SPAD Sickle with pics
06-09-2007, 10:33 PM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
hi there cwick
the sickle weighs 4pound or close to 2 kilos seems very heavy but leaves you hand without throwing it and screems off only thing is the landings are a bit hot but once you get used to that there a breeze becarful of flutter i am working on resolving the problem as we speek trying some new ideas
cheers chris
the sickle weighs 4pound or close to 2 kilos seems very heavy but leaves you hand without throwing it and screems off only thing is the landings are a bit hot but once you get used to that there a breeze becarful of flutter i am working on resolving the problem as we speek trying some new ideas
cheers chris
06-11-2007, 12:28 AM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
ORIGINAL: chowclb
hi there cwick
the sickle weighs 4pound or close to 2 kilos seems very heavy but leaves you hand without throwing it and screems off only thing is the landings are a bit hot but once you get used to that there a breeze becarful of flutter i am working on resolving the problem as we speek trying some new ideas
cheers chris
hi there cwick
the sickle weighs 4pound or close to 2 kilos seems very heavy but leaves you hand without throwing it and screems off only thing is the landings are a bit hot but once you get used to that there a breeze becarful of flutter i am working on resolving the problem as we speek trying some new ideas
cheers chris
somegeek
06-11-2007, 12:36 AM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
Nice to see these planes can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'...
Here's my sickle in progress - built to spec. Gonna be powered with a GMS .32 (once I put some time in on my dogfighter).
Had to temporarily tape a piece of balsa to the bottom surface of the front edge to keep it straight while gluing in the balsa filler. Used balsa on the back edge instead of coro(figured the coro would crush). Wing spar is two large Home Depot paint stir sticks(22" each). Connected with epoxy and fiberglass.
somegeek
Here's my sickle in progress - built to spec. Gonna be powered with a GMS .32 (once I put some time in on my dogfighter).
Had to temporarily tape a piece of balsa to the bottom surface of the front edge to keep it straight while gluing in the balsa filler. Used balsa on the back edge instead of coro(figured the coro would crush). Wing spar is two large Home Depot paint stir sticks(22" each). Connected with epoxy and fiberglass.
somegeek
06-11-2007, 01:23 PM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
Mine is a lil more than 4lbs but I did put a .40 on it plus I used 1/2'ply for the fire wall and a bigger battery so I can undersand mine weighing a lil more
07-30-2007, 01:21 PM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
ORIGINAL: somegeek
4lbs? Would think it closer to 2lbs to 3lbs depending on the engine and the type of material used for the fuselage. My dogfighter is on the heavy side and weighs 3lbs 11oz. Think it'd be difficult for a sickle, built to spec, to exceed 4 lbs.
somegeek
ORIGINAL: chowclb
hi there cwick
the sickle weighs 4pound or close to 2 kilos seems very heavy but leaves you hand without throwing it and screems off only thing is the landings are a bit hot but once you get used to that there a breeze becarful of flutter i am working on resolving the problem as we speek trying some new ideas
cheers chris
hi there cwick
the sickle weighs 4pound or close to 2 kilos seems very heavy but leaves you hand without throwing it and screems off only thing is the landings are a bit hot but once you get used to that there a breeze becarful of flutter i am working on resolving the problem as we speek trying some new ideas
cheers chris
somegeek
Gained some weight from using standard servos for the elevons(+1 oz a piece roughly when compared to smaller servos), using an O.S. .46 AX engine and have a AA sized 5-cell NiMH pack(+2 oz vs 4 cell AAA sized pack).
Maiden report soon. [8D]
somegeek
07-30-2007, 05:57 PM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
A Sickle using an O.S. .46 AX engine [X(]........bring a spare pare of shorts....that thing is going to cook 
Can't wait for the flight report.
Good luck on the maiden flight.
Jeff
Can't wait for the flight report.
Good luck on the maiden flight.
Jeff
07-30-2007, 11:47 PM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
Planning to use a 10x6 APC sport prop for this plane's maiden on Wednesday. Heard of folks running 10x8s on this engine... now that'll cook! 
Need to order a few of those props.
Got it trimmed tonight and balanced and it's ready to shake & bake!
.... is it Wednesday yet?
somegeek
Need to order a few of those props.Got it trimmed tonight and balanced and it's ready to shake & bake!
.... is it Wednesday yet?
somegeek
08-09-2007, 10:37 PM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
ORIGINAL: MrGreenSpeed
A Sickle using an O.S. .46 AX engine [X(]........bring a spare pare of shorts....that thing is going to cook
A Sickle using an O.S. .46 AX engine [X(]........bring a spare pare of shorts....that thing is going to cook
08-17-2007, 11:09 PM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
ORIGINAL: MrGreenSpeed
A Sickle using an O.S. .46 AX engine [X(]........bring a spare pare of shorts....that thing is going to cook
Can't wait for the flight report.
Good luck on the maiden flight.
Jeff
A Sickle using an O.S. .46 AX engine [X(]........bring a spare pare of shorts....that thing is going to cook
Can't wait for the flight report.
Good luck on the maiden flight.
