iron eagel

Well it will probably last me until I am 90 at this point about the only two cars I would go out of my way for is a 61 T-bird or 64-68 GTO's (all of which I have already had).
But given that they are worth half their weight in gold these days I don't see that happening in the near future. Besides I really have gotten beyond the point of burning the back tires off of them anyhow.

iron eagel

Had to switch to an enamel paint, even traces of the crap filler was causing issues. Got the motor mounted just to check the balance (yes I still have to finish the elevons) but here is how it looks.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

It looks great!
Kind of reminds me of a 55 Chevy hood ornament.....

iron eagel

Thanks.
Didn't the 57 Chevy have two little bullet things with fin on either side of the hood with a big wide v on the front?
I think it was a Plymouth or Dodge that had the wing thing for an ornament or even perhaps a Ford I can't recall which.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

I think so..the 57 Chevy had those extra 2 bullet things on the hood. It's funny how the car companies copy each other.[.not just inside the corporation I mean]. For whatever reason Pontiac, Buick, Olds had their own versions of the "Tri-5" but they just got too gawdy in the trim department, the Chevys had a cleaner look.
Cadillac always stood aloof from the rest of GMC, but they did copy themes.
It was popular for customizers and hotrodders to delete hood ornaments and other trim and just junk it. Now that stuff is worth a fortune.
Your Electro Demon Deluxe looks ready to rip up some air molecules. Play safe, I think electrics are more dangerous than glow [even though I have seen 2 glow engines start on their own on real hot days...both SuperTigre .35 Combat engines].

iron eagel

Entertaining hockey game last night, the 1AM finish has put me out of sync with the world today.

You have to wonder about car manufactures and what they think adds to the appearance of their cars back then, and even today for that matter.
Oh by the way I for got to tell you when you said something about your Jeep with over 300 k on it you are the third person I personally know who has one, bet it's the straight 6 and std.

The electrics can bite you and with the thin props they can make a real mess. I won't even get into the batteries that can suddenly burst into flames.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

A Jeep won NHRA Stock Eliminator one year...but it must have had the V8 option and 2WD. That would be a rare model.
Being on the East Coast and staying up until dawn to watch pro sports on the West Coast sounds like fun to me.......

iron eagel

It would have been a lot better if they had won, but still a triple overtime game was quite the spectacle to watch.

Years ago I helped a friend of mine put a Chevy 350 in a 48 Willys pickup, the four wheel hole shots were kinda neat.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Years ago there were a few companies Ansen, Transdapt 9and others I can't remember0 that sold special bellhousings and other parts to make swaps like that pretty simple. I'd love to own an old Willies or an old 1950s Power Wagon with updated running gear. They were known as "Five Quarters" which was slang for 1.25 ton load rating. Now get this, the old 13 ton [GVW] APCs were powered with Chevy 283s that had gear driven 4-71 superchargers..the whole works was painted that ugly OD green..even the plug wires were OD green. I think it would be ridiculously cool to have that exact engine set up in a Power Wagon or Willies Truck. It would need a OD Green bug catcher sticking up through the hood of course. Perfect "Rat Rod" material too, but I'd be afraid of getting struck by lightning for chopping and channeling one of those old relics.
It's hard to harbor thoughts like this AND be involved with speed planes too.....so I guess it's high time for me to sit back and watch your speed quest take shape for this summer..!

iron eagel

I recall those 283 setups. My dad had a Studebaker Hawk that had a 283 with a supercharger as wild as it may sound they actually sold them like that I think, I just remember it was a pretty cool setup.
Well back to the quest for speed I have the trailing edges installed on the elevons and I am sanding them to their final shape now.
I am fairly confident that the planes dry weight (sans battery) will be two pounds or a ounce or two just under that. With a three cell that puts the ready to fly weight at under 2.5 lbs and under three with either a four or five cell. I am not sure how that stacks up against the weight of the glow versions you guys have done but I think it should be light enough to fly fairly well.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

I've never had a glow powered Demon RTF less than 3 pounds..so your projected weight will be so easy land at low speed that it will put a smile on your face.
can't predict what the launches will be like with the tiny props you want to run, so hopefully your launcher does a good job of that. I wouldn't rig the launcher for very much of an assist and I'd keep the AoA kind of shallow.

iron eagel

Funny you should mention that about launches. Even with the launcher the launches have been problematic to say the least. What would you think would be a good angle right now it is set up at about 40 degrees, and all but one launch has involved recover from a stall. As it is set up now the launcher can throw it about 30 feet into the air I had thought I need more push out of the launcher but that would be pushing the physical limits of what type of force the catapult cradle could withstand with it's being fabricated out of wood.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Too much angle with not enough thrust puts the plane into a stall if the airspeed after launch isn't sufficient. I'd rather go with a fairly flat launch and if the thrust isn't there, at least the plane is at a shallow enough AoA to take a belly landing into the grass instead of a total stall / snap roll into the dirt. A flat launch gives a small diameter prop a chance to carry the plane at a shallow angle up to flying speed. This is just my approach. If you have ever hand launched one of these planes at 4+ pounds with a 7 inch prop, then you would have witnessed the "miracule of flight" when such a low thrust to weight setup struggles for the first 20-30 feet to get up to enough speed to be controllable. In those first moments I basically let the plane fly itself instead of intervening and screwing things up.
For those looking in who have only flown Dusts / Demons with high thrust props, [like 9x7, 9x8, 10x6, etc.] keep using those 45-60 degree launches..this advice doesn't apply to that sort of flying.

iron eagel

Thanks CP, that clears up a big question in launching that plane.

