Tuesday 19 August 2014

Canadair 415 Build Issues

...not as easy as you'd expect

The Canadair 415, whilst claiming to be ARF, does presents some quite challenging issues not clear from the list of required items.

Firstly, in order to run two ESC's from a single battery you need a special Y-lead. In fact this lead is so special that it doesn't exist. I decided, in the absence of anything else available, to modify a battery Y-lead, however this requires unsoldering the three connectors and reversing them. However I have discovered, posthumously as it were, that what you really want is an ESC set, which is two ESC's, 30A in this case, already wired together with a single XT60 plug to go to the battery.



This arrangement is actually cheaper than buying two 25A ESC's, a set of XT60 plugs, a battery Y-lead and resoldering. And probably more efficient knowing my soldering. Anyway, as I said, I only discovered this after ordering the above bits, but I think the ESC set is definitely the way to go.

The second challenge is how to mount the motor; I think the 415 was originally set up to have a reduction gearbox, as the motor recess is low in the nacelle. The kit provides sticks but no mounts for the stick. Additionally, these need to be offset mounts, mainly referred to as heat sink type, not those are usually available.

Moreover, the diameter of the motor base needs to match the heatsink mount, unfortunately the motors I chose are have are an in-between 9mm. So I am considering installing a plywood firewall for a conventional mounting arrangement, however have still not decided exactly how.

Finally, although I'm yet to get that far, is the kit assumes that bracing wires will be fitted from the wing to the fuselage, to compliment the rather fragile ply spars in the wings. As no one wants to do this, one is then required to somehow brace the wing internally; I have some carbon tubes and rods I plan to use, although exactly how I will install them is still to be decided...

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