Spee-Dee 010, a new build project

Awesome Andras!!…Kudos for self design and engineering!!!…. The keyboard gives good reference to its size….I look forward to doing something for .010 as well… When you’re all done I’d like to know it’s spec’s… Weight, Area, etc…

Thanks, Levent and Robert,

if this bird turns out to be airworthy, let alone, a fast flyer, I will definitely make some hand sketches of its details and send around to anyone interested....but it will not be known before next week...still waiting for the low-weight 15grams NiMH battery from a UK ebayer

Well I call ít a day today...the bird still awaits the battery and the own designed decals..

Brad, the bird is complete less the battery, and weighs 121 grams..with battery I figure it will be around 135 grams.






I could finally not meet my goal of less than 125 grams, because of the following:

1. I may have overdone fuel proofing with polyurethane spray, and inadvertently added a few grams to the wing and fuselage
2. Should have been a bit more brave in sanding the wing profile thinner. The dry/uncoated wing weighed 25 grams alone
3. Non-availability of miniature components in my area, including neighboring Austria, where model airplane component availability is  less miserable than in Hungary.. I did not even think of ebay sources outside the EU, because shipping time from US and China or similar distant source would have postponed the project by at least 1...1.5  months if not more, customs clearance another week or so,  and taxes and duties plus shipping costs would have doubled the budget for the gears (At least I have a fleet of Tee Dee 010-s already to choose from, which is the most expensive component)  

The micro-switch with charger cable included weighs 10 grams, could be less with a different, non-available unit
The Futaba receiver - the smallest I could find - weighs 9 grams, a different model - still not for park flying with 300 feet range only - would be lighter, if available
The HS-40 servos weigh 5 grams each..I originally wanted to use the HS-35 series and could have saved a few grams, but these are not available in my area

And yes, the firewall and the fuselage could have been more slender, but I am already having problems of accommodating all the above, oversized  payload inside the fuselage without bursting the belly of the plane!  

I may trim the cabling of the switch shorter and ease the problem of real estate, and weight, too.


In summary, with different, but here not available gear alone,  I could have saved at least 10 grams and stayed within the limit of 125 grams.

So it will not be such a good glider with the engine down as I wanted, nor meets the idiotic drone law limit of 125 grams, but was fun to build and will hopefully be the same to fly.

Hey András, my friend, that model airplane looks beautiful! Congratulations!
Hope to see you fly soon!

Goodaye Andras and all the best for the new year!

That plane is really something to be proud of!
Awesome build. If it flies half as good as it looks it will be a great plane to fly also.

Yabby

Thanks, Mauricio and Yabby for your nice words,

while waiting for the low-weight battery to arrive, I have pimped the bird up a little with some own-designed decals, the color theme being the TeeDee signature red+gold...well, I wish it flew well, not just look good, but we will see...


For those having difficulties in attaching the stock COX glow clip to the tiny head of the 010 TeeDee,  and using external tank, I share my simple idea here: I hooked a thin wire to the bottom 2 backplate screws inside the tank and led it out in a U-shape through the tank filling nipples. Now the inverted U-shape wire, connected to the crankcase with a metallic contact, will act as the "negative" pole of the glow head, and I connect one alligator clip to the wire, another to the glow head tip. Much better and more reliable contact than the stock COX clip that tends to pop-off the head when cranking the engine with the starter spring.

Perfect work Andras The sticker on elevator are original one which comes with TD 0.10 engine?

Thank you very much, Brad,

the surface load of the plane (wing, fuselage and horizontal stabilizer areas included ) is around 0.258g/cm2 which is less than that of some of my 049 powered planes, that glide well...so chances are this will not drop from the sky like a piece of rock

Yes, I went with the 150 mAh NiMH battery of 1/3AAA size, I bought a flat and a square block too, not sure which will sit in the fuselage easier. Should arrive tomorrow.

Levent Suberk wrote:Perfect work Andras The sticker on elevator are original one which comes with TD 0.10 engine?

Thank you very much, Levent,

I have reproduced all the COX stickers, and composed some of my own design, and printed them on Avery Crystal Clear labels of adhesive, transparent A4 size sheets, then cut them out.

The 150mAh batteries have finally made it to my door, each weighs around 16 grams, and the flat in-line found accommodation in the nose tank compartment. The other, square block is also OK if placed behind the tank compartment, but would bring the CG a bit to aft, and I prefer the flat in-line.



The all-up weight with no fuel ended at 138.37 grams=4.88 oz, corresponding to a rough 0.26 grams/sq.cm wing load. Will see how it flies then glides, weather permitting, this weekend.

