jseppanen

Thanks Roy!

I've had a few people PM:ingandasking the setupin my plane so here goes. Remind you thatmeasurements are not exact to the mm but still close... Some of the tips are direct from Thomas Gleissner of AW, talked to him personally a couple of times at JetPower fairs over the years - the setup is still not a direct copy from his plane - some personal preferences here...

CG is 230mm ahead from the front edge of alu wing tube (think it could be moved a bit more back, maybe 220mm is even better - have to try this...)

I'm using three flight conditions; 1. Take off, 2. Normal flying, 3. High Alpha

Take Off: Canards mixed with ELE. Canard leading edge 40mm up with full ELE. The whole trailing edge (AIL+ELE) moves as elevator. Elevator 40mm up and 30mm down measured at fuselage side, ailerons (as ELE) a bit less (need aileron movement still at full ELE). I use positiveexpo (+40%, Futaba radio) on canards so I get more canards up with less stick deflection - helps to rotate the plane at a more sedate fassion. Important: Prepare to click to Normal flying condition IMMEDIATELY when the plane even starts to rotate otherwise it will be an interesting rodeo ride - trust me I know . NEVER use full throttle at take off before rotation! Thrust line is high up in Gripen so at full blow the nose sticks to tarmac like chewing gum to hair and when it rotates, it will be at very high speed and again a nice "Gripen hop" ...So use max 60-70% power before rotation.

Normal Flying: Canards neutral at all times! ELE movement +40/-30mm, I have maybe 25% expo, can't remember exactly. Ailerons work only as ailerons, about +/-20mm measured from inboard edge, there might be some differential at ailerons - don't have the plane here now, can check at next outing. Even with this it's about 1sec per full roll. Use expo to suit your style. Nothing too special here.

High Alpha: I'm only starting to experiment with this but the following was suggested to meand it seems to be working well making the plane more stable at high AoA...Canard leading edge goesdown 20-30mm and at the same time ELE+AIL move up about 4-5mm to compensate for level flight. This you have to experiment by yourselves, but this is something to start with... Elevators still only as ELE, so no AIL/canard mix to ELE. ELE and AIL movement a bit more than in Normal to get more bite at low speed.

Landings at Normal Flying mode. Elevator is quite sensitiveat landing - too easy to get that PIO -style landing, need more training

Few more tips; Use very stiff nose gear spring. The one that came with my gear was way too soft allowing the nosegear compress over 1cm only by sitting still on the ground. This will make rotation difficult. Now it doesn't compress at all from the planes own weight. For the same reason I use looser springs at main gear to get positive AoA. May not be scale but neither is the hopping take off - it's your choice...

Disclaimer: use only as a rough guide and use common sense

AW Gripen is a great flier once fully dialed in - mine isn't yet but still it will do a very axial slow roll. This still amazes me being a scale delta. You guys build yours and then fly the crap out of them. Then you can give mesome tips - I'm sure some things can be made differently and better

BR,

Janne