Boomerang Sprint

Lets hope so !!

To be fair, the gear installed in the model is pretty high spec, so once I've got it the way I want it, it should give me some good service.

Si_B wrote: I eventually took everything out as I'm not happy with the way some things have been done. Going to take a while to get this back together, but I'm aiming for the 22nd March as this is the first jet meet of the year. Be good to take my old Intro and the new Sprint.

Simon

Simon,

The events for this year are coming together nicely www.jmajets.co.uk/events.php we have three at Long Marston.

Welcome Jamie to Modelchat
Normally peeps come on here and say Hi and post in the introduce yourself thread before answering posts . Maybe you would like to do that please

Garry Pollard

Was hoping to get the main retracts in today. Ran all the airlines, then ran into a problem. The air nipple at the end of the cylinder was only 6-7mm away from the wheel, making it almost impossible to run the airline without it being trapped by the wheel or kinked. Got no idea how this ever worked? Spoke to a nice chap called Paul at Kingfisher Aviation and my retracts are now on their way to Solihull to get sorted out. Really helpful on the phone, would definitely deal with again if I was looking for retracts. Will report back once they come back.

Next issue was fitting the vac formed wheel wells. First one went in fine, then realised potentially why the original owner didn't bother fitting them as the second had not formed properly. Looks like it didn't pull down fully on the vac moulding so really big radii in the corners which don't fit the hole in the wing. Tried to ring Boomernag jets but didn't get a response. After thinking it through (and not wanting to spend anymore money as I doubt they would have a spare going for free in silver!!) I decided to modify the wing to accept the bad moulding. Will post a picture later, but I think once the wheel is in, you'd be hard pushed to notice (plus they are only there to keep rubbish and wet out of the wing structure). Got to remember that this is going to be my everyday flier !!

Was hoping to get this finished this week before going back to work, but things are no on hold till my retracts come back. Once they are in, I can test all the air lines, get her on her feet and then install the turbine and accessories.

Regards,
Simon

Didn't glue in the wheel wells just in case I need access in the future (no connections buried in the wing now, but you never know)



Might cut out the wood to modify the turbine rails tomorrow, but apart from that, there is not much else I can do till my wheels are back and my servo extensions arrive.

Cheers,
Simon

You might also be able to see where the retracts were fitted, but as they don't fit the recess, they have just been clamped down on the surrounding wood (so not actually touching the hardwood rails). Not sure whether to trim the wood back to let them slip in, or make some ply spacers to bring the rails level with the wing. Not sure if there is any support under the wing skin in that area so slightly wary of just attacking with the dremel.

Cheers,
Simon

Can't do much, but needed a break from the school work marking, so nipped out to the shed and cut up some 5mm ply to extend the turbine rails. The Wren turbine is very small in diameter for its power, so both rails needed to come out by 6mm.



You can hold them in with self tappers, but I don't like this, so 3mm bolts with captive blind nuts at the back. Be rude not to have a quick test fit (excuse to get the turbine out of the packet yet again!!).

Seems a way off before this will be going in permanently Got an email telling me my extension leads have been posted. Changed all the other connections to Ashlocs as they don't need any external retaining clips (makes assembling the model so much quicker). Can finish off the wiring to the starboard wing, but then I'm waiting for my retracts. Can't find any other little jobs to do !!

Simon

As it happens, Collin from Boomerang Jets returned my call and was very helpful with regards to the wheel wells. Ended up buying a new tank from him whilst I was on the phone as I don't like the way the current tank has been plumbed and it's just not worth the risk of getting air in the fuel or a leak in the model.

What size tank are you fitting?

3.7 litres

Iv'e just found it on the website.

Been waiting for my retracts to come back and a few other parts to finish off the wiring loom. Got the last of the wires braided and fitted in the wings. Paul at Kingfisher Aviation made a great job of fitting some 90 degree nipples to the end of my retracts. Perfect fit now.



Second one went in a lot easier for some reason.



Finally after what seems like a hundred times of flipping her upside down and then the right way up, she stands on her feet.



Now the fun starts. Got to test the air tomorrow for leaks, if that's okay it time to put in the tank and the turbine ancillaries.

Cheers,
Simon

Had about an hour today in between working, tested the air and all looks good. Seem to have a main leg stick randomly, so stripped it out and greased the mechanism. Not 100 percent sure if that has solved it or not, but will check a few more times before committing to the air. Never had electronic valves before, so need to find the instructions online and double check.



Got the hopper tank in and the pump mounted with all the pipes safety wired. Still got pipe work to sort out in main tank, but need to run all the pipes and wires to the turbine first. I'm sure I will change my mind a few more times before I commit to fitting the solenoids, ECU and powerbox. Not short on space but it's hard to keep things neat and accessible.

Bought the Gemini 2 powerbox for redundancy on the rx batteries. Nice looking piece of kit, but I don't like the ribbon wire to the switch. It has little flexibility and is going to be a pain to hide the excess lead.

Cheers,
Simon

Retracts now working well. Had trouble with a sticking leg, but after some tweaking and lubrication the system works. The chap who fitted the 90 degree nipples said he didn't think they had been used, so maybe it just needed some cycles to bed in.

Getting on well with the plumbing.



Need more festo valves and the connectors on my solenoids don't fit the ecu. Silly little things just tripping me up now as well as wasted time waiting for things to arrive (and money wasted on postage).

Jet meet is on the 22nd, so time is running out. Was hoping to run the turbine this weekend, but that's not going to happen now.

Simon