Larry Driskill

Over the last couple of years some folks have taken my CL LiteHawk and set it up for RC. It apparently works pretty well. But straight out of the CL box it can't be ideal since the wing panels are not symmetrical.

This afternoon I started with the parts for CL kit and then used two outboard wing panels and trimmed the trailing edge off for ailerons. 'Also found some aileron stock, and extended the nose block to get the engine a bit farther forward of the balance point as more RC weight will be behind the balance point than in front of it. I cut a fin to match the wing tip shape. Other than tossing out the bellcrank and adding two control horns, I think that should about do it.

Depending on how much time I spend in the shop vice hunting hogs, I should be able to get it finished in a week or so.

combatpigg

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HI LARRY! I think those would sell like HOT CAKES to the military! I would reenlist if they created a LITEHAWK OPERATOR MOS!

faif2d

Larry, I know how well this design goes as a CL plane. I would be prepared for a very quick plane with out all that line drag!

Larry Driskill

Hey Pigg,

Isn't MOS "Military Occupational Specialty" or some such? That would be Army and I thought they were gear driven Rotating Wing folks.

If you serve with a Fixed Wing LiteHawk you will probably need an AFSC "Air Force Specialty Code".

When you get signed up and start drawing that Gov't paycheck for flying RC, please holler and I will try to sneak in behind you.

Steve,

I'll bet you are correct. The 1/2A wings I have RC'ed have been a little larger, thicker, and heavier. Maybe I should start with a 6 X 3 and bolt it on backwards!

I have the panels glued to the fuse tube and nose block and the spars glued in.

A CL Litehawk with a VA will weigh between 5&1/2 and 6 ounces. Add 23 grams for the receiver, 8 grams each for 2 servos, 24.2 grams for a 170 mah NI-MH battery, and 1/2 an ounce for the ailerons and extra hardware. Say a total of 3 more ounces. 'Could be exciting.

combatpigg

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HI LARRY! No SIR, I mean MOS, specifically FIELD ARTILLERY! You'll be burnin' the midnight oil keeping up with all the orders. The M-18 LITEHAWK! Sell them on the fact that they need a light weapon to demoralize the enemy. Here's a shot of the DD all bombed up with a typical payload!!

Shackas

Way to go Larry!!! Oooo, now I'm excited about seeing an add for one o' dem in Flying Models!!!

The r/c converted Litehawk isn't too fast at all, well at least the top-end speed isn't too fast.... the acceleration out of the hand, however, THAT's another story!!! You ever seen a F1J/1/2A ff power model accelerate out of the hand? heheheheheeeee

Re. props: I flew my version with the VA Mk II and one of your lovely carbon props. Perfectly do-able.

Combatpigg....nice to see a Fora being put to r/c use! When are you gonna throw that model in a (small) suitcase and come fly down under? [:@]

combatpigg

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HI SHACKAS! When I'm done flying it, I'll snap the fin off of it and ship it to you inside an album cover! The plane might not be as fast as a purpose built pylon racer, but remember that it is a highly manueverable COMBAT PLANE! 1/2A RC COMBAT, anyone?

Larry Driskill

Tonite I covered the wing (top with red Nelson LiteFilm and and the bottom with laminating film that I stripped with black enamel) and checked the weight to this point. The wing assembly (foam wings, fuse tube, motor mount block) is 2.8 ounces.

I laid most of the other parts (engine and mounts, ailerons, radio gear, vert. fin, hardware) on the wing and got a a little under 8 ounces. I think 9 ounces is still possible as a dry RTF weight.

I need to shorten the leads on the battery, and servos. Is cutting, shortening, splicing and covering the individual wires with heat shrink tubing an acceptable fix?

combatpigg

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HI LARRY! I guess you didn't think my last reply was too funny. Sorry if I offended you, I was just trying to be funny. I've never heard of the covering that you are using, and don't know [of course] where to get it. I do a fair amount of covering directly on foam and I always am interested in a better product. As far as splicing wires is concerned, I have been doing it for years, and the trick to a good job is to not let the exacto blade go through the insulation[ and nick the fine strands], just roll the wire in your finger tips against a sharp blade to only SCORE it, then pull the 1/2" of insulation off. To splice, slide your 3/4" long hunk of shrink tube on, then twist the bare copper together, and roll into a tight ball, no need to solder it, just shrink tube the "knot" and you are done. Give it a test pull, it wont come apart. Soldering leaves the wire brittle and more prone to fracture from vibration.

bsindel

Sorry CP

Unsoldered splices where the battery wires are twisted together is definately a bad idea. When the wire oxidizes, and it will, the connection will develop a high resistance and an itermittent connection will develop. This can become enough of a problem in high current applications that the resistance of the splice can get hot enough that an electrical fire can develop.

