E-flite UMX ASK 21 Sailplane

On occasion I do purchase ready-to-fly model airplanes instead of building, my latest purchase was the E-flite UMX ASK 21 radio control sailplane. This sailplane is just so cute that I could only resist seeing it on the hobby shop shelf (Everything Hobby) for so long.  Part of why I purchased this sailplane was that everything would easily pack into the box it came in which made it great for bringing it along on trips. It is a small sailplane with a wingspan of 34" but it has tiny servos to control ailerons, rudder, elevator, and remote towhook release for aerotow.

Transmitter Not Included

Everything Fits Back in Box

As of yet I have not tried the aerotow but I have flown the glider from a small slope and have done hi-start launch which is included with the glider. The ASK 21 flew well from the small slope in wind that was probably around 10 mph. It does not take a lot of lift to keep it up but the kinetic energy of a glider that weighs under 3 ounces is pretty small. This means the glider will have to carry a good amount of speed to perform a maneuver such as a loop. The receiver of the glider has the AS3X technology which is suppose to make flying smoother, not sure how much it helps as I have not flown it without that feature. With a scale-like look this glider is rather hi-aspect ratio which is not conducive to super stable flight. So far any minor crashes have not hurt the glider at all.

Hi-start Launch

Canopy Held on With Magnets

Launching on the hi-start took me some practice to get good launches consistently. I found that it helped to use some throw with the launch to get the glider moving faster right way. Without the momentum given to the glider by throwing, the start of the launch was rather wobbly. It was windy at times the day I tried the hi-start also which does not help. Not a real good day for thermal flying either.  On a better day I will try to see if can get the ASK 21 to climb in thermal lift, I would assume so.

** Addition 8/3/2013 Slope Soaring ASK-21

I did more slope soaring with the ASK-21 and it really flew well, with a small slope it looks to be more in scale with the slope making the slope look larger.

** 9/7/2013 Update
From a hi-start launch I was able to have the ASK-21 climb in thermal lift. I was getting better launches also, it helps to give a throw on launch or the glider will stall on the launch. The wing will bend but so far it has not broken for me.

ASK 21 had Amazing Glide Indoors

Bill Kuhl

htttp://www.ideas-inspire.com

Important Concepts Learned Through Projects

I tried to come up with some important concepts in my opinion, that would be valuable working on projects from my website and also in many things in life. This is what I came up with:

* How to find the resources for what you are trying to do.

* Recognizing that something can be improved on and thinking of ways to do it.

* Visualizing how something would go together and would work.

* Narrowing down a problem and discarding what is not relevant to the solution.

* Recognizing the small differences that can make a big difference.

* What are the positive and what are negative components?

Finding Material Resources

 

 

Recognizing Improvement Needed

 

 

Boat Fender was Better Idea

 

Glider Needs Minor Adjustment to Stop Dive




Much Better Glide

 

Rockets Went Higher With More Tape on Nose

 

Improvements Needed to Electric Motor Design

 

 

Bill Kuhl

http://www.scienceguy.org



 

Fuel My Brain - Rochester Minnesota

Kevin Guy the proprietor of Everything Hobby in Rochester Minnesota started a nonprofit program known as Fuel My Brain for kids. One Saturday a month for over a year there was a project build activity for kids and an adult. The activities were much like what I was doing with ScienceGuyOrg, for most of the sessions the attendance was good. Luckily there was a large school yard across the street from the hobby shop where we could try out projects like water rockets and kites. Kevin provided a very nice classroom space.

Presently the program has been taking a little break but hopefully will start up sometime in the future. It was a big commitment for Kevin because he or his hobby shop staff had to take time away from the hobby shop on the busiest day of the week. There were some great volunteer helpers also but more would have been better.

I have to believe the kids and everyone else that participated got much out of this, I know I sure did. Take notice of how well the kids and the adults bonded together when working on a project. In many cases the kids were learning how to use a ruler or other tools. Older kids were normally there alone but younger kids could be with a parent, grandparent, or a teacher might bring a group of kids.


 Bill Kuhl
http://www.ideas-inspire.com

Thermal Soaring This Week

Finally got a chance the first part of this week to do some thermal soaring with radio control gliders, a hobby I have enjoyed for some time. On Sunday I flew a Radian Pro glider in slightly windy conditions but thermal lift was good. Climbing to a fair altitude the glider encountered thermal lift right way, it seemed almost too easy. After that it took many tries of power-on flying and gliding to connect with lift again.

Gentle Lady Sailplane by Carl Goldberg is a Classic

Monday the sun was out and the wind was light but I was back to work, when I left work it was starting to get cloudy again but I thought I would try flying Gentle Lady 2-meter glider from hi-start launch even if conditions did not look good for thermal air currents. Normally thermals are rather weak by late afternoon anyway but I noticed after one launch the glider was not coming down and might be climbing at times. With little breeze the glider did not have to waste energy trying to penetrate the wind.

Fly With Tiny Control Adjustments

This is when I really enjoy the thermal glider flying when the lift is marginal you have to keep working to keep the glider from coming down yet it is not climbing to an altitude where it is a tiny dot in the sky. I made very gentle turns so as to not create extra drag or lose altitude that would be hard to regain. This type of model flying might not be too exciting for the spectators but for the pilot you have to be constantly be watching for subtle signs the glider is gaining altitude, losing altitude, or changing speed. I like to think it is more my mind that is keeping it up than the thermal air currents.

