Larry Driskill

Reading elsewhere on the forum about the Flying Sword of Death and looking over its long form, I was reminded what RC Combat ace Lee Liddle said to me after flying a 36" LiteHawk. His comment was, "That thing needs to be bigger. Maybe a 48" span."

Well, properly motivated by the FSOD I got to work and I now have the poly-U glue drying on a 48" wing. And yes, it is constructed out of the proper material ... white foam.

If I can find enough covering material I should have it finished in time to take to SMALL.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Looks like a winner, LARRY. I would be honored if you had to make a fresh set of templates for it........ Now, I guess you have, THE FLYING SURF BOARD OF DEATH!!! BTW, about 1/2 the planes hanging in my shop are LEE LIDDLE types / designs, but I STILL suck at combat!

BTW, you got that yard stick spar going the wrong way.

JasonRP

Can I ask a really newbie-ish question here? Aren't those combat/flying wing planes incredibly hard to fly? How are they pitch stable? I've never tried one, and I'm certainly not knocking them..

Jason

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Larry must be in his laboratory, so I'll butt in,[ can't resist]. Yes they can be hard to control if the CG is just a tiny bit off. There is a sweet spot with these planes that is narrower than with conventional, but it is there. You will still need to fly the plane, not like some where you can lay down the radio and make a sandwich. There is a certain MYSTIQUE about these planes being only for ACES to fly, so try to keep what I told you kind of hush-hush[8D].

scudrunner77

Last time Combatpigg and I met up I got "wing" certified with one of his beauties... So I guess that make me an ACE now!?!?

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

If you can fly out a full bladder full of fuel that is emptying out into a CYCLON or FORA, on a flying wing, without changing the color of your underwear, THEN we will send you to the tattoo parlor for the decoration ceremony[8D].

Larry Driskill

Trimed and balanced correctly I have found them to be very stable.

But, with a hot engine they are also very quick.

I try and run a bit of expo on both the ailerons and stab. I say try because the other day I launched off into a series of wild gyrations. When I got it down and went to add (subtract?) some expo I discovered there was none programed for that particular plane.

So you can fly them without any expo, but far less control throw and maybe a forward balance point might be a good plan.

Also, Pigg's suggestion to pull a streamer is pretty magic in keeping things sorted out.

Larry Driskill

Hey Runner, if Pigg's ceremony was something of interest, I would say just pick your underware color carefully and he would soon owe you a decoration . . . one way or the other.

scudrunner77

Good idea Larry... then we could give Combatpigg a decoration for checking!

scudrunner77

Is that an offer? I would have to work on my puckering skills....first. Just kidding I might put that into the ground so hard you would have to wait for your engine to get mailed back from China.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

It wasn't until LARRY came out with a new design 1/2A C/L combat plane in the late 80s [The HalfFlight, Halflite?] that I could fly one of these TD powered planes the whole tank without crashing. Me and a friend used to give each other high fives for putting in a crash free flight. That's something else you have got to try! [right after a nice big lunch at TACO BELL and a couple of tall boys].

Larry Driskill

Keeping up with "Is it coming or goin'? Upright or inverted?" makes orientation important, for me anyway, with these wings. I have covered the 48"er differently and I hope the larger size and different colored panels help.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

That should be very easy to see. Now balance that sucker at 33% and watch it turn pink while you do some tight loops.[X(]!

Larry Driskill

Well, I suppose I should go with your suggestion . . . and move the balance point forward. :-)

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

That's the most,"TEXAN" thing I heard since I asked LEE LIDDLE how he fuel proofs his planes. You're not SERIOUS are you?

Larry Driskill

Pigg it seems like about 25% works well. I stole 30 minutes this afternoon and flew the new LiteHawk Version 4.0. The balance is a tad behind 25% and I will correct that on the next one. But good fun!

I really enjoy the last few moments of these flights. Usually I can tell when the engine is going to run out of fuel as the bladders tend to go rich at the end. I like to pull the nose up and get as high as I dare then and then soar around for a circuit or two. If it is dead calm you can hear the "wind in the wires" and as going as you keep the nose down and have enough speed to have some aileron authority it is a time to relax a bit after the stress of trying to keep ahead of the thing.

