Dumas Bluefish Dive Plane Question

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Merry Christmas All,
Being new to R/C Subs I have spent the last 9 hours at work scanning old post trying to understand dive planes. I have a few questions that I hope are not too far below the level of expertise on this forum.

1. I'm going to make the rear dive planes on my Dumas Bluefish active. Do I run them off the same servo as the forward planes?

2. If they are operated by the same servo do they pitch the same?

3. OR should I run bow planes with the servo and attach a APC with a servo to the rear planes (I have to admit that I don't understand the complete operations of the APC)

As my build progresses I will put some build photos. I'm in no hurry and hope to make a good looking first model.

Thanks for any advice.
Brad

[crazy ivan]

Brad,

For an explanation on dive

Brad,

For an explanation on dive planes, go to this thread: Trumpeter 1/144 Sea Wolf Conversion at http://s181686668.onlinehome.us/phpB...asc&highlight= and read my post around the middle of the page. Near the bottom of that same page you will find my highly detailed post on why connecting the bow and stern planes together on the same servo is generally not advisable.

If you decide to run the APC autonomously on the stern planes, disconnect the signal wire from the APC connector that plugs into the receiver, leaving only the two battery wires connected. The servo, of course, then plugs into the APC.

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If you decide to run

If you decide to run the APC autonomously on the stern planes, disconnect the signal wire from the APC connector that plugs into the receiver, leaving only the two battery wires connected. The servo, of course, then plugs into the APC

Thanks Ivan for the direction. I have been reading post all day and missed that. Just to clear up radio selection, I can run the above set up with a 3 channel radio? Just have to buy a fourth servo?

I'm already looking and mentally planning my next static sub. Thanks for the info.
Brad

[crazy ivan]

Yes, the Bluefish can be

Yes, the Bluefish can be run as a dynamic diver with only 3 channels and an APC: One channel and servo for the rudder, the second channel and servo for the bow planes, the third channel for the Electronic Speed Control, and the APC with servo that connects only to the battery for the stern planes .

If you set up your sub with a ballast tank to dive statically, then you will need a fourth channel with either a servo or an electronic switch to control that function. I have a Dumas Akula configured this way.


I just noticed, you said a fourth servo... are you using a servo with a mechanical speed controller for your throttle? If so, then you still can go with the 3 channel system as you said.

p.s. An APC connected to the bow planes will have little or no effect on pitch.

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I'll be using an ESC

I'll be using an ESC on the bluefish. I have toyed with the idea of going for the static conversion, but I'll just see how the bluefish works as a static diver. On the stern planes do you should I limit the pitch to 30 degrees? Thanks again for the advice. I'll post some build pics shortly.

[crazy ivan]

Thirty degrees up and thirty

Thirty degrees up and thirty degrees down are reasonable limits. Much beyond thirty degrees, rudders and dive planes tend to stall and become ineffective. Looking forward to your photos.

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Bluefish build

Well after a hectic holiday season I have finally found some time to work on the bluefish. I got the hull cut out and spent several hours at work sanding them down thinking that I wouldn't have much touch up work to do once they are glued. WRONG!!! I think the guys at Dumas packaged two different sub hulls. The hulls matched very poorly so I knew that my work was cut out for me.

I tacked tabs on the inside to aid in getting the two hulls togther. This help a littel buy I still have some big gaps and some slight overlaps.
QUESTION: Is this normal and will a good Bondo job help smooth out the finish?

So here are some pics of the process. I'll be surprised it the hull stays together when I take the tape off. I can see that the fiberglass will be the backbone of this sub.
Overall I'm very disappointed in the workmanship of the two hulls. If I'm ever around Dumas HQ I'll be sure to take a hammer to the employee parking lot and see how much they like to work with Bondo.

Feel free to offer any tips.