She looks really good Andras The decals you made are very nice I like the colors .. I can see where you would have some issues with room for the larger components, would have been nice to slender the firewall down as to get more air not beeing a swarm effect before pushing over the fuse /wing Maybe go with the order for smaller equipment and have it for the next build !?!? I hope the maiden goes well for you and gives you pleasure

Thanks a lot, Eric, for your nice words...yes, the nose section and the fuselage dimensions are a compromise because of non-availability - within reasonable time and budget - of the more miniaturized components.

As written a few posts above, the micro-switch, the receiver, and servos could all have been one notch smaller, but if I had elected to apply these, I would still be waiting for the components to arrive from outside the EU, from where importing these days is a pain in the neck, and add 50%+ extra cost due to customs duties + 27% VAT we pay for non-EU imports in Hungary.

I trust this will still be a good flyer, will come back on this thread once the maiden flight has been done.

It turned out beautiful Andras, Congratulations!! Love the graphics, Goes perfect with the design!!

Great idea on the plug on the .010!…, I did something similar on mine I recently purchased …. Just for bench run I flattened a copper wire to be a friction fit on the cylinder fins for ground then an alligator clip to the head…. I think a fixed ground like you have and an alligator clip is a perfect permanent solution…

Sometimes old electronic equipment may have micro switches if you are a scrounger like me… Also, I’ve seen in old magazine articles where they would use one pin and socket from say an old servo plug and battery connector for a switch with just one wire to energize…. Just some thoughts on switches

I think your weight is fine…. I normally use grams-sq in but found the multiplier so I could understand yours better…. To compare: Pageboy’s weight came out to .276 g- cm2 and I’m OK with that…. I have an Ace Littlest Stick that flies at .299 g-cm2 and works fine…Handles a breeze well too…

Good job friend, Your work is clean and neat and well thought out….

Robert

These can be more than just flying machines, they can be works of art and craftsmanship. Great examples posted here, Mauricio's and others.

Bob

Thanks of lot, Robert, for the kind words.

I could have put a micro-switch into the bird cannibalized from an electric candle that you also suggested before, with much less dead weight than 10 grams of the switch I actually use, but this one has a separate (3rd) charging cable that dangles out on the side of the plane, never necessitating to dismantle it for charging, or for checking the remaining voltage between two flights (I am a bit concerned with having only 150mAh on board) ...the charge cable does it all without removing the wind to open the fuselage. I may sink it into the wing saddle to eliminate the approx. 0.5mm gap between the wing and saddle where the cable exits.



Good to hear that your planes have approximately the same wing load as my Lil Spee-Dee, it reassures me this plane, unusually slender in my fleet, will really glide and not just fall from the sky like a meteor.

More to come once I have the conditions for a maiden flight given

rsv1cox wrote:These can be more than just flying machines, they can be works of art and craftsmanship.  Great examples posted here, Mauricio's and others.  

Bob

Bob, your words embarrass my humble self, thank you..you should know that I am more than excited for this lil bird to prove it can fly as well as it looks...I am really having the butterfly zipping up and down in my stomach before the maiden flight..

balogh wrote:

rsv1cox wrote:These can be more than just flying machines, they can be works of art and craftsmanship.  Great examples posted here, Mauricio's and others.  

Bob

Bob, your words embarrass my humble self, thank you..you should know that I am more than excited for this lil bird to prove it can  fly as well as it looks...I am really having the butterfly zipping up and down  in my stomach before the maiden flight..

I just like the way it all came together. Unique and beautiful..............and extremely well done.

I am pleased to announce that the Lil Spee-Dee has succesfully completed its maiden flights, 3 in a row, before I decided to stop with the RX battery voltage falling near 5V. No video this time, but will also shot some later..

The plane flies like an arrow, required minimum trimming, only the servo speed had to be lowered to smoothen the elevator throws.

I was totally agitated and worried before the maiden flight, because this is a prototype plane that I built out of my mind and imagination. Now I am already thinking of building its brother slightly scaled up for my 020 TeeDee-s

Congratulations Andras!!!…. A well thought out design and then scratch built is impressive!!!….It’s very nice when all the planning and work comes together and is successful …. Did it get up on the step easily?? …. In other words were you able to climb out from hand launch without having build up much speed in the beginning? When you are able please take some video…. Would love to see that angry .010 buzzing around

Robert

Good to Hear everything went as planned for the median with out problems and your happy with it !