Well I had some spare parts after a friend gave me some of his stuff so I decided to make an x-41 for it since all the files for it came with MKIII. It was a quick pleasant build but when I took it out to maiden it It torqued straight into the ground. I made a few modifications like adding a 4 degree dihedral to it and playing with different angles for the canards and finally 6 aircraft later (with only one successful flight all the others torqued themselves into the ground within 2 seconds and shattered into pieces) I have figured it out and can now repeatedly launch the thing. Additionally I got tired of using a whole sheet of foam for 1 plane so I found a way to get 2 planes onto one sheet. If Mark is okay with it I will post the revised sketchup and cnc files here.

 

Jovian - Mark (&Trish)...it looks like this project was designed for a Mark III overhead gantry Phlatprinter. I have a Mark II. Question is, can I cut this out on the Mark II? I have been thinking about and do not see why. It seems to me an overhead gantry is simply a gantry "turned over". Ordinarly, the plunge on my Mark II comes up from the bottom and on the Mark III the plunge would come down from the top. Based on this I cannot see any difference. If I cannot cut Mark III projects on my Mark II, what must I do to make it happen"

Jovian, you never said if you got these things to fly right. I have found that too much power on take-off creates that torque problem. I tried to build and fly the other version of the X41 and it would not fly no matter what.

Hope you guyz can straighten me out on this overhead gantry business...thanks in advance.

Chuck
...somewhere in Indiana...

 

Chuck. in order to make the file work on the MKII you would need to take the sketchup file open the properties and deselect the "Overhead Gantry" option. you may also want to take the opportunity to adjust your feed rates, bit diameter for your machines setup. Then you just need to click the big green arrow to regenerate the gcode. Load that file and you should be good.

As for getting them to fly good yes It is a wonderful little flyer once you get it in the air. I did also experience the torque issue which I have yet to solve but am able to launch it repeatedly by tossing it underhand and giving it about a 60-80 degree vertical from the ground. One good torque roll and shes good. I toss this one with my left hand so that my right can control the aileron and elevator immediately. I believe the above video shows how I toss it. I am trying a smaller prop to see if it cures the torque a 7x5 on the video will be tryiing a 5x4.5

 

jovian - thanks a million. I will give this a try tomorrow. I am still curious, though, why this must be done. It seems to me if you simply turn the rotozip over it will still do the same thing except it will be coming from another direction. Attribute this confusion to my general ignorance of the entire process. Maybe I will have some luck flying one of these things when I try again. Thanks again.

Chuck

 

jovian. When I open the SketchUp file I get the message it is a "Read Only" and that it is locked by another user. I am unable to Right Click and get anything. What now?

Chuck

 

Sorry about that chuck. I reloaded the file try it again please.

 

Shaun, I did cut them out using the MKII and the file as it is and I did see some rough edges (scalloped) as you said.

Jovian - will try to locate the cnc file and download it again.

Thanks to you both!

Chuck
...having an ordinary day somewhere in Indiana...

 

Well finished painting the new one with styrospray. and getting it covered with paint. Not to impressed how the acrylic paint held to the styrospray.

Attached files