This is magic #3...

I had way to much fun with the first two. Did some things I should not have done. Now I am putting together #3 and decided to try something a little different.

Hope to finish it for this weekend. What do ya'll think I should expect?

Verrrry cool,

I am building my first one, pretty much as originally designed.

noticed you added a tail wheel. is that stearable or a castor?
How about the front gear? did you try this gear on either of the the first two? I'm not so sure about the gear they give you. Why so high?

what are you using for power?

shmo46

The tail whell is stearable. I fly off grass and I am hopeing to make this easier.

The front gear went on the first one after the second stock gear broke. The stock gear never made it on the second one. I have know idea why it is so high.

46fx for power.

I Got into a discussion with latch66 about props used for hovering. I was not going to replace the second one but after the prop discussion I needed to try some things. Ran the last one on an apc 12 1/4 x 3 3/4. I am building this one just to try different props to see how they respond.

I think you will really enjoy it.

shmo46

On the landing gear they supply with the Magic.

Wrap the joint next to the wheels with non-waxed dental floss and then coat with epoxy. This will help the stock gear survive a little longer. The landing gear on this airplane is its weak spot.

jnjackson,

Hurry up and get that thing flyable so we can test it out this weekend.

Will do, Thanks for the heads up.

Is there any good reason this gear is so long?

My closest guess is to allow you to swing a bigger prop. If your motor can handle it, you can put some large diameter props with the ground clearance you get from the landing gear.

the high UC lowers the landing and take off speed......
comming in you have a high AoA and no speed, it touches wheels first, if the UC was short you would touch the tail first. ( ugly landing )
taking off the high AoA gets lift quicker. ever notice how a Magic is always the first plane to take off from your flight box and blow over when a gust comes.
the rudder has less effective % of area compaired to the last... expect it to track straight and you might loose the flat spins, the hang should be better.

I think there are several reasons for the long gear. You get no ground effect on the wing to hold it down to the ground. That allows faster liftoffs, and smoother touchdowns. You also increase your AoA as philly said, youre already rotated before the tail comes up. The tall gear lets you turn a mammoth prop (someones gonna get a wild hair up thier *ss and put a saito 100 on one and turn a 16 inch prop, its just a matter of time ). It also gives that prop some protection in the event of a hard landing (ie: falling out of a hover/tr at 4 ft off the deck and ploppin it straight ahead on the gear----ask me how I know about that one). The gear mushed itself outward, and absorbed all the energy of the impact. All I had to do was pick it up, wipe the clay off the prop, and restart. We had one idea at the field that it also counterbalanced some weight outbound to negate pitching toward the canopy in a hover, but we stole that guys pocket protector,gave him a wedgie, snapped his suspenders, and sent him home. LOL JK

The last advantage the large stork gear has, is that it trains you for when you have a giant scale plane. After landing your magic, you can go out on the runway, grab it by the tail skid, and drag it backwards, just like the giant scale guys do. that never fails to get a laff on the flightline.

It appears you have greatly enlarged the vertical fin area.

While there is no down side for enlarging the horizontal tail area, the vertical area should be kept between certain limits. Too small and you get into yaw instability. Too large and the plane gets into spiral instability. The normal size of the total vertical area is from 1/3 to 1/2 the horizontal area. ( Horz area normally 20%-25% of wing area)

What happens in spiral instability is the plane tends to tighten up a turn or spiral. When you roll into a bank and pull back, the angle of bank will tend to increase as you go around the turn. In a diving spiral, the spiral will tighten up and you probably not be able to pull the nose up until you roll out of the bank.

You probably recall flying a friend's trainer that tries to roll out of the bank during the turn and you have to "touch up" the aileron as you go around. Same thing here except you touch some top aileron to roll out a little during the turn.

It's nothing violent and I have encountered it before in a couple of my designs. It's just not a comfortable way to fly. It would be nice to know if you do encounter spiral instability.

So far so good!

I lost the inverted flat spin the other two did so well. Upright its fine. Did not notice any other negative changes in flying characteristics. No spiral instability I can see. It did slow the roll rate just a little. Knife edge may be possible now, but it will need major coupling with ailerons and elevator to straighten it out. Gotta practice that one. Hovers much better. The rudder actually works!!!!

