We are to have a ssc combat meet at our club next month in May. A friend has an extra ripper kit he said he would sell me at a good price. What are you guys doing (if any) to modify or beef up your rippers? I am going to use a magnum 15 2 stroke on it. Are standard servos the norm for this plane? I've never done any combat before so this ought to be a blast- if I survive, lol
Any advice or tips for assembly and trimming/flying would be greatly appreciated!! (as well as any bad traits known , if any for this plane)
Thank you!!!
John

The kit doesn't need any "beefing up", it's plenty strong as it is, and you'll just add weight you don't need. You can even leave off the plastic leading edge cover if you want.

The biggest thing to be aware of when building it is to make sure the spar sits all the way down inside the wing and doesn't stick up and leave a bump on the top or bottom of the wing. I'm not sure what the problem is that leads to this, but I've seen this on several of these planes, and it really does hurt the performance. It might be that the spar slots aren't always cut deep enough in the wing, or the polyuratane glue is lifting the spar up. Whatever it is, watch for it, and keep that spar flush with the wing surface.

For flight trimming, set the elevator so that you can hold full-up for at least 2-3 turns if not forever with out snap-rolling out of the turn. A lot of guys who are new to combat set their elevator travel way too high and wind up spinning in to the ground, espeically in SSC. (the good news is that usually you don't break anything if you do spin in, espeically if you remember to cut the power before impact. Nothing saves airframes more than cutting power before you hit the ground).

Thanks Kirk, I appreciate that. So, are standard servos usually what people are using?(maybe even a mini on the throttle?)

Yes, standard servos on aileron and elevator. I honestly don't recall what people put on their throttle on that plane. I don't fly that particular plane myself, and I do use HS-81s on throttle. But I'm not sure what size cutouts that plane has. A fair number of guys do use standard size servos on all 3 controls though.

So what do you fly Kirk? Do you have a preferrence from one plane to another in ssc? I need all the help I can get, lol, if I am to survive the 'king of the hill' combat meet.These will be 15 size planes we are dualing with.
Thanks again!!
John

Well, I designed my own SSC plane to match my particular style and tactics (the Rapier). I will occasionally sell basic kits for it, but I'm not a kit company, and the kits really aren't suitable for someone who doesn't already know a bit about how they like to build combat planes. I'm also random when it comes to shipping and some support.

However, there are some kits I think are great flying planes. The Avenger line designed by AJ Seaholm are very strong performers, and it's hard to beat AJ on support and helpfulness in getting them flying right. I think the url is http://www.teamseaholm.com

The Battle Axe is a generally good plane. The fuse design is solid, but some recent testing here has shown that the Battle Axe's wing is only so-so in turning ability. So while it's a durable and common plane, it can leave you at a disadvantage to others at times. (Some guys here took Rapier wings and put them on Battle Axe fuses. The result was a plane that turned much much tighter than it did with the Axe wing. I don't know if it's an issue with the airfoil or wing area or what). On the plus side, the guys kitting it support the plane quite well, and sometimes sell ARF versions, which is a great thing. And they ARE really common at a lot of contests, espeically in the south, which means that you'll be likely to find someone to help with any issues that come up.

Hat Trick, run by Mike Fredricks at http://www.hattrickrc.com/ produces some really solid planes as well. I honestly don't know what he is offering in SSC kits these days, but Mike's planes always fly well, and he's very helpful.

Regular sport servos will work just fine. If you have some sport priced metal gear servos, I would use them as impacts tend to strip aileron and elevator servos in combat planes.

I also run the lanier ripper, and personally I love the plane. It is my first combat plane, and in fact its still my only combat plane. Use standard servos like the futaba 3004 servos on the elevator or throttle if you want. Im used an el cheapo expert mini servo which works for the throttle but, changed to a HS 85 regular geared servo as the expert died on me. You can use a HS 85 metal gear servo for the ailerons if you want however, you are not really gaining much from it, as its almost the same weight as a standard servo. Currently im using the OS 15 CVA on it with a mousse can muffler with great success. Although, its not legal for SSC use. One thing i could tell you is build the wing with the plastic leading edge protectors. It adds a great deal of strength to the wing, and if you have any misshaps the wing would survive with little damage.

Thank you guys very much for the info!!
Glowplugboy, I am glad to hear that you are up and running again( pun intended, LOL) after having you leg injured. I hope all is well!
Thank you,
John

Ha! Actually, I am "up and limping", but that sure beats what I have been doing! Thanks for your good wishes!
Regards,
Mike

One more question for you guys about the ripper,....How do you think a rcvr out of a gws slowstick would work for the ripper- its a 4 channel single conversion that weighs almost nothing. I almost have the wings finished and I am going to use a magnum 15 2 stroke for power.It would save me a little weight, if you guys think its ok to use? Otherwise , I have a hitec dual conversion 7 channel rcvr but it does weigh a little more than the single conversion one. I am about ready to make my cutouts in the foam wing for the battery and rcvr so I thought I would ask.
Thanks !!!!!!
John

A lot of the small single conversion RXs have very limited range, they really don't work well at all in anything other than a park flyer being kept close. And they really are prone to interference during a contest when there are lots of transmitters all in close proximity.

