Many thanks to RC India; the motivator to keep my interest in the hobby live and sparkling.

I was lucky to be among the winners of the Sweepstakes 2014, and a few days later I got a call from Sanjeev and Kartik Shah of RC Dhamaka, warmly congratulating me and asking me if I had thought about my RC goodies . The Shah brothers are among the nicest gents in the Indian RC scene ; it is not for nothing that RCD is rated the best Hobby Store in the country.

Well, I had been drooling ovr the Multiplex Tucan for some time, and had even earlier queried RCD about motor etc. And, here was my chance 

Sanjeev suggested I post a build log; so, here it is sir 

Unboxing

The kit comes very, very complete. All you need are a couple of bottles of cyano. Multiplex oozes class: whether in the precise manual which has almost nothing left out, the quality of each and every part - even the small fasteners are superior  , and most of all the superb engineering. Parts go together without any fuss, and each one is designed to optimize strength:weight, and structural integrity. As a professional engineer, I just love it.

Dubba hi dekh ke lar tapak rahi hai!

 

Come to Gurgaon and fly it 

Construction

An extremely straightforward construction by-and-large







The laser cutting is about as perfect as it gets. 3 mm spruce ply is used to form a rigid M Frame for the fuse

The motor is mounted on aluminium stand-offs. Machined SS Washers are used so the bolts don't cut into the wood

Thumps up

Since I did not use the MPX or E-Max motor, but used a NTM 3548-900 KV instead, I did a test fit early on. It fits fine; except the motor will only have 2 mounting screws on the supplied motor plate. I added thread locker to ensure safety.



4 X 17 gm Servos used, plus one 19 gram Metal Gear for the steering nose wheel

Thanks Doc. Was just thinking of you  

I had to select a suitable prop for the motor. The model weight is expected at 1.85 Kg with a 3000 mAh LiPo. I was looking for 400 W+  power with 2 Kg+ thrust.



More details on the test rig are: http://www.rcindia.org/electric-power/selection-of-motor-esc-prop-and-lipo-for-foam-planes/25/  Reply 31 onward including a lively little discussion

After various iterations and trials, a 14 X 7 APC type prop gave me 2400 + grams thrust with 530+ Watts max.There was enough ground clearance too for a 14" prop.

 
Beautiful plane in hands of great aero molder

Very Nice Sanjay Sir Looking forward for the maiden.

You are making me majboor to come to Gurgaon and live there.

Come Nitesh. I'll adopt you, and make you study 14 hours a day and get you into IIT. While you study I'll fly  > >

Hi Sanjay,
The way you are blogging looks like you will have the plane ready for maiden tomorrow...  Super blog and build speed... Like your testing kit.. BTW I have that motor on my Formosa 2 plane which weighs 1.5 kg . I do not have to launch it , it just flys out of my grip when I let it rip... I use a Sharma Model white prop on it which is very forgiving on heavy landings...

Do share the video of maiden too...

No Issues.
Atleast I can destroy something  > and remake it while you are flying. 

Thank you Manoj  

The wing is simple: 3 parts plus the ailerons

Dee - I already maidened it this morning  . Successfully   

Nitesh: Besides the 14 hours I'll make you study at home, you also have to attend school and go for 3 private tuitions and 2 coaching classes daily 

No issues even now as that will make me active as I'm very lazy nowadays. You would surely see an all India topper from Gurgaon. But that could make me fat, fat and fatter as I'm already fat. Now don't tell me to run.

Eagerly waiting for the maiden Sir...
And yes that was a good piece of discussion... It is still giving food for my brains... 

Steering nose wheel





Sorry, I couldn't take a pic of the steering arm and servo/pushrod 

Doc Nayeem, for a Dr. you sure do a lot of lateral thinking. Or, are you a Ph.D. in Physics?

The hatch cum canopy is just two pieces, the clear plastic top and an Elapor base. Joined them with Cyano and ran some tape around to keep them fixed.

MPX has give a pair of magnets and a ply "tongue" for retention. I was sure it would fly off during higher G maneuvers so I cut a shallow slot and put a small piece of Velcro

I didn't use the Elapor spinner supplied. Looked tacky and as if it would fly off soon. Used a 2 1/4" plastic spinner from RCD.



Lots of wires. Used differential aileron to reduce (possible) yaw



Yards and yards of decals! Used Colin (Glass Cleaner) sprayed on the surface first so I could manipulate them - I never get these right    Later squeeze out the excess with a soft cloth

The Moment of Truth; the Hour of Judgement 

First did a little taxying to check the tracking. It was going to the left.......so took off anyway 

What a superb Flyer!! Responsiveness plus stability. Easy on throttle from 50% to 100%. Crisp precise rolls. Aahh..... Dil Khush Hua

Sorry for the video quality. I use an SLR with a tele-lens, and it is difficult to keep changing the zoom on a fast moving target. Any tips please?

Sanjay sir Am A Dental surgeon ( Implantalogist)   

Thanks for the compliment... And a compliment from a person like...  Am on cloud 9...

Wah Wah...Superb job on those decals and build... very good looking plane and nice flyer indeed... When is that Kaiser 2 being repaired and flown..would love to know how that flys too...
Enjoy your flights... Deepak

Postscript: Felt the need for a transportation stand. Having only a single wheel on the fuse makes it tend to roll around in the car while being transported

A Super cool plane over there...You used the prize money well sir...

Next year I may land up in IIT Delhi...We are really being pressuriezed a lot...we are given a deadline of 3 months to complete revision of two years syllabus and then we'll go through a series of about 200 sample tests
3-4 tests a day...
But in the end, I feel its all worth the effort...


