matchlessaero

Well after the demise of Caliente last weekend, I could not stand not having something fast to fly......

The original served its purpose and taught me many things including:

-More about engine tuning, tuned pipe construction, header design etc
-Foam wing cutting
-Composite wing layup
-Skin hinges
-Making my own fuel tanks
-I guess the list goes on and on.....

When I brought the original to the field for the local Cox Contingent to see, they had a few comments about it, most of which were positive, and a few to think about should I build another.

Well, I remembered their comments and had some ideas of my own, and the result is Super Caliente.

As of right now, the wing is completely laid up and ready for tips and torque rods and the fuselage is boxed up and ready for tri-stocking. Honestly, I had cores left over from the first(I knew I cut extras for a reason...), so I have a total of 3 hours in the build of it right now and it already looks like a plane..

The differences in the old and the new are:
-Smaller wingspan and less wing area by about 7%
-Shorter nose- the old one balanced a little bit far forward
-Smaller vertical stab
-I may try different servos, but the old ones never gave a problem.
-Revised nose designed to be cowled from the start (if I have time before SMALL)
and last but not least----- I want to go faster!!!!!!!!!!

matchlessaero

I also decided to take pictures this time (don't know if anyone is interested in seeing them, but its fun to do anyway).

I wanted to show the fuse construction, the new motor mount I am using, some unusual reinforcement methods, the construction method for making a 'lost foam cowling'(I'll get good pics for you av8rsodt) and what the little fuel tank looks like.

Anyway, the wing now has leading edges, wing tips, and is ready for final sanding. The fuse is also now tri-stocked, sanded round and the tail is done.

One of the things the original was lacking was an aerodynamic nose. No matter how you cut it, the little Hayes mount is not aerodynamic. The new plane has no firewall. Instead, I cut a 1/4" plywood letter 'H'. The engine rests in the bottom arms, and the top arms are inserted into the notched out fuse sides. I then filled the area below the engine with balsa block and shaped it to the spinner on the engine.

I'll post pics as soon as I can get'em developed....

Ya'll have a good night!!!!

av8rsodt

My Feedback: (23)

Cool.....

I am sure there will be plenty of questions after we see some pics.

Lots to learn!

Av8rsodt

P.S. Looking forward to learning how to make some cowls using fiberglass.

prole

My Feedback: (3)

I'm looking forward to seeing that engine mount, if it is what I am seeing in my head right now then I can't believe what a great idea it is...

seems so logical...

oh, and M/Aero- PLEASE put any and all advancements you make on the Caliente/Veloce designs up here for us to check out, I absolutely love them...

honest...


the prole

soarrich

My Feedback: (98)

OK guys I'll do it for you.

Please. please, pretty please!

ajcoholic

My Feedback: (10)

Of course I want pictures!

One thing I forgot to ask... did the header live through the crash or do you need #2...? Place your order soon, you know how long the first one took

Andrew

matchlessaero

Thankfully, the header and pipe made it through with only a good 'polishing' by the dirt in the field that the original Caliente expired in. Frankly, the engine made it through in good fashion as well. I was careful to remove it from the ground slowly (it was in several inches deep) and to not turn over the engine when I got it out. Funny thing, only one prop blade was broken!

I have already burnt half a roll of film. I have pics of the tank I use (very light, Leavitt, you oughta consider making one), the motor mount before the engine gets boxed in, and a few other details.

I basically had the wing already done when I got the camera out. My basic wing building technique was pirated from Dave Campbell. I modified it a bit for my usage but the ideas are the same. He has a great 'tutorial' on building thin wings like this on his site.
address is http://www.fastcomposites.com/


I have the day off tomorrow, so I hope to box in the top of the fuse and final sand the airframe. That should also allow me to begin construction of the cowling. I am planning on the airframe being clean enough to run without the cowling if needed.....

