Chris 1

When dose the PiccoZ come out in the US? because the day they come out I am so getting one!

McNeil

The TwinX turbo Fury uses canards and a high rise tail. Interesting desige.
(see the link back on page 49 from micro builder.)

Neurotex

Yeah, there you go-
the wing is almost all the way back and the motor's on the trailing edge!
Does it really need that tall of a tail?

Cut the whole tail section off and add 2 wing rudders.

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

mcneil, I took my best plane out and tested for pylon racing. I also found that I was mistaken on canard position. My canards have an up angle, they are lined up on the line of the lower wing. Hence the natural climb. I think if they were installed on a line even with the electrontrics/tailboom they would help keep you on a flatter trajectory. How much power would be needed to fly at a set altitude is a question. You are setting up a very mild plow. Also as long as your wind level is low a full forward rake is great. I can bank flat back and forth within 5 feet or so. A 180 turn can also be done flat but I would recommend a 3 turn so as to maintain better airspeed. Sorry for the delay, I sent this before dinner and came back and found that it did not post. Good luck, tim

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

I'm also thinking about the wing tip surfaces, the little wifferdills. Shouldn't they also control wing roll?

Neurotex

Since the cannard produces a downwash across the wings you
could find a balance that produces level flight at max speed.
As for placing the cannard above or below the wing I would be
interested to find what works best- especially in tight turns.
Landings might be rough but if it's strictly for racing, using the
cannard might be the way to go.
For the turning around pylons I would increase the dihedral of
the wings and even add some small fins to the wing tips.
As for the stock AA's tail, there might be some washout there
too caused by the downwash of the wing set on by the cannard.
Maybe a T tail would work better with the stab atop the rudder.
Or even yes, a V tail.

The larger Air Hog's motors work really well with the AA's Rx.
It takes the wind better and makes the plane much faster. I couldn't
get the motors to work as a pusher prop, but setting the motors up
on the leading edge caused no added weight problems. It flys with
the same characteristics only much quicker.

McNeil

I'm going out now to try some cannard settings, The wing tip spoilers sound interestiong but for later. What are the motor you have on your plane? They look like ones off of the new jet.

Cannard placement will always be quite a bit below the upper wing of what was the AA biplane so they should not interfere with air flow around the wing much. With the cannards set as per Ferndales pics on page 41 the tendency to porpose (I can never get that spelling to come out right)is eliminated but being flat to the flying direction still adds to climb. i will try some changes in angle and try a couple degrees of nose down angle as Ferndale suggests. I don't know about changing tail configuration. You guys seem a lot more knowledgeable about these things and I'll wait to hear of your expermentations.

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

just got back from target. they are doing the e-charger promo. So I'm guessing two weeks until they get the new ones. I am going to try the v tail with canards today. More info as it develops.

McNeil

I just got back from some experiments with both cannards and wing spoilers (What are their names on a plane?). A bit of a breeze makes conclusions iffy but here's what I found. The spoilers do tend to control the tendency to roll over in a turn so that was nice. Angling the cannards down JUST a little helps reduce climb rate. BUt it doesen't take much or you get a nasty dive. I use doulbe face tape so I can take things off, change angles and configurations. I found that with everyting on the plane flew ok but some slower. Not as slow as the biplane and more fun then the biplane but not as a speedster like the mono wing without all the attachments. I don't know if it is a weight issue or an air flow issue. I'll let you guys play with it. Have fun. iIm trying to add a picture to this post to show both the modifications.

Neurotex

I've found that even making minor changes to a planes
design can have drastic results. I noticed that the wing rudders
you installed have an airfoil to them. It might be better to use
a flat material instead of a curved wing left over. Same with
the cannard. For my wing tips I used styro foam from a pie
plate. You can also use sheet balsa.
Flatter surfaces should cut down on the drag and speed the
plane up a bit.

The motors that I used were from an Air Hog's Defender. I found
the TX from the plane and it says Defender on it. I stripped off the
plastic motor mounts to cut down on the weight and mounted them
directly to the wing with an angled balsa shim. The props are 2.2"
long instead of the stock AA's props which are 1.7" in length. The
thrust seems to be doubled and the sound is a deep hum. What a
difference!

Ferndale, hope the V works out for you. If at first the plane flys
unstable don't give up on it. You might have to shim the tail up
or down a bit to find the sweet spot. Once you find the right setting
you'll be amazed at the performance.

McNeil

Good points! I'll make those changes. Thanks - No airodynamic talant am i.

