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Telemaster

Posted by Merco_61, 03 August 2018 · 2,728 views

I am building a parkflyer-sized Telemaster. It is reduced in size from the original's 99" wingspan to only 36 1/2".

Framing up the wings.
Posted ImagePES_2018-07-27_16-02-17_24mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

When returning to a hobby after many years, some upgrades and service work is to be expected.
The battery tray is modified to mount the new battery securely. The old cells are in front of the transmitter on the table.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-03_11-21-24_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The power wiring is redone to make it easier to disconnect the battery and charge it outside the transmitter. The yellow connector was added to be able to use a standard 2-cell flight pack.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-03_11-22-22_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

I have added some switches over the years. As I had the transmitter open for he power mods, I cleaned up the wiring mess caused by temporary changes becoming permanent. The thin wires were most of them under the lid here, but some were just taped on top of the plate.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-03_11-23-33_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Here is a shot of the transmitter as it looks when in use. I use long sticks held between thumb and index fingers rather than just the thumb to steer.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-03_11-26-25_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

There is a lot of electronics to go into such a small plane. 6 servos, a speed controller, a 7-channel receiver, a switching battery elimination circuit as the 6 servos pull too much current for the circuits in the speed controller, a battery and a motor.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-03_11-33-36_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The wing is nearly finished. The servos need a bit of wiring as there are 4 of them in the wing.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-03_11-34-39_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Striped wires for signal, solid for current.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-03_11-35-23_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Hoerner tips of the droopy kind are being carved from balsa block.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-03_14-54-29_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The tips are glued on and shaped. I have only used a knife so far, no files or sandpaper.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-04_14-33-26_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Posted ImagePES_2018-08-04_14-35-03_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Posted ImagePES_2018-08-04_14-37-00_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Some fiddly work with a soldering iron today... The contact block is 15.9X6.9 mm and there are 6 pins and 8 cables. This is for the connection to the wing servos.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-05_19-30-38_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Posted ImagePES_2018-08-05_19-34-25_105mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The rest of the day was spent in redesigning the fuselage to fit a modern motor and battery and designing a mount for the landing gear.

Stabilizer today.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-06_17-21-33_24mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The beginnings of a fuselage.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-07_15-18-20_24mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Fin.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-07_15-19-14_24mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Stabilizer tips.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-07_15-19-35_24mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Fuselage sides are usually made on top of each other, so they are as perfect mirrors of each other as possible.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-08_13-51-24_24mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

I use lots of pieces of scrap wood to avoid sticking pins through longerons.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-08_13-51-43_24mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The longerons get lots of glue area where they attach to the sheet front of the fuselage.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-08_13-51-57_24mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The landing gear mount is starting to take shape. It is made from 3 birch plywood parts, 2 of them are glued together here.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-11_17-32-21_55mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The finished gear mount and the landing gear itself.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-11_17-36-52_55mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The landing gear is now epoxied in the mount. The frames have their outside dimensions, time to use the drill press and fretsaw to remove as much as possible without weakening the structure.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-11_17-48-04_55mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The finished frames, time to start building the fuselage.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-12_15-14-47_55mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The fuselage is taking shape.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-13_17-56-22_14mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

I couldn't resist this as I had the UWA out...
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-13_17-56-38_14mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The battery mount.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-13_17-57-17_14mm_A by merco_61, on Flickr

Still some diagonal bracing missing.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-13_17-57-31_14mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

The battery mount from below.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-13_17-58-01_14mm_A by merco_61, on Flickr

Some support structure for the sheeting on top and bottom of the front box. Plenty of clothespins to hold the parts as the glue dries.
Posted ImagePES_2018-08-15_17-48-55_35mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Posted ImagePES_2018-08-15_17-49-44_35mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr




This is so cool!!! Thanks for showing us all the work going on behind the scenes. I'll look forward to seeing some images of the finished product. I'd love to see some of the plane in action, but I imagine you'll be too busy flying to photograph it! xD

 

So roughly how long does it take to build, from start to finish?

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I have a feeling that I have some friends at the field who can be persuaded to fly it for the camera if it behaves anything like it looks.

 

When I used similar plansbuilt planes with relative beginners, we calculated on 3 hours every week for about 40 weeks to get them in the air, so around 120 hours or a bit less. I started this project on July 27th and have the flying surfaces more or less ready for covering today, on August 7th. This takes longer than it used to, as I try to do without power tools as much as possible. I don't want to use a band saw and power sanders at home...

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Nice shots and very interesting...Looks like a fun project that will result in some more fun as you fly it.  

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Awesome, Peter. Such a work of passion.  We look forward to seeing how the project progresses.

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