Thumper1

I have acquired a Lanier Laser, 1/4 Scale and have some questions.

I want to build this plane as light as possible. I planned on not using the plastic turtle deck, instead using formers and 1/64th plywood for the deck.

The previous owner sheeted the wings. Anyone know of a way to remove some weight once this is done? Someone suggested using a 3" hole saw, coming in from the bottom and removing foam. Since I planed on using plastic film, this wouldn't be a problem.

Any comments or suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Bill

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

I have no suggestions for the foam wings. I'm no expert with foam wings. I did my wings per the plans on this plane.

On the fuselage:

Be carefull when you notch the fuse. sides behind the cockpit area. You must cut a notch in order to get the tail to taper. You actually snap the wood. I put a bit of shaped balsa in there after I got it all built-- too reinforce the joint.

You might replace the fuselage sides with lite plywood. The laun doorskin wood is heavy. Be sure you drill all the lightening holes in the tail section of the fuselage.

If your using a glow engine; put the servos in the radio compartment. DON'T PUT ANY SERVOS IN THE TAIL. IT WILL COME OUT EXTREMELY TAIL-HEAVY IF YOU DO!!

I basically built my Laser per plans. I made the mistake of putting two elevator servos and one rudder servo in the tail. BAD CHOICE on my part. I needed over 2 POUNDS of lead in the nose to balance.

My plane weighed 9 pounds 6 ounces BEFORE I balanced it. It weighed over 11.5 pounds when I got all the lead up front for balance.

I think that if you build it according to the plans-- it should come out under 10 pounds. IMO, thats extremely light for a 25% aerobat.

Of course, if you plan to power with a gasser-- you'll probably need 3 servos in the tail for balance.

I have my wings still. Totaled the plane on maiden flight. 3 seconds of pure terror as my engine flamed out and I deadsticked into a yukka plant.

My right wing has very minor damage on the trailing edge. Left wing is perfect. I could fix it with about 1/16 ounce of 15 minute epoxy and a piece of covering about 2"X6" Would sell them to you cheap if you wanted a set of wings to experiment with.

Dick T.

My Feedback: (243)

Replace the fuse sides with lite ply, do the rest of the plane with kit parts. The plastic turtledeck fits well and doesn't really add much weight.

I did mine, years ago, stock with the lite ply sides. All servos in the fuse. Used a Thunder Tiger 65 GP (plain bearing) engine, Pitts style muffler. Had to add about 10 oz to the nose for balance. Monokote and perfect Paint finish.

Total flying weight is slightly under 8 pounds. I did it this way to prove to locals this size airplane will fly very well with lower power if kept light. Most fellows seeing it fly their first time think it has a 91 or 108 in it due to flying perfromance. It will fly the IMAC Sportsman pattern with ease.

I have another kit that will use a G-23 and I believe I can get it flying under 9.5 pounds, possibly lighter.

It is now a hangar queen after five full seasons of flying.

Giant Scale

You can lighten the wing a couple of ways. A hole saw or a forstener bit will work. Layout a pattern on the wing and drill the holes. I would drill a pilot hole throught the wing and then use the hole saw from the top, flip it over and drill from the bottom. This will minimize splitting the sheeting. You can also lay out the wing so that you create foam ribs. They will look like ribs with balsa cap strips. Then use the scroll saw or a router to remove the unwanted foam. You could also use an xacto knife to cut the sheeting, remove it with a scraper and then cut the foam out with a hot wire. This would probably give you the cleanest cuts. I'd choose the tools based on how thick the wing is.