Raptor Glider Build Part 2

...sleek, slim and a tight squeeze

The Raptor Glider is now completed; set up, tested and ready to roll. While it goes together pretty well, there are a few items worth noting.

There are two pairs of servo housings provided for aileron and flap; as well as covering the servos they also double as servo mounts, with the servo screwing directly onto them. However, being supplied in pairs, this causes a problem for the flaps as the operation becomes mirrored; necessary for ailerons but not for flaps. My solution was to install a servo-reverser, substituted for one of the flap servo extension cables.

On the subject of extension cables, the rear of the fuselage, where the extension cables plug into the Y-cables, is very small area due to the sharply tapering fuselage. In order to accommodate the plethora of wiring, I had to feed all excess length of the servo extensions back into the wing cavity. Even then there was just sufficient room to fit the bulky Y-cables and connectors.

The lack of room here is also a casualty of the general layout; while the ESC generally fits neatly under the battery tray, due to the Raptor's battery tray being so low-slung, there's barely enough room for the cables to run underneath. As a result, the ESC sits aft of the battery tray, where I'd usually site the receiver and, because I want the receiver away from the battery and ESC, this got relocated in the back of the fuselage, where the cables would usually be sitting...

With a 2200mAh 3S lipo up front, the weight distribution is virtually spot on, with space to move the battery a little forward to make it slightly nose-heavy if you need.

So, everything's fitted and functional, just waiting for a trip to the field...

Raptor Glider Build Part 1

...going to plan so far

I had hoped to have the raptor ready for a first-flight today, although that turned out to be overly optimistic.It also turned out very mist at the field, so I wouldn't have flown the Raptor anyway with visibility that poor.

So far I have installed the fuselage linkages and servos, and hooked up the tail surfaces. I have also managed to complete the installation of servos and covers on one wing, including the slightly tricky task of feeding the servo cables through the wing spars. Fortunately, with the generous sized cutouts and and improvised threading tool (control wire with a hooked end) this proved less troublesome than I had anticipated.

One thing worthy of note is that extension cables need to be firmly plugged in, given that the cable has to be pulled past obstructions. After one let go during the process, I taped up the connection with electrical tape to make sure it stayed fast.

So I hope to have the other wing fitted out soon, then I should be able to connect everything up for a functional check. I've set up the V-tail mixing on my radio, (right=rudder, left=elevator) although I still need to check whether either of the controls needs reversing, and to make sure the tail does what it's supposed to...