wjcalhoun

Jeremy
Nice maiden
As jstanton said, bouncy landings are common, and are often related to landing speed that is too fast. This plane will keep flying at a remarkably low airspeed. In my experience, the key to landing this extremely clean airframe well is a low idle. Consider using the idle-down feature on your radio, so that your in flight idle is reliable (~2400), but your landing idle is SLOW (~1700). With a higher pitched prop (10 or 12), even this low idle might not allow the airframe to slow below flying speed. In that case, spoilerons (not flaperons) might kill enough lift and add enough drag to let you settle her onto the runway (without inducing tip stall tendencies the way that flaperons can) without bounce.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

And that's exactly what happened. It idled down great without the cowl, and landed great. With the cowl on, it didn't idle down and wanted to keep flying. I should have the "choking cowl" issue resolved. I opened up the bottom of the cowl ALOT and also put a small hole in the top so that I can make carb adjustments without the hassle of removing the cowl every time i need to make an adjustment.....

Im using a Y connector for the ailerons to keep an open channel for my smoker. i am using one channel to power the battery, but now that i know that I can still use the channel and power the reciever via a Y connector on that channel, I might look into removing the aileron Y and use independent channels for the ailerons and set up spoilerons.

THANKS!
Jeremy

mach2

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Opps, I didn't mean to quote myself.....can a mod delete this post?

thanks

mach2

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Heck yeah. I did the gear when I installed them. And I think If i wouldnt have, I woulda ripped the bottom of the fuse out!

I think there is a trade off with grass vs. asphalt or concrete. The grass will give a load from the front, but will soak up shock, while a hard surface will cause more shock, but not cause the load from the front because there is less rolling resistance.....I think a nice "golf course green" type surface would be ideal.


Jeremy

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

Okay everyone, here is my porpoise landing.

looking back on it....i should have just killed my ignition and it would have settled down.....

Ill get the motor running better and things should be good. It only has about one 420cc tank through it....
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kv02TTlwnw[/youtube]

mach2

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The larger opening is worth it, simply for the fact that I dont have to remove the plug wire everytime i wanna pull the cowl. Here is the bottom and top openings...

jstanton

My Feedback: (14)

Jeremy,


Your mods are looking real good. I really like that extra large opening around the DLE-20. I think I may enlarge mine also. Here are a few pics on some of the mods I did on mine. The Revolver now balances right at 5 1/2" Is that metal plate all that is needed to support the landing gears? I have install a APC 17x6 prop and try it while I am waiting for the Xoar 17x6 prop.

MetallicaJunkie

nice maiden..... very cool idea to trick the plane its a one piece gear

if you are having trouble slowing it down it may be slightly nose heavy..... with the 120ax i had to mount the elev servos in the tail, and the battery behind the fuel tank and it's still a bit nose heavy.... next time i take her out im going to move the battery behind the rudder servo....

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

It's not nose heavy. The CG was just slightly aft of the recommended CG. I was having to mess with the carb tuning with and without the cowl. I'll get it dialed in though. It was just idling too high, which made it want to keep flying down the runway.

If you scroll up, you will see the cg posts.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

My advise is to open it up. here are pics of my original opening...

all i did to the gear is to put an aluminum plate above and below the gear. Basically makining it one peice....

wjcalhoun

Jeremy
Even though the static CG is right on the recommended mark, the dynamic CG may still be nose-forward, as Metallica suggests, leading to a quicker landing speed. GP recommends a setup that is very conservative and 'safe'. Try flying the 1/2-3/4 throttle inverted 45* upline hands off, and see if she curls toward the horizon a little or none (good) or a lot (nose heavy) and make small adjustments to your CG from that info also.

jstanton

My Feedback: (14)

Jeremy,

I did the mod's on the cut out for the DLE-20 on the cowl. I then went to Lowes and got some #12 gauge aluminum and made the supports for the landing gear Here are some pic's. Now I just need the weather to get better and stop raining and I could then do the maiden.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

Ahh, I gotcha. Im new to this. Its my first plane....

It flew very nicely inverted. I only did it once though. I wanted to stay conservative on the maiden of my hot rod. It was quite a jump from my trainer to this. It flies so nice though! It does what you want it to do and very smoothly I might add.

Now for the "inverted 45 degree climb test", isn't the nose going to want to come back to the horizon naturally because of the semi-semetrical wing vs. a full semetrial? It should be creating lift, but upside down. Right?


Thanks,
Jeremy

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

Hey Jim, that main gear set up served me well on my bouncy....

I cut out almost 1-3 more (total) that you did. We'll see how it does. You may not have the issue i had, because your going to be able to make the adjustments with the cowl on. I made the adjustments and flew with it off. Then put it back on and it changed the whole ball game...

