RE: U Can Do 3D
 

Mine does pretty large knife edge loops, the first 3/4 of the loop is fine, the last part I have to pull some up elev to keep it from tucking to wheels, the more of them I do, it becomes automatic-no mixing. I finally got mine to harrier, I tried cutting the tips off to no avail, put em back on and went with stall strips, it cut the rocking enough to get some long runs in a harrier-still not the best plane to harrier(I feel double-tapered thinner wings do it better) but with a lot of practice it does them. I need maximum throw on elev and 100% spoileron mix too, also higher throttle settings to maintain higher angle of attack than a Yak for example. Entry is very important too,I have to let all speed bleed off then gradually pull up and throttle up simultaneously, if it starts out without rocking, then I can maintain it.

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

Do you have some video of the ucd harriering? It would be cool to see the ke loop too.

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

I only have a cheap digital camera but I think it can do a few seconds of video, will look into it. Some club members have filmed me doing it, will check with them at next meeting. I noticed from your comments you get rudder-ail coupling? I haven't modified the rudder, get nice high speed knife edge, no coupling that way, this plane is awesome for that, just use elev to turn. Slower high alpha knife edge it does tend to wobble at the wing tips some,I use a little rudder-ail mix for that(no more than 10%), also it helps turning in HA knife edge to leave the spoileron mix on(elev-spoileron), can turn it around on a dime, looks so cool, just flips around.(helps to lay off the rudder some when doing this, can nose up too much). The U-Can-Do does the highest angle of attack knife edge flight, higher than the 40%-ers.

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

I have my mix at 4% on elevator and 9% on ailerons.. on straight ke it will hold without any other correction. I actually don't have any problems until I do a loop and I have to correct the ailerons on the top/far side of the loop and again when it comes back down to the bottom to go level. That is where the ailerons go nutz and it is hard to hold it. The elevator seems to stay pretty constant.

I have not really tested the diff between high alpha and high speed ke flight though. This was all trimmed for 1/2 to 3/4 speed ke flight with no aileron or rudder correction. I have it on a multipoint mix, but, just never have taken the time to adjust the low end. That is probably the whole issue.

Some of this I was going to try and trim it out, but, I am grounded for a period. Broke my muffler tube when I tried to drag my tail on the ground coming down in a harrier. The engine burbled on me made me hit hard enough to break my prop and muffler tube. It was loud!! I was lucky that was all that was messed up.

If you have windows xp.. windows movie maker has a really easy way to convert your camera footage to a wmv file. You can capture in dv quality and then save export to wmv quality at about 340k. It comes out really nice and small for web sharing. Usually you can just use a usb connection which most new cameras and computers have. Sometimes the camera will only have rca outs or firewire.. then you have to be lucky to have a computer that has one of those inputs or have to buy a firewire or video capture card. Try for the usb though..that is the best chance.

You use spoilers in ha ke flight or flaperons? It seems flaperons would turn it faster than spoilers?

My old ucd used to harrier better than this one. I think it was b/c I poored epoxy mixed with alcohol over a lot of the wood to make it stronger.. also made it heavier. I am thinking about adding about 1 lb of weight right on the cg to see if it will harrier better.. needs less lift.. heavier wing loading I think.

Do you have a picture of your stall strips? Where did you get these? Or did you just make them?

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

Joe,
Thanks for the paint recommendation.
I painted my canopy this week and it turned out great.
It really flows out nicely.
Still waiting for the radio to get back.
I have a few odds and ends to finish up.
Should be ready to fly by mid August at the latest.
JLK

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

In HA knife edge flight, there is no lift on wings so moving spoilerons same way as elevator seems to make sense. I'v noticed all of my profile planes(before they went in)used to pitch up when spoileron applied-opposite to what I thought would happen, this also might be the case with the UCD. The stall strips are nothing more than balsa tri-stock mounted on the leading edge, the flat part channeled out to fit better. For now they are just pinned on w/t-pins so I can quickley find the best placement & lengths. I have 2 strips on each wing half, on the tip it is about 1/3 span, on the root the strips are shorter and are placed in the prop-wash flow.
I need them to get control of wing rock, since adding them I can harrier the .60 UCD pretty good. I've also learned that entry into a harrier is critical(with the UCD anyway)- I have to ease into the throttle while adding up elevator, throttle up too fast and rocking can be unmanagable even with the strips.

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

My brother has the one with a YS91. Landing gear extremely week. Needs a lot of correction to knifeedge. He is retiring it after 19 flights to make use of the electronics and the engine for another project.