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

how about these for canard planes? the S1A is a plane being made by a hobby company, and the StarShip is a burt rutan design, a very good design at that.

if you got the canard wings in the position that you wanted, you could even go one step further and add an actuator to the AAs RX. use an actuator that has dual output arms, make your canards on hinges like ailerons, connect the two, and when you turn left or right, the canards would pivot up and down, opposite of eachother, and help aid in the turns.

if you know how to solder, adding an actuator takes about as much time as it does to do the turn w/o throttle mod... 5-10 minutes. oh, and please excuse my not-so-wonderful MS-Paint skills. i wasnt about to get CorelDraw up and running for the little drawings

nick

Neurotex

I've got the same 3 views of the Beechcraft 2000 from a
William Green's book and thought too what a perfect design
for the AA.
As for the actuator... hmmm, I'm still deciding if I should attempt
the right stick mod. Even thinking of buying that TX from Aero Ace mods.

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

dont worry about a TX from aeroacemods, neurotex...i just sent you a PM...

McNeil

Me too please!

McNeil

So much for the Pistons - and I don't mean because of electric flight. Too bad.

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

Mcneil, I'm using balsa from one of those supermarket planes, then laminate it with scotch tape. This is how I move the motor forward. Take a razor blade and trim the bottom of the mount. On two there was a bit of extra foam there. If the motor is not snug against the mount I would suspect this problem. On one even when seated all the way back it still had to much clearance. I cut the required amount out and reseated the motor. good luck, tim

Neurotex

!

There's a few errors in the design but it's a rough idea of what
to shoot for. A smaller wingspan and maybe lower the cannard.
The fuselage should be as narrow as possible. Needs some work.

rayofash

My Aero Ace's wings are tilted (right wing is higher then left) causing it to turn left, and it has a very hard time turning right. How do I fix this? Also, it likes to climb like crazy, adding weight to the nose will fix this right?

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

I admit it. I bought another aa. This one is so fresh the paint still stinks. Will fly shortly.
rayoflash, are the motors spaced off the wing equally? If not you will turn to some degree.

McNeil

I've never seen an AA with the kind of wing abnormality you talk about. My first thought is" take it back for an exchange". Beyond that - the right tilt (if you mean ti slopes up so that the wing tip is highter then the left) can be corrected by pushing down on the wing (are we still talking about the plane in its origonal biwing format?) If it is a biwing be carefull not to let the connectinig strut collapse as you force the wings down (do you have the older version or the newer ones in the fancy box - a box with the color of the plane on it and one edge of the box tapered down? - the new planes are suppose to be more flexable. - Anyway about the hard to turn one way. this is not that uncommon - some folks are forced to take a misbehaving plane back but try tabbing over the vertical stablaizer rudder to the right - that will force the tail to the left (use one of the little silver tabs in the instruction bag). The problem with this fix is that when you let go of power the plane will circle the other way and that's a neuscence. (I assume you have tried turning the trim knob all the way right). You might also look at the motors as the outside of the prop passes the trailing edge of the wing. it should just clear the wing and be the same distence on both props. If all else fails take it back. ToysRus has the best return policy while Target tends to give some gas about it but be assertive. Good luck - let us know know how it goes.

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

Rayoflash, are your stickers pulling the wing? I have one that I put the stickers on from the wing tip in and in buggered the wing. By the time I figured out what was wrong the wing took that shape. I have NOT tried this but maybe a hair drier to relax the foam while it is jigged into the proper shape?

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

Gentlemen I have a 2006 AA. The thing flies like my best mono with canard. I don't know that I want to mess with it at all. My other stock biplane has half the perfomance. And it rocks. This did not come in the new packaging. It is the blue/silver c. They were not available last time I was looking. It appears they put the new ones in the old packaging to put them on the market. I wanted to let you know about this as soon as possible. But now I have to fly it some more. I'll put the calipers on the motors monday. Tim
ps This is the one I bought at target in the e-charger deal. I'm guessing that its hit or miss for the new plane.

McNeil

The one I got with the E-charger was not so different then the other biplanes. But I have one in the new box and I guess you have created a situation where I will have to try it. Buy the way - I spent the day playig with canards and the wing tip thingies. Had some interesting flights and some nasty crashes. I striped it back to the straight mono-wing version and heated the tail boom just enouth to bend it down a little (something I had to do on another plane just to get it to fly at all and I am happy enough with it that I might not play around with the other things until one of you aeronautical (sp?) engineers get some combo ideas worked out and post pics. I was able to get around the top of goal posts - thought not in a straight line I must admit. Thanks for the fun day Ferndale and Neurotex.

FERNDALE AIR FORCE

This is my theory of the double packaging. The color optoins that were not available for ever, in my case I wanted a blue with stars, when they came back they were all 2006's. Now I want to see what the other a channel plane is. The silver/black has been junk. But that was the only a plane I could find. It appears I might go back to Eureka tomorrow. But I'll try to contain myself.
By the way, I brought my dad into the fold. For his birthday I sent him the jumbo jet and an orange/black c aa. He called and says he loves them.