Mopzilla

Hey all.. i have the 1/2A shrike, trying to figure out how to fit everything..

I have a square battery, sullivan 1oz tank, micro 555, two HS 81's installed, and i am about to get an HS-55 for throttle... How do I fit everything? Can I put the RX in the wing on one side and put something on the other.. like a switch or small weight?

Anybody have pics of their setup? Thanks a lot..



*takin it nice and slow the 9v is just for reference.

fastlash

My Feedback: (7)

Get a 270 mah flat pack

beavertail

I am interested in this plane, and am about to order one, Is it an easy build. WHat engine did you use?

Mopzilla

Hello,

I am not quite sure about its build, because I am more of a bolts, nuts, and molded parts guy, so when I bought it, the plane was almost completely built. But it looks like an easy build in general. The engine I am using is a Norvel .061 throttled engine..

Fastlash.. I have a flat pack from my heli and it doesn't fit.. is the 270 smaller or something? Thanks..

OMPEdgeFlyer

beavertail


I built one as the kit for a friend, and then scratch built a 2nd for his brother in 5 days total. The plans fuse goes together in abot 30 minutes if you have everything a builder should have, and the wing ribs slip into place, square them up and glue and the wing is almost done.

Very easy to build plane and super sweet to fly.

Jeff Leavitt

Mopz,

In my experience, the cg as shown on the plans is pretty conservative. So, don't hesitate to move some weight to the rear. I have seen other comments too that indicate a nose heavy condition will cause you to run out of elevator on landing. A little nose heavy is a good thing but it's easy to over do on the Shrike.
Good luck on the shrike it's a cool airplane....Rgds, jeff

beavertail

Thanks OMP Edge flyer, Im sold on this plane.

Bob Payne

My Feedback: (8)

here is a rough placement of my gear

rosser06

After reading a bit about the Shrike, I decided to build one since I had a Norvel .061 laying around. I've attached a picture of the finished plane. This thing was insane on the test flight! Being winter up here, my fingers went numb on the sticks leading to some interesting flying. [X(] Anyways, two flights later it's still in one piece and I look forward to flying it some more when I regain my nerves.

Jeff Leavitt

Bob,

Well, at least you still have your sense of Humor!

Rosser06,

Nice Job! Where did you get that transparent flourescent yellow? really looks cool. With two flights under your belt, your on you way now. I have one under const now, a little different, I'll post some pictures later... Rgds, Jeff...

Jeff Leavitt

Shrike Nuts,

here's a pic of my current Shrike project. I shortened the nose a little, added a nose block shaped to a round firewall to match the backplate mount on my VA .049. I'm hoping the nose job will adjust the weight aft a little to offset nose heavy tendancies. If you look really carefully you may see the outline of the modified rib shape drawn on the full size rib. Figuring out how to thin the ribs and still maintain the building tabs on the ribs for wing assembly was not a easy thing to do. The Shrike should benefit considerably from the reduced wing thickness of roughly 1/4". This should be a fun one when finished.... Go for more in '04! Rgds, Jeff

Bob Payne

My Feedback: (8)

is that a Diamond Dust I see back there?

Jeff Leavitt

Bob,

Nope, no Diamond Dust, A Superfly. It's a foamie, EPP foam. Supposed to be indestructable. (We'll see about that!) I haven't flown it yet Has a Norvel .061 for power. Weighs 15 oz. Might be kinda fun... I'll add a couple of pic's.... How's the Shrike Coming? Rgds, Jeff

rosser06

The covering I used was Coverite Micafilm, the transparent yellow. I painted the fuse. because I thought it'd be pretty difficult to cover. Sadly, this plane is in the repair hanger after a not so great take off. I don't think this thin Colorado air can handle this plane. Does anyone have any experience with planes not flying at higher altitudes? It flew well when I was in WI but now it just doesn't seem to want to fly out here.

-Rosser

Jeff Leavitt

Rossero6,

Having flown the Shrike at 4,300 it's hard for me to imagine it not flying at 5,000. I think it will work good. What prop are you using? What kind of RPM's will it turn?. Do you know how much it weigh's?

