combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

It's contagious, the peer pressure was too great, so it's time to jump on the band wagon and build a racer! I have harbored dark thoughts in the past to do something like this, so finally the urge festered enough for this to come to the surface. With all the onboard equipment in place [outside of rigging and top sheeting] the plane weighs 6.4 ozs. This might end up being my first reedy plane to have unlimited vertical! I won't decide if having any taper in the fuselage overhead view is practical until the rigging is done. The tank will be fillable via the rear nipple, and hopefully I will be able to pinch off the fill line by pressing it against the engine mount, it might take 3 hands to pull off though. The wing is 24" x 6" at the root and 4" at the tips, so it will most likely behave like a 500 pound gorilla when it's time to land!

Tim Wiltse-RCU

CP,

It looks Great! I blame you for having to now start on yet another plane!!!! When the test flight?

Later,
Tim

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Thanks TIM, I'll toss it tomorrow if the weather is half way decent. Is this in the size range you had in mind?

BMatthews

Now you've done it. I've been tempted to do a Reedie Racer of my own and asked Bipe if he'd like to run at least a play race at the Mission Small Fly meet this summer but so far so answer. Guess he's still cogitatin'.....

I'll probably go a bit bigger so it's a nice sport model as well. I'm really thinking of a thinned down Hornet clone with a one piece flat wing with constant chord and D tubed with a very thin flat bottomed wing just so it's super fast to build.

Even if we're the only two with racers at least we can hold an impromtu race.... Consider the Guantlet as slapped across your face!

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

HI BRUCE, I was hoping this would get a rise out of you! A race this summer sounds like great fun, I'm sure that if ANDREW wants to be able to hang out with us, "rabble rousers", he'll slap something together too When you see PAUL, give him a heads up also.

Ragwing

My Feedback: (2)

As long as you guys get racers built I'll be sure to build one also. I don't think I'll stand a chance agagint a sweet little plane like yours Pigg, but it still sounds like too much fun to miss!

Derek

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

HI DEREK, now that you are onboard with the racing program, those guys up there won't know what hit them!

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

Alright big boy, do the test flight, cut out a few kits for the rest of us,,on 05-04-05 head east,,go 2984 miles and hang a right at the waffle house ,,Tim 'll meet you there or its only 2 turns after that and BRING IT ON!!
its on 05-07-05 sat....... unlimited vertical reedie!! love to see that ,but I'd hate to be holding the Tx,well 3 minutes at a time might be cool,,put up the specs when you get through....Rog

ptulmer

My Feedback: (5)

Nice job PIGG. You built ANOTHER plane while I was just thinking about it![>:]................

I glued up two sheets last night for my wing. A little testing is in order, I had to thin some of the new Elmer's interior/exterior stainable wood glue in order to join the two sheets. Feel free to pick this apart if I've made booboo's already.
Span-34" Chord 4.25"

Tim Wiltse-RCU

CP,Patrick,

Good looking stuff from both of you. I was thinking something about 30"span with a 4.5"cord. Thats around 130 squares. I have a brass C/L tank for fuel so I don't have to bend up anything. I have an off brand set of HS-55's and a 270mah nimh rx pack. On a solid wing the aileron linkage might be a pain in the butt though. It will take longer to sand the wing than it will to make the rest of the plane. I won't get to it this weekend as I have a bunch of engines to get finished but I'm on it!!! I may at least get the engine built for it. Let's see what this APC 4.5x4 will do!!!

Later,
Tim

ptulmer

My Feedback: (5)

Tim, I've had printer problems this week and the engines (and streak) are still sitting there waiting for a shipping label. I've got about six of those little wedding bubble bottles. Want a couple? I haven't tried using them, but enough others have that success is almost guaranteed. It won't take but a moment to throw them in the box and their pretty lightweight.
Here's a small update. Only thing really left is the formers. How do you like the COMBATPIGG TRIBUTE VERTICAL STAB? I'm friday retired today at work. More progress soon....

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Hi ROG, If I can come up with a working design, I'll be happy to draw it up and send one off to you. It looks like rain all day again, so at least I won't be out goofing off [flying], but inside finishing this plane up.

Tim, I've got a cheap plastic balsa razor plane [MASTER AIRSCREW?] and it makes short work of shaping. I draw a bunch of reference lines on the wood with a fine line marker, and these lines are like elevation marks on a map. After it is roughed out with the planer, then I switch to block sanding.

In general , even with only 24" span, I ended up wimping out and threw in a short spruce spar. This is all I think the plane will need. I added the glass tape to force this thin wing to hold its' shape and not buckle. Any buckling or cupping changes the aileron trim.

PATRICK, looks good! You gotta take the elliptical theme out all the way to the tail too, otherwise [IMO] it looks like a guy wearing an ARMANI suit with ARMY boots. I don't know about you guys and the 30 inch wings though, what are ya trying to build, GLIDERS? Remember, real racer planes were called widow makers, guys DIED in them! I saw a COSMIC WIND at the CHINO AIRPORT MUSEUM and you would not believe how small and fragile it looked! All I remember saying to myself was, "NO WAY"!![X(]

Tim Wiltse-RCU

Ouch....CP called me a girl I think OK OK I'll take the challenge and trim one down to 24" too. I don't know what I am afraid of the Sharkface is only 22" span. Not sure how I want the wing, either with single LE taper or both LE and TE tapered. I'll take the rx battery pack apart and rewire it so it will take up less space. What size rx battery is that in there CP? What about wing hold down.. Nylon bolt(s)? I saw one of those 100+ Speed 400 pylon planes that had the wing TAPED to the fuse. I don't think I would trust that on a slimmer.

