Nutmeg sailplane

[joe yap]

Just some pictures taken before the maiden flight.

[joe yap]

Today's winds are pretty mild and I decided to bring my Nutmeg to the local slope. I am rewarded with very smooth and pleasant flights. Although without ailerons, rudder turns are still very effective. It is floaty enough to fly on very mild breeze, but yet has enough penetration to move from places to places. Full spoilers won't turn it into a sinking brick, but a more predictable and mild braking and lift dumping effects.

In short, it's a very nice flying model and it's really very good value for money. I'll highly recommend this kit to any slope soaring enthusiast who are keen in building balsa kits. There isn't a lot to build in this kit anyway.

[Touch n Go]

Just some pictures taken before the maiden flight.

thx for the review!. bro did u maiden at punggol??

[joe yap]

Yes, it was done on the bungee.

[Nexxster]

Joe, slightly off topic, but I saw you in your photos with the nutmeg. Were you by any chance a PC in BMT at Nee Soon Camp around 1995? When I bumpped into you at Jet Hobby the other day, I thought you looked very familiar, but I could not recall where I could have met you before. Possibly on the ramp at Gate 502 clearing my DD Log and MELs?

Then I remembered that when I was in BMT, I had a PC called Lt Yap, who I spoke to about flying model planes. So I just wanted to know if that might possibly have been you.

Cheers!

[joe yap]

Joe, slightly off topic, but I saw you in your photos with the nutmeg. Were you by any chance a PC in BMT at Nee Soon Camp around 1995? When I bumpped into you at Jet Hobby the other day, I thought you looked very familiar, but I could not recall where I could have met you before. Possibly on the ramp at Gate 502 clearing my DD Log and MELs?

Then I remembered that when I was in BMT, I had a PC called Lt Yap, who I spoke to about flying model planes. So I just wanted to know if that might possibly have been you.

Cheers!

Affirmative. I was in Bravo Coy shortly for understudy before joining Charlie Coy. I was there only for 1/2 year before I ORD in 1996.

Not surprising at all, athough I didn't recognise you. One of my recruit in that year also became my batch boy as an LAE. There is also another LAE who was my stand-in PC in my recruit days.

I seldom take note of the flight crew while I work on aircraft, as my mind is always occupied at work even after clearing defects. After the actual work is done, we still got to raise and submit paperworks, not to mention concurrent jobs on hand. This is the life of an LAE.

[Touch n Go]

Affirmative. I was in Bravo Coy shortly for understudy before joining Charlie Coy. I was there only for 1/2 year before I ORD in 1996.

Not surprising at all, athough I didn't recognise you. One of my recruit in that year also became my batch boy as an LAE. There is also another LAE who was my stand-in PC in my recruit days.

I seldom take note of the flight crew while I work on aircraft, as my mind is always occupied at work even after clearing defects. After the actual work is done, we still got to raise and submit paperworks, not to mention concurrent jobs on hand. This is the life of an LAE.

hey bro, glad to noe tat ur a LAE, im interested in this line, how do i go about applying it? in SG onli 2company offering LAE scheme rite? thx!

[joe yap]

hey bro, glad to noe tat ur a LAE, im interested in this line, how do i go about applying it? in SG onli 2company offering LAE scheme rite? thx!

You'll need a Diploma in Mechnical, mechatronic, electrical or electronics to start off. Alternatively, you can take up Aeronautical engineering at Singapore Polytechnic, if I'm not wrong. Look out for opening for job interview from SIAEC in the newspapers. Each year, there will be at least one. Recently, there are about 2-3 batches in the last few years.

[Nexxster]

Wow Joe, what a small world! More then 10 years later running into you. It's good to know that great guys like you are keeping us safe in the air. I just want to say thank you to you and all the LAEs who do such a fantastic job. I know it's not easy at all, especially given the turn around times these days. But I truly appreciate the good work you guys do.

