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Flying wing conversion to micro flight

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Flying wing conversion to micro flight

Old 09-24-2003, 06:27 PM
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roger- Michigan
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Default Flying wing conversion to micro flight

Hello to all you micro flyers!

I want to convert a flying wing toy glider to micro rc flight.

The specs are:

22 inch wingspan (aprox)
31g (1.1 oz) flying weight (with factory installed putty ballasts under black labels)
Wing thickness at leading edge 3/4"

See pics.

Can anyone give me some guidelines on what motor/battery/servo/receiver/prop setup you would use? I've never converted anything this small. I usually use GWS "A" motors with a 280 7-cell pack (on my lady-bug size plane), but somehow this seems like a different proposition.

Anyone have any ideas?

Roger
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Old 09-24-2003, 07:18 PM
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Mike Taylor
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

This looks a lot like a number of micro wings, including the 'Variante' Horten flying wing. It should work with the RFFS radio system, magnetic actuators, and Kenway M-20 or N-20 power plant.

How much does the ballast weigh? Where.if I might ask, did you buy the wing? It looks interesting.
Old 09-24-2003, 07:50 PM
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

I just dug out one of the pieces (most likely modeling clay) at it weighed 4 grams, so probably 8 grams total.

I purchased it at the gift shop at the Henry Ford Museum here in Dearborn, Michigan for $5.95

The bag says its maid by Simi Air
P.O. Box 173
Haysville, Kansas 67060
Fax 316-554-1605
(patent pending)

Hope that helps

Roger
Old 09-24-2003, 07:51 PM
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roger- Michigan
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

By the way, who's the best (value, price) vendor for this stuff?

I'm pretty amazed at the high prices I've seen for some micro stuff.

I'd like to keep the airborn pack to around (or under) $100.

Roger
Old 09-24-2003, 11:12 PM
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

Dynamic Web Enterprises makes and sell the RFFS and actuators ( http://www.smallrc.com/ ). Bob Selman sells the Kenway motor/gearbox assemblies and larger actuators ( http://users.joplin.com/~bselman/ ).

The RFFS is less than 2 grams, the actuators are 1 to 2 grams each, and LiPoly batteries are 3.5 grams, and the KP-00 or Kenway motors are about 5 to 6 grams. The radio has a built in ESC, so thats the whole package. Your whole flight pack will be just about the same weight as the ballast you pulled out.
Old 09-25-2003, 05:50 AM
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

Thanks,

So you would go with the 140mAh cells then?

It's a little confusing, but it looks like all this stuff can run at the voltage of a single li-poly cell, too? I was at Bob Sellman's site and the motors don't reference a running voltage.

Roger
Old 09-25-2003, 07:34 AM
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

Yes, this RFFS and the KP-00 and Kenway M-20 and N-20 systems run off a single LiPoly. A 140 cell gives about 7 ot 8 minutes flight, the 170 (.5 grams heavier) gives about 11 or 12 minutes, and a 230 cell gives about 20 minutes.
Old 09-25-2003, 02:48 PM
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

I don't know if it survived the Great Crash, but some time ago there was a very long thread about converting these wings into mini-Zagis on E-Zone. You might want to look for it.
It was so long ago, in fact, that the RFFS system wasn't sold yet!
Old 09-25-2003, 06:47 PM
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

In the process of looking for some conversion article, I found their site:

AltaVista found 4 results About

SIMI AIR - Printable Form for Faxing or Mailing Flying Wing Orders!
... of flying wings in the world! The Flying Wing is a replica of the Northrop N9M. Four of ... ORDER THE SIMI AIR FLYING WING THE BEST FLYING WING IN THE WORLD! Price: $5.95 each Quantity _____ x ...

www.simiair.com/printform.html
Old 09-25-2003, 09:06 PM
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

OH, one more thing.

I assume this, but just to be sure:

When setting up a "zagi" airplane, the two servos are used in "elevon" mode, which my transmitter can mix, and doesn't require anything special on the 4-channel receiver. But I was wondering on the RFFS-100, is the setup the same? I assume it is a three channel receiver

In other words, will hooking up the actuators to the rudder/elevator channels work the "elevons" I would be creating in this simi-air wing?

Oops, I lied, two things:

I did find many threads on rc-groups when finally searching on "N9M", which apparently the Simi-air wing copies. But funny thing, those threads all seem to be using two motors (and two ESC controllers???). Why do they think they need so much power? The way I figured it, with the RFFS-100 system and all the components you mention, it weighs practically the same as the 8 grams of putty-ballast in this wing.

And, as mentioned by U2Steve, those threads are old -- they talk about 4-5 oz flying weight!!!

I guess what I ASSUMED I would be getting is a nice slow-flying wing here since the all-up weight is bacically an ounce. I thought those KP-00 (or other) motors would have loads of thrust but could fly slowly, too?

Does this make sense or am I nuts?

Roger
Old 09-26-2003, 07:19 AM
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

Roger,

Two years ago, 4-5 ounces flying weight was considered light. Today, you can make your conversion much lighter. If you fly your Simi-Air wing stock free flight, you will get an idea of the slowest that it will fly before it starts to decend. It will likely be faster than you imagined.

Mike,

Who was the guy in Texas that worked for Fantastic Models and had a successful conversion? He added some washout to the wingtips for stability and some fin stabilizers.

Regards.
Old 09-26-2003, 09:21 AM
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

That was probably Jason Nowel. I sent him a PM and asked him to check out this thread for comments.

You do set up the RFFS just like a regular systen to use elevons. The mixing is done in the transmitter. You will need to add centering magnets to each actuator if you don't mount them in line. This helps stabilize the surface when launching and adds flutter control to the actuators.
Old 09-27-2003, 07:37 PM
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

Roger - see the instructions for the Mini actuator and the FlapJack kit at http://www.eflightdesigns.com/docs/index.html for some pics and instructions on setting up an elevon system using actuators and magnetic centering.

Disclaimer - I'm the owner of EFlight Designs...

Mike C.
Old 10-05-2003, 02:07 PM
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Default RE: Flying wing conversion to micro flight

But funny thing, those threads all seem to be using two motors (and two ESC controllers???). Why do they think they need so much power?
maybe they forget the servos and go for thrust stear?

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