ekir

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Hi Anthony

ekir

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One more photo

WacoNut

Hi Ed,
Looks like it turned out nice. You will find out it is hard to slow the plane down for landing. They do fly nice though.
Later!!
Anthony

ekir

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Finally I have the Aircoupe finished. I am excited to fly it in a few days.

ekir

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I flew my Stafford Aircoupe yesterday. Three beautiful flights. The electric power flies a little faster than scale. It flew for seven minutes with plenty of reserve in the Lipo's. Landing were nice. Once it gets in ground effect, it is a floater.

Ed

Homer712

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I read through this thread a number of times. Good reading. I just ordered my Aircoupe from Leisure RC Models and it will be this winter's build. I was planning on a Saito 62 for power. Like to hear some opinions on that size Saito for this plane. I tend to like "scale" flight (too old for 3D) and have a Saito 72 in my Sig 1/5 Cub, and a Saito 62 in my H9 Toledo Special. Both fly very realistically.

ekir

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Homer

I think the 62 4 stroke will be fine. I had planned to put a 52 4-stroke in my coupe, but did not have a way to clear coat the Aircoupe. Ended up electric. The plane flies well. I would imagine that you will be pulling the throttle back to fly scale.

Enjoy the build and keep us posted how it is progressing.

Happy Thanksgiving,


Ed

WacoNut

Homer,
You will have more than enough power, I flew mine with an old OS61 4-stroke and my buddy had a .52 in his. Both planes flew very well and they are fast. You really need to bleed off speed and altitude before trying to land.

Enjoy the build!!
Anthony

Homer712

My Feedback: (17)

Thanks for the feedback guys. Just ordered the Saito 62 (some eat turkey, some watch football, others order engines!) from Horizon. They have a 15% Black Friday Sale (that started today), plus I had a $15.00 coupon for doing one of their online surveys. With free shipping the Saito 62 is costing me $203.99. This will be my fifth Saito. Love those engines!

Zor

Ed ( ekir ) or anyone with an answer,

The blue text above highlighted by Zor.

How would anyone define 'flying scale' ?


Zor

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Homer712

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Scale: Any flight where the pilot does not hurl either a liver or a kidney!

WacoNut

Zor,
The reference to flying scale would be: To appear to be flying a scale speed. Most of our models fly faster than scale speeds. For example a full scale J-3 Cub cruises at 60mph, try getting a 1/5 scale J-3 Cub to cruise at 12 mph. The larger the model the easier it is to fly at a scale speed. My 1/3 Cub will fly at a scale speed (20mph) but it does get a bit mushy on the controls.

I would say the Ercoupe model will fly 60mph full throttle. This would be a scale speed of 300mph. Way too fast for scale but it tracks like a well mannered sport model.
Later!!
Anthony

ekir

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I like to fly a scale airplane similar to the way the real one flies. I fly 3-D models with tumbles, hovering, etc., but do not want to fly the Aircoupe in that manner. I might throw in a loop or roll with the Aircoupe, but that is probably my limit.

Zor

Hi ekir,

What hit my mind is your reference to flying scale in your post #207.

It made me curious as to what would pilots consider / define as flying scale.

I did not ( and do not ) consider flying scale as being flying a scaled model.

In your recent post ( above ) you are now talking about your style of flying.

I am not trying to play on words _ _ _ just trying to get clear meaningful understanding.

Personally I am in agreement with the reasoning that WacoNut posted.

Zor

Homer712

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My Jack Stafford (Leisure RC Models) Aircoupe kit got here yesterday. Oh boy!

I've been building since the mid 1970's (mostly Goldberg stuff, something for my son and I to do together while he was growing up, I bought, built, fueled, cleaned and repaired, he flew . . . good times!) so I'm not new to this. Building ever since (OK, all except for those pesky forty-five years when I needed to work). Since retiring I've built a Sig 1/5 Cub, a BUSA 1/6 Sopwith Pup and last year, a Top Flite Elder. Love winter builds!

Back to the Aircoupe. The good part. The laser cutting by Leisure RC is fantastic and the kit arrived in perfect condition. Inventoried the parts, everything is there, loose parts bagged and all sheet balsa looks good.

Now for the challenging part. The manual (reprint of original Jack Stafford) is all of eleven pages, two of which are a parts listing. Only one plan sheet. Wing on plan is to scale, so you can build over top. Fuse, not so much. It's a "should look sorta like this when done" thing. I'll be doing a build thread, so all advice/support during the process will be appreciated. Won't be starting until after Christmas (house rules, we all work for someone!). Wish me luck.

