Patxipt

Hi guys!

I was looking at a spare pair of wings for my EasyStar yesterday, when it occured to me that I could do a nice bird with them.
For now, I have them glued together ( cyano'ed the fiberglass rod spar too) and have covered the middle section with 3mm balsa and 4 layers of epoxyed fiberglass. This will give strenght to that area and allow the wing to be screwed to the fuselage.
As the EasyStar's wings have two slots, on one each edge of the wing, to center them on the fuse, those were filled with hard wood and sanded to shape, before covering with the balsa and fiberglass. That way I have two strong locations to pass a bolt thru.

Now, as I want to use a diesel engine for the plane, the wings still have to be covered with one layer of fiberglass - I don't know if Solarfilm adheres to Elapor, as Elapor soaks a bit diesel fuel without melting, from my test batches. Fuel tank will be a 3 ounces one that I already have.
I still don't know what to use: a PAW 55BR or a PAW 09BR. I reckon the 55 would do well, as it has around the same power as a 400 class motor and turns a 7x6 prop at around 9500rpm, if the all-up weight is kept low.
This is issue #1 - which engine to choose from the engine shelf.

Issue #2: What kind of fuse do you guys think would go nice with these wings? I was considering using a rectangular fuse built out of balsa and a 1/2x1/2" hardwood tail boom. A pod and boom design, really; it could be even built using a piece of round carton tubing to store documents and plants! Or should I go with a more traditional, "stick" type approach?
As for lenght, if using the traditional building methods, I'd end up with a fuse around 80cms long.

I have attached the photos from the wings.

Thanks for any input you can give me, this will be my first scratch built plane.

richg99

Interesting project. I also have a spare pair of EZ Star wings around so I will be watching this thread carefully. Have you considered SPAD material ( i.e. Coroplast sign material) for your fuse? Lots or free plans and ideas at www.spadtothebone.com or via www.spadworld.com
regards, Rich

Patxipt

Yeah, SPADs have been on my mind, I have some pieces of coro around the house that would do good for a fuse.

aphexian

+1 for a basic stick design, with that wing you have, half the battle is already over!

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

I think it is time to evaluate the weight of all the components that you know will be part of the finished product. Do you already have weight budgets figured out for your choices of power? The "power loading" guidelines that the electric plane establishment has published is a good place to start.
Typical SPAD materials are going to produce a plane that is loaded down with a lot of FUN ROBBING WEIGHT, compared to what is possible using wood. They do fly, even pretty well at some sizes, but the challenge to make a "1/2A" plane capable of doing more than just "flubbing around" is all about keeping the all up weight below a certain amount.

Patxipt

I am aiming at around 500~600grams for a wing loading of around 25gr/sq.dm. An Easystar weighs around 680 grams.
I want another floater, but diesel powered - nothing wrong with electrics, but I like being smelly

Really, a kind of SPAD HOR would fit the bill, except it would need a landing skid or the sort - very rough terrain where I fly near my place.

I'll weigh things up today and post here. For certain, the PAW 55 is 55 grams, 2 micro servos 18 grams.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

If you build the fuselage out of coroplast, that should give all the skid protection this plane will need if it lands slowly. Your target weight sounds good and it looks like you'll be in complete control of the finished work with a little bit of pre-planning and research. Try to include everything down to the last fitting, especially when the time comes to do trial layout of the components to establish the plane's CG.

Patxipt

I think I'm getting too paranoid with weight issues... it looks more a discus glider than an airplane

I also found out something: my easystar has the horizontal stab broken, I don't think it will hold any more CA

Hey, do you reckon this plane would be a good match for the PAW 55 or is the 09 better?

The folks at RCMW have a nice trainer-like plane for a 06 diesel coming up next month...