It dawned on me after I posted this that coaxial may not be an option with the retracts. What's the word on that one, Linda? THANKS!
The long and short answer to that question is… maybe. The retracts come with a small electronic device which is in-line between the servo and the receiver…it runs the servo to 188-190 degree’s. We can achieve a “lock out” in the mechanism so the servo drive does not carry any load when the craft is sitting on its legs – more downward pressure will try and force the mechanism harder against its mechanical stops. The same applies in the retracted position, gear up, the mechanism is locked against itself and no load is carried on the drive servo. You CANNOT adjust the end points for the retract with the electronic device installed.
Theoretically you can run the retracts without the custom servo driver and get the lock out in the “gear down” position and then drive the retracts to a specified end point (travel) so they do not fully extend (the servo’s native throw is 160 degree’s). This way you can fit retracts to a coax and make sure that legs only travel to within say…50mm from the bottom props. You would want to be pretty darn sure that you got your end points right before you take off and flick the “gear up’ switch… :cold:
The only issue I see with this is, the retracts in the ‘gear up” position will not be locked in the mechanism and the down force of thrust on the legs will be pushing against the servo. Which incidentally is a 12KG servo - `the legs are aerodynamically designed to cause minimal drag in the thrust flow. It may not be an issue – and it is definitely worth a try. The “Extended Retract Assembly” weighs 540 grams – these are super light, and very robust. We have a giant SJ8 with 4120/20 engines using a prototype beta test set carrying an FS700 Sony (a 5 KG camera) …; no worries.
I hope this helps answer some of your questions – with regard to delivery dates – we have had the first batch of production parts in the warehouse for about three weeks – but we were not happy with the tolerances of some of the machined components – we have re-ordered the parts, plus made a small modification – from another engineering firm. The delay is annoying, and we apologize for the inconvenience, but in the end the product will be worth the wait.
Cheers Rob.