Carden Cuda Build
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
My Cuda has been put on hold for a little while. The family has been after to finish the basement home theater thing I started 2 years ago.
So I'm going from plane builder to carpenter for a couple weeks.
Steve
So I'm going from plane builder to carpenter for a couple weeks.
Steve
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
I have a Carden Cuda and the plane has some problems in fly. When I put the plane in inverted flat spin, the engine stop inmediatly, I cheek all the thinks whit the engine, the carb, the tank, the spark, the low and hi, I have a friend is pro for walbro carbs and after run the engine in the ground and in the air, run fine, except in inverted flat spin, I use amsoil 50/1, 23/8 NX
I change all the engine for my DA 50 install in the EF yak 54, and the plane do the same. I open one hole in the fire wall and the plane stop in this manuver, today I do sixs holes in the wood lateraly of the fire wall I hope correct this problem, I think in this manuver no air in the carb. Sorry for my spell.
Regards
I change all the engine for my DA 50 install in the EF yak 54, and the plane do the same. I open one hole in the fire wall and the plane stop in this manuver, today I do sixs holes in the wood lateraly of the fire wall I hope correct this problem, I think in this manuver no air in the carb. Sorry for my spell.
Regards
#111
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
Looks Good JM.
Mine has been ready for two weeks, but haven't had the weather / time collide. Today was MPH winds and tomorrow doesn't look better.
Good luck
Rob
Mine has been ready for two weeks, but haven't had the weather / time collide. Today was MPH winds and tomorrow doesn't look better.
Good luck
Rob
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
Thanks for the comments guys.
The weather was perfect today and the cuda gave me virtually no problems during ground-checks....it range-checked with the motor running to 270ft with the antenna fully collapsed.....so I decided to go for it!
It flew great right from take-off....only needed 1 click elev and 1 click ail trim to fly straight-and-level. I've still got a lot of trim flights to do, but so far it feels great. The roll-rate on low rates was very fast....and the elevators felt very sensitive so I've got some changes to make there. I didn't fly it long enough to try anything wild. I like to keep maiden flights fairly short and easy. Just a shake-down flight to find any bolts that might vibrate loose.
I did notice KE flight had very very little coupling.....in fact, it didn't need any aileron input in either direction and just a small amount of up-elevator. I can't wait for warm weather to settle in so I can really start flying this thing!
Landing was a breeze.....at 16 3/4lbs it's a real floater.....i had to go around on my first attempt because it didn't want to slow down or lose altitude on final. So far....I think it's a winner!
The weather was perfect today and the cuda gave me virtually no problems during ground-checks....it range-checked with the motor running to 270ft with the antenna fully collapsed.....so I decided to go for it!
It flew great right from take-off....only needed 1 click elev and 1 click ail trim to fly straight-and-level. I've still got a lot of trim flights to do, but so far it feels great. The roll-rate on low rates was very fast....and the elevators felt very sensitive so I've got some changes to make there. I didn't fly it long enough to try anything wild. I like to keep maiden flights fairly short and easy. Just a shake-down flight to find any bolts that might vibrate loose.
I did notice KE flight had very very little coupling.....in fact, it didn't need any aileron input in either direction and just a small amount of up-elevator. I can't wait for warm weather to settle in so I can really start flying this thing!
Landing was a breeze.....at 16 3/4lbs it's a real floater.....i had to go around on my first attempt because it didn't want to slow down or lose altitude on final. So far....I think it's a winner!
#113
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
JM
Congrats . . . I wish I could say it was a beautiful day here, but it was 25 degrees and 25 mph. So even though I did think about it a few times, i finally decided to wait . . .
I was hoping that there would be little coupling, it Looked like it was going to be very close.
Rob
Congrats . . . I wish I could say it was a beautiful day here, but it was 25 degrees and 25 mph. So even though I did think about it a few times, i finally decided to wait . . .
I was hoping that there would be little coupling, it Looked like it was going to be very close.
Rob
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
Looks AWESOME Jason. You should be proud !!
I'm a sucker for Red White and Black as you can tell from my Extra. Or from the Extra I built. I sold it yesterday so I can't call her mine anymore.
Quite a bittersweet day. It's almost like giving up one of your children. But we made a deal I think we were both happy with.
I hope the buyer flys the wings off it and gets a lifetime worth of good flights.
I'll fly the wings off my Cuda this summer and go for a 260 or Yak next winter.
As I said I put the Cuda on hold for a couple weeks. I have about 3 more weeks of work to finish the basement project then it's back to airplane building.