Maybe I need to get a sail plane and learn to chase thermals.

scudrunner77

Hi Larry- A couple summers ago I was playing around with a Gentle Lady glider and got it to thermal off a lousy high-start launch. It just kept going up and up and hawk even joined it for a while. For me it was the most satisfying event in all my RC flying....UNTIL I GOT COMBATPIGG'S STREAMER!!! [>:]

Larry Driskill

Well, here we are in the fall of 2006 plus after I started the 48" wing in the spring of 2005 and it has yet to be finished / flown.

But not to worry. I'm getting closer.

Here is gluing the servos and battery in place. I have wrapped them tightly with tape and will glue them in the cutouts in the foam using poly-U.

SGC

Hmmmmmmm 17months , mustbe a difficult build Larry ?

Larry Driskill

I'm guessin' I should admit that it is less a difficult build and more a procrastinating builder.

Actually, I lost track of it and was looking for something else when I came across it hiding on the top shelf.

Here is some more proof that progress is in the making.

SGC

Ahhh Larry we all have these niggly unfinnished projects hideing in corners, on shelves etc. myself included. We seem to say to ourselves " theres not much to do to get it finnished so i'll leave till I get this done" or we look at the thing and as you say procastonate over the same thing.
Good to see you have it ON the bench
Stewart

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

These things look like a lot of fun. Where is a good place to start? Would one of the SPAD designs be good, or are there kits out there for these planes? I have to admit I know nothing about combat, although what they call SSC sounds like a good place to start. Is there a good intro design that anyone can recommend? Thanks, I'd really like to try this stuff. BTW, I have an FP .15 if that helps in suggesting a first design.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

No wonder that 48 inches is better for picking streamers than 36 inches, but so far I've found 36 inch 1/2A combat to be a better sport. Reason is, they are easier to build light enough to fly good tight combat and compact enough to survive mishaps, even midairs better. The key to really good action [and less wreckage] is evenly matched planes and keeping the speed to what a healthy .061 BigMig can deliver on a 6x3 prop. The speed difference between 36 and 48 inchers isn't that great, but the kinetic energy and stress on the load carrying parts goes way up with the bigger plane. SR77s' lone 36 inch balsa wing carved through my fleet of 48 inch foamies last time out.
RD, for SSC the planes are about 64 inches in span, about 600 sq inches and weigh about 40 ozs. With a 8x3 MAS at 17,000 rpm, they perform very well with lifting airfoils. Wingtip fins, a central fin hanging off a carbon tube and elevons are all you need for control and stability. I recommend a break away engine mount, because when these planes go in they usually break something on the engine. too much weight and speed to really be called "SSC".

Raymond LeFlyr

My Feedback: (2)

Dave,

Ok, Ok, DAVE quit-cher-pokin' I'll give you my dos-centavos about combat.

A. The governing body (RCCA) says 1/2A includes .061. I personally have no argument with that.
II. The only 1/2A kit that I'm aware of is from Lanier, costs $35, and I have not started building mine yet so I'll reserve comment.
3. SSC is my favorite of the 'legal' classes. Yes, they are more like powered gliders. I personally have no argument with that.
d. SPADs, been there, in a word, "ptui." But I have fuselage (Canadian downspout) and Coroplast if you want to try one.
E. Our Raleigh-based group has agreed to avoid the "open" style models that CP described and stick with lower-performing but "realer" semi-scale types as sold by JKAerotech (they offer three scale-ish SSC kits). Also, our experience with open and foam-based construction clearly indicated that foam is much more ground-strike and mid-air resistant.
VI. PM me if you want to get together for flying and/or building and/or show-n-tell.
7. We 'compete' the second Sunday of the month - all 12 months.

Larry Driskill

I think this thing is ready to test fly.

It came in at 12.5 ounces. Pigg's thoughts about less durability due to the larger size/weight are no doubt true here. The lightest 36" planes were less than 10 ounces. But then they also had HS-55s (this has one HS-81) and small batteries (this has a 270(?) ma nicad).

We will see if it will fly and if I can fly it.