I have one of those RX's around somewhere, but I long since stopped using it, even in my park flyers, it just glitched way too often.

Your best bet is to pick up a quality small receiver, or use that larger Hitec. Personally, I use Hitec 555 and Electron 6 dual conversion RXs. A lot of guys use the 04MG, which is single conversion, but works well since it's considered "full range".

Thats what I needed to hear- the GWS rcvr had about a 1500 ft range but I thought glitching may be a factor since it was a single conversion. I will go with my hitec rcvr. Thank you Kirk!!
Jmc

The range you get with those GWS single conversion RXs does depend on what else is going on. If you are on a channel that is "quiet", they get fine range, but they don't reject noise very well, and they respond to a fairly wide band. So flown by themselves you might not notice a problem. Turn on 5 other transmitters and they might glitch like crazy from all the intermodulation going on. And since combat isn't something you do with only one transmitter turned on...

I agree with Kirk. I have tried some of the so-called "best" micro receivers and they have trouble in the hostile radio enviroment of combat. What worked perfectly for me at the Fort Worth Texas Nationals in 2006 cannot even be used at my club field in Houston as there is just too much interference. I taped my full size Airtronics receiver to the side of the Ripper fuse and never had a problem with it being hit in a mid air.... might be something to consider doing.[8D]

now thats a thought gpb, I hadnt thought of that. Are you guys hard mounting your battery as well to the fuse? I have not made any cutouts to the wing 'yet', but if I dont have to I wont
A club member had his ripper at the field last Sunday that has a ThunderTiger 15 with a tuned exhaust from a car. It has a small front single wheel for landing as well as take offs from the runway- pretty cool!- that thing absolutely screams!!!!
It is as fast as some 40 size planes at our club. I just told hime since he was that fast he would just hit the ground that much faster, LOL
I am mounting a magnum 15 to mine, anyone got a header/pipe that would fit they want to sell cheap?

When I flew the Ripper, and then the Avenger by Seaholm, I used duct tape to tape the rx to the fuse, with one end of it at the trailing edge. The battery on the Riper was about on the spar line, and for the Avenger, it was pull tied on opposite the fuel tank as per the instructions in order for the model to balance. I don't know if I was lucky or good, but I was never mid-aired underneath the wing of either airframe. Make an effort to keep the Ripper as light as possible as the semi-symetrical wing is not the best when it comes to lift.

all good points gpb- thanks again! Yes, I have been trying to be consciece of the weight factor- I drilled the fuse with a drillbit at thicker places , removing excess material there. I also watched how much gorilla glue I was using when I glued the spars and upper and lower ply wing pieces on last nite. A little goes a long way with that glue I also made sure that the spars were a tad lower than the top of the wing by deepening the channels just a little bit. Those look good now.
GPB, any combat/flying tips you can give a first timer combat ripper pilot that hasnt been listed yet?
Whats your best way that you fly in order to score a cut that you could share? GPB, feel free to pm me if you wish so others wont know your secrets, LOL
Btw, hows the leg now?
Thanks once again!!!!!
J

If you're going to a contest, you might want to do a few things first.

You'll be best off if you can manage a little practice before the contest. But not actually competitive practice, since you don't want to risk a mid-air before you even get to the contest. Just get a friend to fly back and forth in a nice, predictable way, and try to basically follow him a bit. Once you get good at pulling up behind someone, have the guy you're chasing do some figure-8s and other less predictable things (again, go easy) and try to stay roughly behind.

At your first contest, if you only have one plane, take it easy at first, and stay out of the middle of the action. It's really easy to get sucked in to the middle and take an early mid-air from a plane you never saw coming.

Most guys take a few heats to get comfortable with multiple planes in the air at once in a small area. You don't want to fly in to the ground just because there is a lot going on. It's rather common.

Go easy, pick someone to chase who's flying a plane that is simular in performance to yours, and see if you can get behind them.

For specific tactics on scoring cuts, there are a lot of differnt ways to go about it, things to look for and so on. A lot depends on personal style and how you like to fly and how your plane compares to the guys you're chasing.

Once again, I agree with Kirk. When I practice by myself, I work hard on pushing whatever combat model I am flying to it's limits... that is, to the point it snaps, and then I trim it back in terms of control throws to just below snapping. This is mainly in elevator throw. I have never flown a combat model that snapped from too much aileron throw. Once trimmed, practice tight knife edge 360 degree turns, tight loops, emmelmans, and just like in WWI, Cobra rolls with or without half rolls can be excellent for streamer cutting. Having a buddy fly around as Kirk suggests is a great idea to develop your depth perception and your following technique. I would be world champion if I had depth perception! My biggest tendency is to fly "outside" the opponent. That is, what I perceive as being behind another airplane can be fifty or one hundred feet beyond that airplanes actual line of flight. If you have only one airframe, fly around the perimeter of the "hairball" as the hairball is where you are going to get whacked. At our Texas Nationals, it was typical to launch 9 to 12 planes per heat. Typically, only three or four would make it through the five minute round before being mid-aired. Most contests don't have this many per heat, however.

