Littlefoot Manual. Electric ARF Assembly Manual. Copyright 2015 EXTREME FLIGHT

Transcription

1 Littlefoot Manual Electric ARF Assembly Manual Copyright 2015 EXTREME FLIGHT Greetings and congratulations on your purchase of the Legacy Aviation Littlefoot bushplane! 1

2 The Littlefoot is semi-scale homage to the great single-engine bushplanes that fly around the world, and faithfully duplicates their performance. Super slow spot landings, vertical takeoffs, one-wheel touch-and-goes, it does them all like a true bushplane should. It also flies a variety of precision and 3D maneuvers if you like, and will be a great companion for lazy circling around the field if you don't. Tips for Success: 1. Before starting assembly, take a few minutes to read the entire instruction manual to familiarize yourself with the assembly process. 2. Use a fresh bottle of thin CA with a fine glue tip when attaching the CA hinges. This will ensure that the proper amount of CA wicks into the hinge 2

3 and surrounding balsa wood and creates a proper bond between the wood and hinges. 3. Take the time to properly balance and trim your aircraft and set up rates and exponential values. Your flying experience will be greatly enhanced by doing this. Items needed for completion -Hobby knife with #11 blades -masking tape -Thin and Medium CA. -Blue Loctite. -Small flat head and Phillips head screw drivers. -Standard and needle nose pliers. -Metric balldriver or allen key set. -6 sub micro metal geared servos. All flight testing was performed with Hitec HS-65MG and HS-5065MG digital servos and we strongly recommend the use of either of these high quality servos. -Torque 2814T/820 Brushless Outrunner motor. -Airboss Elite 45 Amp ESC. -4S mah LiPo battery. -APC 12x6 E prop (NOT the slow fly version!). -40 mm Extreme Flight spinner "-24" extensions for the elevator and rudder servos and " extensions to go between the receiver and the aileron servo leads, as well as 2 6-8" extensions for the flap servos. We recommend the 28 or 32 AWG extensions to save weight. -Adhesive backed Velcro and Velcro strap for battery retention. 3

4 Let's begin! 1. Locate the right and left wing panels. Using thin CA glue, apply several drops to each hinge of the ailerons and flaps, flexing the ailerons and flaps to make sure they move freely. 2. Locate the 2 G10 aileron control horns and 2 G10 flap control horns. Note that they are different. Remove the covering over the servo openings in the wing and the slots for the horns. Scuff the part of the horns that insert into the surfaces with sandpaper and glue them in with medium CA glue. 4

5 FLAP. AILERON. 5

6 3. Install the servos, using manufacturer-supplied hardware, for the ailerons and flaps into the wings with the output shaft toward the rear. 4. Assemble the servo arms, servo arm connectors, and pushrods as shown. The servo arm connectors must be able to rotate in their holes on the servo arms. Use a drop of medium CA to retain the nut on the servo arm connector. 6

7 5. Install the servo arms and pushrods as shown 7

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10 6. Locate the wing joiner brace. Using epoxy glue (to allow enough time before drying for assembly), cover the brace in epoxy and join the two wing halves permanently as shown. Use masking tape to hold the halves together until the glue is dry. 10

11 7. Locate the elevators, horizontal stabilizer and vertical fin. Apply epoxy to the bottom of the fin (to allow enough time to work before the glue dries) and insert fully into the top of the fuselage. Insert the elevators through the fuselage (TIP, flip the elevators upside down and backwards before inserting, then turn them right-way-around). Slide the horizontal stab into the fuselage. Once you have the horizontal stab in place, slide the elevator with hinges in place. Apply several drops of thin CA to the joint between the horizontal stab and fuselage. 11

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13 8. Using several drops of thin CA on each hinge, glue the elevator hinges. Flex the elevators while gluing to be sure they move freely. 9. Insert the rudder into the vertical fin and glue hinges with then CA. 13

14 10. Install control horn into the elevators and rudder as shown, in the same manner you installed horns into the wing surfaces. Install servos and pushrods as shown. 14

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16 11. Install tailwheel using wood screws into the fuselage, and a wood screw for the tiller, as shown. Check to make sure the rudder swings freely. 16

17 12. Locate the landing gear, axles, axle nuts, wheels, and wheel pins. Install axles onto landing gear and tighten. 17

18 13. Slide wheels onto axles and insert pins as shown. 14. Install landing gear onto fuselage and tighten screws. Note that the gear sweeps slightly forward, not back. 18

19 15. Using medium CA, install the gear fairings onto the landing gear legs. 19

20 16. Install brushless motor onto firewall as shown using 4 x 3mm screws. 17. Use Velcro to affix ESC to bottom of motor box. 20

21 18. Place pieces of masking tape on the fuselage to mark the plywood mounting pads built into the fuselage sides. 19. Install cowl, line up perfectly using spinner backplate. Make holes in the cowl and affix cowl with wood screws. TIP before fully tightening screws, remove screws and cowl and use a drop of thin CA to harden the plywood in the fuselage sides. 21

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23 Set-up and flying tips The Littlefoot should be balanced by using your fingertips or a CG machine to support the aircraft on the bottom of the wing. The aircraft should hang level while being supported within this range, as shown in the photo: 23

24 I also highly recommend taking the time to properly set up your rates and exponential settings. Setting up low rates for easy flying and high rates for aggressive aerobatics will allow you to experience the best attributes of the Littlefoot or any aircraft for that matter Here are some suggested rates to get started with. These are the rates and exponential values I feel comfortable with. They may feel awkward to you and if so please adjust to your taste. Elevator: Low rate-8-10 degrees; 15-20% Exponential Hi rate degrees; 50-70% Exponential 24

25 Rudder: Low rate 10 degrees; 45-50% Exponential Hi rate- 30 degrees; 60-70% Exponential Aileron: Low rate-15 degrees; 40-45% Exponential Hi rate- As much as possible; 50-60% Exponential FLAPS: The flaps on the plane are very effective. Just a small amount of flap deflection makes a big change in the way the aircraft flies. You will need to program down elevator compensation in your radio, because application of flap will cause the Littlefoot to climb. We use approximately 50% compensation on our test aircraft (10 degrees of down elevator added for each 20 degrees of flap deflection) as a starting point. Fly the aircraft up high, deflect the flaps and see if you need more or less compensation. When properly compensated, you can deflect the flaps at half-throttle or less and the aircraft will continue tracking straight. We use approximately 50 degrees as our maximum flap deflection. Thanks so much for your business! See you at the flying field! 25