Good game last night, second overtime as well, at least Boston won last night it looks like it will be an interesting playoff series.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

.65 version = over 4 pounds dry, add 11 fl oz fuel it's probably 5lb. It's a bee-yatch on hand launch (stay calm and lay off the sticks), static thrust is only a little over 1:1. At speed, different story. Then there is the inevitable landing, can't seem to avoid one of those for every launch. If you can land the space shuttle with the gear up, it's not much of a problem.

iron eagel

Sorry about the delay in reply, I got distracted by the hockey game last night. I'd really like to see some games where bad officiating may effect the outcome of the game in pro sports.
Thanks for the info, your four pounds with a .65, most of that weight has to be the engine and pipe and rnv setup.
Landing a space shuttle with the gear up pretty much describes it. lol

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah, likely 2 pounds alone for the engine/pipe package plus servos and IMC. I added some arrow shaft and carbon tow here and there in the engine/radio bay structure, SWAG 3 ounces. And I covered it in full-scale weight dacron ("Stits" covering) with the requisite filler/base coats of nitrate, then primer, then top coated with Hobbypoxy white, then painted the day-glo tips and trim, overcoated with clear Lustrekote, then some vinyl graphics.

In other words, I did about everything possible to make it heavier other than adding a tungsten landing skid..

After I fly this a few more times, a 13lb .60 powered scale model should be a walk in the park.

iron eagel

I'm not sure that the scale one is going to be easier to land. lol
With the type of setup you used for power you had to be sure the structure was going to be able to withstand the stress on it, so I don't think it was all that bad.
Where mine was to be powered by electric so I didn't have to worry about damping the vibration of the engine it allowed me to try to trim some weight.
I estimate the weight of the airframe fully sheathed to be about a pound on this one. With the motor, servos, torque rods, pull/pull hardware and paint this one stands at one pound nine ounces, add to that the paint for the elevons, esc and receiver and I think it is going to come out just under 2 lbs. If I use a three cell that will add about a 1/2 lb for "fuel" or with a four or five cell about a pound of weight so an AUW of 2.5 to three pounds.
I figure that at that weight the AOA at speed should be pretty low and hopefully it will translate to a bit more top end, I figure at best the most power I am gong to be able to get out of this setup is about 1.25hp maybe 2hp really pushing it to the max and at that point I am getting close, pushing it well beyond mfg spec, very borderline to the point of making smoke.

iron eagel

I have finished shaping the elevons and honed the carbon fiber trailing edges so they are nice and sharp. (too bad I couldn't get the camera to focus better on the TE.)
Chuck, that new bondo two part glaze with the hardener works real nice and sands very nicely!

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

Okay, so I used a bit of hyperbole.. . Most of what I did was for a reason - the dacron covering gives the airframe a tremendous amount of torsional stiffness, so rather than add anything internal, the skin takes care of that. It shrinks so hard at 350F that it could probably crush some structures. I was surprised to find that by simply moving between the top and bottom progressively, no warps were introduced - I went in two steps, 300F then 350F. The wing can barely be twisted. And the internal mods were actually pretty light - a full arrow shaft weighs about 15 grams, so a few pieces of that, some carbon tow and epoxy was a small price to pay for keeping the center section together.

The heavy Demon lands okay, but it is most definitely a model for tight fields. Long fast approach with some leeway for misjudgement is a good thing. Nice to have a long flat stretch to get down on the deck to bleed off as much speed as possible before scrapedown. The last couple of hand launches went much better, it is a little vague directionally for 3-4 seconds.

And it really hurts when you notice the prop wedged at TDC on the final.. waiting for the $16 "snap" if the prop doesn't knock out of the way on touchdown (good luck), plus the possibility of a cartwheel. 2nd last flight did that, snagged the prop, tossed the model up a couple of feet into a 360 pirouette, then it flopped down flat on its belly on the grass. Phew.

It's amusing to fly, but a bit stressful, and it always feels like it's living on borrowed time. And it needs a mighty hand launch, none of this point it up and let go stuff (hey J, keep those arms pumped).

iron eagel

After having encountered the "vague directionality" during the launches of my Stingray I have a appreciation of what you are talking about there, propped for speed rather than thrust really adds an entirely new dimension to the takeoffs don't it? I have found that either the landings are perfect or you end up watching the plane cartwheel there doesn't seem to be any middle ground there at all. I have a much finer appreciation for just what a handful this type of plane can be. Luckily the field I fly at has at least 1500 feet of open area at each end of the runway allowing for a long shallow approach.
You and I are on the same page as far as relying on the skin to provide stiffness to the structure, at least half of the planes I build use the stressed skin construction method. I recall you mentioned something before about using a molded composite leading edge for the SD have you thought about using that approach any more? That sounds like it would be a real plus as far as the torsional strength of the airframe I think. I went with full sheathing for just that reason on mine (torsional strength) and had to jump through a lot of hoops to keep the weight down because of it.
Last night I was looking at the airframe and thinking about what it would take to use it as a plug to make a mold for an all composite version...

iron eagel

Well after a summer of playing around with a lot of other things I finnaly got back to work on the Demon. Right now I am working on installing the ESC and battery mount/hold down so much for the "spacious' battery compartment.