• SeaBee Sport/F3A Pattern

    From Angus Mcleod@VERT/ANJO to Digital Man on Thursday, June 02, 2005 22:31:00
    I ordered it on Tuesday, and it's been shipped to me.

    http://www2.gpmd.com/image/p/pmma0345.jpg

    I don't know when it will reach me -- certainly not this week! I'm hoping that it reaches me some time *next* week, with time enough for assembly
    for a test flight by next weekend.

    This is not a remarkable aircraft in any way, but it is supposed to be F3A pattern-capable, so it must be capable of any move in the aerobatics
    'book'. I primarily chose this model because it is only $99.99 which is
    quite cheap. The airframe looks slippery, so it should be fast, and I
    hear that one of the problems with this model is a high landing speed. Luckily it has separate aileron servos and I've got a good Tx, so I can
    mix some flap into the surfaces to slow up the approach.

    Fingers crossed against unfortunate delays in shipment!


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    þ Synchronet þ Made of wood and glue, but mostly glue!
  • From Angus Mcleod@VERT/ANJO to Digital Man on Thursday, June 09, 2005 00:34:00
    Re: SeaBee Sport/F3A Pattern
    By: Angus Mcleod to Digital Man on Thu Jun 02 2005 21:31:35

    It arrived this morning! It's actually calles a "Sea Bee" (rather than "Seabee") but no never mind!

    It reached FLA yesterday just after mid-day, and I was wondering if it
    would reach me late this week (like Friday) or maybe early next week.
    They called me at around 9:30 this morning and said "Come and get it!"

    I've had a really busy day, and the rain has been pouring, but I've given
    it a cursory examination and it looks good. A couple of the club members
    have taken a look and they both agree that she should be nice and fast,
    and fully aerobatic. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it is
    *NOT* covered in the nasty, sticky-backed vinyl covering that I was
    willing to tolerate only due to the low cost of the model. It seems to be well covered in something ehich if it isn't actually MonoKote brand, is a reasonable clone thereof.

    It's got a LOT of rudder, due largely to the fin being very low-profile,
    but the rudder is still large. And the taim-moment is not short, so if I
    give her a quarter roll to knofe-edge and whack the rudder HARD, it should
    do an end-to-end cartwheel-type roll. Full ELE at the same time and the potential for violent snaps is somewhat frightening to contemplate! :-)

    Unfortunately, the assembly manual gives a three-step method of joining
    the wing with 30-minute epoxy. The working-time for 30-minute epoxy is supposed to be 2 hours, but that main wing-join is not one you want to
    take risks with, so I always give wing-joining epoxy 24 full hours to cure before disturbing the joint. A three-step procedure will require a
    minimum of 72 hours to join the wing! I could give it up and go for the
    more usual single-stem procedure, but... Do I want to rush it? No. I
    will take my time, do the job *RIGHT* and hopefully, encounter no problems down the line.

    Here's hoping no glitches arise during construction. I'll be posting
    photos as usual.

    Now, knowing my luck, there will be stormy weather for the next three months..... :-/


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    þ Synchronet þ Made of wood and glue, but mostly glue!
  • From Angus Mcleod@VERT/ANJO to Digital Man on Thursday, June 09, 2005 20:26:00
    Re: SeaBee Sport/F3A Pattern
    By: Angus Mcleod to Digital Man on Wed Jun 08 2005 23:34:23

    The aileron servos have been attached to the bay covers, and the wing
    halves have been joined. They shall remain undisturbed until tomorrow afternoon, when I will install the bay covers, as well as the aileron
    horns and linkages.

    Tomorrow, if I have time, I will start work on the horizontal stabilizer
    and elevator, as well as the fin and rudder. That should not be too troublesome unless the fit or alignment of the parts is poor. Shouldn't
    bem with a jig-built model.

    Photos (not many right now!) at:

    http://www.anjo.com/rc/aircraft/seabee/

    if you're interested.

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    þ Synchronet þ Made of wood and glue, but mostly glue!
  • From Digital Man@VERT to Angus Mcleod on Thursday, June 09, 2005 16:52:07
    Re: SeaBee Sport/F3A Pattern
    By: Angus Mcleod to Digital Man on Thu Jun 09 2005 12:34 am

    Unfortunately, the assembly manual gives a three-step method of joining
    the wing with 30-minute epoxy. The working-time for 30-minute epoxy is supposed to be 2 hours, but that main wing-join is not one you want to
    take risks with, so I always give wing-joining epoxy 24 full hours to cure before disturbing the joint. A three-step procedure will require a
    minimum of 72 hours to join the wing! I could give it up and go for the more usual single-stem procedure, but... Do I want to rush it? No. I
    will take my time, do the job *RIGHT* and hopefully, encounter no problems down the line.

    Good luck!

    Here's hoping no glitches arise during construction. I'll be posting
    photos as usual.

    I'll be checking them out as usual. :-)

    digital man

    Snapple "Real Fact" #9:
    The average speed of a housefly is 4.5 mph.

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