Villa

This is my first electric plane, and first Flying Wing. I started making it from 2MM top and 4MM bottom Coroplast but I did not want to glue things together because I had too many uncertainties; I was tying it together with waxed string. Ran into too many alignment problems, so I switched to Fan Fold Foam. I used a tapered foam spar, 1" at center and 3/8 at tips, located at a constant 25% chord. Two carbon fiber arrow shafts glued to the inside flat bottom gives it plenty of strength. It had to have landing gear; take offs and landings is a great part of my flying enjoyment. Made 4-5 flights 2 days ago and all went well; never touched the trims. I'll try some loops and rolls next. It has a WS= 46.5" and weighs just under 30 oz. I'll add some color later. The red wing tips are 4MM Coroplast.

PatrickCurry

My Feedback: (20)

That's awesome Villa!  I'm surprised you didn't get all those electronics mounted inside the wing.  re"> That looks really nice though.  That airfoil is SUPER smooth!  Good thing you DID put the wheels on there because when you start rolling it, that's about all you'll see to tell you which way is up.  LOL  If you try the coro again how about velcroing the TE?  Hobbyking carries a 1 meter piece of velcro dirt cheap that you can CA on.  I've used their stick on velco too but usually end up gluing it also.  The hook and loop part is REAL strong though and if you CA'd about a 1/2" strip along the TE I bet it would hold and then you could open it back up to get to your electronics.  Just a thought.  Jackerbes over on RCG built a plane similar to this that is a hybrid using both coro and FFF.  He's got a complete build log and stuff with his ideas on it if you're interested.  Nice job Villa!

Villa

Hi PatrickCurry
Yours are all good ideas. I guess I could use tape to make the hinge for a hatch in the Fan Fold. Maybe next time. Many of my SPADS have lasted 5 years or so. This Fan Fold material does not appear to be capable of lasting that long. Anyone care to comment on that? Wind is brutal at the moment so no flying a new plane.

joeskeeter

My Feedback: (4)

That is a nice looking wing villa.
Winds bad here too, especially for a noobie like me !

MrGreenSpeed

That is a really nice looking wing Villa.
fanfold is as addicting as coroplast ...............

Looks and sounds like it's fun to fly.
Jeff

Villa

Thanks, MrGreenSpeed
On a hard landing last week I broke the front gear support. I had wanted to use aircraft quality 1/8 plywood but the LHS did not have any so I went with Light Ply. Fan fold is a new experience for me. I like my planes to last years rather than weeks. A lot of people at my club see the fan fold planes as a throw away plane. I don't agree with the throw away concept, though I have thrown away a few Coroplast planes that did not perform as expected. Do your fan fold planes last years?

Villa

I cut 1-1/8" from the top of each 4MM Coroplast wing tip plate and solved the slight cyclic yaw problem. Also added some color. Landings are a joy so I make about 10 every flight.

PatrickCurry

My Feedback: (20)

Really nice Villa!  Sorry to hear about the front gear support.  The way I fly and with hangar rash in general, I wouldn't think a FFF plane would last years.  I suppose there's the argument that with the lighter weight, there's lower inertia and in theory foam planes can take a crash as well or better than a heavier plane.  I can truly say that I have had some pretty horrendous crashes with my foamies and they have survived as well as my coro planes but I doubt any of them will be around for a long time.  Maybe it's just that with foam being so much softer, you have the possibility of a glue joint not actually releasing, but taking that top layer of foam with it when it lets go, you know what I mean?  I wouldn't say they're "disposable" and I've certainly had planes last more than "weeks" but I don't know that I'd put a LOT of effort into a foamie.  That's just me.... I have seen many true works of art online and I applaud those guys.  I guess it's all about return on investment.    I know how you like that knife edge and you're not afraid to wring one out, so maybe it'll take bashing a couple foamies for you to make that call.  I guess it's like everything else, there's good and bad with balsa, coro and foam.....  Pick your poison.  

Villa

Here is a video of my Flying Wing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leAU-N8bTOM