I have been flying R/C for thirty years now, and nothing compares to the fun I have had or the friends I have made flying combat.

Thanks Kirk,
A couple of the guys who have rippers have shortened their wingstips by 3 inches on each wing for a total of 6 inches. I'm wondering how much you can remove and still be legal under the allowable wing area? Dont quote me but isnt it a minimum of 400 sq inches, or so? If this is allowable, I may want to shorten mine but I still want to be ssc legal. I just dont know how much to remove, or just leave it stock? The combat that our club is going to have sometime in the near future is not a 'legal' ssc combat meet- they have raised the weight limit by 4 ounces to get more flyer involvement- all other ssc rules still applies- 8 inch max exhaust length, .15 engine, etc....

I'd leave the wing as it is. The 400sqin min is actually kind of a joke in the SSC rules. The best performing SSC planes have much more. My design is around 605sqin for example. You want that wing area to get the wing loading down at the min 2.5lbs (or whatever your min weight is) weight.

Limited B, which came long later as an SSC-style class for .25 engines uses a MAX wing area of 600sqin, since experience with SSC has shown that more wingarea = more speed and better turns. Clipping wings only makes you go faster if you already have so much wing area that your operating at too low of an AOA for your airfoil to be effective. That's not a problem we have in SSC or RC Combat in general. Reno racers flying fighters that have been lighted way up from their designed weight with combat load go faster by clipping their wings. You'll go faster with the longer wings.

Wingloading is (almost) everything. Keep it light and put a big wing on it.

SSC doesn't have the 8" exhaust rule, it requires a normal expansion muffler, no tuned exhaust. But if you're flying club rules, then that's different.

I agree with the comments about setting up the plane. I'll add to make sure you really can haul back on the elevator and hold it there for at least 2-3 full turns before falling out. Or even hold it there forever. You WILL find yourself trying to bend the TX stick from holding it full back so hard for so long! .

Too much roll rate can acutally get in your way. I tend to set my planes up with a slower roll than a lot of guys, but that's because I use my roll to control altitude by adjusting my bank angles in tight turns, and I don't wan to over control once the adrenalin starts pumping. (Iceman, I'm not, as anyone who's seen me fly will tell you).

Btw, if you find you tend to spend all your time out behind everyone, there is a useful tatical fix to that. I also tend to do that sometimes, so here's what I do. I pop out to the side (usually to the left), and then come in right to the CEL, then turn and fly right along the CEL and pick a target. Now I KNOW I'm inside of everyone, and I can start working angles until I get a cut or seem to be outside again. I really use this when the contest seems to be mostly furball. It's less necessary if things are breaking up. But I know that in TX things tend to stay furballed up tight longer than they do in other parts of the country. (I also use this a lot more in B class than anywhere else, due to the tendancy for B to stay in a high-speed furball longer than other classes)

Oh, another tip, when flying against other pilots, don't fly their game. This takes a bit of thinking to figure out what the other guys game is, but, for example, if you can't turn inside the other guy, don't stay in a turning duel with them more than a turn or two, or better yet, don't start one at all. If someone is sitting in the middle, turning tight circles and picking off targets as they go by, don't go after them by turning at them. Get above them, and dive through, take one shot at the streamer and keep going. On the other hand, if everyone is speading out, you might do well hanging out in the middle and jumping guys who go by.

ok, Ive got the wing all taped up, the front plastic leading edges are glued and are drying as we speak, down in the basement. About all I have left is to install the ailerons, fuse, tailfeathers and engine and go try her out. I was thinking about going to a friends sign shop and let him dress it up just a tad with some bright neon vinyl colors so I can see the plane a little better. That may backfire because 'others' can see it better too !!!
Will keep yall posted.
kirk and GPB, I again want to thank you both for all your great advice!! Im sure I'll be back with more questions soon, lol
Thanks!
John

Woohoo!! Im all done- total weight came in at 2lbs, 9.7 oz thats with the 8 channel hitec rcvr, 2 standard servos, 1 micro for throttle, magnum 15XL and a 2 oz fuel tank. I also painted the wing with very bright florescent yellow and orange spray paint, to help me see it better.
Speaking of fuel tanks, are you guys running a 2 oz or a 3 oz? I bought a 4 oz as well, but its just too big and when all fueled up , its just added weight. Im just wondering if the 2 oz is going to give me 5 minutes running time with just a little reserve OR do I need to put a 3 oz on her?
I also have my cg set at 2 and 1/2 inches, is that about where I need to be?
Thanks again guys for all your help!! I hope to try it out over this coming weekend
John

I use Hayes 3oz tanks in my SSC planes. I don't know if a 2oz is enough or not, but I don't think it will be. I agree that 4oz is a bit big, but some guys use them and just don't fill the tank all the way up.

I don't know about the CG, so go with what the instructions say. That sounds a bit forward on a guess, but I don't know what the wing chord, taper, and sweep are. Go with what the instructions say, then you can make adjustments to suit your style later if you want.