pippy

Hi Gerard, what I think is recommended and so I am using is .5 degree down. I haven't had to adjust this since or any of the incidences since I started flying this model. The only adjustment I had to make was the C of G, which I moved forward from my starting point. I started with the furthest back that was recommended by BJ and it is not at approx. 275 mm from TE.

pippy

Gerhard, the last post should read the CG is NOW at approx. 275mm

fehringer

Hello Paul,
many thanks for the info - your 0.5 deg downthrust, is that measured in relation to the wing (which in my case is about 1.3deg positive or in relation to the stab's 0 degrees?
Kind Regards,
Gerhard

Brenner

Hey Gerhard,

A typical successful Contra installation will have the following characteristics:

1/.. 1.0 degrees of downthrust relative to the "wing". (not the thrustline.. Typically the motor is 0.5 degrees downthrust relative to the thrustline.)
2/.. Zero degrees of right thrust. (This is important. We have found that a difference as small as 20g in weight between front and rear props can create the need for rudder trim..)
3/.. The stab adjusted so that the plane flies hand-off without elevator trim. (it helps to have an adjustable stab..)
4/.. The CG moved forward until snap rolls become hard to hit, or conversely, the CG moved back until snap rolls become easy to hit. (depending on where you start..)
5/.. Gear ratio selected based on motor used. (10.33 for Hacker C50-13XL, 10.15 for Hacker C50-14XL, 9.89 for Neu f3a Motor..)
6/.. Props selected based on flying style, and wind conditions. (22x18 front with 22x20 rear for European style flying, and 22x22 rear with 22x20 front for North American style flying..)
7/.. Rudder strips on trailing edge of rudder, or stab fences. (if needed. Many plane don't need either..)

In your case, I think you will need to have 0.3 degrees of upthrust in order to get 1 degree relative to the wing, and then the stab will have to be adjusted to suit.

However, I believe that the Episode has an adjustable wing, so the preferred setup in this case would be 0.5 degrees of positive wing incidence relative to the stab/thrustline, and 0.5 degrees of motor downthrust relative to the stab/thrustline.

Also, since the Episode has such a prominent fuselage, I think a lot of guys are using the stab fences that are supplied with the plane.

Brenner ...

fehringer

Hello Brenner,
many thanks for the clarification - I'll put in incidence adjusters for the wings so should have no problem to dial in the 0.5deg positive on the wing to start with, and then put the contra in with 1 deg down relative to the wing.
Really looking forward to flying the Episode with the contra!
Best wishes,
Gerhard

wagen017

Just ordered one! :-) finally after two years I can put my Advance 30-10 / YGE-90 combo to work again!

Volkert

Passport1

My Feedback: (8)

Here is a few pics of Matt Stringers Episode that he will be flying at the Nats. Its been a real plesure as well as a lot of fun working with Alex and BJ for the past couple months and I am really looking forward to many more projects in the future. This plane only has .5 perscent down elev. with rudder, 3% down elev. at idle for the downline, and 2% left rudder at idle. I am sure we will get the knife edge mix to 0 and reduce the down elev. mix to 2.5% as soon as we go to the lighter prop. I moved the battery tray further forward due to having 4 servos in the tail and now we are close to the back edge of the tray with the batteries.

You can see most of the changes in pic but here is a rundown anyway
1. Lowered Cantalizer appro. 2.5 inches
2. Added to vertical fin Approx 25% increase in area
3. Split the rudder
4. Set fuse to the angle I want to see it at in the air. Called that 0 and then set the wing/cantalizer at .50 pos.
5. Set thrust to 0 up/down while leaving the right thrust as it was. (At the angle I wanted the fuse to fly at it was showing approx. 2 degrees of up thrust)
6. (Not seen in the picture) Took .75 inch off each wing tip.

No Elevator trim required stab has not been touched


See you guys at the nats....

BTW There is a video of this plane flying on my facebook page if anyone is interested in how it presents in the air.

AmericanSpectre505

That's way too Kool Chip!

Maybe I can do that with my Nuance?

Bill H.
Dist2

Passport1

My Feedback: (8)

Thanks Bill it flies incredible we really like it.

C

Jason Arnold

G'day Chip,

Any chance you can post some detail pictures of what you have done with the rudder/fin?

Cheers,
Jason.

Passport1

My Feedback: (8)

Here is a couple pics that might help. The fin ad on is made from 16th balsa wet and then wrapped around a piece of half inch square balsa I sanded to the shape of the LE I wanted. The top is just a light balsa block hollowed out. The second pic is the inside of the canopy. I just glued some 1/16 balsa inside to mak a little saddle and then epoxied it into place

Doug Cronkhite

My Feedback: (34)

Hmm.. I was always under the impression you didn't want the canalizer to be at the same incidence as the wing. Something like if the wing was +0.5, you'd want the canalizer at 0. Would be interesting to build an adjustable canalizer and play with it some.

The change to the vertical fin makes a lot of sense for sure. Most present day designs seem to be lacking in yaw stability.. The Axiome+, BiSide, and Proteus all have it right. One thing I'm really surprised more people haven't done is use more of the various grooves and ridges you put into the Visa. Gives the fuse INCREDIBLE stiffness.

Passport1

My Feedback: (8)

[quote]ORIGINAL: Doug Cronkhite

Hmm.. I was always under the impression you didn't want the canalizer to be at the same incidence as the wing. Something like if the wing was +0.5, you'd want the canalizer at 0. Would be interesting to build an adjustable canalizer and play with it some.

Why would you ever want them to be different. CPLR is definantly a genius and the Axiome is the mark to shoot for when designing any airplane(IMO). I didn't have the Axiome when I lowered it but to be honest the thought never crossed my mind, I just assumed they would always go hand in hand. As for the vertical fin I told BJ I have never heard anyone say "I don't like the way that plane flies because the fin is to big" lol I guess it could be possible I just haven't seen it yet.