Jeff Leavitt

Matchless,


Hey! You bet. Those tank details will be much appreciated. The Sullivan 2.0 oz. tanks that I use now work great, but are pretty heavy at .8 oz. 1/2 oz weight savings on the tank would be huge! I'm following the Super with much interest. Good Luck.....
Rgds, Jeff

matchlessaero

Jeff, I don't have a scale here at the house, but in comparing the sully 2oz to the homemade tank my homemade weighs about a third as much. I made mine from .005 KS brass stock and 3/32 KS brass tubing. I soldered it all together with Great Planes Silver Solder.
I should have the pics of the tank done this weekend.....

I had some time this week to work on the Caliente, and I now have the plane ready to cover. Originally, the airframe weighed almost nothing. Unfortunately, I overdid it a bit on the fuel proofing of the fuse and fiberglassing of the wing. Still oughtta be pretty light.

Still working on the covering scheme, but a half-price roll of blaze/neon orange monokote from the LHS defined part of it, and will provide great visibility.

fastlash

My Feedback: (7)

AJ's pipe- one, Caliente -zero, reason for crash,-making room for another Caliente. can't wait to see it.

matchlessaero

Here is a pic of the little fuel tank I am currently running in the
Caliente. I laid out the pattern for the sheetmetal on CAD, printed it and
stuck it to the .005 brass shim stock with glue stick. The material is thin
enough to cut with scissors, so I cut the piece out and bent it shape with
a jorgensen clamp as a bending brake. I then folded it into a box (leave
the back end open) and soldered each of the joints with flux and solder.
When I got it shaped like a box, I poked 2 holes in the upper portion of
the front end with an ice pick. I then bent the pickup and vent lines(both
are 3/32" brass tubing) to shape and soldered them into the nose of the
tank. I secured(soldered) the pickup in the bottom left corner of the tank,
and the vent in the upper right. If you don't do this, the vibrations will
ruin the tank very quickly.... I then cleaned out the tank with alcohol and
a small brush and soldered the back end in place.
You can easily test the tank for leaks by capping one line and pressurizing
the tank with a fuel syringe. This one was airtight from the start.
Finally, wash out the tank thoroughly with alcohol again and fit it to the
plane.

One other note, this one is shaped somewhat like the sump in a car. The
idea was to cause the fuel to pool in the bottom left hand corner of the
tank where the pickup is. This setup burns every last drop of fuel before
dying.

If anyone wants the pattern to the tank, it is in the Caliente drawing file
that you can download from my site.

matchlessaero

In this picture, you can see the little engine mount I devised for the
front of the Caliente.

It is essentially a 1/4" hard plywood letter H. The shape is conformed
around the engine at one end, and to the fuselage at the other end. Before
installing it, I carefully cut it to shape with a coping saw and drilled it
for the engine. I put the blind nuts in place and secured them with some
zap. After carefully aligning it in the slots in the fuselage sides and
with the thrust line, I glued everything in place. A hollowed balsa block
mounted to the bottom strenghtens the setup and streamlines the whole
thing. Everything was soaked in highly diluted epoxy (diluted with
alchohol) for stiffening and fuel proofing before covering.

In engine tests yesterday, it appeared to be plenty stiff and held the
engine well. I would like to cowl the engine before SMALL, but I don't
believe I am going to have time with all the other 'life' things that are
going on.........

matchlessaero

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matchlessaero

In this picture, you can see the plane being aligned on my high tech
alignment table ( the amazing KitchenTable2000 Alignment Table).
I have the wing bolted in place, and the airframe blocked in place so that
I can align the vertical stabilizer. While I am doing this, I also set the
incidence of the horizontal stabilizer. I take as much time in this step as
many other combined now. (I do this because of the several dreaded
'Bahnahnah's I built when I was younger).
To align the vertical, I make sure the plane is level right to left and use
a drafting triangle to align the vertical stab. The horizontal incidence is
set by sanding the bottom of the vertical prior to gluing. After setting
everything as perfect as I can get it, I use a small amount of 30min epoxy
to mount the vertical.

Learning how to do this has been one of the most painful/embarrassing
things I have learned in this hobby. If you don't have an incidence meter,
go get one now!!!!!!!!!!! This thing is absolutely the most indespensible
thing a modeler can own.

matchlessaero

It took all of Saturday, but I finished the Caliente (sort-of). I have
extremely limited time left before the SMALL festival and I would like to
take at least one half-a 'missle' to the event. I decided that I should
make the most of the day and get the plane in flyable condition so that I
could test fly on Sunday. I got the plane done, but unfortunately, the wind
was wayyyyy too strong for a test flight on Sunday.

