RE: Designing a new pattern model
I finally took the model out to the flying field for the maiden flight yesterday. The conditions were not ideal (overcast, strong crosswind) but even considering the limited practice i had this year (only 6 flights with a foamie), i just couldn't wait any longer.
Take off was short and all the trim needed was 1 click of right aileron and 1 click of up elevator. First flight was a little shy, but by the third flight i was confident enough to try a knife edge loop. It went very well, probably just needed to add throttle sooner in the second half. With more practice it will be perfect.
Knife edge pulls a little to the belly, but i completely expected that having the CG so far back. Downlines are very slow, and even if the entry speed is higher the model actually decelerates on its way down. I forgot to switch to rudder high rates for most of the stall turns, so i can't comment on that at the moment.
I attached a few pictures from the flying field and 2 videos. First one shows the maiden flight, so it's a little boring and for the second i tried to gather more aerobatics from different videos. Don't expect too much from these videos, i was just flying around trying to get used to the plane.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-CuLtY3Xm0[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJgsoK6DmMY[/youtube]