Please excuse if a duplicate. The original never showed up on the RCSE,
although in Sent Items.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Harley Michaelis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Brent Hoover" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 7:34 PM
Subject: Repairing a "torn up RAD" aka RDS
The Rotary Driver System (RDS), earlier referred to as "Rotary Aileron
Driver System" (RADS) when it had not yet been learned how to use it to
operate flaps, has little to get torn up.
Let's look at what is involved in the system. To do that, go to File 6 in
the Genie pages at http://genie.rchomepage.com/.
There is the injection molded "coupler" that attaches to the servo output
gear. It's made of Celcon M50, a very tough plastic with properties
similar to Delrin, except it is more temperature stable and glue will
stick to it.
I've likely done more RDS installations than anyone. I've never had a
coupler disintegrate dorking a ship with flaps down or dragging flaps on a
landing. The couplers are trusted on the $30,000 R/C Aerosonde weather
ship that is intentionally flown in fierce weather and under severe
stresses that are never approached in what we do.
I've split the plastic around the setscrews when I've not followed my own
recommendations and overdid seating the screws in the plastic rather than
using Walt's aluminum coupler tops. Solution: replace the coupler.
The "drive shaft" is a length of steel with a bend in it. What's to "tear
up"?? Once in while one will get bent in some weird calamity. Solution:
keep some stainless steel rod around (about 40 cents for 36"), bend a new
one and replace it. Making drive shafts is a "no brainer".
That leaves the "pocket" to get "torn up". Yep. . .I've had them split in
a hard crash when I neglected to wrap them with Kevlar thread as I
admonish being done. It just happened on my 8th LT/S when I got blinded in
the sun during a winch launch. Man, that ship hit hard at terminal
velocity! Solution: With a #56 drill bit, drill a hole top to bottom
through the surface in the "spacer" areas. Reglue the split top or bottom
to the spacer with a small drop of CA. Drive a #0 sheet metal screw from
Micro-Fasteners through the parts. File off any protruding excess. Nothing
to it.
Note that if hinges part in some freak situation, the flap or aileron is
not tethered with a horn, clevis and pushrod. It can just slip off the
drive shaft.
I used to replace the gears in a lot of flap servos before using the RDS.
That's now a thing of the past. Even in the above severe experience on #8,
no damage was done to the couplers, drive shafts or servos.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brent Hoover" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 6:28 PM
Subject: [RCSE] Re: top or bottom driven ?
This leads me to wonder: How easy is it to repair a torn up RAD due to a
malfunctioning brain upon arriving at the landing area? Is the repair
do-able at the field, i.e. between rounds at a contest? Does the servo
geartrain blow instead?
Brent Hoover
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