Steve
I'm a sucker for Red White and Black as you can tell from my Extra. Or from the Extra I built. I sold it yesterday so I can't call her mine anymore.
Quite a bittersweet day. It's almost like giving up one of your children. But we made a deal I think we were both happy with.
I hope the buyer flys the wings off it and gets a lifetime worth of good flights.
I'll fly the wings off my Cuda this summer and go for a 260 or Yak next winter.
As I said I put the Cuda on hold for a couple weeks. I have about 3 more weeks of work to finish the basement project then it's back to airplane building.
Steve
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
Mine Flew Today, but I forgot to take pictures!
My first "flight" was once around the field, because I had way too much expo programed in and did not like the way it felt. Dennis told me it was going to be sensitive with a the CG he and I discussed so I put in more expo than I usually fly with.
So I landed (with a 90 degree cross wind) and reprogrammed and checked everything over.
The second flight felt much better, I flew for ten minutes or so and tried a few things. With the CG Dennis and I discussed it is hands off inverted. Rolls at low rate are quick, at high rate it is hard to see. Spin entries are tough because it does not want to stall, but it is not an IMAC plane so why am I worried? Snaps (positive and negative) are very "yak like" which I personally don't like. I think I should zero ever yak I see snap especially the comp arf 3.3's, and this snaps like they do. So for some that might be a complement, but I'm not so sure. Point rolls are great Harriers do have some wing rock, so I am going to have to work on that. Torque rolls very well.
Third flight . . . still playing with the needle settings . . . the engine quite in a low harrier. I pushed down got flying speed (and the Cuda doesn't need much) and aimed for the runway . . . only to see some one on it! With a bit of yelling he cleared in time and it touched down without incident.
Fourth flight, played with the needles some more, and got them pretty good. Water falls are nice and tight. Walls are great, and anti-toque rolls better than anything else I have flown...including foamies. The ailerons are just sick. Flat spins are ok, but I have to work on them some more.
It is a big plane for a 50cc. It feels bigger than any other 50cc plane I have flown. Mine came out at 16lbs and 13 oz. With this weight and wing area it has a wing loading of 26.78 oz per square foot. Very light. Compare to the "light" planes out there and you will see what I mean. If you are wondering why I am above the 16 lbs that Carden says here are my "extras" 1 pilot = 3 oz or so. (didn't weight him) Choke servo and linkage = 3 oz. 2nd battery reg. and switch for redundancy = 5 oz so I am 2 oz over sixteen pounds if I wanted, but I Like these things, and they are going to stay. Without them my wing loading would be 1 oz lighter.
For those of you who are flying smaller than 50 cc planes, it is going to feel like the smoooothest, locked in plane you have flown. It feels more like a 35% For those of you who fly 40% It is not going to feel better than your Carden 40%, but it is nice and small and sips gas. Just the thing for a lazy day of 3D.
Rob
My first "flight" was once around the field, because I had way too much expo programed in and did not like the way it felt. Dennis told me it was going to be sensitive with a the CG he and I discussed so I put in more expo than I usually fly with.
So I landed (with a 90 degree cross wind) and reprogrammed and checked everything over.
The second flight felt much better, I flew for ten minutes or so and tried a few things. With the CG Dennis and I discussed it is hands off inverted. Rolls at low rate are quick, at high rate it is hard to see. Spin entries are tough because it does not want to stall, but it is not an IMAC plane so why am I worried? Snaps (positive and negative) are very "yak like" which I personally don't like. I think I should zero ever yak I see snap especially the comp arf 3.3's, and this snaps like they do. So for some that might be a complement, but I'm not so sure. Point rolls are great Harriers do have some wing rock, so I am going to have to work on that. Torque rolls very well.
Third flight . . . still playing with the needle settings . . . the engine quite in a low harrier. I pushed down got flying speed (and the Cuda doesn't need much) and aimed for the runway . . . only to see some one on it! With a bit of yelling he cleared in time and it touched down without incident.
Fourth flight, played with the needles some more, and got them pretty good. Water falls are nice and tight. Walls are great, and anti-toque rolls better than anything else I have flown...including foamies. The ailerons are just sick. Flat spins are ok, but I have to work on them some more.
It is a big plane for a 50cc. It feels bigger than any other 50cc plane I have flown. Mine came out at 16lbs and 13 oz. With this weight and wing area it has a wing loading of 26.78 oz per square foot. Very light. Compare to the "light" planes out there and you will see what I mean. If you are wondering why I am above the 16 lbs that Carden says here are my "extras" 1 pilot = 3 oz or so. (didn't weight him) Choke servo and linkage = 3 oz. 2nd battery reg. and switch for redundancy = 5 oz so I am 2 oz over sixteen pounds if I wanted, but I Like these things, and they are going to stay. Without them my wing loading would be 1 oz lighter.