Bill S (The other Bill)

combatpigg

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HI BSINDEL, You don't use solder in any high current application, and it is an NEC code violation to do so. The aerospace industry got away from soldered connections more than three decades ago for the reasons stated in my last reply to LARRY. The only legitimate use of solder in anything that flies is where solid state components have been landed on a circuit card. I am in my third decade as an electrician who has wired up everything from missile silos, shipboard SAT COM systems, 150 MPH race cars, commercial 1200 amp services, etc., and I have yet to see a twisted and unsoldered connection in a model plane do anything except work. At the current levels we are playing with, there is no measurable voltage drop through an unsoldered splice, and believe me you are getting 10 times the surface contact area doing it my way than you would by using those plug in wiring harness adapters. I realize that there are certain applications where soldering is the preferred method, but in things that have movement and vibration a pressure type connection is superior.

Larry Driskill

Hey PIGG, no offense. 'Just did not have a retort. I did wonder why the payload was carried on the lifting surface vice hung from pylons under the wing. . .

The Nelson LiteFilm is .6 ounce per yard covering. It is apparently the same as SoLite(?). It is super light, has its own dry adhesive and goes on easily, except it likes to slick to itself through static cling.

I had been soldering. It looks as though there may be a famous quote coming up soon in this thread, "To Solder Or Not To Solder. That is the question."

Jeff Leavitt

Hi larry,

hey I'm liking the looks of the new LiteHawk a lot. I remember you saying you have changed (thinned) the airfoil. What foil are you using? What % thickness is it? Still at 200 squares? Put me down for one will ya? What's delivery time?

Nine oz! wow best I've been able to do is 10 and change also covered with solite. They fly sooo good at ten oz. I'm quivering to think what a racer would do at nine..... I'll be watching for the mail.... Rgds, Jeff

Larry Driskill

Hey Jeff,
The foil is the same old LiteHawk Version 4.63 foil. Symmetrical. It kinda evoluted back in the mid-90s when I was building a new version of the LiteHawk every couple of days and testing against the previous versions every evening with my friend Bob Mears.

The root on the RC is about 8&1/4, the tip 5&1/2, span 35" = 240, minus the swoopy tip loss. . . say 220 sq inches. 1" thick, maybe 12%.

Right now this is a "project". To become a kit it would, no doubt, need to go through a couple of versions, I would need to build some jigs, get the CL drawings changed, take new construction photos, and change the CL instructions.

combatpigg

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HI LARRY!! I'm glad there was no harm or foul... I guess comedy is something best left to the professionals. Have you flown any 1/2A RC COMBAT? A good .061 will pull 25-30 ft of 3/4" wide crepe paper no problem. I wish more people knew how much fun it is. Fatal midairs are very rare, and minor wing slaps usually just need a cellophane tape patch, or nothing at all. So far a handfull of RCers in this area have gotten bit by the COMBATBUG after seeing a demonstration. Now if we could only get the High schools to offer 1/2A COMBAT as an elective instead of basket weaving.

Japanman

The more I hear you talk about it, Pig, the better it sounds.
Maybe a blackwidow class? 2/3minutes and no throttle sounds good!!
I have flown a lot of slope soaring foam planes- started with flying wings but improved to myown designs.. a friend and I often flew 'combat' on the slope. Thats a lot of fun too. (but you need a rule against head on jousting Its fun because your plane needs to be a really efficient glider to climb well in what lift there is and needs to be fast too- putting a few clicks of down in and flying out infront of your opponent can be demoralising! And with a foam/tape plane flying really close to the ground is a lot of fun too!
I think I`ll have to give this a go!

