neurotex, is with your "spring wing" plane you got trouble with? did you try stop, by some way, the spring? maybe it's because your wing move in a unwanted way??

A couple weeks ago I lost an AA way up in the pines trees. I didn't think it would ever come down. It was a modified single wing and it flew great (except for usual A channel problems). Today, in the wind and rain, guess what my wife found in our driveway, on the other side of the house, about 150' away from the tree. It must have come loose, glided 70' and over the house, and another 80' to the spot where she found it.
As you look at the pictures, keep in mind that it was in perfect looking condition (good paint) when I lost it in the tree. I'll let it dry a couple days before cleaning it and trying it.

The new design will have an undercambered canard. Maybe these changes
will help.

I ended up removing the spring & trying different wing angles. Didn't help
it one bit. I hope to still use that thrust spring.
(I should move this back to micro's AA/X-Twin thread)

Looks like the squirrel's were nib'lin on it![:'(]

Gtx, why not switch the channel now that you have it back?

Also, when I was switching channels a couple of weeks ago, I got solder across all three pads. The rx would only take A ch commands. Perhaps that is the fix for the A channels. BTW, spinmaster does not believe they have a problem with the A ch or with bad transistors in the early 06 AA's. Ongoing negotiations with spinmaster, I'll tell more after we're done.

Gtx, is that an entire lower wing glued on under the main wing?

Here are dreadful sketches of the cg finder I'm going to build. I'm going to take 1/8" ss, put a pair of rods parallel at 37.5 degrees, they will be attached to a base of some sort, or triangulated. This should allow me to put the airplane on the rods to determine CG. I think what was described in earlier post was a way to find center of mass. I had not thought of that before. Please note, the crappy drawings I made are very similar to what I get when I'm building prototypes or custom products. I guess I've learned to decode these things, and in the meantime am now used to drawing this way. Tim

drawings are skewed(I did that). I'll build one and shoot a pic. Tim

Sama, I tried to go to your site. I'll try again, but what is the cost for the canard (c) and sportster(b) package delivered to ferndale ca 95536? I found that package online in china a while back, but was unable to order it. Also, next week I'll get a mini-heli, 3 ch omni flight, indoor. I found that the manufacturer is willing to sell direct in case lots, 1 carton of 8 at a time. Assuming that hte heli is as good as I'm told it is, and that the typhoon is not in the area that produces this product, it could be a new item for you.

Ferndale

Your CG finder will only be accurate on finding the proper CG of a good flying model. In the example I posted on a gearless plane, it finds the CG. It is the center of mass, but it wont fly at that CG. So...lets say you build a plane, mount the gear and use the CG finder. If you havent gotten it set for a good test glide, the CG is a false one. Its not the flying CG. The CG on a good flying plane is actually the center of the mass + a bit forward weight to initiate the glide and prevent stalling.

Does that make more sense?

Tony
ARS Software & Innovative Solutions
http://www.falcon1.net/~ars/rcmodels.html

Well, part of it is 3 holes where I shot it with my son's BB rifle. It was way up in the pine tree and I had to use binoculars to see it. It was behind so many branches and wedged in tight. Being a pine, there are no leaves to lose in the Fall, so I thought it was up there for good. They all thought I missed with the rifle, but I knew I had to hit it a least a few times in the 10 shots I took. I'm an Expert marksman. I couldn't see it without the binoculars while I was taking the shots, but I still knew exactly where it was. My son was the first one to see the BB holes after my wife recovered it.

I was thinking tonight that I might make a C channel out of it. I fly C and my son's planes are B. My red C has a Rx motor out problem. That makes 2 for me. This one went while it was flying. So, I may as well turn this into a C so my son and I will still each have 2 planes.
The lower wing is attached to the bottom of the upper wing with an overlap of 1/2". Double sided clear tape between the wings holds the entire seam, and short pieces of single sided clear tape reinforces the leading and trailing edges. I was going to attach them properly if this test configuration worked, but it worked so good that I didn't want to mess with it. The plane flies great. Smooth turns, stable, a real treat to fly.

I don't have any problem understanding your CG Finder drawings. Hey, I work on a CAD system every day, and I still do that type of drawing occasionally.

BTW, it wasn't as wet as I thought. It dried out already and I had to try it. It still works.