I did get to test the motor set up, and everything fires right off and goes
like it did on the last one, so thumbs up there.... While firing the engine
up for the first time since I went through it, I found that it will not
turn the 'big' prop(4.1x4.75) without 35% nitro. On 25% it will only turn
the 4.25x3.5.

The final differences from the original are:

New motor mount design
8-10% smaller wing area (clipped the tips approx 1.25")
vertical stab area is 66% of the original
Slightly cleaner wing mounting
Shorter fuse (mostly shorter nose)
Slightly smaller fuse in heighth and width at biggest point.
Finally put a switch in it that I can use without removing the wing....
Stiffer trailing edge
All up weight is 14 oz's (can't remember what the original weighed with the
pipe, but I think I overdid it with the fiberglassing and glue this time
around)

Here is a pic of the airplane ready to cover.

DICKEYBIRD

Ahhhhh, I see you're using the optional 2003 v2.0 Wing Fixtures from Fujifilm on your KitchenTable2000 Alignment Table. Man, I've got to get some of those for my old CoffeeTable1990 Alignment Table. It amazes me how far we've come in this hobby in such a short time!

matchlessaero

100+mph Straight IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As luck would have it, my wife went shopping this afternoon, and I had the first calm weather in many many days. I decided today was the day to get the SuperCaliente's test flights in.

I ran through all the preflight stuff (range check, fuel, check batteries....). She fired right up and she was flyin.

No aileron trim needed, but I needed to hold down elevator to keep her level. (I thought I had the elevator set right... but I guess not). Near the end of the flight, I flew from one end of the field to the other at 2 mistakes high, and as I went to make the turn to come back, the airplane shot straight down, then straight up, then straight down again. I fought it, but it did not respond to my controls at all........... She went in hard, and the fuse was stuck almost 12" deep in the ground. Header is fine, but the engine was full. Broke the pipe, but nothing I can't weld back together rather quickly....(where did I put those jigs?)

Damage to the airframe was pretty bad, but nothing I would not be able to piece back together (broke fuse, dented leading edges).

Well, it showed promise, so I have stripped it and already fixed the wing, and glued most of the puzzle of fuse back together.

I will let it dry overnight and then bolt the wing back on so that I can reallign the tail.....
I should have it (the fuse and the dented leading edges) re-covered rather quickly, but I am ordering a new reciever, so I hope I can get it back in the air again before SMALL.........

On a positive note, it was faaazzzzzzzzzzzzzsssssssssssssttttttt...

Lynn S

Kinda sounds like it was a bad dream.....at least the ground is nice and soft after all this rain.

fastlash

My Feedback: (7)

Holly Mackel Kingfish, thats got to really suck, did you figure out what went bad for sure,???

DICKEYBIRD

Geez, I just saw the pretty 'lil devil on Sunday and it looked great....looked like 100 mph just sitting in my hand!! Man, what a bummer to have it auger in on the 1st flight. My hat's off to you for taking it all in stride and jumping right in to the repairs!

DICKEYBIRD

You're showing your age there lash! (...and I'm showing mine for recognizing it!)

matchlessaero

Here are some pre-crash pictures.

Rebuild is coming along OK. Should be done in time.........

matchlessaero

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matchlessaero

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matchlessaero

I completed the rebuild this morning. Took a few minutes and jigged up the broken pipe in my pipemaking jigs and welded a new headpipe on. Only took a few minutes.

I also have completely rebuilt the wing and fuselage, and everything is ready for another test flight. Hopefully I got it straight. I aligned everything and reset the tail with 30min epoxy. Should be good to go.

Unfortunate thing is that I decided to order my new reciever from a local hobby shop instead of going mail order. I figured it was the right thing to do. That was two weeks ago. It was supposed to be in at the beginning of last week. After repeated calls, I don't yet know if they even ordered the thing!!!!

I will try again on Monday, and if I get the same response, I am going mail order again.