BobbyMcGee

Maybe I don't get it, but what does Miley Cyrus and her twerking have to do with R/C?

Pond Skipper

I have used that transparent green before it does show off the wood grain. Yellow looks good too.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

Ha ha - I finally have that confirmed! I remember the Model Av article on Doreshenko's combat plane, and within it seemed like 9-12 months, the Shrike appeared on the scene. I was sure it was a logical progression from that.

DICKEYBIRD

Funny how the brain softens with age. I couldn't remember the timeframe so a little searching unearthed this old post: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/1-2-...-again-so.html

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

Wow, that thread is older than my first girlfriend.

DICKEYBIRD

In another search I saw that Joe Beshar passed on to the Great Flying Field In The Sky this past summer.

R.I.P. Joe; you were one of the good 'uns!

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

I hope they don't require mufflers at the Great Flying Field In The Sky...!

The Twerp slogs forward. Thanks to the miracle of cheap photography, all the little flaws in this covering aren't too visible. What a nightmare of a covering session. Maybe this covering was laying around for too many years and lost it's STICKEM. It really needs high heat before it wants to stick and at that point it is also being shrunk and pulling itself loose.
The Mountain Dew bottle cowl worked pretty well. I made it just a bit loose fit around the firewall. It didn't shrink down to perfection, but plenty good for a plane like this. Like anything else, I'm sure there are little tricks to obtaining that last 5% towards perfection.
I am anxious to see it fly, because with working rudders that will hopefully add to it's bag of tricks.
What I've had happen before [and hopefully not here] is the rudders can induce a real fast spin, then when you try to cancel the spin there is just too much momentum to over come. If that happens with no throttle control, just ride it out till it's out of gas.
The rudder hook up is going to look GORY no matter what I do...unless I make some little fairings out of another pop bottle.

Pond Skipper

Bummer the adhesive was all dried out!! Balsa rite would have saved the day.
Yea the seams are darker and thus force you to make straight cuts at the sweet spot to minimize the visible.
The rudders are per cg set up will allow some flat spins with as much power on tap it will actually hover or climb spinning all the way.
High rate aileron / elevator input and put the brakes on the momentum can use as a bail out safety feature lol = )
Should be a fun one well done !!!

hllywdb

Looks good so far. I like the green transparent cowl. Good choice with the mountain dew bottle. Has that vissable v8 look to it.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Thanks guys.....
The plastic bottle trick might do better by just putting it in an oven, instead of blowing hot air at it...?
The 16 oz bottle was an easy fit over this 2.25" x 2.25" firewall and the plastic is probably 25 - 50% thicker now after shrinking. It didn't really have to shrink an awful lot in some spots. In fact, you could just design a round fuselage based on a "stock" bottle.

DICKEYBIRD

Lookin' good C/P! Gotta luv that green soda bottle cowling. Looks like it's a great color match for the t/green monokote.

Can't wait for the flight report & hopefully a video. I hope you get good results from your rudders.

LittleRock

Milton,
Did you know you ARE coming to SMALL this year ???

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

TheTwerp is all charged up, balanced and ready for what should be a nice day tomorrow.
After rigging the rudders with a pair of hefty 2-56 steel rods the plane ended up weighing 12.2 ozs RTF [with 1.8 oz AAA battery].
It was going to need a ton of nose weight to bring the plane to the calculated CG, so instead I extended the nose by an inch. Now it weighs 12.4 ozs...but the LIFE battery [pending delivery] ought to be 1.3 ozs lighter, so I anticipate a final weight in the low 11's.
That might free up some weight allowance for a throttled engine.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

That looks like fun waiting to happen. Luck and a tailwind (but not during launch) tomorrow..

Pond Skipper

Great effort CP well done!!

I like the airfoil the dimensions look right for some heart thumpin flying on the .061.
Best wishes on the maiden flight and for an easy trim up low stress all joy!
We all look forward to your post flight report / some vid if possible.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Thanks guys...the camera man will do his best to cover the thrill of victory, or the agony of defeat.
Getting it trimmed might take a few flights, but the covering process didn't seem to tweak the Twerp's wing any.

klord125

Looks awesome CP!!!! Good luck ringing that baby out today.....

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

http://youtu.be/aoqrVx4iha0 The Twerp did OK ...I'll give it a B-
The camera gets a D-
You Tube tried to take what I submitted and make it even worse, so I'm not sure what to give them for a grade.
The price is right to upload video, so they automatically get a C-
The CG is a bit too far forward and I suspect the thrust angle needs to be tweaked.
Outside loops are not very good because the elevator is shaded by the aft end of the fuselage and because of up-thrust if that is indeed part of the problem.
The camera is having a hard time with auto-focus and I wonder if there is moisture in the optics that is confusing the situation.
Up until now, it's produced better video than this.
Last time I was out filming, it was drizzling and so there you go.
It rolls pretty well, but I might try some differential.
The old fuel tank pick up tube disintegrated during this run and caused the engine to quit with half a tank of fuel.
The runs earlier in the day were strong, but the camera was taking unusable video that blurred every time I looked up more than 30 degrees or so.
So....at least it didn't crash...!

hllywdb

Looks like it flies fine. Rudders seem to add to the fun. Motor sounds strong when it's not starving. Did you run a rubber ducky or a 4.2x4?

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

I've just run the rubber 5 x 3 so far.
A 4.2 x 4 would be worth trying, but first I'd like to improve the glide. With it still being nose heavy where I've got the CG...it's at the furthest AFT point that the calculator recommended.
There's a lot of tweaking yet to do.
I'm not sure if outside loops will ever be as tight as insides.
If I ever build another, I'd extend the rudders down lower and make the elevator wider.
For a Cyclon, a 2nd version could be increased in size by 4 inches of span without adding much weight.
This is the most rotted I've ever seen a Hayes pick up line get. I'm not sure what they are made of.? It's not the same as the usual fuel line.

Pond Skipper

CP dont you mean there's a lot of twerpin yet to do?

Congratulations a first day survivor, testament to the craftsman behind the sticks!!!

When able to move the cg back should give you chance at those flat spins as the rudders are motivating.
3P was getting it done with the planes mass paving the way for the 4.2 x 4 to be the twerpnizzle!
Perhaps the lighting conditions didn't help on clarity making the camera work to focus.
Engine was hitting up to 28ish K rpm 22k .
Wonder how much fuel was ran through that tank prior to the line dissolving to failure.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

Are you adjusting for Doppler?

Pond Skipper

Its an audio tach with presets in the software..when spot checked with a photocell type tach its within 60 to 200 rpm. 21/22k was at launch.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

This is with 10% nitro......but 21,000 seems awfully low with a 5 x 3.
I'll take a Twerp Reading with my $19.99 Hobbico to see what is up.
Today's flights have been cancelled due to fog. It's sunny just about everywhere else I've been today.

Pond Skipper

21 to 22 at launch in the hand then topped 28k ish unloaded out of diving
27 range level.