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16.5 Guillows hellcat full rc

Old 01-17-2007, 12:12 AM
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60buick
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Default 16.5 Guillows hellcat full rc

I embarked on another project yesterday. My goal is super light weight on this build with some cool features. I will have 4 channels of control, ailerons tied in with rudder elevator, throttle and possibly a drop tank or flaps. I do want it to look like a scale plane so it will have some simple detailing done.
The wood in the kit was fine so I ran it on a belt sander to thin the parts and built the fuse stock. (Guillows is getting a lot better with there wood!) I then cut out the top as an access hatch and used my dremel to enlarge the opening in all the bulkheads and thin the wood any where I could on the fuse. I used some balsa sheet to make the ends for the hatch and make it a snug fit so I don't have to add the weight of a latching system. The fuse weighs almost nothing empty. As for rigidity I used a carbon spar and it runs down the center on the fuse to hold the motor. It is very rigid and is an extremly light design. The motor is a Cyclon nano. It only weighs 15grams (.5oz) and will spin an 8 inch prop. This motor is overkill with an attitude but I can run it a low throttle and if you spent 80 bucks on a motor you would use it for something too. (I have one of these motors on a 36 inch zero and it is not underpowered by any means) the reciever is GWS and the speed control is a castle Creations Thunderbird 9 amp brussless controler. I am using Cirrus CS-3 servos which only weighs 3 grams each! The battery is a Thunder power Li Poly 2 cell at 7.4 volts and 480 mAh It weighs in at 23 grams. the covering is tissue paper and will MIST it with some blue paint later. The wing has also been lightened by thining and holes. I will add a carbon spar later. i left out the center rib and the stringers to make room for the battery and now this thing has tons of room to spare. The tail surfaces will most likely be depron foam. I would like this plane to weigh in at no more than 2.5 oz ready to fly. I think I will be closer to 2 when I'm finished. I think I could come in under 2 if I leave off the drop tank and paint. this thing ought to fly very slow and stable but it would float under 2 oz and be perfect for indoor flight.


I dedicate this plane to everyone that thinks guillows kits can't fly.
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Old 01-17-2007, 09:30 AM
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jzrf6c
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Default RE: 16.5 Guillows hellcat full rc

Your plane looks great! I first picked up a couple of Guillows kits, Beechcraft Musketter & Cessna 180, when I retired and wanted to get back into modeling. It had been over 40 years since I'd built a model and was inpressed with the quality of the Beechcraft Musketter kit (first one I started). I wanted a static model so instead of covering with paper I used 1/32 sheets of balsa. Unfortunately, I screwed up the finish by trying to paint it with SIG paint - ended up looking like a mudpie ! I've asked several people what I did wrong and never did get a good answer. Unually, people at the LHS just said use spray paint. Anyway, after messing with it it looks good enough to display. I too had considered puting in a small electric motor and try to fly indoors. But, I was rebucked by the club members of the local club I joinded. Most said I needed to learn on something REALLY BIG. Since I still have the Cessna 180 and now now how to fly some I thing I'll try to build the 180 and conver it to electric. Can you give me a little more detail on your motor, ECS & Eletronics?

I loved your pictures. Hope you can have someone film your first (or later) flight and post it here.
Old 01-17-2007, 09:37 AM
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Mike Taylor
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Default RE: 16.5 Guillows hellcat full rc

Hi, 60 Buick, '06 GTO here... ('99 Camaro SS backup)

I'm certianly glad to see more actually model building going on, but there are a couple of things that concern me with your build.

First is the full length CF tube down the fuselage. That has got to weigh a bit. I think that if you moved you hatch up a couple of stringers and doubled to top one, you would get rid of the weak hatch cutaway section in the fuse. If you want to mount the motor on a tube, a short one through the first two formers should be plenty.

Secondly, if you are going to put an $80 BL in it, consider the Might Might 'Goldline' motors (http://www.bsdmicrorc.com/products.cfm?catID=10037). They run from 5.5 to 8.x grams. ESCs for them run 1 to 1.5 grams. You can cut the battery back to a 2 x 250 mah pack (12 grams). This set up gives 120 rams or so of thrust, runs a 5 x 3 or 6 x 3 prop (better suited to the scale of your model), but it only weighs 19 grams ( 5.5 + 1.5 + 12 )instead of 47 grams! (15 + 9 + 23).

The MJ servos actually weigh slightly less than the advertised 3 grms (Bonus!).

It seems a shame to do all the rest of the model in stick and tissue and then throw Depron tail feathers on it (just my opinion). You can make as light a structure from balsa that is quite strong. Forget the multiple pieces that glue together for the tail outlines and laminate a continuous outline. Use 3 laminations of balsa 1/16" x 1/32", soak them in water, glue with white glue around a form and let them dry. The resulting outline will be stronger and lighter than their sheet parts.

Your chosen model only has about 45 sq. " of wing, and at 2.5 oz your are looking at 2 grams per inch. That's about twice the wing loading I accept as an indoor or micro loading. Here's a picture of my latest model using the Goldline motor and gear I mentioned above. It is 22" WS, 90 sq. ", and weighs 64 grams ready to fly. Its loading is about 2/3 grams / inch or 1/3 of what you are contemplating...
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Old 01-17-2007, 10:21 AM
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60buick
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Default RE: 16.5 Guillows hellcat full rc

I will look into the lighter gear as soon as this plane is complete. Once the top hatch was cut it did loose some rigidity which is why the spar runs to the bulkhead just aft of it. It helped a lot and it should be pretty durable. The tube was also holowed out a good bit more with a drill bit so its weight is minimal. I am new to the micro stuff. My other project is a 118" Ziroli B-25 so this stuff is very different and recomending what I can buy "that will work" is what I needed. I have sucessfully built a Guillows hurricane (and a few others) that weighed in at 4 oz+ and flew very well but very fast. Definitly not an indoor plane and a monster to control. I pirated the electronics from the hurricaine. I have crashed it a dozen times and it held up great but a kitten was able to distroy it in minutes[>:] I will try the tail constuction you mentioned. I do like the idea of sticking to wood construction. I am going to order some new cowls and canopys and scratch build another out of lighter wood and try some lighter gear and I think a 1 gram per inch wing loading could be done but this one should fly very well. I may just omit the drop tank and try to get it under 2 oz. A guy on rcgroups built one that weighed in at 2.5 oz has some video up and it flys pretty good and slow. Another guy has one that weighs in at 3.7 oz and it flys good.


If the wing area is 45 then a weight of 2.5 put the loading at 1.57 grams per inch. If I can get the weight down to 2 then that drops to 1.26 grams per inch. I think indoor flight is very doable but not in the living room.

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