Sir, a small tip ( it will cost you money)
Buy a nikon coolpix p520 or similar superzooms from other manufacturers
they have quick auto focus times and also, zoom is quick...
I have nikon P510...
It shoots like a pro...

Thanks Dee!

This is a big model, with a 4S LiPo it will develop 700 Watts - nearly a 40. The building is simple, doesn't take too much time. All-in-all RCD have a real winner in the Multiplex Tucano  

Kaiser.....soon

Topalle; thanks for the tip. But not anytime soon 

Sanjay Sir the model has now lost the sheen on top of the super cool stand. Only thing I am able to see now is the stand. 

Sanj,

Nice of you to post the image of a stand too... However, I liked your electric conduit pipe field stand...  Now that knees have started aching an addition of that gadget to my hanger is becoming a must.
Please can you list the measurements and list of parts on it... it would save guessing... any special tips you have up your sleeve will be helpful too... Guys at our field normally improvise the old metal tube folding table frames.

When I visited Noida airfield, this gadget was a popular stand for a few planes there too.....  

Doc....Implantologists know a hellava lot of technology. I recently got 26 teeth crowned  

One Dr. Belokar in Mumbai

Khush hai na sir? Then "Aall izz well"

Dee...I will do it; that's a promise. Just give me a few days. Just made it off the top - have to take measurements n stuff

congo sanjay sir

Regards
yash

True Sanjay sir....  For being a good Implantalogist you need to be physicist first and surgeon next ( Alas it's not taught that way) 

And That stand...  ' Nessisity is the mother of invention'   is a quick one...  Hats off...

Thanks Sanj.... take your time.. no rush!!

BTW on your bench stand;  RCD have a nice foam stand from EMAX which is easy to make from Thermocol sheets... if you want to experiment... Theirs is in high density EPP though.... I do not think the EPP foam boards are so easy to get..

Congrats sanjay sir

@sanjayrai55
Rai saheb,
When the time comes to give away the Toucan, remember i asked you first.
Tab tak mae garib apne Phoenix Magic se hi kam chala loonga.
Toucan nahin denge to siraf stand bhi chalega. Naya ya purana.

(PS: Notice the spelling?)

@anwar sir
In case you start an 'Aeromodeller of the Year',
you have one candidate already,
and it's not me...

Iyer Sahib...... Aaapne to h sab ko beat kar diya...  Sanjay the queue is getting longer..

I am after your CORO when you get fed up....  Might even build one in the near future... I miss that Silhoette it resembles..

@b4ggu sir,
Er, silhouette bears a fair resemblance to this thread owner...

Yes KK Sahib,
It is very similar to Sanjay's SPADCAP232 Coro model... SEE FOR YOURSELF... ( Hi Sanj stolen your image from Spadcap thread to post again here..hope you dont mind..

It made miss this superbly stable and fantastic flying machine I used to own back in 2006......
Never let me down in the 4 years I owned and enjoyed it..always starting up in one flick and taking off and landing like a dream whatever the weather conditions..

One fine sunny afternoon I let a club member have a go to feel how good it was and...WHAAAM..... I do miss it.

That is a nice plane.. enjoy Sanjay sire.. Resembles the Pilatus PC series trainer aircraft, could be!?

Thank you Abhi, Deepak, Iyer sir, Tantragna. You guys are very kind

The Silhouette sure looks a great model. Shame about the crash

Flew her again today





In this video, a little girl wandered up and started watching. At about 0:50, she asks "Uncle, crash landing kab hoga"  

@sanjayrai55
Sir,
Videos 'private' hence not opening.
Request please also post link so that i can see in youtube.
(You may remember that i've not been able to see embedded videos on the iPad...)
Regards.

Iyer sir, could you check again please? I've "published" them. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Also if you right click on the video, you will get "copy video url''  You can copy and paste in the browser of a new tab or window

Sir,
Need a 'copy/paste' of the address.
Else all i can see is this!

Edit: Unless i reboot and see without logging in! 

Thanks. Meanwhile rebooted and saw without logging in.
Missed retracts and smoke!

Iyer sir, retracts cost more than the kit itself 

http://www.multiplex-rc.de/produkte/kategorien/produkte/detailansicht/productgroup/zubehoer/productcategory/zubehoer-flugmodelle-1/product/dreibein-einziehfahrwerk-elektrisch-tucan.html?tx_lwshopitems_pi1%5Baction%5D=show&tx_lwshopitems_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=Product&cHash=b77172d2644dc67f2130f861c50cd52d

Life is sure tough, haha.
Guess you'll just have to make do with transparent wheels.
Why did you not do a few loops and rolls?
The Company's promotional video of formation flying is great.

Iyer sir. I did do loops and rolls. They just don't show in the videos. The Rolls are marvellous and crisp

Yeah. I too do them.
Secretly!

@ Sanjay Sir,

Firstly congrats on the Maiden and it feels satisfying to see you liking and enjoying the model. Apologies for the delayed reply on this topic. Nice build log and hope alot more people will like the same.

Also would like to Thank Anwar ( Idi ) for it.


Thank you for the kind words.............we will continue to strive to higher the bar.

Also you have something coming your way soon

Thanks once again for allowing to serve you as a customer.

Team RCDhamaka

Thank you sir. I just love the model, both Multiplex and RC Dhamaka continue to keep me spellbound.

See you guys in Pinjore again this year too!

Hi Sanj,
Did you get around to do the measurements of the conduit pipe model stand... I wonder if I have missed them as havent been able to log in for a few days...
Deepak

I did, and then I lost them

Will do again soon; but really, just buy 2 lengths of 1/2"pipe, 8 elbows and 2 Tees. And some PVC Pipe glue. And make it