mickeymouse23

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So anywyas ive built three wonders over the years first on with a veco 19 the other two with a 25fp. All where stock except for wing hold down mods and all flew great BUT i have two now one all stock and still in the building stages and another was given to me last week. That is the topic here is the new one in the box. I would like to modify it to fly really fast. So what would you do? for engine the lhs has a os 32 that i would like to use. Ive seen guys modify the airfoil and such. Could someone give me some ideas? Or a link to a extreme speed build on the wonder? Thanks to all in advanced, mike

Crazy4Flight

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i have not changed the airfoil (yet) on the wonders I have built in the past.

my mods were:

to bolt the stab down to the fuse @ the wing blocks plus on screw at the TE need to put a block back there between the fus sides to accept the 3rd screw.

with bolt on stabe no access hatch needed on the bottom of the fuse :-)

next I use 3/16 square spruce for the leading edge replace the 1/4" sq. balsa supplied
AND the wing sheeting is not trimmed but laid over the top of the spruce stock

mickeymouse23

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okay those are pretty simple ideas, i usually use 4 bolts in the wing and forget all about the dowels in the front

Mike Connor

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There is a guy in here (a moderator I think) that had a modified Nelson 40 powered Wonder. He visits this forum often and should respond soon. Jeremy from Canada I believe.

Edit - LGM Graphix is the current user name unless I am all mixed up. I am getting kinda old.

Crazy4Flight

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have you put two .15 on the wing???

for real speed you will need to modify the airfoil and reduce frontal area.

a cowl would help

for a .32sx I would stretch the fuse and add rudders.

mickeymouse23

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okay how do i reduce the airfoil on this? can i cut up the original ribs or should i make new ones? a cowel wouldnt be to hard to set up. any more ideas? how about making it lighter? whats the easiest way to make the rudders functional? can you send some pics of the rudders? thanks mike

LGM Graphix

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Yup, That was me, I'm not totally sure I remember what mod's I made but I'll do my best.
I believe I clipped the wing by about 3" total (didn't bother with the carved wingtips) and cut my own core from foam which was a little thinner, I think it was a quickie airfoil I used. Then I used solid carbon fiber spars, they were actually guitar neck reinforcing rods, they measure .250" x .200" I think. fully sheeted wing as well. I don't remember what I did with the tail, I'm sure I must have used some carbon tow or tape or something on it span wise but I don't remember. I cowled the engine in as best as I could (not a cheek going over it or anything).

I didn't modify the wing hold down which was eventually what led to the airplanes destruction, wing parted company, I also could not fit a bladder tank in there so the engine was a pain in the butt to set.
We had it on a radar reading of 270 which the guy swore up and down was mph and back then I was nieve enough to believe that (and even argued it online like an idiot) but there's no way, I could see it being in kph which would still be a very respectable 165mph-ish.
I think you'd be faster with a JETT50 or something like that though since the Nelson uses such a small prop at such a high rpm, it's just slipping through the air mostly IMO. A lower RPM with a bigger prop would probably work better on an airframe that draggy.

Yes, you can balance it, I split my battery pack in half and put half on each side of the elevator pushrod in the very back,
Would I do it again? no, would I recommend it probably not, would I like to see somebody else do it, sure!

mickeymouse23

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okay so slim the ribs down, add carbon fiber, reinforce wing hold down, through in a big engine and stir? the 32 is about as big as i would want to go at this point. does sliming the airfoil make it harder to hand launch or does it stay the same? i will stay with the wood wing and add the spruce spars and probably carbon fiber rods too. sounds like alot of fun, wich sevoes do you recomend with the mods? dual airlones dont sound like to bad an idea. functional rudders with this? thanks for all the help and advice, mike

Mike Connor

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Watch your weight. The thin wing will not make it hard to hand launch but a very high wing loading may.