Henry

WacoNut

Hi Henry,
I hope you enjoy the build. The plane is a bit different to build compared to most models. The wing has very little internal structure and relies on the skin for strength. The wing is incredibly strong. As I remember forming the tips was a bit of work. The fuse requires a lot of shaping and there is little room inside for the radio gear, tank etc: You definitely need to plan ahead. I also install a remote glow driver as I mounted the engines inverted and could not reach the glow plug due to the landing gear position.
Post a link to your build here when you get started. I would like to follow along.
Later!!
Anthony

Homer712

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Anthony, I'll post a link once I start the build. I install an "on board" glow system in all my builds (ever since I lost a beautiful AeroMaster Bipe Special to a dead stick a few years ago) so I will definitely need to plan ahead. Back then I flew all 2-cycle engines but have since switched to 4-cycle (Saito) in all my planes. And even though they are reliable beyond belief, I still feel much better knowing that when I idle down, the glow is on.

Here's a link to the system I use. Simple, light and reliable!

https://www.servocity.com/html/micro...h__10amp_.html

I've dealt with the developer, he sells exclusivly through Servo City. I've got most of the guys at the field using this system.

ekir

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Homer, good luck with your Aircoupe Build. I am glad another individual is taking the challenge.

The fuse does take some planning ahead, but with your building experience, I am sure you will be fine.

dsumner

I've read through the thread and have a "short kit" that I purchased on RC Groups. I am going to be building it for electric and also modifying the fuse for a removable hatch/canopy to replace batteries between flights.

I've cut out templates for the 1/8 balsa sides and noticed the wing cutout doesn't match the wing section. Sounds like most that have built it did some draw sanding to get the wing to fuse fit prior to bolting on the wing. No where on the plans or instructions does it call out incidences. Measuring off the plan it looks like motor "0", wing +3, and stab +1 1/2. Have any of you checked incidence?

What have your models weighed ready to fly?

Thanks,
Denny

ekir

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Hi Denny

Well, I checked my incidence and I will give you what I have, FWIW. I would bet that the way this Aircoupe is built, Anthony, myself, and others might get different figures. Motor approximately 1 degree down, Wing 0 and stab is -1.5 measured with a Robart Incidence Meter.

The total weight of mine with 4S 4000 30C Lipo is 6.75 pounds. I had to add weight to the nose, about 1/2 pound to get to balance at 3" CG. I will someday take a little weight off and move CG back to see if I can shed a little weight.

With 4000 battery I fly for seven minutes with plenty of reserve left.

Ed

dsumner

Ed,

Thanks for checking your incidence. That will help as I get into the fuse. The template sheet just seems off especially for the 1/8 balsa sides. It would help a bunch if the 1/4 balsa longerons were shown on the plans. Right now I am transposing dimensions from the formers to the side view to try and come up with a more accurate template for the fuse sides along with how to frame a hatch...

I spend my time over in RC Groups and stumbled across this thread during a Google search this morning. The pictures everyone has posted helps to understand the fuselage construction. I've been in the hobby since 71 but find the drawings and instructions a little weak....

I am going to use a Cobra 3520/12 (820kv) motor, 80 amp ESC and a 4S5000 Lipoly.

Denny

dsumner

Ed,

One more question on the stab incidence. You say - 1.5 so the leading edge of the stab is higher than the trailing edge? That would help keep the nose down as airspeed increases....

Thnx,
Denny

ekir

My Feedback: (1)

The -1.5 means that the leading edge of the stab is lower than the trailing edge. Personally I would not worry to much about the incidence. If you can set it up with the measurements off the plans I feel it will be fine. If it was a pattern aircraft, I would want the measurements to be spot on. How do you feel about this Anthony?

dsumner

Ed,

Thanks again for the clarification. How does yours fly, do you have any noticeable down elevator trim?

Denny

ekir

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Denny, it flies with a level elevator. My CG is all the way aft on the plans, 3" as stated before.

I did not mean to indicate that incidence is not important. It really is important to get it as close as the plans as possible. I might be incorrect, but this Aircoupe would probably fly fine at 0-0-0, IMO.

It looks like you are going with an electric motor that is close to my Hacker. You have a few grams more weight which usually equates to a little more power. I am running a prop on my that has very little ground clearance. It I went to a less diameter prop, I do not feel that it fly quite as well. You might consider making the main and nose gear a little longer. Just a thought!

Ed