[Nexxster]

Hey Touch n Go, how are old are you if you don't mind me asking? Given your interest in flying, have you ever thought of joining tech crew?

[Forbes]

Hi everybody,

Let me introduce myself. I live in Japan and up until recently my interest have been R/C model scale ships and yachts. Where I live is in the mountains and I have found a group of people who fly slope soarers at what I understand is a good flying site.

After reading this build of the Nutmeg, I assembled one myself and am trying to learn how to control it. The language problem is a big one but I am determined to learn. I understand that this is a good soarer for a beginner like me, and assembly was not difficult. I modified the elevator horn bearing and put servos for the spoilers in the wing as suggested. But due to a left hand finger problem I fly on Mode 4 and everyone else flies on Mode 1, so the experts can't test fly for me.

However I have run into one thing that may be a problem. The rudder seems to be rather "floppy" ie I can move it by hand about 10-15 mm each side of center with a light push. The elevator is very positive. I reduced the rudder exponential to 0% and noticed a more positive turn when I moved the stick.

Am I worrying about something unimportant or should I try to fix the "floppiness" in the rudder control system? Any ideas how I could fix it, should that be the advice?

This is a great forum, and I have certainly learned a lot. Thank you very much

Ian

[Twyl]

Hi Ian, I am a newbie here on the Singapore boards, and technically not a local yet (likely to be soon though), so possibly I am not qualified to say so, but welcome to the Daddyhobby boards.

Regarding your rudder I think the answer if it's truly an issue or not may depend on how hard your "soft push" really is. Not being able to touch it myself I would suggest you error on the side of cation and try to fix the issue while it's still on the ground.

A couple questions for clarification:
1) When you have it powered on and are giving it full left or right rudder, are you still able to move/flex the control surface with your "soft push"?
2) If you hold the fuse of the plane (with wings off maybe?) and gently (or however strongly you are comfortable with) whipping it back and forth will the rudder flex or flutter?

The two issues you might have with a floppy rudder is either a slight lack of turning authority (i.e. turns like ocean liner), and it might develop some flutter at higher speeds.

To fix the problem you need to determine where the flex or slop as its called is happening and try to firm it up. Can you see where this is happening in the the rudder linkage? Very likely it is coming from a flimsy pushrod inside the fuselage or possibly where the pushrod is exiting the fuse and attaching to the horn. If you can figure out a way to secure the pushrod to the fuse by glue that would be great, but this can be tricky or impossible to do down the inside boom of a fiberglass fuselage. Alternatively what you can do if you have spare EPP or EPO or some other type of styrofoam is to cut a couple short lengths and shape them ruffly to the size of the fuse area you would like them to go inside and then ram them down the fuse. Here's a picture of a plane I did this to.





Alternatively you can replace the pushrod with a stiffer one such as carbon fiber or maybe even a balsa rod with wire extensions on both ends.

Anyways, I hope that helps some let us know what you do and how it goes. By the way I'd be curious to know where you are in Japan. I grew up over there in Osaka and my folks still live there. FYI here's a thread I started up a while back on RCGroups with the intent to list up all the slope sites in Japan. Let me know if your site is listed

Regarding your issues with Mode 1 vs Mode 4 it is possible to "buddy box" or use a trainer cable between Tx's and this can work even if the Tx's are different modes. In the states where I currently live I have trained people who have a Mode 2 Tx from my Tx which is mode 1. It sounds fairly simple and it can be if your Tx's are very similar and compatible, but be warned as it can get complicated to figure out pretty quickly.

If you are really new a d nevus about flying the glider you may want to ask one of the locals to temporarily set it up with their Tx/Rx and have them test fly it first just to be sure. You could at least figure out if the rudder is sound or not. After they prove or disprove it you could then switch the back out to your own and try flying it yourself with the assurance the plane is balanced right and flies well.

Cheers!