Jeff
It was very stable in the air for this short flight even though we had a good amount of wind. I changed the design a bit to move the fin back about 7". This should help with stability.
At any rate this is my new hot rod at the field. Thinking about calling it Melba Toast (see Dazed and Confused)
Funny to think this is the same engine model I run on my Sig Somethin' Extra which I was flying this evening as well.
After I get some more time on this plane, gonna have my friend get some footage and throw a flick up on YouTube like I did for my Dogfighter.
somegeek
08-21-2007, 04:04 PM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
ORIGINAL: dasintex
John Palica; In reading your reply you suggested the following:
you epoxy 1/8 X 3/16" spruce or bass wood strips into the flutes in the coro at both the leading edge and trailing edge in the area where the fuselage slot is. The strips are about 1" long and pushed in so they're flush with the edge of the coro.
If I understand it correctly. do you insert the srtips on the inside exposed fuselage slot cut out on the top surface of the wing; not sure I understand what this does; I have on some of my SPAD's inserted a 1/8" dowel the entire length of a flute like on a coroplast aileron, or elevators; I can see inserting a dowel the entire length in the leading edge flutes in the bottom side of the wing to prevent the mounting screws from crushing the coroplast.
Thanks Doug.
John Palica; In reading your reply you suggested the following:
you epoxy 1/8 X 3/16" spruce or bass wood strips into the flutes in the coro at both the leading edge and trailing edge in the area where the fuselage slot is. The strips are about 1" long and pushed in so they're flush with the edge of the coro.
If I understand it correctly. do you insert the srtips on the inside exposed fuselage slot cut out on the top surface of the wing; not sure I understand what this does; I have on some of my SPAD's inserted a 1/8" dowel the entire length of a flute like on a coroplast aileron, or elevators; I can see inserting a dowel the entire length in the leading edge flutes in the bottom side of the wing to prevent the mounting screws from crushing the coroplast.
Thanks Doug.
05-29-2012, 04:42 AM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
Just built a Sickle and flew it for the first time this weekend. I have a GMS .25 on it. It flies pretty fast and I like the plane but I can't seem to keep it in trim. When at 1/2 throttle it pulls to the right and at full throttle it seems to pull to the left. Any suggestion?
05-29-2012, 07:24 AM
#65
RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
Build it straight next time?
Pull or roll? If it's rolling then you've got a little bit of a warp in there somewhere. If it's pulling then maybe a bit of engine off thrust and then address the alignment of the verticals. My present Flippers are straight as a string till they get going really fast then they tend to stray a bit from the straight and narrow, it may just be one side is deforming under pressure more then the other OR that I have a bit of a warp in my building board OR that it's just really hard to get a straight, dead level wing out of a folded piece of plastic. Doesn't really show up that much with lower speed planes but can really get to you at higher speeds.
then again, the sickle was designed for combat and in combat we got really used to flying planes that were cobbled together from other planes and the remnants of other planes. I've flown remnants that really didn't qualify as whole planes too. To have an airframe that is pretty much straight was good enough, they didn't stay in that condition long.
I am usually pleasantly surprised by how good these folded up airplanes can fly. My USS simply floats on landing even without the flaps down and is a fun Touch n Go aircraft. I can manhandle my DPS around to be a good bomb drop plane and target for the "painting crew" and again my Flipper is just a blast. Still, it's nice to get a good, straight aircraft made of light materials to see how nicely they can fly.
But with my schedule and the times I can get out, it's is fantastic to have an airplane I can fly all day, hang up and forget for 6 months and know that the covering hasn't sloughed off, the glue joints haven't started to let go and there isn't something broken inside that I can't replace for next to nothing. The limiting factor for me is time not money and I have airframes that I get rid of because I want something new and there just isn't room. Not that I haven't had airframes that needed retired as well.
You sickle, with a good engine in it, can reach the kind of speeds that will have you trimming from one side to the other if there is a bit of a warp in there. If it's pulling one way more then the other it's the Verticals and the engine offset. More then likely you have a bit of right rudder in there that was un-intentional and while at low speed that doesn't make much difference as the speed increases the amount of force also increases. The amount of torque from the engine on launch will yaw and roll your airplane to the left. Scale ships look like CL Rat Racers when you let go of them flat, they turn a good 20 degrees before the airspeed over the Vertical straightens them out. If you put some right thrust on the engine that will help mellow out left yaw at lower speeds. Engine side thrust effects DECREASE as a percentage of speed, the faster you go the less they matter where the aerodynamic forces of your air frame increase with speed.
05-29-2012, 08:35 AM
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RE: SPAD Sickle with pics
I think it might need right thrust ... I have none right now. I think the wing is pretty straight.
My GNAT is horrible when it comes to trim, but I guess you can't expect much from plastic. However I have a SPAD Diamon Dust that goes 90+ mph and it is perfect with regard to trim .... Maybe it is the design ... maybe it flexes too much
???
My GNAT is horrible when it comes to trim, but I guess you can't expect much from plastic. However I have a SPAD Diamon Dust that goes 90+ mph and it is perfect with regard to trim .... Maybe it is the design ... maybe it flexes too much
???
