1:72 Skipjack Fairwater Planes pushrod

[wlambing]

I am having a heck of a time getting the subject pushrod to play nice between the magnets ends, both in the run and automatically hooking up. Could you masters of this beast please post some pictures and some verbage of successful set-ups to help us klutzes get on the same playing field?? At present I'm trying to do this with a Lazer rod and David's Klick-ons.

TIA,
Bill

[goshawk823]

hey Bill; I never bothered with the on my 1/48 Skipjack... do you really need them for diving, or is this a "******, I need to make them work" activity?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I am having a heck of a time getting the subject pushrod to play nice between the magnets ends, both in the run and automatically hooking up. Could you masters of this beast please post some pictures and some verbage of successful set-ups to help us klutzes get on the same playing field?? At present I'm trying to do this with a Lazer rod and David's Klick-ons.

TIA,
Bill

Bill,

These shots should guide you along. Works fine on the three 1/72nd SKIPJACK's I've assembled and operated.




















And for soshawk823: Yes, fairwater/sail planes make a difference. It's the difference between drifting off the road and good traction. Let this example of a 1/96 THRESHER serve as my reason for making these control surfaces practical:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1U_KxzySzY 07:05 - 011:010

David

[Ken_NJ]

I improved this connection a little. Tom did as well on his SJ, got this idea from Tom. I used the proper diameter brass tube. Drilled a hole the magnet size, trimmed to shape and CA glued onto the magnetic coupler. The magnet on the bellcrank has enough slip that it can be slid thru the brass hole on the coupler when assembling them, and the magnet holds them together.

[rwtdiver]

hey Bill; I never bothered with the on my 1/48 Skipjack... do you really need them for diving, or is this a "******, I need to make them work" activity?

goshawk,

If you plan on running the Skipjack totally submerged, then they are a means of stabilizing the sub! The information and drawings the David M. put up are exactly what I did with my Skipjack, and it has worked great!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[goshawk823]

goshawk,

If you plan on running the Skipjack totally submerged, then they are a means of stabilizing the sub! The information and drawings the David M. put up are exactly what I did with my Skipjack, and it has worked great!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

hey Rob,
This was a DeBoer's Skipjack I ran back in the 90s using one of Dave's WTC 3.5 cylinders. I had horizontal fixed dive planes on the sail, and only used the stern planes (on a pitch controller) to dive. Dave's method to get them operational is pretty awesome. I never ran this sub at top speed, like I'd seen the 1/96 D&E Skipjack perform, so I didn't suffer the induced sail roll.

[wlambing]

Thanks, guys! It appears that David's pushrod is fixed to the upper hull by a small, black "slider", which seems way much simpler than what I was trying to do with the slider up by the snorkel induction connection. I may even try Ken's nifty brass "keeper". By fixing the rod to the upper hull, that makes all the adjusting happen back aft where it can be gotten to without all of the attendant facial contortions and swearing!!!
Thanks again!
Bill

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Thanks, guys! It appears that David's pushrod is fixed to the upper hull by a small, black "slider", which seems way much simpler than what I was trying to do with the slider up by the snorkel induction connection. I may even try Ken's nifty brass "keeper". By fixing the rod to the upper hull, that makes all the adjusting happen back aft where it can be gotten to without all of the attendant facial contortions and swearing!!!
Thanks again!
Bill

That 'slider' is nothing more than a short length of heat-shrink tubing, Bill. It's glued to the hull and then a single slit, along its entire length, is cut to permit insertion and removal of the pushrod without the need of threading that pushrod through the tube. Though flexible, the heat-shrink has a memory, so once the pushrod is within, the tube closes up tight at the slit and the pushrod will not come out unless you pull it out intentionally.

KISS, my friend... KISS!

David

[wlambing]

Thanks, Obi-Wan!!! :)