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

That is really interesting about the spoilers for HA KE. I might try that. I have been reading a lot of places that people will use them pretty much all the time for walls (To get a quicker stall and less creep up and more slide), harriers (obvious), and waterfalls (This one does not make sense to me.. but.. worth a shot). Since mine tucks to the wheels it seems like it would make sense to use flaps, but, if you correct that with elevator mix maybe the spoilers could help with other effects as you say to keep it from nosing up more or less when you turn. I am sure it is somewhat cg dependent. When you say pitch up.. are you meaning during ke it is going to the canopy? Or do you mean standing up? Pitching is always movement to canopy and wheels right? Or does it change with direction of plane and mean up and down? I have always thought it was canopy wheel movement, but, could be wrong.

I have seen some people doing tornados or ascending flat spins. That is something I have always wanted to do. I have seen them come down in a flat spin slowly.. then tighten and speed it up once it got about 3 ft from the ground and go back up in the same flat spin.. Looks incredible.

The landing gear block is somewhat week in its design and I took the wheel pants off so they would not jab my wing when they would fold up under the plane and pulled that block off with it. Have seen this with a lot of planes. I have had a lot of luck with this last plane though. I put some extra triangle stock in there and after glueing that.. I poored some epoxy mixed with a few drops of alcohol to thin the epoxy and glaze the block area all around the corners and sides. I have beat the heck out of this plane on harrier landings and landing in tall grass. No problems yet with ucd2.

As far as getting rid of the ucd.. yes.. it does have poor ke handling and maybe too much lift that give it wing rock on harriers, but, I have found it to be quite controllable and a great learning tool for correcting dipping wings and things not being perfect during harrier. I am quite confident that if you get good at this plane doing rolling harriers, harriers, and ha ke flight that it will make you a better pilot and you will be able to fly a lot more planes in 3d. I think the plane is a blast and it is really not that bad overall and quite cabable of doing anything you can do with another plane. You name it and I have seen it done with the ucd. It is an awesome second plane after a trainer that can fly almost as easy as a trainer, but, keep you entertained for a long time.
That is my opinion anyways.

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

:)Man, c016Y you said it best. The UCDs are great planes. I love them, and that rising flat spin is awesome. I can't get my 60 to do it but the 46 will and many a plane at two and three times the money won't do a rising flat spin. It's not the perfect plane but hey the perfect plane doesn't exist (not even the Yak) and I wouldn't trade my for anything. Even as I get better planes I always fall back to the trusty UCD for just plane "FUN". I think the UCD is everything it's advertised to be and even more and for the price, nothing beats it.
Thanks,
Barry

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

Some days I wonder if I shouldn't have stayed in bead...
For those of you with ANY modeling knowledge I am sure you will be able to figure out what I did wrong before I finish the story. Days like today I wonder if they shouldn't license people to assure some level of inteligence required to assemble these things.
I have spent the morning trying to figure out how to hook up the throttle linkage to my Saito 100. Everything I have done won't work. I have tried cables, threaded rods, bending "u"'s in to them to double them back to the carburetor...everything...nothing will work. Since the throttle arm is on the opposite side of the engine as the original pushrod exit thru the firewall I took special care to exactly duplicate the holes. Finally I went back and reviewed some pix on this thread. I saw something odd...every other Saito 100 seemed to have the throttle arm on the opposite side as mine.
Doh!
It hit me.
I should have reversed the carburetor!
Now I have the tank brace glued in plus some other stuff. I am going to have to abondon my second throttle pushrod guide and try to use the original.
Before I do all this is there any advice for when I turn the carburetor around?
Anything I should do to avoid air leaks etc.?
Remember who you're dealing with...
A complete Bozo!
Thanks!
JLK

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

In higher speed KE, the fuse has enough lift to hold plane up and with the extra speed, no elev. to flap/spoileron mix is needed to turn(unless you want square KE turns-then I use elev-flap). HA KE, the fuse is supposed to be stalled,the elevator becomes "mushy" & ineffective somewhat, thats why I use elev-spoileron mix to assist turning the plane, in a good headwind, this is almost essential for me to be able to turn around, and its cool in a wind because it sometimes just flips around in its length.

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

You really need to get some video of that. I would love to see it.