Sailplane Lands With no Control Input

After several minutes it became apparent that the glider was getting lower and landing would be the next maneuver. The glider was adjusted so well and on a good heading so I just let it land by itself and I took a picture.

Bill Kuhl
http://www.ideas-inspire.com

Building 2 Pole Electric Motor Kit

In my quest for ideas in building a better electric motor I purchased four electric motor kits to give me more ideas to design another 2-pole motor. This has worked well for me with model airplanes, I have found many good ideas from building kits and have found ideas that could cause trouble. In building this 2-pole motor kit I could see that I did not use enough wire for the coil windings in the motor I had designed.

In building the kit the wood parts for the kit were all laser-cut which made for a good fit. I was worrying about finding a "soft iron" core for my motor but this motor used a couple of small bolts for the core. Like my motor the shaft was solid brass but the bearings were wood while I had used plastic. I got the wood bearings as free as I could but I think the plastic would still have less friction.

Brush on the Right has Big Gap  

Holding Brushes the Motor Did Run

In the kit the commutator was made from the ends of the wire coming off the coils. The brushes need to be bent to a curve so there is contact with the wires.  This appears to be difficult to form accurately enough and maybe is not supported well enough either. The one time I got the motor to run I had my fingers supporting the brushes. I would like to make some changes with the brushes and see if this motor might run better.

If Only Wire Brushes Could be Bent This Well 

2-Pole Motor I had Built

Bill Kuhl
http://www.ideas-inspire.com

Floyd Richards - Mentor / Friend

In past blog posts I have mentioned one individual that taught me more about model aviation than anyone else and also was a big inspiration for me to teach others what I had learned. His name was Floyd Richards. In my post about indoor free flight I had mentioned how someone had given me Floyd's name to contact after they had seen me flying a rubber free flight airplane at the local radio control field. We would not only fly indoor free flight, indoor radio control, and radio control soaring together but would also have lunch together on occasion. When I needed a little help on some model airplane problem he would invite me over to his shop and I helped him with computer problems.



Floyd Richards Surrounded

AMA Cub Scout Event

Floyd was a retired engineer when I met him; he was very detail-oriented as well as a perfectionist. Sometimes his was manner could be seen as slightly odd, but I embraced his brilliance. The only picture I could find of Floyd was him helping at an AMA Cub build for a group of cub scouts.  Floyd was good at helping kids but it was really not his deal. He would was wonderful with helping me to a point but expected that I would follow through and complete the task, as it should be.

Floyd's Gentle Lady Sailplane in Flight

Floyd got the use of the local armory for indoor flying and at one time had modelers from surrounding cities coming to fly in Winona. Even though most were flying indoor RC airplanes he would convince them to build a certain free flight rubber plane for an informal contest.

Floyd Sold me Camera Plane

When Floyd moved away to be closer to family we continued to email on a regular basis. He always wanted me to come and visit but I always felt I was too busy with something. And then it was too late.

Sailplane Floyd Sold me to Get me Started 

Floyd Appears in this rather poor quality video and almost gets hit by a landing airplane:


Related Blog Posts
http://scienceguyorg.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-start-in-indoor-radio-control.html
http://scienceguyorg.blogspot.com/2013/04/free-bird-rubber-powered-ornithopter.html
http://scienceguyorg.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-start-into-indoor-free-flight.html
http://scienceguyorg.blogspot.com/2013/04/start-in-radio-control-glider-flying.html

Bill Kuhl
http://www.ideas-inspire.com

Magnetic Switch Motor Kit

Having struggled to design and build my own 2-pole electric motor I purchased four motor kits from Kelvin. The first motor I constructed was one that used a magnetic switch, there are no brushes used in this motor. Also somewhat different is that there are four magnets mounted to a disk that the motor shaft goes through in the center, two coils are outside of this. To connect and disconnect the electrical connection is a tiny magnetic switch. The magnetism of the permanent magnets closes the magnetic switch as it comes near. A tiny arc of electricity is visible as in the center of the switch as the motor runs. It sounds good in theory but I wondered why five of the magnetic switches were included, the first one only lasted a few minutes of running so now I know why.

What impressed me with this kit was that it was created from thick plastic, this makes for a good bearing surface for the motor shaft to run through and the structure is very rigid. Plastic parts are glued together but the instructions did not specify the type of glue to use. I used CA and then an accelerator spray to set the bond which made a mess of the motor appearance.

Motor is Running

One thing I learned is that in the 2-pole motor I had built most likely I did not wind anywhere near enough wire on the coils.  When I unwound the wire in the kit I had wire strung out all over the house, what a mess. The total wire length must have been at least 50 feet. I had also been trying to find a "soft iron" core but this motor uses a couple of small bolts for the core.

Magnetic Switch

Directions for the motor could be better but I did get it working. The magnetic switch is on a slider plate so you can adjust the position for best performance. Sometimes the motor would quit running and sometimes it took a few tries to get it started. Then it would not start at all so I replaced the magnetic switch. I do not see this motor listed on the Kelvin website today, so not sure what that means.

Look forward to more reports on the other motors I purchased.

Bill Kuhl
http://www.ideas-inspire.com