A few weeks ago, I made a canard glider out of a Jetstream rubber band airplane. The Jetstream looks a lot like the old Hornet RB powered planes I flew in the mid and late 50's, except the Hornet had red lettering and a red plastic canopy and pilot. It's a good flier and can go over my house. My son picked up a couple for us at a discount junk-type store for 2 bucks each.
I took off the prop and landing gear, turned the wings around and swapped the rudder and canopy. It's extremely stable as a canard glider. Descends in a gentle 15° slope. I was going to AA power it, but I thought the AA stuff would be too much weight for it. Might also be hard to get the CG right. I'd like to do it as a pusher, but even if I got everything else figured out, I don't know if I could get the motors close enough together so the turns would be gentle. Maybe facing the props outward a little would help.

Guys

Larger canard models (nearly?) always run with 1-2% positive incidence on the front wing(let) if it's fixed - i.e. a bit of 'up' at the leading edge - I believe this is to ensure that the front wing stalls earlier than the mainplane but I can't remember why this is important! [&:]

not very helpful really.....................[&o]

Ayrton

It prevents stalling. The minute the canard stalls the nose drops, while the main wing is still flying.
Canards are pretty much stall-proof. That's one of the reasons the Wright Brothers survived long enough teaching themselves to fly that they were successful!
Flyer

That's always been a problem for me when building planes. I usually
just took it 1/3 back from the leading edge of the wing and went from there.
Then swept back wings and this canard threw me off.
[link=http://adamone.rchomepage.com/cg_canard.htm]CG calculator[/link]
[link=http://adamone.rchomepage.com/cg_calc.htm]CG finder[/link]

Well I went over to the "Brats" house all went well (He was asleep!) and his parents said they will tell me if they see the plane, in other words ive lost it and with it ive lost my prototype floats hope the russians dont find my plane and steal my floats.[>:]

neureotex;

You are right. With the straight wings, undercambered, Clark Y(flat bottom) , 1/3 from the leading edge would get you in the air.
But when it comes to canards, deltas and swepts.......out the window that goes!
There are massive calculations you can do for area, density of material....blah blah............modeling clay is easier!
If it'll glide, it'll fly.........
I did the 1/3 rule on my first delta, 10" SkyRay.....added clay, no gear, to the 1/3 rule. Gave it a chuck and it backed into the ground after the stall...........
From there on its just a history lesson.

Tony
ARS Software & Innovative Solutions
http://www.falcon1.net/~ars/rcmodels.html

Well that's good news!
Once I got my mini Ventura stuck in a dead tree. Went back, got an axe and proceeded
to chop the tree down. (Needed a chainsaw!) After half an hour and only cutting about 6"
deep I gave up. Finally got it down by throwing the axe at it.
Got knocked on the head with a branch too [:@] but I got it!

What's the weight of that balsa glider and what's the wing area?

I'll get that info for you tonight.

I still have a stock black/silver A channel in another tree. But I think it's a poplar, so it may come down this Fall. Hmmm... it could be down now, but there's too much undergrowth to search for it. It'll be easier spotting it late in the year.

Megabyte, the parts from your shop came in today, gotta find the glues that you mention, then I'll try soldering them in! Hope to have results over the weekend.

John

7 grams, 25.5 sq. in. wing, 6.25 sq. in. canard.

megabyte, that that was what I asking. The tool I was going to build would give me a reference point to start from. I assumed that I would have to adjust from there. Right now I'm working on the 4 motor/2 battery AA. I destroyed a rx it appears, and have to decide which one is next on the hit parade. I will have to get voltages from the rx to the motors to make that call. I'll post the numbers.

Gtx, I have been threatening to buy some softair guns to knock down the planes for monthes. I guess it comes down to the accuracy of the gun. BTW, the corps certified me an expert rifleman, I'd love to to the qualifying thing again. Tim

I spent 21 months in the Army (24 months minus 90 days "early out program" for combat) in (hmmm, it's hard to remember) 69 to 71?
I qualified with everything they'd let me shoot. M14, M16, 45, M60, grenade and quick kill. I think I'm leaving a couple things out. Quick kill was actually a Daisy BB rifle. That's where they toss the metal disc (like a silver dollar, but rusty) and you shoot it without aiming, just pointing. I qualified Expert with all of them. That was probably the only fun I had in the Army.

Is the next thing using an AA to tow a drone for target practice, or is the AA the target .

No the birds are the target or as they see it the AA is the target




Ayrton S when you come to perth are you bringing your AA? becuase there is an idoor fly in, I think its in september I forgot. Also how would one go about finding an indoor location? Just going to random Gyms/warehouses and asking if they mind if you play your plane?

i hear there was indoor flying at the Midland velodrome on thursday nights?