I believe that it's hard to beat 25% fuel in the Norvels all around it's the best in my experience and you'll have the power you need. If you have any questions about what's a good fuel, get the Norvel brand that will work for sure.

APC has a 4.6x3 prop that will let that Norvel turn up and will fly the Shrike, no sweat. Also APC has a 5x3 that will work good also. Get that hummer in the air, you'll have a blast! Thrn the throws down a little, it's easy to over do it. Gives you weak knees at the end of the flight. Good Luck!
Jeff

rosser06

Jeff,

Well, I'm actually at 7000' here but you've got me thinking about the whole thing. I don't have an RPM gadget but I'm turning a 6-3 prop with 15% fuel. I'll have to look to see if I can find something better than that. I can imagine that engine must scream with a smaller prop on it! Hopefully it'll be in flying shape by the end of the weekend and then I can play around with it some more.

Andrew

Hi Jeff --

Our flying site elevation is 515', so I have NO experience with high elevation performance. At the higher elevations, apparently you need to prop for higher RPMs? I would have thought (probably should give up the habit due to feather buildup) a slightly larger prop with wider blade profile, say the MA 6x3, would pull a little better in thin air.

I tend to switch between the MA 6x3 and APC 5.7x3, but flying here in the summer with 90 degrees and 90% humidity is like flying thru mud.

Regards,

the "other" Andrew

Jeff Leavitt

Other Andrew,

A little depends on the airplane your flying. If you have a larger heavy airplane, you will need some more blade area to pull it. On the other hand, like a Shrike at maybe 12 oz. will do well on the 4.6x3 or 5x3 and if everything else is o.k. the .061 will turn those props really well i.e. 26-28k range. I promise you, that airplane will fly! I was thinking that Colo. was 5,000 ft. 7,000 blows me away! I still think it would fly, and I'd fly mine there I think it would work great. Now at 500 ft. with the large props you use, should be good again. I'd suggest that you give those props I mentioned a try you may like the results. Norvels like to spin up pretty good and will actually run better at high rpm. Over propping will lead to overheating witch will drive the mixture lean for a bad run, possibly die..... I've turned some of the .049's at 32,000 with no ill effects... Fun little motors..... Rgds, Jeff

paulcarnes

I fly my Zagi 400 at Cloudcroft with the stock prop. There is a big difference in stall speed between 4300' in Alamogordo and 8600' in Cloudcroft. I've never been able to get a 1/2 a engine to run reliably up there.

Neil Guildford

I built a Shrike about 2 years ago and found it very straight forward. I chose to put an AP 61 Hornet in mine. Goes like stink. They do fly surprisingly slowly though if you throttle back. Flight times are also around 8 mins. The problem I found was with the small receiver battery only gave me 4 flights before it needed a recharge.

rosser06

Well, my Shrike has left the repair hanger with a few modifications, mainly mounting the switch on the outside. Now I just need to get some 25% fuel since I don't wish to repeat the crash with the 15%. And some nice weather would be nice, I'd hate to be freezing my fingers off again with something that fast going around! I'll keep you posted with what happens.

rosser06

Advice to anyone building the Shrike, I didn't cover my fuselage which was a mistake. There's a lot of strength to be gained from the covering and the bottom likes to break out on mine if it hits hard! But on the plus side I had success with 35% fuel. Now it's time to experiment with props.

1980webrasped91

Has anyone used mixing on there shrike such as to servo's for the wing one for the elvator and one for throttle? If so what are the advantages?
Thanks Don

Mopzilla

Wow... I didn't realize I've had the shrike for so long! The bringing up of this thread makes me want to take it off Ebay and just finish it... but now with a norvel .074 and completely different radio components. At the time I had the heli eating most cash so it was on the backburner.. but I think I'll go and finish it and just enjoy it..

Don- the plane was designed for just reg strip ailerons and elevator and throttle, why add to the troubles? Sorry I can't really answer your question though.

Thanks for all the help over the last year and a half!

1980webrasped91

Thanks for the reply.
I can't agree with you more.
Don