her down damage not to bad. Have already fixed the fuse and will reinforce with fiber glass clothe and resin and recover tonight good as new.

 

And thanks for all your help with setting up the engine Jimbo. It was working so well at one stage one small flick after priming and it was off idling like a four stroke.

Link to post
Share on other sites
And thanks for all your help with setting up the engine Jimbo. It was working so well at one stage one small flick after priming and it was off idling like a four stroke.

 

I'm learning alot from just watching / listening to Jimbo and his "pit stop" sessions :).

 

I hope Jimbo doesn't start to charge money for his time soon :shock::lol:

Link to post
Share on other sites

The magnum is repaired, looks almost as good as new, and engine tuned last night its running sweetly, thanks to Jimbos master class in engines over the last two weeks.

 

Its amazing I have two of the same engines running the same prop and the main and idle needle settings are different.

 

Still plane is ready now and waiting for a flying partner to chase me round the sky....

Link to post
Share on other sites

The magnum is repaired, looks almost as good as new, and engine tuned last night its running sweetly, thanks to Jimbos master class in engines over the last two weeks.

 

Its amazing I have two of the same engines running the same prop and the main and idle needle settings are different.

 

Still plane is ready now and waiting for a flying partner to chase me round the sky....

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well Mr Klunk I have just got back from the field and have run around 4 tanks through the Mirus. All that is left is the C of G, I need your help on this one as there is no info I can find anywhere that tells me what it should be.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Well Mr Klunk I have just got back from the field and have run around 4 tanks through the Mirus. All that is left is the C of G, I need your help on this one as there is no info I can find anywhere that tells me what it should be.

 

A stab in the dark here....... :-

 

Afew days ago I saw a half made Mirus on EBay, in the photo of the Mirus there was a manual / info sheets or something......

 

 

So if its still on EBay you could ask the seller :?

 

 

Edit :- Stabbing in the dark around EBay, will post if i find it.

 

 

Edit 2 :- Its not on EBay anymore, should have said something about it before when I first saw it, I think just forgot about it sorry Nutzs.

Edited by Guest
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.