I think its a keeper! Don't know for how long though, dumped it once hanging on the prop from just a few feet. Just a little dent in the fuse. Latch66 insist that I repair it, but I think it adds character to an already interesting looking bird.

I figured you'd get some adverse yaw caracteristics with that fin being so big. Was there any at all?!?

Nothing I have noticed yet, I was just playing around today. Doing all the stuff I could do with the other two. It flew just like the other two other than the loss of the inverted flat spin and the more stable hover with a more responsive rudder.

Next weekend I hope to practice a little more knife edging and flat circle kinda stuff. I'll post how that turns out.

jnjackson,

If your scared to repair it, go ahead and admit it.

BTW, it was really cool to have three magics cutting up in the air at once. We will definitely have to try some formation flying and get a picture. Provided they all live long enough.

Latch66...
The other two will last forever the way you two fly them. I had more fun with my trainer.

This plane is built to fly like you stole it, not like my grandma drives.

Definitely not scared to repair it, just don't want to put a whole lot of effort into something that may have a limited lifespan.

Keep it on the edge!!!

jnjackson,

My dear old Granny drives for Nascar. So what are you saying?

Is your granny Shawna,

I have noticed she can't keep up... I think the last time she was in a race NASCAR blacked flagged her for not maintaining the minimum speed...

Remember who your talking to when you bring up NASCAR....

jnjackson,

Can't top that.

I agree "fly it like you stole it". I just fly them like I stole them and don't want to get caught.

llololol jnjackson. thats funny about the Shawna comment.

I too have neglected to make the "pretty" repairs to my magic, just because I'm afraid that plane is on some seriously borrowed time. I cut in an access hatch to sink the battery further back in the fuse, and just glued the old piece back in place, and then stuck over the cut lines with a piece of clear packing tape. Ugly, yes, effective, a bigger yes. When I first assembled it, I also made it a point to go over the plane with the monokote iron to stick it down, and then used some black striping on my seams to hold them. Well, several months have passed, the trim tape is sliding around, the covering is lifted in several spots at the seams, but it still flies LOL. If this plane lasts till winter, it will deserve to get a nice recovering job. Thats a reallly large assumption though LOL

Steve

Absolutely true.

The covering does not like to stay on this model.

I too have used the iron a time or too.

My magic is on borrowed time as well. I'm already doing things a lot closer to the ground than usual.

Oh well, if they never crashed, we would have a hard time convincing the wife we need a new one.

dont bother covering it again, that will finish it off just after you spend time and $ on it

phillybaby,

Sounds like you've been there before.

I certainly have. I wish someone would have given me that advice. It would have saved me some work and $$$.

I think you should expect the Modeltech people at your door to slap you up side the head. That's not a Magic, it looks like a Stick that mid-air'd with a RipMax product. If it doesn't have tall wire gear sporting 3 repairs, a tail skid, and a sloppy vertical that's in dire need of a double dose of Viagra, than it's not a Magic!!

So the rudder really works now huh? Hmmm...

Whoa, now.

I have to take up for Mr. jnjackson.

You did not see the condition of the previous two magics he had. Considering the condition they were in when they met their final demise it is amazing that he was not arrested for "magic abuse". I thoroughly believe that had the Modeltech folks seen his previous magics they would make some kind of comercial about them. Mainly along the lines of the old Timex commercials. You know "takes a licking and keeps on ticking" or something similar.

The picture he posted is of the "brand new" and "unflown" version.

Please calm yourself and be rest assured that after spending only one day with jnjackson even this "new" magic does not have it's pristine finish anymore.

He does fly like he stole the airplane. As a matter of fact he flies like he stole the airplane of the guy standing next to him.

edh13...

Don't be afraid to try something new. I am pretty sure this will not be the last time I modify an airplane. Even one as fun to fly as the magic could use a little tinkering!!!

To quote that mysterious voice in the background on G2...
"Watch out for the fun police!" :spinnyeye

Speaking of trying new things...

Somebody should ask Latch66 about that bridge!

damn right, i never built a plan as per yet, always have to change something. heres a Diamond Dust Unlimited with a UK Panther ( the plane the Magic tried to copy and failed ) wing section. All the agility and strenght of the Unlimited with the slow speed flight and park flyer type space needed for the Panther only even slower. best FUN fly i've had yet!