part two :
LS-3 modification 1
LS-3 modification 2
All RC models made :
Claudio
Thanks again Claudio.
I am very curious about the pulleys that you show here and there in the sail control.
How do you keep the sail sheet on the pulley? For my first footy I am planning to control the sheet directly from the end of the servo arm, since I am using a fairly powerful servo. (HS 85)
The WES servo looks interesting.
I read the RC Groups thread where Brett describes building his small boats and l took a look at the Falcon Breeze Block which looks very good for small boats and planes. I have been building RC planes for well over forty years!
I am still working on my first Footy, which is also the first RC boat of any type that I am building. When I was twenty-two I built a full sized Windmill class sloop and the following year I bought a Thistle. My flying buddy bought an old International Fourteen which I helped put into sailing condition and sailed with him many times. He later bought a twenty-eight foot cruising boat that he had for maybe ten years. In other words, I have a lot of experience building, repairing and sailing full sized boats and a lot of experience with RC flying, but this is the first time I am putting the two things together.
Pete
I have a couple of Falcon servos lying around that I’ve never used so I have the raw materials. I also have some of the lightest Blue Arrow servos.
I like the winch conversion, and that is quite an interesting fleet you have there!
I will probably never get that far because of airplanes and my other “hobby.”
http://home.att.net/~peteschug/
I tend to be a careful worker, but I have too many things that I work on.
Still, I have a strong interest in very small sailboats, especially for visiting an old sailing friend, now retired and living well inland, but with a small pond right outside his front door. I should be building my boats two at a time!
Pete
Claudio, may I ask what the little fins on the bulb do?
Nothing hydrodinamically, just to keep the model standing upright !!!
Claudio
Some additionals pics showing as the sheet is maintained in the pulleys :
as in the 240mm hull using the LS-3modified
Claudio
Did you make the pulleys on the servo arm?
If so, a very neat job, if not, where can I get similar ones?
Lovely work on all that stuff. I am going to have to be more careful on my next boat!
Pete
No, just purchased in model shop.
Mines are coming from a French shop called Cap Maquettes : http://www.cap-maquettes.com/bienvenue/welcome_america.htm
under boating equipment : select " blocs"
Claudio
Pete - please indicate where you are located (country at least)
If here in the US - most good hobby shops (especially those that cater to sailing) carry the PeKaBe brand. If you want it to look good, try Model Marine Corporation for miniature Harken stuff.
http://hardware.scalemodelco.com/harken/main.html
You can also check the suppliers listed in Classifieds on the AMYA web pages.
Thanks Claudio and Dick.
I am in NYC and have paypal so ordering stuff on line is easy and familiar.
My first boat is coming along pretty nice. I may have put the fin too far forward, but then again, so is the rig.
I look forward to finishing this so I can start on something new with all the stuff I’ve learned.
Pete
Pete,
probably is out of topic, but about the fin and rig put forward, I just studiing to do the same on my next Class M.
The rationale is that I believe that exist an “ideal position” of the “couple” CLR-CE. along the hull lenght or more specifically the LWL.
I believe that something may exist in relation to the position of the main section as identified by the Curve of Areas.
Obviously the bulb, shall br positioned as such to maintain “statically” the horizontal position of the LWL.
There should be a point along the longitudinal axis where to fix the mast, and the boat can than be considered as “pulled” instead of “pushed” .
“Pulled” boat should be more stable and fast, at least I think so.
But all that is another topic.
Claudio
In another thread Brett pointed out some things I hadn’t thought of about my raked pivot point, and thinking about it I came to the conclusion that how much I rake the mast itself on the McRig might solve more than one problem.
I think if the relationship between CLR and CE is correct it doesn’t matter a lot where they are. It is similar to the center of gravity on the wing of an airplane. You can move the wing anyplace as long as the CG is in the right place wherever the wing is. With the correct CG placement you have both stability and good control. I look at the underwater shape of a sailboat as an analog of an airplane, with the fin keel acting like the wing and the rudder, like the elevator.
With airplanes, as long as you know how to calculate where the CG belongs it doesn’t matter where the wing is placed. On a boat a certain relationship must be maintained because you can only move the CE so much within reason on a normal boat.
I think I am babbling!
Anyway, I am not too worried about my forward fin placement except that so many boats seem to have the fin further back than mine. But Brett also commented that my rig was too far forward, so hopefully fin and sail-plan will balance. Also, my boat is very wide at the bows, rather than being narrow in front. That is partly to prevent the bows from being driven under by the forward sail placement.
You can see from my boat that a lot of my experience is with dinghies rather than large displacement boats. The desire is to have a broad hull to stand up to the wind better. I like the idea of both ballast and beam to provide “stiffness.” Don’t forget, it is a footy and I want to fill that box as much as possible while still having a boat-like shape.
Pete
…and I want to fill that “box” as much as possible while still having a boat-like shape.
Like this one ?
Is sailing very well with an “automatic rudder” while the RC it will arrive later…
I’m jocking !
Claudio
Hi Claudio,
Very cute, you have to be a little nuts to get into the hobby that far!
Pete
Was just for fun, made in two hours time showing to Brett that can be made even smaller and still sailing well…smaller nut or hazel-nut ?..
Claudio
I’m liking the thread. Like very small planes the smallest boats are using the best avaialble bits.
Have you met the Toki servo?
http://www.micronradiocontrol.co.uk/toki.html
and lots of other places
Looks interesting for the rudder. Naturally as an indoor flyer I would rip out all the excess weight (ie most of the casing)
While thinking about (legal) radio it ocurred to me the the plantraco is probably the ideal, for lots of reasons - tiny arial, not heavy, not too large and legal for surface use (??anywhere) I think that there are 3 “bands” which is at least bertter than bitcar.
andrew
Andrewh,
yes I knows it , but the system using a memory wire or similar, consumes continuos current in proportional function, reducing drastically the use of the 130mA/h battery needed for the swing-rig and rudder.
Cd
The Toki is a muscle wire actuator. I am not sure it has the strength for a boat rudder. Matt Keenonn has used muscle wire in some very small planes, but the heavier you go on muscle wire the slower it responds, so it tends to be best for light applications. (two inch boats???)
Edit: On the other hand 15 grams/centimeter is probably enough. I wonder if there is any way to make a winch, by wrapping a length of muscle wire around a non-conductive cyclinder. You would need two wraps, one for each direction. and the non-conductivity would have to include temperature.
Pete
Rudder torque is actually quite low.
On my 4 inch yacht I used a 7mm Bit car motor as an actuator, the strength of this motor used in this way must be very low but was adequate for the job.
smaller pager motors or purpose built actuators could be used to go smaller.
sailing rudder only can be fun…tack downwind and upwind,greatly simplifies the building and fitting out of a micro yacht.
Hi Andrew,
Do you think that the Plantraco gear would be useful on a footy? ie handle the current demanded by the winch and happily run on 4 AAs.
Obviously it would be bad news entering a reggatta with multiple Plantraco users( just like the old days of r/c sailing I guess)
Maybe the JMP or Micro Invent RXs would be more sutible.