Crashed the Seagull Spacewalker II 120 and thinking of rebuilding
06-22-2012, 07:54 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Crashed the Seagull Spacewalker II 120 and thinking of rebuilding
I couldn't get out of a flat spin with the Spacewalker but the fuselage survived unscathed. The wings contacted some tree limbs on the way down and one side is easily repairable and the other would require more effort and fully recovering the panel.
My greater problem is that I didn't like the way the plane flew, though I freely admit that of the dozen or so flights on it... all were in windy conditions. It might have flown much better in light air. Specifically, it required constant roll correction. And.... I of course don't like that it wouldn't come out of a flat spin. In retrospect, it was a bit loath to come out of a regular spin and I should have known better than induce a flat spin. The one and only however was a very pretty and slow flat spin... all the way down.
I could be wrong, but I blame what I deemed as poor flight manners on the generous dihedral that was vulnerable to wind getting under a wing panel and inducing roll. This may have been exasperated by a high motor mount location and thus a center of mass well above the wing.
What I'm contemplating is stripping and rebuilding the wings and removing the dihedral set by the wing tube receivers and then resetting the wing tube position from a low wing to a mid wing.
Any thoughts?
My greater problem is that I didn't like the way the plane flew, though I freely admit that of the dozen or so flights on it... all were in windy conditions. It might have flown much better in light air. Specifically, it required constant roll correction. And.... I of course don't like that it wouldn't come out of a flat spin. In retrospect, it was a bit loath to come out of a regular spin and I should have known better than induce a flat spin. The one and only however was a very pretty and slow flat spin... all the way down.
I could be wrong, but I blame what I deemed as poor flight manners on the generous dihedral that was vulnerable to wind getting under a wing panel and inducing roll. This may have been exasperated by a high motor mount location and thus a center of mass well above the wing.
What I'm contemplating is stripping and rebuilding the wings and removing the dihedral set by the wing tube receivers and then resetting the wing tube position from a low wing to a mid wing.
Any thoughts?
06-22-2012, 05:16 PM
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RE: Crashed the Seagull Spacewalker II 120 and thinking of rebuilding
It would seem that there is more to this issue of getting out of a flat spin then just the wing... The two things that come to my mind are the CG location and control throw. If the CG is to far aft it would make it very difficult to come out of a spin. Secondary issue is the rudder control throw not enough (or for that matter surface area of the rudder) to counter the spin... I was always taught to point the nose down, neutralize the controls, cut the throttle and then full rudder in the opposite direction of the spin... If that didn't work then the CG was too far aft..
Just my two cents worth and always open to learning something new and different...
Just my two cents worth and always open to learning something new and different...
07-08-2012, 07:55 PM
#3
RE: Crashed the Seagull Spacewalker II 120 and thinking of rebuilding
Usually in a flat spin, a burst of throttle and opposite rudder will bring it out. Even if the CG is a little to far aft.
Sorry about the plane. But at least you have a fuselage that you can build some wings for and experiment.
Frank
Sorry about the plane. But at least you have a fuselage that you can build some wings for and experiment.
Frank
