Acer

I've had alot of requests the past couple of years to make a larger version of the SpeedWing Dart. I have finally got around to it and just completed assembly of a 150% Dart called the Dart XL.

The wingspan is 30.25" and it is constructed using 6mm carbon fiber wrapped tubing spars and leading edge and aircraft grade ply ribs. It is a very beefy build so it's very strong, yet with the power system I have in it, it weighs 26 oz. and has a wing loading of 8 oz./sq. ft., the same as my smaller Dart.

The motor mount can handle anything from a speed 400 brushless motor up to a large outrunner like a Power 25. The battery bay is HUGE so you can put up to 9s LiPolys in it if you want.

The power system I have in it at the moment is an E-flite Six Series 2700 kv motor, 6x4 APC prop and a 3s 2100mah LiPoly. I'll later install a Power 25 0utrunner and 6s LiPoly pack swinging an 8x8 APC prop (should be good for 160+ m.p.h. )

I just had the maided flight yesturday (filmed it) and it flies GREAT! Flew great the first time without having to change anything. The speed and power with the Series Six motor was pretty suprizing. I wasn't expecting it to reach 100 m.p.h with that system, but it flew straight up from launch and I'd say speeds were in the 110 m.p.h. range. This is actually a very good setup for spirited flight with this wing that will give you long flight times. I flew for almost 9 minutes for the video and I still had plenty of power in the batteries when I landed.

Well, sorry for the long winded post. Here are a few pictures of the wing.

Acer

We just put the maided flight video up on our site. We had to film it between rain showers, so there is plenty of clouds.

Just go to: http://www.speedwing.net/videos.php and scroll down until you see "SpeedWing Dart XL". Then click on either "Low", "Medium", or "High" for the video quality you want and it will start to play.

Acer

jeffk464

huh, looks like it might be the perfect little plane to toss in my truck for when I'm out on the road. How much is it going to cost, and is it a kit or arf?

Acer

I'm not sure what the price will be yet, I have to cut a few kits and see what the machine time will be per kit (I use a CNC mill to cut kits).

These will be kits and not ARF's. They are fast builds, about 2 hours to frame up and get ready to cover. I just don't like to sub out my designs to China to make ARF's as once you do, they will start selling them to other companies as well.

jeffk464

I watched the video and it looked like a good flier, launching looks a little tricky though.

marjamar

We did a second video Sunday at my daughters BP party. Still very cloudy, but it was still fun & fast. This was in a larger area (unlimited space) so Andy took advantage of it and did some really long and fast passes. I wish we hadn't broke our radar gun, I'd like to know for sure how fast it is. You'll see in the new video why Andy thinks it going about 120 MPH or so. I know standing off and behind him, it really hard to keep on it at a close fly-by. He also did a number of really cool flat spins. Anyways, in our [link=http://www.speedwing.net/videos.php]Video Page[/link], just look for SpeedWing Dart XL and "2nd Flight" is the video. The "High" quality plays nice in full screen mode if you have cable or DSL internet.

Hope you guys like it.

-Rodger

Acer

They are actually extremely easy to launch. The first video was the maiden launch so the wing wasn't trimmed (I also hadn't flown anything in a few months, too busy).

Look at the second video to see how easily it launches when it is trimmed out. All you do is put it to full throttle (or part throttle if you have a powerful motor) and basically let it go.

The second video also shows the speed of the Dart XL with a cheap, not very powerful setup, probably around 120 m.p.h. Can't wait until I put a 6s setup in it, I think I should be able to hit 160+ easily.

Mike Connor

My Feedback: (5)

I think he was kidding about the launch. You couldn't ask for much better on either one. Nice looking delta and it seems to fly well also. It is quick and capable of a lot I am sure, but I did Doppler two passes in the second video and came up with 85 to 90 mph on left to right passes (headwind?). Anyway, this post is to complement your nice work.

Acer

Thanks, I really like the way it flies. As for the doppler, I'm not sure how it will work since I have a remote mic on and my dad has a boom mic on the camera, they both are mixed. I'll see if I can have my mic tuned to so we can get a better reading (I'm pretty stationary while the camera mic is always panning.

I'm used to flying my SpeedWing 400 at 120 m.p.h. and my Sparrow Hawk at 100 m.p.h. This wing feels like it is right between the two in speed. It is larger than both other mentioned wings though, so the perception of speed should be slower for it compared to what it is doing.

I wish I still had my radar. I buzzed my dad last year with one of my other wings to get a radar reading. I must have been a little too close though, because he squeezed the trigger so hard that he broke the radar gun

Mike Connor

My Feedback: (5)

My Doppler readings are usually close to radar when both are used but nothing to bet your life savings on. Your mic setup produced really clean lines even if the speed may be off a little. I checked the 1 minute pass and the 4:20 min pass and this is the slower one. Your distance from the camera and altitude may also be a factor. Not sure how panning the camera is a problem as the pan speed is slow. Again, nice delta.

marjamar

Hello Mike,

If your are using the left channel, that's the boom mike on the camera, the right channel is the lapel mike on Andy. I'd like to look some more at this wave scope program, but all I can find is a German language version. Could you give me a link to the English version.