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

i have to .60 UCDs and 1 .46 UCDs and they are the best planes in the world

38

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

Joe and everyone,
Getting closer on the UCD 60.
Unfortunatley I'm still having radio issues so it will be another week or two until first flight.
I have a couple more questions if I may.
Back when I was active in the hobby we probably did things a lot harder than now.
I have two questions.
We used to take shrink wrap and put it on the wing saddle area of the wing.
Then we would take RTV and apply it to the wing saddle.
Then bolt the wing and fuse together and let the RTV cure.
After removing the wing you could trim the excess RTV and have a perfect seal of the two.
Is this still recommended.
The second thing was when I would use vinyl adhesive tape to seal the control surfaces I would place the tape on the bottom surface of the wing, stab, etc. I would have the surface deflected up as far up as was comfortable. I would then sprinkle talcum powder thru the gap on the top of the surface so as to keep the tape from sticking where I didn't need it too.
Any suggestions for a better way?
Thanks!
JLK

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

The standards now days are pretty good with most arfs and you will find the wing fits nicely. Sealing the hinge lines is always a plus, but I feel the gap in your hinge area and how strong your control mechanism is what will dictate the need for that. I went all HD on the controls and used pinned hinges. The gap is nice and even with close tolerances. I did not seal and fly my UCD quite fast without a problem. The results of any build are all of what you put into it. Joe

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

Joe,
Once again thanks for the advice.
I got my cowl fasterners that you recommended.
They work great.
As you have mentioned previously it is amazing how the templates that are recommended in the UCD manual work so well.
I have all my cowling holes cut now except for the exhaust and it really looks professional...and it's so simple to do their way.
I'm still trying to plan, measure twice cut once, the exhaust hole.
I would like to make it neat looking like the needle and fueler holes but I am afraid I will have no choice but to cut it pretty large in order to tighten the header to the cylinder head.
I'll keep looking at pictures on this thread for ideas.
Thanks again!
JLK

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

You will be able to tighten the stock header nuts through the opening in the front of the cowl. Don't make your holes in the cowl too large for the HS needel, low speed needle and muffler pressure line. They sell nice looking rubber grommets at your LHS that look really nice. After I located all of the points with a small drill and confirmed them, I just opened up the holes with a rat tailed file large enough to accept the grommets. FWIW it looks really great when it is finished.

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

I have the U-Can-Do .46 and I love it. It is built very strong, and will hover like a dream on landing!

I have a Thunder Tiger .91 4-stroke in, which powers it nicely. One thing I found out is, "reinvert" the engine. Great Planes wants you to leave the engine inverted, but from past experience engines do not run well up-side-down!

If you looking for a sharp-looking 3D plane, the U-Can- Do is the one!

--Garret H

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

I use 1/8" x 3/8" single-sided foam tape http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXK197&P=7 on the wing saddle surfaces and it works great. Easily done too.

For hinge gap seals, you can use clear Monokote. Cut a strip as wide as you need 1/2" or 3/4 " and as long as needed. Iron the strip on the bottom of the wing or stab 1/4", bend the flying surface up iron on back of TE in gap then onto flying surface LE then onto bottom of flying surface. When finished it will look like a upside down V with two flat legs. Do that to all hinge gaps.

Hope this helps

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

You probably would not have had to worry about that if you had installed a YS:). The main problem is where the factory placed the fuel tank. That is easily overcome by the use of a Cline or Iron Bay fuel regulator. Not a problem with a YS as they already have a pump and lot's more power too:D.

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

Hi everybody,

I just wanted to share a couple of pictures of my UCD. I just finished it a couple of weeks ago and it is my first 3D plane, so I'm still getting familiar with it.

My flying buddy took those pics. I hope you like them. Oh, and that last one is not only edited for motion effect, but also the mountains in the background were not there. There is no snow in Greece in the middle of August. It's 100 degrees here! :D

Serafim

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

Serafim,
It looks very nice.
I do like the edited picture!
My UCD is awaiting my radio from the shop.
I was in to RC back in the mid '80s and for some reason I insist on using my old Futaba 8SGAP radio from that time!
Do you have any building or flying recommendations?
What did you power yours with?
Thanks!
JLK

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

Hi JLK,

Mine is powered with a Saito 100. I use an APC 15X4W and it flies great. Maybe when I get better at 3D I'll need more power, but for now it is great. I'm glad you like the pics.

By the way, mine is a UCD 60, but you propably have figured that out from the pics. I hope I haven't posted in the wrong thread!

Serafim

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

Serafim,
Do you get much more exhaust oil residue on the plane with the muffler pointed back rather than straight down?
JLK

RE: U Can Do 3D
 

Not really, it just gets on the wing. I don't know why, but I used to get much more oil when I had it at 45 degrees down. To tell you the truth, I haven't tried pointing it straight down.

As far as construction tips, I don't have anything in particular to point out. It is the easiest plane that I've ever built. I didn't glue the stab, I just put locktite on the screws and I haven't had to tighten them yet. During the third landing I ripped the landing gear and the front wing mount off. It wasn't the plane's fault, wind hit the plane on the runway from 2 feet high, it bounced back to vertical with the motor shut down and fell back down. So when I put it back on I glassed the landing gear mount, just to be on the safe side.

I think you will enjoy this plane, I know I do!

Serafim