J.M

combatpigg

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HI JM! Slope soaring is something that I've only read about and have never seen. It sounds like the EPP planes can take alot of abuse. It's one more thing on the "to do list". I like 1/2A combat with matched planes[weight and speed] and 40 mph with a BLACK WIDOW will make for some great fun, and minimal wreckage. It's pretty easy to crank them out in the 12oz range if you want an external tank and HS 81 servos. It is too much fun to only go 3 minutes, at the end of a 2oz tank, most guys are wanting more air time. A flat bottom, CLARK Yish airfoil helps to haul the load of your streamer and hopefully your buddies' streamer too! The LITEHAWK would be great to use as a "TOP FUEL" version of 1/2A COMBAT. With polyurethane glue[ for repair] it is almost impossible to wreck a foamy bad enough to trash can it too.

matchlessaero

I gotta say that this is pretty interesting lookin..... I have never really been a fan of combat before, but it looks like an interesting challenge........

Dickeybird- you still got those Norvel .061's with CL venturis?

Shackas

Oooo yeeeeaaaaah, Top Fuel combat! I like that idea.....strap on the VA Mk II, fill ya bladder, let her go vertical from launch and have a blast!!!!!

I tell ya what...if you guys get enough guys to meet in one place and do an R/c litehawk biathlon event (pylon + combat), I'll fly over to the states just to be in on it.....

Larry Driskill

Hey Shackas, You coming to the CL World Champs and the US Nats in July? If so I will need to take one or two of these dudes with me. Between the four of us who travel and fly together we usually have 5 or 6 planes each for each event. . . just under a hundred. The guys probably wouldn't even notice if I threw a couple of 1/2A RCs in the trailer!

Shackas

Sorry Dris, wish I was coming over but my little brother is getting married in July and I have to be one of his groomsmen....who would've guessed weddings would be so damn expensive for those people who aren't actually in them!!!

I'm toying with the idea of heading over your way late in the the year (say Novevember/December) anything gonna be happnin' then? How's about an end-of-Fall 1/2A Bash-a-bout?

bsindel

Combatpig,

I've been an electronics technician for the last 35 or so years, and I've built or worked on more kinds of electronics equipment than I care to think of.

So, two wires twisted together with a piece of tape wrapped around them is not a splice, it's problem waiting for a time to happen, PERIOD! I've had to track down such splices when trouble shooting problems in older installations and belive when I say that I did not have kind thoughts about the person who did the job. No way should wires be spliced without some kind of airtight covering and a good mechanical connection. You know, such things as wire nuts and crimp lugs. As far as soldered connections go, one of the neatest things I recently used was a wire splice that was a metal cylinder covered with a piece of high temp heat shrink with solder inside it. You just stick the stripped wire ends into the cylinder and then turn a heat gun on it. The solder flows onto the wire, and the heat shrink seals it up airtight. Oh yeah, this was used in an electronics pod that flew on the outboard wing station of an F16 and was rated for Mach 1 plus. I got to see them fly, but I never got a chance to catch a ride in one of the F16's (darn).

Bill S. (The othe Bill)

Larry Driskill

[quote]ORIGINAL: Shackas
I'm toying with the idea of heading over your way late in the the year (say Novevember/December) anything gonna be happnin' then?



Yep Shackas, Good things happen in November/December. Deer season! Mule deer season in my neck of the mesquite is 16 days in November and Whitetail seasons runs from before Mule until after the first of the year.

Japanman

Man, you are making jewellery! you wait for glue to dry??
I use hot melt glue! If you can get the really rubbery sticks its better, but a parcel (mylar)taped slopey of similar componentry to the litehawk IS indestructable.. A frend of mine flew his STRAIGHT into a concrete wall out of a dive.. can you get worse than that? it bounced off! the nose had a few wrinkles and did the servos move a bit? don`t remember us having to fix them...[8D] didn`t end our flying day thats for sure!

Did a few sketchs today for a coxy combat. I know someone who is paraplegic here in Japan, turns out he used to fly a bit of R/C before he had a bike accident at 18. I was thinking of making a two channel cox plane for him fly- he was really keen when i talked to him about it... maybe I`ll have to make two now!

combatpigg

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HI JM! That's really great of you to bring joy to your friend in the wheel chair! It's a shame that there aren't more wheel chair bound people enjoying our hobby.