RE: SSC design parameters?
Hi there LOU! First I want to thank you and all the rest who took the time to get me going.Yes I am a CL Combat guy.,not in the same league with LIDDLE and WILCOX, but I've been at it since the mid 1980's. At my very first BLADDER GRABBER I watched a 14 or 15 year old Mike Wilcox win the contest that had at least 60 entries. I thought to my self that it was a case of beginners luck, just a fluke but since then Wilcox has proven that he is a half decent pilot. I'll bet he's a killer in RC combat also. I dont have a camera, butt I can tell you about the wing. The panels are 31in. long, the root is 11in.,9in. at the tips. the L.E. tapers,the T.E. is straight. the airfoil is 1 3/8in. thick. The wingtip template is a 78% copy of the root template. the flaps are 2in. wide, and I left a 2in. wide gap between them in the center to give me a fingerhold for launches. The airfoil has a flat bottom, and could be described as a semi semetrical version of a CL combat job. Total wing area , flaps included is 697. For the main spar, I sunk a 3/8 dia fiberglass tube in a trench that I dadoed on the tablesaw. gorilla glued it in, and used a piece of 3/8 balsa to cap off the trench flush with the bottom of the wing. I used fiberglass joint tape and 3M 77 to stiffen the wing span wise, and used clear packing tape for covering, and hinging the flaps. All up weight is 44ozs, so I will put the next one on a diet. The flaps need to be set with a couple of degrees of up for level flight. the pivot point on the control horns is 7/8 in. from the top of the flaps and the 4th hole out on the servo arm. The CG is 3 inch from the LE at the root, to get it there I had to mount the engine 7 1/4 inches from back of prop to LE. The fuse is a pair of 3/8 by 3/8 maple stick that run the entire length ,balsa filler between the main beams, and 1/16 ply to sandwich it together. Engine is upright, fuse is 2 inches wide. It flies better than I hoped, or figured that it would, it even down wind launches ok. I'm amazed that the little .15 can lug this monstrosity around so well. forgot to mention that it has evil looking winglets made out of 1/8th lite ply. [this is all I think lite ply should be used for , ornamental stuff]. Whew,I'm out of breath! Thanks again for the time that you all have taken getting me on the straight and narrow and happy Thanksgiving