This will be one cool addition to the fleet! I can see cart races that get crazy pretty quick!

Tim
AG4RZ

 

Oh Goodie! Another funny plane! And I was afraid I was going to run out of wierd things to fly!

 

Hey Guys, this this my first post on the phlatforums.

Check out the artwork on these two Skycarts by adreher and motorhead.

I hope you guys have as much fun with these as we are!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o6sEL7p3tw

 

Welcome, Lead! Good to see you here. I am sure you will find plenty of us are fans of your work. Thanks for sharing it with us all!!

Tim
AG4RZ

 

Hi there Leadfeather.... Glad to see you have joined the Phlatforum... Big fan of your PbF!

 

Well, this is one I have been waiting on. As soon as Mark posted the files, I was cutting it out.

Here are some observations from my build:
The wheel parts that make up the tire were too short to fit around the circumference of the wheel part and too long to place inside it. I opted to cut off about 1/2" to fit on the inside.

I cut strips of 1mm foam to finish wrap the outside of the wheels and cover the edges that were showing by having the main tire part on the inside of the wheel hubcap.

I found some round servo control horns which come with HS55 servos and decided they would make a perfect wheel bearing. I cut a little larger hole in the wheel caps to accommodate the servo piece and then traced around it with xacto blade. I then used my Dremel to route out a 1/32" inlay for the round control horn and glued it in place.

I later decided to enlarge the holes in the nylon hub to fit some carbon fiber tubing I had in stock. The nylon hubs let me keep the axles glued to the skycart and the wheels turn on them very smooth almost as if on bearings.

I used HP glossy photo paper to make the hub caps and the Phlatboyz aviator and glued them with 3M 77 spray adhesive.

I airbrushed the FFF and assembled with hot glue.

It was after dark by the time I finished up today, but I took it outside and ran it in the grass where it was turning and skittin around real nice! On pavement, was another story. The wheels are too slippery and it would not turn on the driveway.

Tomorrow will be the maiden for airborne worthiness.

Thanks to both Leadfeather and Mark for making these plans available!!! :mrgreen: Attached files

 

Mark.. I just sent the PDF files to the printer and they came out exactly the right size. I cut the pages with a straight edge lined up with each set of cross hairs and then everything butted up together perfectly. The photo paper laminated to the foam also strengthens it greatly.

Got to the field this morning and brought out the skycart only to find one of the digital servos was acting up and causing radio interference to boot. Every surface was pulsating. Unplugged the rudder servo and everything quieted down.

So I did not get to maiden it today.

When I got home, I replaced all of the servos with heavy duty servos and changed receivers. I ran it in the grass for awhile and then tossed it into the air for a few quick passes in the lot next door. No room to get fancy with it, but it flies, so tomorrow I hope to have better success.

Landings are especially hard on the elevon hinges. I put some tape on them but I think I may have to get some packing tape with the strings in it for strength. I am sure the servos are getting a workout. I hope they hold up. That appears to be the weakest link.

 

I replaced all of my servos with Turnigy 9 servos.

In fact, I replaced the entire electronics package. The new spectrum receiver had a glitch problem caused by the digital rudder servo.

I also put on a larger motor and speed controller.

I still have not been able to maiden it! The grass was wet and I was in a big hurry to play with it. The wet grass made the tape come unstuck and I broke the stick mount off when it came down. Yes, it was airborne for a little while. Even the glue loosened up due to the foam getting wet.

I decided against a field repair and so it looks like it will be later in the week before I get an opportunity to try again.

Here is an updated SU file with the addition of servo holes for turnigy servos and the control rod supports.

I used some antennae wire tubes to run my control rods through. It keeps the rods from bending. Just be sure to attach the wire to the servos before you glue the rod supports in place. It is a bear trying to do afterward, if not impossible.

As to the wheels... I had to fudge that a bit. The diameter of the wheels was 4" so I drew a 4" circle and filled it with the bitmap. I then had to go to edit mode and edit the bitmap to scale it to fit the circle.

I then exported the image to a PDF file and printed it from there. Attached files SkyCart_modified.skp (1.9 MB)Â

 

Got to put my Skycart to the test today! The field where I took it to has a runway made from some cloth looking like stuff, kinda looks like ground cover. Don't know what the real name for it is, but it makes for a nice landing strip for electrics.

Anyhow, the plane flew very well and I ran it around all over the ground pretty hard including landings and the Turnigy 9 servos held their own, no stripped gears.

There was some sandy areas where I ran the cart as well and I brought home a filthy skycart with sand covering everything in sight.

A few spots need a bit of touch up with the hot glue, but it did great! I could not get it to leap into the air from a dead run on the ground however. I might need to put a little larger prop on it to get a bit more thrust.

But, it got a lot of attention. This group of folks had not previously seen it and so it made a good first showing at this field.

I put blenderm servo tape on the elevons this time. Followed up with a layer of hot glue over that. It seemed to do the trick because I did pick up some water from the runway and this time it did not cause problems with the tape coming up. I had Scotch transparent tape on it the first time and the water loosened it right up. Blenderm however, sticks really good!