Thanks.

-Rodger

Mike Connor

My Feedback: (5)

Not sure what, if any, error the two mics would cause but the lines were clean. Maybe we can figure that out.
English version of WaveOScope.
http://happykillmore.com/main_downloads.asp

marjamar

I'm not sure there would be, but Andy said the channels were mixed, which isn't true. I'm using Adobe Premiere so far cutting these videos (actually not cutting, just titling and rendering to quicktime & FLV), an don't have the Dolby licenses yet, so I didn't mix sounds for 5.1, just stereo. Normally I use Vegas, but decided to try Premere again (own 5.1) and like it for some things, but no where near as user friendly as Vegas.

Thanks for the link.

I did try this program back when it first appeared, but only a few times before we got our radar gun. Now that I scrunched the radar gun some time back, we've been more or less "radarless", except when we use the club gun. So, thought I'd check out this program again At least until we buy another radar gun.

-Rodger

jeffk464

I'm looking for something compact that I can toss in my truck. I kind of like your original power setup because I'm trying to get into heli's and would like to be able to use the same batteries(2100mah, 11.1V) for both. Before this I was looking at some of the small hotliners, but I think they are more likely to get damaged sitting in my truck(semi).

marjamar

The better option may be a foamie wing rather then a built-up wing. Unless you have a pretty dedicated space to keep it in, it might get crunched otherwise. Foamies can crunch too, but they are tougher generally speaking. We have foamie wings from 16" to 32" in speeds from about 5 MPH to over 150 MPH. You can call Acer at the shop Monday-Friday 9 to 5 and talk to him and he'll give you all the info you will need.

-Rodger

marjamar

Well we replaced our broken radar gun and had a chance to do some fly-bys on camera and on radar. Most of the runs were over 100 MPH. I think why the audio doppler was off, was because none of the fly-bys were very much overhead in this earlier video. Anyway, the radar I'm sure is more accurate and we did take most of these passes more overhead.

-Rodger

Here's the youtube video link:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d83FYdP-udk[/youtube]

Mike Connor

My Feedback: (5)

FYI, Doppler showed your 108 mph run at 108.6. A 4S and the right motor should make that thing move right along. [X(]
The inflight rpm on that pass was just over 25,000 rpm

Acer

Yeah, a 4s setup would work great.

Right now the current setup is at about 380 watts. Later on I'm going to try a 6s setup with the Power25 outrunner turning an 8x8 prop. This setup puts out 980 watts, so it should REALLY make the wing move out, hopefully in the 165+ m.p.h. range.

Mike Connor

My Feedback: (5)

I am kind of new to electrics but not sure what you see in the Power25 870 Kv motor. It is big, heavy and low rpm. It would seem a 28 mm high Kv inrunner would be the ticket for that airframe.

Acer

For all out speed, you want a low kv motor. I know it sounds backwards, but that is how it is. Since they are low KV, you can run very high voltages with lower amps. For example, the setup in it now has a KV of 2700 and is pulling 35A on 3s. With voltage drop, the motor is making about 380 watts of power

Now for the low KV Power 25. It has a KV of 870 and pulls about 50A on 6s. With voltage drop, the motor puts out about 980 watts. So, amps is 50/35= 1.43 times the smaller motor while power out is 980/380= 2.58 times the smaller motor. So it is more efficient to run the lower kv motor than the higher kv motor for the power put out.

Acer

The SpeedWing Dart XL is now available! Sorry for taking so long to get this one out the door, I also own another company, so sometimes it is hard to get new products developed tested and finalized in a fast manner.

I have the SpeedWing Dart page up on my website and have 3 videos now on the site as well. This is a FUN plane to fly. It tracks so well and is so smooth, yet has a roll rate that is a blur and can fly square corners. It is FAST and yet it can slow down to a crawl and land at your feet.

I'm attaching a couple of pics of the part in the kit as well as how you will receive the kit (not shown is the instructions (still making the cover page) and the hardware pack).

If you have any questions, let me know. Always happy to help!





Acer
[link]http://speedwing.net[/link]

Acer

I have a little update for you guys i always try to make my kit costs as low as possible. Because the Dart XL took so long to mill, I started trying to find ways to speed the process up.

I just finished an upgrade to my CNC mill that will allow me to cut these Dart XL kits out quite a bit faster! (I installed a higher speed spindal and sourced some very good endmills).

Because of the time saved in milling, I will be knocking $30.00 off of the price of the kit!

So, now the SpeedWing Dart XL is only $89.95!!

To those of you who have already bought a kit, I am offering a refund of $30.00 or credit for parts/accessories from my site. Let me know what you'd like by email or PM.

Thanks everyone

Acer
http://speedwing.net

brianfroehling

This is a case of "Good things are hard to get." I can click on your link, but I can't find a way to actually purchase the Speedwing Dart XL. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Acer

There is an "Add To Cart" button on the bottom right hand side of the SpeedWing Dart XL page located here: http://www.speedwing.net/product_inf...roducts_id=609

Let me know if you have any other questions, always happy to help!