WATTage B2 Stealth ARF

Continued

A soldering gun is used as a foam cutter to provide additional clearance for the servo's push control wire. A piece of 16 gauge copper wire was bent to the shape of the intended cut. Then the wire is heated and pushed into the foam and pulled across, cutting the foam. Be sure not to use too much heat... The foam melts easily. This provides a straight line between the elevon control horn and the servo control arm.

Both servos were connected to the Tetra receiver. The right servo is connected to channel 3 (the elevator channel) and the left servo connected to channel 2 (the aileron channel). Both servo c control arms were centered. Then the control arm screws were reinstalled. Then the servos were attached to the fuselage using the Velcro like material in the kit. Rather than use a Z-bend on the control horn end of the push wire, a U-bend was used. This works just as well, but is easier to do. A heated flattened brass tube was used to cut a hole between the servo pocket and the radio area on top of the fuselage. This makes for a much cleaner appearance.

The shows the wiring of the servo, motors, and speed control. The connector originally installed on the motors was cut off. A heated 4-40 push rod was used to melt an access path between the motors and the radio area. This method is more difficult to do than cutting a slot with a knife and taping the wires down, but looks much better. Be careful not to use too much heat! Heat the push rod a little and start pushing it through the foam, then reheat the rod when it stops. Take your time and do this in little steps.

The motors are wired in parallel, just as they were on the original connector. We just soldered the black wires to the minus (-) side and the red ones to the plus (+) side. The motors were tested to make sure the air is pushed toward the back of the model.

Really not much left to do. We did not attach the outside elevon surfaces to the center ones yet. It seemed easier to do this once the control wires were attached so they hold the center elevon in position. So, we will be finishing the elevon installation, adding the batteries, balancing the model (Critical!), and decorating it. Then we will weigh it, take a few more photos, and test fly it!

You can see by the dents that we have had quite a few flights. The plane flew into the tables in the meeting hall. Once trimmed, the plane flew great.
You can also see the speed controller and battery. All the electronics are a tight fit. Moving this stuff around is the way to balance the aircraft.

Last Updated 10/17/00

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