Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

I'm putting a [link=http://www.abmshowcase.com/the_wings_maker/sport/wingman_2/default.aspx]Wingman II[/link] together for [link=http://www.rcpro.org/content/rcpro/club_wingman/default.aspx]RCPRO Club Wingman Racing[/link] and I'm going to do a thread even though it is an easy assembly. I will cover the airframe assembly as well as the electric power system assembly.

These planes are an incredible amount of fun and are just as fast as the glow Club 40 planes. With the NMPRA EF1 motors, electronic speed controls, and batteries, you can put one of these together, then re-use those components in an EF1.

And The World Models has big news on the EF1 front. They have not one, but two EF1 planes coming soon. Dan Kane just received the prototype on Thursday 6/28 and he said it looks great. A couple of minor things, but the Outrageous and Scarlet Screamer will be great new additions to the line-up of EF1 ARF kits. I have photos of the prototypes and they are good looking planes. I can't wait to get them.

I have had flutter on the ailerons with my red, orange, yellow Wingman when pushing the speed into the 90-100 mph range and I'm out of gap seal tape. I'm ordering some today.

On the new Wingman I'm putting together, I'm putting extra hinges in the wing. The hinges that come with the Wingman are only 1/2" wide and there are only 3 per aileron. I decided that 5 hinges would be too many. So I marked new spots 6" apart and used a [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK263&P=ML]Great Planes Slot Machine Hinge Slotting Tool[/link] and a [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXPU13&P=7]Great Planes Slot Machine Cutting Guide[/link] to cut the new slots. If you don't have those tools, get them. They are easily worth the cost. I had two of the battery powered Slot Machines and the battery died. It appears they no longer sell the battery powered version. That's a good thing in my opinion.

With the new slots cut, I will join the wing. Don't have time before work, but I will do it tonight and start other parts of assembly this weekend.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

I joined the wing. I used WEST SYSTEM 105 Resin and 206 Hardener mixed with 403 Microfibers. You can find the epoxy at WEST SYSTEM EPOXY and the Microfibers at West System Fillers and Additives.

I use the Microfibers because the bond is much stronger than cabosil (Colloidal Silica), but cabosil works fine too. Microballoons are not a good option as they are not thixotropic. For a good discussion on epoxy fillers, see [link=http://www.systemthree.com/sys3news/?p=113]SECTION VII C – MODIFYING EPOXY WITH FILLERS[/link] of the [link=http://www.systemthree.com/sys3news/?cat=6]The Epoxy Book[/link] to learn more terminology about fillers in epoxy and maybe pick up some tips.

Spending $10-15 on some Microfibers or Colloidal Silica is one of the best things you can do if you don't have any. It makes working with epoxy on model projects, much easier.

The epoxy is more of a luxury. The 105/206 is actually a laminating epoxy. But it works well for joints when you have the 24-48 hours for it to cure. It cleans up well and is easy to work with when doing things like joining a wing.

30 minute epoxy is fine for joining the wing if you work fast. I would still mix in cabosil or microfibers to control the run and add strength.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

With the wing cured, I mounted the wing on the fuselage to get it straight. The manuals show alignment at the back of the instructions. This is kind of ironic, because changing the alignment needs to be done during the assembly.

With the small bolts on the Wingman II, the bolt holes are kind of small. I used a 1/8" round file to adjust the holes so I could get the wing on and straight.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

Early on in the Sky Raider Mach II days, I had the metal bolts back out from vibration. Every since then, I have replaced the metal bolts and blind nuts with nylon bolts. On the Wingman II, I do the same thing. Even though this will be an electric airplane and vibration is not an issue, I like the bigger bolts and the peace of mind.

I use a rubber headed mallet to know out the blind nuts. By screwing in the bolts and lightly tapping the bolt heads with the mallet, you can usually get the blind nuts out without damaging the wood. It takes a few minutes, but be patient and tap with gentle but effective strokes.