Any ideas when you might think about coming back and flying a little pattern with us. Imac doesnt seem to have the numbers they use to and pattern is grow again.

C

Doug Cronkhite

My Feedback: (34)

Yep.. I'm flying pattern in 2014. Things just didn't work out for me this year. I need to figure out an airplane still. I don't really want an ARF though, I'd much rather have my own scheme on an airplane. I'm VERY intrigued by BJs bipe, the Proteus, and Jason's Epic. Still have some time to figure it out though.

As for the difference in incidence, the reason is when the wing is flying in level flight, the canalizer is at aerodynamic zero.

mithrandir

My Feedback: (2)

I can run CFD... all I need are some models!!

rcpattern

My Feedback: (45)

Thanks to JR Varela and Larry Kauffman I was finally able to get the second Episode flying. Very happy with it as well. These were taken with my phone. I'll work on getting some better ones soon.

Arch

TonyF

My Feedback: (92)

I love the way my Contra equipped Episode is flying. The only issue I have had with it is seeing it well against our typical sky out here. So I asked BJ if I could get another one in different colors. He graciously agreed as long as I stayed with the scheme and just changed the colors. So with the help of my friend Mark Lattimore, we worked up a color layout. I just received the model today and here are a few pics. I hope you like it as much as I do! Many thanks to BJ Craft and their support!

Brenner

Hey Tony,

Very sharp looking. I like this quite a bit better than the stock colors.

Brenner ...

shannah

My Feedback: (5)

Looks great Tony!

Dansy

My Feedback: (53)

It does look better then standard colour....I could get used to this one...

rcpattern

My Feedback: (45)

Very nice Tony!

Doug Cronkhite

My Feedback: (34)

Yeah.. the non-pastels are really going to jump out in the air. Very good choices. Should be nice and visible.

Brenner

I finally got my Contra powered Episode into the air. I only have 5 flights on it, but so far I am very pleased.

My setup is as follows:

1/.. Two sets of stab fences. (supplied with plane..)
2/.. Contra Drive set at zero degrees side thrust, and 1 degree downthrust relative to the wing.
3/.. Jeti Mezon ESC with 0.5 second acceleration. 0.25 seconds Brake, and 55% brake power.
4/.. Battery packs set over landing gear.
5/.. 20x22.5 rear prop and 20.5x20 front prop (very quiet... 88db..)

This is the second Mezon controller that I have used with a Contra Drive, and I give it my highest recommendation! It runs very cool. There is never any sync problem when advancing the throttle, and the brake works perfectly all the way up to 55% without any significant burbling sound. (The YGE controller was terrible for this..)

It's still early yet, but based on my initial 5 flights I can observe the following:

1/.. The plane is not slow, but it's not fast either. Horizontal speed seems to be at a very comfortable pace, and should handle windy conditions without too much effort.
2/.. Downline speeds with 55% brake are very constant. I really notice this in the figure six near the end of the masters pattern. I have a lot more time to make the half roll, and push into the loop, and climb back up, all with very constant speed. I am expecting my scores to go up at least a point with this maneuver.
3/.. Vertical downlines require just a slight bit of down elevator mixed in with low throttle to get them to be plumb line straight with hands off, but this mixing is so small that I think I can easily do without it.
4/.. As far as I can tell there is no mixing required for hands off knife edge both to the left and to the right.
5/.. The snap rolls are phenomenal! They are the most controllable of any 2m plane that I have flown, and they come out exactly on line, and this is without any special flight mode for snap rolls. I am expecting my scores to become a lot more consistent for any maneuver that includes a snap roll.
6/.. Power consumption seems to be very good for a plane that has such a draggy fuse. I am using from 3400 mah to 3700 mah per AMA masters flight, which is the same as what I use with my Wind S Pro, and about 300mah less than what I use with my Integral.

I am using the Episode with the Contra fuse, but I got my plane directly from BJ Park, so I can't say if it's exactly the same as what people are getting right now.

In my case I pretty well matched the nose, and the right thrust and downthrust came out right, but I have heard that this has not been the case with others.

In any event, my recommendation is to not trust the nose that's molded into the fuse, and measure your setup appropriately to make sure the Drive has 1 degree of downthrust relative to the wing, and zero degrees of right thrust. This is what's working for me with my Contra Drive. I'm not making any claims for single prop setups.

Brenner...

pippy

Hi Brenner, I am delighted to hear you are happy with the Episode. It is a lovely model to fly but my only problem has been landings which is expensive on props. I am now going to install undercarriage that is rake less to stop the front tip over after landing as my runway isn't very smooth.
what model of Mezon speed controller are you using? I have been getting some of the burbling also but I think mine has been caused by flying with a throttle trim set all the time and the speed controller set for freewheel prop. It happens on exit of downlines. I don't use brake with the YG but it is good to know about the burbling problem.
the props you are using are they the ones based on the APC set? Should the front one be 20.5 x 20.5 or have you changed it to 20.5x20? I am using them on my Nuance for the winter and they are quite good.

Brenner

Hey Paul,

I am using the 90A Mezon Lite version with the BEC. I think that with a Contra you are always going to hear a noticeable change in tone when the brake becomes active. However, I have seen considerable variation in sound quality with different ESCs. For me the YGE sounded the worst, and the Mezon is sounding the best.

You are right about the props. I'm embarrassed that I don't know the sizes of my own props.

By the way, f3aUnlimited.com has replacement gear for the Episode that extends further forward to reduce problems with prop clearance. Mike Meuller can help you out with this.

Brenner ...