vauxhall

I'm building the Tipsy Nipper from the plan posted by Tommygun on the forum some time back . Has anyone else built one ? I've been a Nipper fan since the early 60's when I saw a real one flown at an airshow . The model is pretty small , 25 " span , so I'm a bit nervous about the wing loading . With my 555 receiver , 2 servos and one of those smaller battery packs, it should weigh around 14 ounces . Power is a Cox 049 with its own tank.I enjoy flying 1/2 A models, but my smallest so far has been around 36" span . Is this thing going to fly?

DICKEYBIRD

What's the wing area....I'm guessing around 130 sq. in at that span?? It should fly but it will probably need to fly much faster than you'd like. At that size, it would have been better to reduce the wood sizes and overall mass and put an .020 on it with a weight of around 7 - 8 oz.

Bipe Flyer

I like the Tipsy Nipper too. It's so cute and just looks like a ½A model scaled up to human size.

Use Hitec HS-55's, a NiMh battery and an .020 and you'll save quite a bit of weight.

vauxhall

Thanks for your thoughts Dickie Bird & Bipe Flyer, the wing area comes out at only 120.75 sq. ins., but the good news is that the weight has come in at 12 oz. That wing area is the figure after deducting unusable centre section . The original plan was a free flighter of 8 oz., so 4 ounces for radio gear & engine is good . I built it a little lighter than the plan estimated,if you know what I mean.It pays to choose balsa for different applications. Bipe Flyer if you're a Nipperite too, check out the plan, it's still there. Might need scaling up a tad though.About 150% would be ideal.

Mark Winstanley

where is the plan located guys?

vauxhall

Hi Mark. ...Go to the RC Universe home page and type in " Tipsy Nipper " on that little Search box in the top right hand corner. When the results come up ,click on the Tommygun thread . Click on the full size image and then start playing with the "scaled printing " on your printer. I cut a couple of large sheets of paper and taped them together when the plan was printed. It should turn out 24 1/2 " span . I made the wing construction more conventional , an made the plane a Mk 2, with the high back fuselarge and bubble canopy. Have fun...........Vauxhall

Bipe Flyer

Here's a link to the file.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/attachment...&postid=165589