I then drilled out the holes for a 1/4-20 tapped hole and tapped the holes. I had to use a Dremel and remove some of the balsa from the area behind the tapped holes as the bigger bolts needed clearance.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

With the wing fully aligned, I mounted the tail surfaces. This is the best time to do it. Get the stabilizer on and before tightening the bolts that hold the horizontal stabilizer on and the vertical fin, align the stab. Then tighten the bolts as tight as is reasonable. Do not over-tighten or you will damage the stabilizer.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

What class does this plane fly in? Is it legal for "Club 40"?

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

It is legal for "Club 40" per the [link=http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/540-B.pdf]AMA 540-B Document[/link]. Not for RCPRO Club 40 (Advanced) though.

I am establishing a new class called [link=http://www.rcpro.org/content/rcpro/club_wingman/default.aspx]Club Wingman[/link]. It uses the NMPRA EF1 propulsion system.

The planes are in the 90-95 mph range and fly great. They have a lighter wing loading than the Sky Raider Mach II and are slightly smaller. They have a battery hatch on top for changing the battery. James Barr actually got his above 100 mph, but the current draw was too high.

I sent one home with Jim McGuinn. I will have one or two at Tuscaloosa and at Waco to demo.

The World Models is coming out with two EF1 planes soon. There will be synergy between Club Wingman and EF1 with sharing of the motors, ESC's, and batteries.

Here is a sneak peek of the World Models EF1, but the canopy and fin are switched between the Scarlet Screamer and the Outrageous.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

Here is a picture of the EF1 with the Outrageous canopy and the Scarlet Screamer fin.

The stab and fin are removable and bolt on.

I will see about releasing more pictures.

Dan Kane flew the prototype last weekend and says it flies great. There are things that are being adjusted before the full production begins, but they won't affect the flight characteristics. Just minor things like wheel diameter and wheel pants, some wood usage, servo tray fit for common servos, etc.

Color schemes will be racer customization friendly.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

Cool, with all the engine drama something simple would be nice. I like EF-1 because you get 3 choices that's it. KISS!!

Don when will these be available? Nitroplanes was looking like a Miss Dara release but it seems to have stalled.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

Next I turned to completing the tail control surfaces.

I did not want to use the small hinges. I cut new hinges that were 3/4" x 1". Three for the rudder and four for the elevator. They would not fit, so I used the Slot Machine to open up the slots. Quick accurate work of an otherwise tedious job.

The control horns are easily located because hole are already drilled for the two screws in each horn. Look for the pin holes in the covering. Stick a pin through the covering and open up the holes. It is easier to get the screws through the holes if you drill through with a 5/32" drill in a pin vise. You can see from the photos that I tightened down a little too hard on the elevator control horn and crushed the wood a little. Be careful here as you don't want to do that. Mine will probably be ok as it is mild distortion.

I put the clevises on the pushrods and attached them to the outer holes. The rudder was reasonably free, but the elevator was binding. I took the pushrod out and the coating that The Work Models puts on a lot of their metal parts was really gummy where the pushrod came out of the fuselage. I cleaned the pushrods with acetone. 91% alcohol would probably do just as well as acetone, but I find that acetone cleans that coating right off. I had not trimmed the covering from the pushrod tube at the exit. I trimmed it because it was contributing to the drag on the pushrod. I put the pushrods back in and they were much more free. The elevator can use some bending of the pushrod to get better alignment, but I will wait until the servos are installed and the pushrod is in a set position before I do that kind of adjustment.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

I'm using mini and micro servos in the Wingman II. It is set up for standard size servos. I'm using dual Hitec HS-85MG servos in the wing on aileron and Hitec HS-225 servos on elevator and rudder. Even though this plane is going to be electric, I went ahead and planned for a HS-85 on throttle. It is easy to change this plane from electric to glow (and back) if you plan for it.

I drew up new trays in Visio (a CAD like program) for my purpose. The wing tray fully surrounds the servos. As the tray is made of 3/32" light plywood there is minimal weight gain and I like trays that are one unit. I also made a new full tray to lay in over the fuselage servo tray. Instead of trying to fill in and make the tray strong enough, I just made a new sub-tray. Also out of 3/32". The drawing is at [link=http://www.rcpro.org/net/uploads/attachments/t1107_m7_n1.pdf]WingmanServoTrays.pdf[/link].