Later,
Tim

ptulmer

My Feedback: (5)

Point taken on the tail, CP. Longer spans and shorter chords are your friend for speed. With the same area, the greater span will be more efficient. Also an elliptical wing reduces tip vortices. Again, making your wing more efficient.(faster) Think Rutan! Well, he doesn't use alot of ellipticals, but everything he does has a long span. Your gorilla will be my chimp. There are other reasons, like stability, but who cares! It's about going fast, right?! All I had was 3/16 so the 34" wing may shrink. Depends on how strong it looks. I've got some carbon fiber strands around here somewhere.

Tim, if he starts picking on you..... start drawing something. QUICK!!

ps. I've only got about 112sq in.[X(]

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

You guys are actually approaching this from the right angle, the wing can always be trimmed down, even at the field.

I'm using a 150 mah NIMH pack that I made from CHEAP BATTERIES.COM cells. I don't think there will be any measurable difference in choices of wing planforms, it's going to be more important to find the best size, aspect ratio and airfoil, and these are only considerations for all out speed. Flyability and consistency on the course is a whole other matter, that's why a high aspect ratio, long wing span type might be a more precise flyer.

To hold down the wing, I glued a 3/16 balsa tongue up front that has a 1/64 ply upper layer. It is full width of the fuselage for instant centering, and it is being held down with the forward top sheeting of the fuselage [3/32 balsa] that is glued cross grain for extra strength. In the back, I poked a bunch of holes in the wing with a pin and soaked the area where the hold down screw goes with thin CA. The hold down block in the fuselage is 1/8" spruce, and the tapped hole is soaked with thin CA, and then it's ready to hold a single servo screw for a wing hold down. I also glassed the top side and the bottom of the wing with MEDIUM CA, about an inch wide strip. The secret to success with this glassing method is to lightly spray the cloth with 3M77 so it stays put while you are smearing on the CA. I had to cut all the way through the wing to sink the aileron servo as far down as possible, and I had to cut all the way through the bottom sheeting in the fuselage to sink the elevator servo down far enough so the linkage will clear the hatch cover. The interior height of the fuselage is 1 1/16" and the overall height is 1 1/4".

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

stabilator.... 1/8" hard balsa, 1/8" aluminum welding rod, and 1/16" ply

ptulmer

My Feedback: (5)

A flying stab! NICE!
Here's an update. What am I going to do with the vertical stab? Seems a little strange with the wing and horizontal being elliptical.

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

Patrick ,you need a littlest stick tail on that thing, not a batmobile wing,,or at least round it off...Rog

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Looks good PATRICK! Well you can't do a "tribute" to my vert fins, because my lawyers say that would be a trademark infringement, so I guess you are on your own there. Maybe you can round it a little?

Here is a look at the stab installed. I also got nervous about the wood holding down the front wing tongue, so I switched the top sheeting there to spruce, and added tristock below for more glue area. I added fillets under the wing saddle, to basically do the final leveling of the wing, to line it up with the stab.

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

Looks good CP, I know I'd have to quit work to keep up with you and your building pace,,that looks a lot like the Razor plan (RCM #1128) for a single aileron .020 pylon racer....Rog

dieFluggeister

I've been hearing about this race for some time now but I must have missed it in the posts.... When and Where is it?

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Thanks ROG, I'll have a look at the RAZOR! It's kind of funny knowing that all the while PATRICK is at his [paying]job, he can't stay focused because he is extremely jealous that I got laid off from the last construction project, and all I have to do for awhile is sit at home, drink beer, build airplanes, and draw cartoons that TAUNT HIM!!! There isn't anything in the RCM rules about TAUNTING is there?

ptulmer

My Feedback: (5)

dF, there's the one in NC on May 7. These little jewels are for a race in our heads. It'll be a short track....

CP, I'm catching up on 3 out of the four right now. Can still feel my nose.....gotta go to the fridge.......................

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

I doubt you will be able to, "get there" with just beer alone.............Yes, these planes are going to be for a new, "OUT LAW" class, basically just for us hoodlums and hooligans.[8D]

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

HERE she is.......the 6 pieces of wood, turned into a few more than the original estimate. As you can see, the RTF weight is 8 ozs even. If this thing is propped with a 5x3, it will probably have 10 ozs of thrust, which should mean a decent rate of climb! I had the wing almost ready to cover, and was waiting for a coat of spackle to dry on some dents. When I pulled it out of my hobby shop oven, it had a severe under cambered airfoil. I ended up forcing it to split lengthwise, then I forced it flat and worked some fine balsa dust into the crack, and thin CA'd it. There was a little final sanding afterwords, but the was a blessing in disguise, because the wood has been stress relieved now, so if I leave it in a hot car, it should not happen again. Well, all this sucker has to do is fly...... I haven't fired up the FEATHER RX in a while, or the 150 packs, so that is the last detail before launch tomorrow.