Skerts

So Ireally wantto make a Debonair as my first SPADbut Ihavea couple of questions...

1. Ilive in Canada and the plans on Spadtothebone call for 2-1/2"American downpipe, can Iuse the 2-3/8"Canadian downpipe?
2. Ihate the look of the top cut in the fuselage and Ireally hate the look of the off-set rudder, can Icut the downpipe on the bottom side a la the "Saturday Night Special"and install the tail feathers in the same manner as the "SNS"with the hinge style?

Many thanks.

Skerts

Alternatively, can I install tricycle gear on a SPAD Debut? And am I limited to a .30 engine?

aspeed

It is a SPAD you can do whatever you like.  If it doesn't work, you get out the tin snips and change it. That Looks About Right TLAR usually is.  Just remember 'safety forced'. I think the thinner downspout is preferred for anything but the biggest motors.

ratshooter

Yep you can make the changes you want to make. The only thing you would have a problem with by putting the cut out on the bottom is it makes it harder to convert to a tail dragger. The first spad built was a Debonair and I centered the rudder with two angle pieces cut from downspout. I flew mine with a TT GP40 and it wasn't overpowered. Unless your 30 is a hot bearing type motor it will be on the weak side. I gave my first Spad toa buddy and he is going to install a Super Tigre 40in it. That should be a good match.Good luck and post pics when its ready to fly.

Here is my first Spad.

Skerts

Thanks Ratshooter. That's exactly how I want mine. I like your top cut too, it doesn't look bad at all but the main thing that put me off was the offset rudder. I like what you did with yours for sure. What size down pipe is that? 2-1/2" or 2-3/8"? And what size prop did you use with your .40?

lecrote

My Feedback: (1)

Hi,

I highly recommend a coro fuse because canadian gutter are weaker!
Now I have a DPS with it and the tail twist at high speed.
Look here for corofuse
http://spadquebec.ca/index.php?optio...d=64&Itemid=23

Good luck

Dan

ratshooter

Hi Skerts glad you like my plane. That plane the 2.5" american pipe. I have never seen the smaller pipe around here. That engine has a 10/6 APC prop on it. The plane weighed 6.25 pounds and still flew well for having just a plain bearing motor on it. It looks a little better now because I put black bans on the wing and tail. I also had flutter in the ailerons and switched to duel servos and moved them out as far as the leads would reach. Problem solved.

I have the thread New Spad right by this thread and it has pics of my second Spad. Having made both types of fuselages I have to say I like the coro fuse better than the PVC fuse. The PVC plane has the 60" wingspan per the Deb plans. My new spad has a 48" wingspan and the same wing loading because of the lighter weight. My first Spad flew very well. Better than I thought it would. The new spad is head and shoulders above the old plane. It flies as well as any plane I have flown in a long time. My Seniorita was better but won't take the knocks the spad will take.

When I get this out at the flying field everyone has questions about how its made. After the guys see it fly several have stated they may build one. And these are all ARF guys. I seem to be the only builder out there. Of courseI am not but you just don't see many kit built or scratch built planes. Maybe I am going out at the wrong time plus I am new to the club. Anyway keep us posted on what you decide to build.

Skerts

Awesome Ratshooter, thanks for the info. I'm taking it all in for sure. A guy at my club alsomentioned to me tonight about high speed twist in the PVC fuselages like you're speaking ofand suggested that, while it doesn't look as good, to decrease the top angle cut length to minimize the flex. I'll see if I can find some of the 2-1/2" downpipe for sure. Most of my recent efforts have been spent trying to find a local supplier for 2MIL Corroplast. I understand that it isn't required for the Deb but I can really see this aspect of the hobby becoming an addiction haha. Speaking of Corroplast, was your Deb made entirely of 4MIL as per the plans? Did you find that the airfoil didn't sweep and instead it kind of looked like a triangle shape? I read somewhere that tis can happen when using the 4MIL Corroplast... In regards to this, the same guy at my club suggested scoring the plastic with a screwdriver before it meets the spar and before I begin to bend it over and then I will get more of a sweep rather than hard line (tent style)... I just wondered if you have any wisdom or experience regarding this?

Thanks a lot.

Villa

Hi Skerts
I have not read every post on this so I may have this wrong. You mentioned scoring the Coroplast with a screwdriver, at the point where the top surface touches the spar. I believe some of the SPAD build directions suggested this, but I, and many others, have found this to be wrong. When bending the wing over the spar, with the wing flutes running in the direction of the wing chord, do not score the wing. Allow the top surface to bend into a nice airfoil shape. You need at least two people to do the work, or you can make a jig to help hold things while doing the bending.

ratshooter

Villa the Debonair has the flutes running span wise and they do suggest scoring where the top 4mm meets the two spars.

Skerts when I was going to build my first spad I read nearly every build on spadtothebone.net and picked what I liked best about each plane. I liked the diminsions of the Deb but didn't like the double spars or the 4mm top skin. So I used the wing build method for the Spad Stik but made the 60" wing. Also instead of my ailerons being sandwiched between the top and bottom skins my ailerons are part of the bottom skin with a 2mm cap glued on. I used silicone glue for this and also for gluing on the tail feathers of my new spad shown in the other thread. Silicone glues coro very well but for wing skins I would use the slow CA like recommended. Before you start to buildread all you can at the spad site and make yourself a coro splitter. I made mine with a paint stir stick.

If you go to spadflyer.com it will show two planes on the first page. Click on the left picture and it will show a close up of the wing on the right side of the page. There you can see they used 4mm and installed sub ribs in front of the spar. If you look close you can see they cut several of the flutes on the inside of the top wing skin so the 4mm would follow the sub ribs and make a nice airfoil shape instead of the tent/angled shapr you were refering to. They also cut one flute behind the spar to releive pressure to make gluing down the trailing edge easier.

If I build another Spad I may give this a try because its so much easier to find 4mm than 2mm. You can find links to these sites and for a place where I bought my 2mm in my thread New Spad.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_11094335/tm.htm

PatrickCurry

My Feedback: (20)

Villa's right that originally, it was recommended that you score the wing at the spars to help with the bend, but that technique has been abandoned to keep the airfoil smooth and not put that flat spot at the top.  The flutes do not run spanwise on the Debonair, they run chordwise.  The flutes on the *ailerons* run spanwise.  

ratshooter

Patrick and Villa are correct. The flutes do run chordwise on the Debonaire. I had to go to the spad site and check. I guess I was thinking of the wing for the spad stick which does have the flutes running spanwise on the bottom of the wing. Sorry about that.

I should have caught that because I posted earlier that I used the Deb wing diminsions but the Spad Stik build method.