I printed the tray drawings and then sprayed the back of them with 3M77 cement lightly. I attached them to the plywood while the cement was still wet. Using a light coat is the key to getting the paper off later. If you use too much cement, you can remove the paper with acetone. I drilled 1/4" holes in the corners of the servo cut-outs. This makes cutting the holes out on the scroll saw much easier. After cutting out the trays, I filed them and sanded them, then removed the paper.

I positioned the wing tray and drew a line around the tray with a Sharpie Fine Point pen. I trimmed the covering with an X-acto and removed it. I cleaned the Sharpie lines using 91% alcohol and then removed the covering residue with acetone.

I mixed up a batch of epoxy and mixed in some micro-balloons and some cab-o-sil. I put the trays in place and they are curing.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

When is the EF-1's from World going to be released??

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

Barry,

The EF-1 is progressing. A prototype was sent to Dan Kane just before the AMA Pylon NATS. Some changes were made and he got a new and improved one before the Whittier race on October 13/14. He prepped the Scarlet Screamer and sent it to Travis Flynn.

Travis raced it at Whittier and came in 4th on Saturday in EF-1. This was with very little pre-race flight time. Reports are that it is a fine flying plane.

There were a couple of minor issues, but they will not require a prototype and test cycle. For instance TWM supplied a carbon fiber spinner, but it did not have a collet backplate. This requires a collet. TWM was going to work on a solution. The solution may be not to supply a spinner, but they may have a spinner with a collet. I don't know. I've not been in close contact over the past few weeks. The elevator and rudder pushrods had minor binding. I can see how this can happen as the Wingman II in this thread uses the same pushrods and control horns. The rudder is free, but the elevator is binding on me. So the pushrod tubes are relatively close tolerance to the pushrods.

Fai is focused on producing planes that people will be happy with and don't have to make modifications to be able to race with. Even if it means a little wait for the production run. I will check and see when the production is beginning if it has not yet begun.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

Don, thanks for the update.:D

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

Dave Gavin pointed me to a photo on the NMPRA site from the Whittier race of Travis and the Scarlet Screamer. I've re-posted it here.

The hatch is not clipped down. Travis has the battery in his hand.

Looks like this one has a E-flite needle nose spinner on it.

The Scarlet Screamer has a more vertical fin on it. The Outrageous has a more swept fin on it. They use the same fuselage and wing. The canopies and fin/rudders are the difference. The vertical fin bolts on and captures the horizontal stab. This makes it easy to ship and transport.

RE: Wingman II Build thread for Club Wingman
 

Here is a photo of the full size Scarlet Screamer and the Outrageous.

The Scarlet Screamer model is more red in color than the picture makes it look. Though it still is not as deep of red as the real plane.

I got an email from Fai at AirBorne the other day and he said the spinner and the binding pushrods are rectified. He did not give me a production status. So I don't know when they will be in the country.

More ARF's for EF-1 should be a good thing.

Here is my new race-ready Wingman II. I started a thread this thread a long time ago and I actually did full video of setting up the wing and the servos and tail of the fuselage. I forgot to turn the camcorder on while I was doing the motor installation. After I fly it, I'm going to make a video of it on the 2 pole course.

Some details. This is an EF1 legal power system with the exception of the prop. The prop I have found to work best for 10 laps is the APC 10x7E. I am using the O.S. 25 Brushless Motor on this one, with a Castle Phoenix ICE Lite 75 and TURNIGY nano-tech 2700 mAh 65-130C batteries. After I fly it and get some data logging from the O.S. motor, I am going to switch out to a Turnigy Plush 80 Amp ESC or a TURNIGY dlux 70 Amp ESC. I might have withdrawal from not having data logging though.

I used dual Hitec HS-85MG servos on the wing, and HS-225MG on elevator and rudder. I had previously used 85's on elevator and rudder and balance was perfect. With the 225's I had to add an ounce of weight to the nose and the final weight with a 325g battery is 3 pounds 8.7 ounces.

I sealed all of the hinges with transparent ToughLon.

