The Precision Aerobatics Bandit 3D Racer : Build and Fly Log

Started by rcpilotacro, June 10, 2012, 06:18:44 AM

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rcpilotacro

First PA Bandit landed here in India with the bling , bags and a PA Tees too, thanks to Mr Adad, very well packed, neat, and in 5 days from Australia to Meghalaya, here is the unboxing pic, watch out more build and fly log



and PA Tees

Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

rcpilotacro

first impression

pluses are :-

(a) Build quality is very neat

(b) Pre Hinged Aileron, compensated for aileron drag and therefore Induced aileron Yaw is minimised

(c) Hinge line is sealed, thereby reducing back force on the servo and preventing leak of top and bottom surface pressure

(d) CNC Machined CF batt tray

(e) Balsa Fused with CF, strong and light

(f) Very easy access  canopy hatch

(g) Bling package has the wing bags designed to protect wings with the VGs, CF Spinner and Wheel Pants

(f) Very well made motor box, however with previous two experiences i can tell you, it need reinforcement before mounting

(g) CF Reinforced servo tray, means no slack in movement and strong hold

(h) Double CF wing

(i) Stab and elevator pre-hinged and sealed
Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

rcpilotacro

#2
Electronics

1. This will have Thrust 40 Motor ( http://www.thrustmotors.com/thrust40.html)

2. 12 Gram Metal Gear servos

3. 60 Amps Blue series ESC from HK

4. German flexible preventing RF noises and features low internal resistance servo extensions

5. 12 x 6 prop

6. 4S 2200 mah nanotech batt

PS
Also read this post of Anwar Bhai (Which started my sojourn (and finally enamored) with Precision Aerobatics) http://www.rcindia.org/electric-power/precision-aerobatics-high-quality-arf-kits/
Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

rcpilotacro

Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

KALYANPRODHAN

Hey MJA,
Take care of your body. Looks like slight dehydrated in summer. Use plenty of frutes and frute juice. This is not only for your health but for our guide. ;D

Please take care.
We have to unite and to prove ourself to make indigenous products as well as marketing / Canvasing them. I'm sure we must achieve success if we try unitedly.

rcpilotacro

Thanks Kalyan Da

Had to sleep on a electric blanket last night and at this place temp in the morning was 8 Deg (It is always 6-7 deg less than town because of height), that is the summer i am enjoying here, and like i told you, make a trip and let us fly together (Make it on a sat or sun)
Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

rcpilotacro

Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

Vasudev

#7
Got the pa bandit red a month back
i have broken the carbon fiber landing strut so replaced with aluminum strip
so plane kisses the ground for landing  :giggle:



Regards
Vasudev

santhosh


sundaram

Quote from: KALYANPRODHAN on June 10, 2012, 07:13:05 AM
Hey MJA,
Looks like slight dehydrated in summer.

Kalyan Gusty is loosing lot of excess baggage with his strict fitness regime now a days. Every time I am on phone with him, he is on a Trek or Jog. :)

I am really envious to follow suite.

Congratulations Gusty for the Bandit

rcpilotacro

Quote from: santhosh on June 12, 2012, 11:41:12 AM
so gusty you are not the first in india   ;)

ok Santa ! i stand corrected !! first to fly Bandit like a Bandit :giggle:

Vasu
Good flying there , some 3D ? video ?
Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

Vasudev

Thank you augustine sir
she was Airborne only twice
too much wind
waiting for this week end will try out 3D if wind is favorable

Regards
Vasudev

rcpilotacro

Quote from: sundaram on June 12, 2012, 01:11:15 PM

..Gusty is loosing lot of excess baggage with his strict fitness regime now a days.

Looks like finally i have an upper hand in 'The Battle of Bulge' thanks, watch out for build and fly of bandit
Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

rcpilotacro

#13
here is the pic with my daughter of the PA Bandit post successful maiden, maiden was done while it was drizzling, had to land back as the drizzle became rain, like santhosh says you can hardly see the aeroplane in the video (Followed theleabres style) camera on the ledge. Took off and entered hover straight, well set at 103mm cg, controls neutral, no trim, flew like a dream
Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

sundaram

Gusty some photo which I took

santhosh

Congrats on the maiden,waiting for the videos,hope I can see the bandit
Bandit instead of the sky this time ;D

sundaram

Ha Ha Ha  ;D

The time we choose to fly is all wrong. Late in evening the light condition is always very bad.  Added to that the infinity focus camera with wide angle of view makes it more worse.

santhosh


rcpilotacro

Quote from: rcpilotacro on June 21, 2012, 08:12:34 PM
like santhosh says you can hardly see the aeroplane in the video

same story santa ! will put up the video, see if you can spot the aeroplane, if you can, i will give you one Muttai ! what say :giggle:

Quote from: santhosh on June 21, 2012, 10:11:46 PM
I will try try to come there to shoot for you :)

waiting ! eagerly
Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

sundaram


rcpilotacro

#20
Checks before you assemble
1. Check  for any damage. Mine had, a few ribs had (May be transportation, may be production scatter, minor repairs as needed)

2. Check for warp, Tape the Control surface in the neutral position at the wing root and see length of the control surface to ensure they are perfectly straight. Most of the time they are not. Atleast all my three aeroplanes had warped aileron and or elevator if there is wash-out or wash-in (Check my Aerodynamics Jargon post for definition), remove it by slowly twisting the control surface to the opposite direction and applying hobby iron to the wrinkles on the covering that will form because of your twist.

A few Tips
1. Epoxy can be cleaned using Denatured Alcohol.
2. Magnets may be fused. (My addiction had this problem, may be the Chinese factory where it is made sometimes, sit the hatch before the glue dries up) excessive force will break it. Some ingenuity required there to remove them
I have used Voltec servos, they are OK, here is the pic, my servos (All four) doesn't centre well, reported the matter to PA, will send them a video to if they want, let us see what they do ?

Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

rcpilotacro

#21
A few Cuts !!  ;D
1. Iron around the edges.

2. Make openings in the covering film, (a) aileron servos. (b) servo cables, (c) wing bolts, (c) wing anti-rotation pins (d) elevator servo (d) rudder servo (e) landing gear (f) cooling air exit (g) wing tube,


3. Save the cut covering for later use.
Aileron opening is too big on the fuse, after attaching the wing you will see a bit of the outside world.
Tips
1.  Opaque covering needs to be marked from the inside to cut from the outside.
2. Elevator servo and rudder servos could be mounted on the same/opposite side.
3. Dry fit the control horns, before gluing.
4. Hot paperclip could be used to cut, I used Xacto 11.
5. cut extra and seal them with iron.

Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

rcpilotacro

#22
Ailerons
1. A pair of 9" extension leads is needed.
2. See image, take out the extension through he given opening.

3. Tight fit is not good, enlarge the opening.
4. Use a Pin-vice to drill a hole on the mounting tab.

Tips
1. Dead Centre Locator tool is recommended however not required.

2. Do not use excessive on this aeroplane anywhere, remember this aeroplane is .60 size aeroplane weighing less than .20 size, so all balsa and CF are thin for their size
3. Same goes for servo mounting hole, holes needs to be reinforced, else you run the risk of servo coming off in flight. (My addiction aileron servo came off, inspite of this reinforcement)
Control linkages installing them is a pain, if you make a mistake undoing them is again difficult
1. 3.5"  one (Shorter ones) are for ailerons.
2.  Control horns, Two identical are for Ailerons, One with a Single Hole is for elevator and one with Double Holes is for Rudder
3. Sand CF control horn's base.
4. Dry  fit the CF horn.
5. Use the metal clevis, clean it, it could have rust/dirt in it (Mine had).
6. Connect metal clevis to the aileron horn. Enlarge hole if required.
7. Dry  fit the 2.0mm bolt.
8. Fit the M2x6mm clevis bolt and check for a smoothess.
9. Over tightening will clamp the fork.
10. Once all ok, apply Loctite.
12. Install the metal clevis for other control surfaces too.
13. Epoxy the control horns perpendicular to the control surface.
14. Epoxy bulb will create a solid base to the horn.
15. Support till glue sets.
Tips
1. Servo arm at 90 degrees to the servo case ensures linear and symmetrical throws in both directions without the need of sub-trims. cut off the other three unused arms if you want to.
2. PA Carbon Fiber servo arms are required for 3D, you can DIY too. These are not included with the kit, you will have to buy them separately.
3. Ball link goes on the bottom side of the servo arm in this sequence M2x8mm bolt/ball link/CF arm/nut.
4. Apply Loctite.
5. Lightly sand, CF pushrods for good bonding.
6. Servo arm at 90 degrees to the servo case in the neutral position (Tape them on both ends), dry fit CF pushrod.
7. Shorten the CF pushrod if required to fit into the ball link.
8. Tip sanding if needed.
9. Once done, epoxy one end of the pushrod and insert it into the other end epoxy that too.
10. Pushrod and the ball link positioned horizontally to the clevis and pushed in. Servo arm to be 90° and neutral position BEFORE the epoxy sets.

Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

rcpilotacro

#23
Landing Gear  
2. The order of fitting is Bolt/ Black Washer/CF gear strut/ Two lock nuts /Wheel /Lock Nut..
3. The wheel between the two lock nuts tight enough to free rotate with no wobble.

4. Tyres and rims may require some glueing.

5. Loctite it.

1. LH RH  LG struts are different see image.
2. Wheel pants at max height for flying from grass. See image.
3. Mark and pinvice the self tapping screw hole with a 1.5mm bit may be.
4. Using the self-tapping screw attach wheel pants.
5.Tap and not not apply force on the self tapping screw (That's why it is called Self Tapping Screw  :o).
6. Use M3x10mm black bolts and washers fro attaching LG to fuse.
7. Loctite it.
8. Cover the landing gear bay (They have given a strip for it).
Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.

rcpilotacro

#24
Elevator & Horizontal Stabilizer
1. pre-hinged  stabilizer and elevator comes with the kit.
2. Ensure the hinges are aligned and centered after inserting the elevator into the horizontal stabilizer. 50° Deg (or above) up and down deflection is required to set the gap.
3. Ensure equal gap before gluing the hinge.
4. Takes about two min of quick deflections.
5. Pull the elevator and see (Not too hard though).

This important step is to avoid pressure leak from top and bottom surfaces, improves flight characteristics immensely
6. Trim and Crease the covering strip it into a "V". see image
7. Iron it to one side, deflect the control surface fully and iron the opposite side.

Fixing Stabilizer
1. Remove balsa at the rear of the slot to shove the elevator in.
2. Cut and  Keep this piece after fixing the elevator put the same piece back (I do not use the supplied piece since it is not coloured, slighlty big and needs sanding etc)
3. Dry fit stabilizer, do not force it.
4. Sand or file to widen the slot if tight, elevator should go in all the way.
6. Align and check parallel to the wing sand the slot if required (See image, I had to spend several hours to get this right, once again, production scatter by the manufacturing unit in China).
8. Epoxy it, could use 30/6min epoxy (I use the stinky 6 min epoxy).
9. Check alignment.
10. until the epoxy sets hold the stabilizer parallel to the wing see image.  
11. After glue sets, slide the cut balsa wedge into the gap and epoxy it.
Gusty's Hangar and Introduction.

A Good pilot will practice until he gets it right,
A Great pilot will practice until he can't get it wrong.