Looks like you've got quite a few more planes under your belt than I do, but have you ever used a fuel fill/vent kit? I got a kit for under 5 bucks and its from hanger 9. It looks clean. I did however rip the skin when i drilled one hole so ive gotta fix that. It's got a fixed vent and next to it there is a hose on a plug that you pull out to fill. the tank. I think it's pretty slick. I got another kit for when i do my smoke tank....

wjcalhoun

Jeremy
You are right, the semisymmetrcial wing does have different inverted characteristics compared to a symmetrical wing. If your plane is trimmed neutral for upright, level flight, if it is nose-heavy, you will have to trim in some up elevator; if tail heavy, some down elevator will be required for level upright flight. Because most planes are set up at least a little bit nose-heavy, most neutral-trimmed upright flight will have a bit of up trim. If it is WAY nose heavy, it will have a lot of up trim. Now, when you flip the plane over into a 45* inverted upline that up-trim will result in curving to the horizon: a little uptrim=slow curve, a lot of uptrim=fast curve. Basically the test allows you to separate the effects of elevator trim and static CG.
Bill

jstanton

My Feedback: (14)

Jeremy,

No I do not think I have evry used a fuel fill/vent kit from hanger 9. I am going to look into one and see what they are all about. I use a on/off swicth with fuel Dot from Vally Veiw Hobbies. Here is the link.

http://www.valleyviewrc.com/estore/s...black-791.html

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

i got it. thanks bill. I know they recommend a little nose heavy to make it easier to handle, so I bet it could use some aft weight. Im going to try and put the smoke system a little behind recommended CG, So we'll see how that goes. The plane did come in at a decent speed every time before that. But the idle just wouldnt drop. Im going to play with the carb setting some more. But it may simply be that the motor is still really new. Ive probably only got one tank through it. Or less.

That fuel dot is cool. I did see it on the plane. The vent tube just made me think about that Hanger9 kit. You'd only need the vent piece since youve got your fill station and switch on the side. I guess there are a million different ways to build the same plane.

Here is the kit I got. I have three lines in my tank, so I didnt use the T.

http://www.hangar-9.com/Products/Def...?ProdID=HAN116

ShuttleAU

Hi All

Six more flghts on mine today. Light breeze down the grass strip. Awesome morning. It has been raining non stop all week here and the field was very wet , puddles everywhere.

I have replaced the sheet metal screws on the canopy with bolts and captive nuts and added an extra one on top and the underneath. The DLE20 vibration caused the canopy to vibrate and elongated the sheet metal screw holes in the fibreglass. The canopy is quite long and there is little support top and bottom.

I have the standard DLE20 muffler with the blue insert and everyone comments on how effective the insert is in reducing noise. I will arrange a noise test and post the results. It seems well balanced , a little nose heavy so Iwill try the 45 degree upline test next week.

Shuttle

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

I asked this question in the DLE thread but no answer yet...(yep, im impatient)

At idle....what would most likely cause the engine to reduce rpm and eventually die when the nose of the plane is tilted down? Too rich on the Low setting, and it floods it out when the fuel runs in from gravity?

And i didnt know of any insert for the muffler. I dont want one haha! But it's good to know it's an option in case i travel somewhere that has restrictions.

Does it effect performance?

Thanks,
Jeremy

ShuttleAU

Hi

Muffler insert , got mine here :

http://dlenginesaustralia.com/dlshop...&productId=514

Don't know about performance , have not flown without one. Probably does reduce WOTpower but seems to be of little consequence with the Revolver.

Someone else might have flown with and without ? Anyone ?

Shutttle

chandley43231

My Feedback: (2)

here you go guys i just finished my gp 70 had it since august this my help some peeps maybe not  check it out    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNrO8...1&feature=plcp

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

this site irritates me sometimes. It wont let you upload pics and then doesnt post your comment and then its lost...

Okay, ill make it short. I wanted to fly again today and it is supposed to be stormy today. You know that I had a good day with the maiden and made about 5 flights.  Well today i went to my club field and it was a little breezy an once I got air born the wind just started absolutely howling. Gusting between 15-25 mph (not exagerating). It was also about a 45 degree cross. It took me 5 approaches because it kept climbing at nearly zero throttle. And with the gusts, it was very turbulant. Once i got the plane down to about 8-10 feet, the gusts just dropped the plane. Ripped the gear out.

I guess I could have done worse damage. I think I did as best I possibly could considering the conditions. I just made the mistake of flying when I shoulda just called off the day.

On the plus side, the engine ran awesome with the opening of the cowl and about a 1/8 run on the High needle.

I guess Ill be able to now further reinforce the inside of my gear now.....These swept main gear look nice, but they are just a bad design. I wish Great Planes would fix this. We should get a poll of how may have ripped out and send a group message to the company.

Jeremy

Well, again, it wont let me post pics. Ill do it later. You guys know what ripped out landing gear look like anyway.......

Slow and Steady

I replace the stock gear with an aluminum one piece gear I believe were left over from my old Hanger 9 Alpha 60 trainer. Unless you knew the shape of the original gear, you would never guess that the Alpha gear wasn't stock to this plane.

jstanton

My Feedback: (14)

Jeremy,

Sorry to hear about your landing gear. [:'(] It sounds like you did OK when you think about the wind conditions you were flying in. I am glad to hear that is was just your gear and not a total loss

It looks like I might be able to do the maiden flight on mine this Thursday if the weather holds and work lets me take the day off. I hope to take some video and I'll post it here when I have it ready.

I did another test run of the engine and with a APC 17x6 prop I am now getting 8500RPM on top end and a good 1850 idel with good trastion.

mach2

My Feedback: (5)

Sounds good. Hope everything lines up for you to fly, and good luck.If you remember, pick the tail up when your plane is idling and see if the rpm drops when you lower the nose. I wanna know if it's just mine.Thanks,Jeremy