I had a red and yellow one with a Brodak EF-1 Racing Motor and the speed with the 10x7E was over 90mph. I think in the 95-100 range. James Barr got one over 100 using a heavier prop. I had an incident where a hornet stung me on the shoulder and I crash landed the red/yellow one. I hated to lose that plane as many people had flown it.

One more thing. Differential ailerons. Because I use dual servos, I can use differential to straighten out the rolls. On my Spektrum DX7 I have the Flaperon Differential at 40%. Matthew and I spent a lot of time on the predecessor getting the differential right. I was surprised so much was needed. But the plane rolled perfectly straight at that setting.

I use dual aileron servos in Sky Raider Mach II planes. One of my planes won a Club 40 race at the hands of a more capable pilot while I was busy running the race. I typically use us JR SPORT MN48 servos on the wings of SRM2 planes.

I had been told that the NTM Prop Drive Series EF-1 Pylon Racing Motor 1300KV / 930W (v2) did not fit the same mounts as the E-flite, O.S., and Brodak motors.

It turns out that this is not correct. It has the 25 mm mounting pattern and it fits the Universal Motor Mount by Brodak just fine.

This means that it fits the mount used by a number of The World Models planes. It will work just fine on a Wingman II.

With the appropriate mount (like the Brodak) this includes the Outrageous EF1 and Scarlet Screamer EF1

I will have to change the connectors as I use 4mm bullets on this class of motor and it seems to have 3.5mm bullets.


On the Brodak mount from the rear.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2093209


On the Brodak mount from the front.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2093210


On The World Models mount.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2093211


On the front of an Outrageous with 5/8" spacers which are perfect for the ...

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2093212


E-flite 1.5" bullet spinner.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2093213


I look forward to trying this motor on the Wingman II with an APC 10x7E or 10x6E.

On my first Wingman II i used the Brodak EF1 1300 Kv motor, the Brodak 920 Kv motor, and the E-flite 25 EF1 motor. I always used a Castle ICE Lite 75 for the data logging. That plane was damaged and I have been flying the green Wingman II some, but I've had issues with the OS 25 motor. I thought it was bad batteries, but by changing the programming on the ICE 75 I could get the motor to work. I've had that ESC out doing a lot of bench testing of motors for Club 40 Electric. So yesterday I put a Plush 80 Amp ESC in it. I got the same problem I had been having with the ICE 75. I didn't have the programming card with me and no instructions for Tx programming, so I stuck a Turnigy DLUX 70 Amp in. No more problems. The OS 25 motor seems to be sensitive to certain ESC parameters or else it spikes the current. I've got to do bench testing. I was going to test all of the allowed NMPRA EF1 motors anyway, so I will find out what the scoop is.

The Wingman II is just a joy to fly with the EF1 power system and an APC 9x6E prop. I sent my semi-crashed one to Greg Dow in return for his work on the Club 40 canopies and I think he will enjoy the plane.

There are some groups racing ClubWingman.com and it is great for people who thought they wanted to do EF1 but found it a little too much. If you have EF1 components not in use, get you a Wingman II. Flies even better than a Sky Raider Mach II.

I sent a lightly crashed Wingman II to Greg Doe and he had it repaired and recovered in less than a week. Wish I was that good of a builder.

Greg has only gotten a couple of short flights on it, but he seems to like the plane.

He got a Scarlet Screamer and it was the last one to be available for a while. There are still some Outrageous kits available. Some changes will be coming to The World Models EF1 planes.

http://youtu.be/BhrNfccM1bE This was my first flight using the GoPro HERO 4 Black Edition camera. Recorded at 3840x2160 in Wide mode. The Wingman II set up for http://ClubWingman.com is too fast for the course and I was not at full throttle. The course is the 234' x 234' x 60' http://MiniWarbirdRacing.com course on the field behind my house.

This was just a sport flight with the Wingman II. Just a little boring holes in the sky. And yes, I botched the landing. The grass on the field was not cut short enough and my runway is a little rough and I flipped it over on roll out. I will include even the botched landings on future flights.

http://youtu.be/yGl_qbdm6E0