Winter build project: Wolfgang Matt’s ATLAS

Thanks for the colour scheme ideas. Jon, I fear my wood working skills will not be quite up to a clear finish, there is still a long way to go and balsa seems to attract dings just by looking at it the wrong way!

What is the best way of connecting the servos to the control surfaces? I know Mike used snakes on his Blue Angel, but are there other approaches that should be considered? I noticed in the Curare instructions that it has a pull pull rudder, did you go with that on your Curare Jon?

Also, are there any good servos that could be recommended for this type of plane, I'm guessing high torque isn't the goal, but precision is.

I'm getting a good collection of bits, and the next big stage is to glue the formers to the fuselage, but I'll make a jig to help with that.

Chris001 wrote: What is the best way of connecting the servos to the control surfaces? I know Mike used snakes on his Blue Angel

Just to be clear, I used piano wire in a snake outer. I forget which gauge I used, but it was the biggest that would go in a 2mm solder adapter. It is incredibly rigid and with hindsight I could get away with the next size down and it would still be rigid but a little lighter

Chris001 wrote: are there any good servos that could be recommended for this type of plane, I'm guessing high torque isn't the goal, but precision is

If your budget will stretch to it, I can highly recommend these!

Digital...Twin Bearing...6.9kg torque...what more could you want?

Chris

I used the piano wire inner with snake outer like Mike, this is what came with the kit. I was unconvinced about it as my previous experience with plastic snakes was flexible and sloppy! But they actually worked out really well, solid with minimal slop, so I would use this method again.

MikeSeale wrote:

Chris001 wrote: are there any good servos that could be recommended for this type of plane, I'm guessing high torque isn't the goal, but precision is

If your budget will stretch to it, I can highly recommend these!

Digital...Twin Bearing...6.9kg torque...what more could you want?

Have you used these a lot Mike? Maybe I'm a radio snob, but I would struggle with putting a 4 quid servo into anything I cared about. I just can't see how a servo that cheap could possibly have the same quality components as a 15-20 quid servo. If I was scratch building a model I would prefer to spend a bit more for the peace of mind.

JR standard voltage, 5.2kg, 0.21s, £13.50

www.servoshop.co.uk/index.php?pid=JRNESDS589&area=Servo

Or go HV for £17.99

www.servoshop.co.uk/index.php?pid=JRC588HV&area=Servo

I like Savox, have used various micro and standard. Would recommend for most usage.

Stuart

Thanks for the servo suggestions Jon, I know Mike is happy so far with his servo choice and I don't know how many flight he's had on his Blue Angel but it's got to be quite a few by now. However, because I'm a bit cautious I think I'll play safe and probably go with the JR's. I'd like to run a separate RX battery 7.4V, so the HV servos would seem to be a good choice, except that the retracts are 6V max. So I'm guessing it's not that difficult to wire in a regulator just for the retracts.

I'll do the snakes and piano wire route as well then, presumably these need to be fixed to the fuselage before it all gets enclose. As Mike will undoubtedly get there a long time before I do so I'll just 'borrow' his design

I'm assuming the nose retract wants to be bolted through the retract plate with captive nuts rather than just wood screws?

I used self-tappers for the retracts

JonTappin wrote: Have you used these a lot Mike? Maybe I'm a radio snob, but I would struggle with putting a 4 quid servo into anything I cared about. I just can't see how a servo that cheap could possibly have the same quality components as a 15-20 quid servo. If I was scratch building a model I would prefer to spend a bit more for the peace of mind.

I'm sure I'll be and :blush: if they fail in flight and cost me a model. Time will tell.

Just thought I'd share a picture to show where I'm at with the Atlas.

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