For those of you who are flying smaller than 50 cc planes, it is going to feel like the smoooothest, locked in plane you have flown. It feels more like a 35% For those of you who fly 40% It is not going to feel better than your Carden 40%, but it is nice and small and sips gas. Just the thing for a lazy day of 3D.
Rob
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
Looks great! Glad to hear it's been successful. I still have only the one flight on mine....the weather here has been terrible. I'm hoping next weekend warms up and dries out enough to get it back in the air.
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
Looks great Rob !
My Cuda is still on hold until I finish this basement from hell project. Carpet is being installed April 11 so I gotta get it done by then. Can't wait to get back to the Cuda and have it up in the air soon.
Steve
My Cuda is still on hold until I finish this basement from hell project. Carpet is being installed April 11 so I gotta get it done by then. Can't wait to get back to the Cuda and have it up in the air soon.
Steve
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
I'd like to get one of these and there's a guy at my flying field that has a couple 40% Cardens. His name is Bert Sutton. Anyways, if I did get one, I'd probably go with a DA 50 in it. So my question is do you need a DA 50 to mount one in the CUDA, or can you just go off of what the plans show?
If you need an engine, I have a 3W 50CS I could put in it. Is there provisions for putting a two rudder servos in the tail?
If you need an engine, I have a 3W 50CS I could put in it. Is there provisions for putting a two rudder servos in the tail?
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
if you have the mounting dimensions of your engine you could build without having the engine in hand but I wouldn't recommend that. That being said I drew the mounting layout on the firewall before the engine arrived and but waited for the engine to actually drill it...it was spot on.
The Cuda is designed for 1 rudder servo and I can't imagine it ever needing more than that with something like an 8611 in there. 2 servos would add a bunch of tail weight that you would need to make up for elsewhere.
My basement is finished !! woohoo. The dust has been blown off the Cuda and construction has resumed
Steve
The Cuda is designed for 1 rudder servo and I can't imagine it ever needing more than that with something like an 8611 in there. 2 servos would add a bunch of tail weight that you would need to make up for elsewhere.
My basement is finished !! woohoo. The dust has been blown off the Cuda and construction has resumed
Steve
#122
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
The second servo would be to offset the weight of the 3W 50CS if I needed an engine to put in it. Plus I use Hitec and Futaba servos. Probably throw a 5955TG on rudder if I could get by with just adding one.
How does the plane balance with the DA 50? I.E. are your batteries towards the front or where are they?
How does the plane balance with the DA 50? I.E. are your batteries towards the front or where are they?
#123
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
Ben,
You will have no problems building the CUDA, as far as you want to, without a DA 50 handy. In fact I built mine and didn't mount the DA 50 until I was almost ready to fly it. (I didn't want to take the Engine out of another project.)
I have one 8611a in the tail, and a DA 50 with a standard muffler. My ignition battery is on top of the motor box, my throttle and choke servos are behind the wing tube and my receiver batteries are right behind the throttle and choke. With this setup it is tail heavy, but I wanted it that way, and would not recommend it unless you were an experienced flier. I could easily move the batteries a bit forward and I would probably be at the CG on the plans.
Rob
You will have no problems building the CUDA, as far as you want to, without a DA 50 handy. In fact I built mine and didn't mount the DA 50 until I was almost ready to fly it. (I didn't want to take the Engine out of another project.)
I have one 8611a in the tail, and a DA 50 with a standard muffler. My ignition battery is on top of the motor box, my throttle and choke servos are behind the wing tube and my receiver batteries are right behind the throttle and choke. With this setup it is tail heavy, but I wanted it that way, and would not recommend it unless you were an experienced flier. I could easily move the batteries a bit forward and I would probably be at the CG on the plans.
Rob
#124
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RE: Carden Cuda Build
Thanks, I like tail heavy planes to. Another thing is that I'm just going to have the builder frame it up and maybe paint the hatch. If I decided on a different engine, I could always use the Wild Hare method for mounting it since none of the hinges will be glued. I might just have him put two rudder servo locations in it to keep my options open. Or, another thing I was thinking of doing, was to put a 5955TG on rudder and then put two Futaba digitals on elevator. Those things weigh 3 oz. That would essentially be like adding another servo.