-Jonathan

[joe yap]

I'll second what Jonathon has mentioned. Try to fix the problem before it gives you more headache and heartache later. If you hi-start the Nutmeg, the sloppy rudder can flutter violently during launch and tear itself apart, especially if you have the tow hook set too far forward or the elevator trim set too far pitch down.

I have so far torn a wing apart form one of my self designed glider on hi-start, and the forces acting on the craft should not be under-estimated. Even if you were to fly a Nutmeg from a slope, it is very easy to pick up excessive speed during a dive and start the flutter.

If you can't find any slops on the linkage connections, then it must be the case of the push-pull rod buckling under compression. Sometimes, the servos horn itself is the main cause for slops. By the way, the Nutmeg's rudder is the most important flight control surface and occasionally takes the punishments of bad landings. In view of that, do yourself a favour and choose a good servo to go with it.

[Forbes]

Well, that's an awful lot of advice and help packed into two replies. Thank you very much.

Jonathan:
I live in Matsumoto and fly at Mount Takabochi. Your map shows Mt. Hachibuse as a slope site, but, to the best of my knowledge everybody uses Takabochi (elev 1670m. I think). The flying site is about 5km. South of Mt. Hachibuse and the winds come directly up the valley from Lake Suwa. Your map is a real treasure find, thank you for your work.

Your suggested method to put styrofoam inside an almost inaccessible fuselage got me thinking. I drilled a small hole in the bottom of the fuselage midway between the factory inserted plywood formers and injected a little expanding foam. Well, that improved the rudder rigidity immensely by fixing the push rod outers. Went out after lunch to fly and noticed that the rudder control was much crisper. The only problem was the dummy holding the transmitter as I hit a low post while practising landing. The glider will be repaired for Sunday. Yet another lesson in flying learned the hard way!


Joe:
I appreciate the warning, and will do anything possible to reduce the rudder slop. The servos I am using are JR and seem quite precise in their operation. I believe that part of the problem is the flexibility of the control outers and the rather unusual control horn that OKPilot supply with the Nutmeg kit. Haven't figured out what to do about the control horn yet, but I'm thinking.

I don't fly thermal and so don't use a winch or hi-start, but yes the Nutmeg can pick up a fair turn of speed on even a gentle dive across the slope.

Thank you both for your interest and advice.

Ian

[Twyl]

Well, that's an awful lot of advice and help packed into two replies. Thank you very much.

Jonathan:
I live in Matsumoto and fly at Mount Takabochi. Your map shows Mt. Hachibuse as a slope site, but, to the best of my knowledge everybody uses Takabochi (elev 1670m. I think). The flying site is about 5km. South of Mt. Hachibuse and the winds come directly up the valley from Lake Suwa. Your map is a real treasure find, thank you for your work.

Your suggested method to put styrofoam inside an almost inaccessible fuselage got me thinking. I drilled a small hole in the bottom of the fuselage midway between the factory inserted plywood formers and injected a little expanding foam. Well, that improved the rudder rigidity immensely by fixing the push rod outers. Went out after lunch to fly and noticed that the rudder control was much crisper. The only problem was the dummy holding the transmitter as I hit a low post while practicing landing. The glider will be repaired for Sunday. Yet another lesson in flying learned the hard way!

Hi Ian, glad to hear you were able to figure out a way to fix the slop issue. Too bad to hear about the midair with a post, I think we've all found a post or two before and generally the post always wins

I did some more searching on Mt. Takabochi and I'm blown away with some of the views you get from that slope sight of Mt. Fuji when it's clear. Absolutely gorgeous! I tried to figure out a way to post a kmz file (Google Earth format) here but wasn't able to so I posted one on the RCG's thread I had linked to earlier. If you have a moment please check it out and confirm if I got the right spot (trying to be as precise as possible). Also if you have any tidbits of info like how often it's fly able, if it's seasonal only, what strength of wind and what wind directions are acceptable that would be great as well!

Oh, and I'm sure we'd all love some pictures of your Nutmeg!

Cheers!

-Jonathan