A question about wing area for SSC
 

Hi guys-

Do you include the ailerons when measuring the wing for the required 400 Sq inches for SSC?

Swede

RE: A question about wing area for SSC
 

Yes, you include the ailerons.

But if you aren't well over 400sqin, it isn't going to matter anyway. SSC planes with the min. wing area just don't fly well, the best are usually between 500 and 600sqin. My plane is at about 604sqin for example.

RE: A question about wing area for SSC
 

Swede,
When we first started flying SSC we all thought that the planes needed to be built right to the minimum wing area. When built to 400 square inches and 2-1/2lbs the planes do not fly well. They climb sluggishly and fall out of repeated turns. We thought we had a bad set of specifications.

Then a fellow showed up with a plane that had over 600 square inches. He could outclimb, out turn and just flat out run us all. His plane was flying on the wing at zero ange of attack. Ours were trimmed up so the engine could help the wing hold the plane in the air.

It is now routine to see 600 square inches up to 780 in a competitive SSC plane. The Cobras that I fly probably have too little wing area and they are at about 580 square inches.

Good luck and let us know how SSC goes up your way. There is more SSC info on www.georgiacombat.com and www.rccombat.com

RE: A question about wing area for SSC
 

Thanks for the info, Montie and Lou-

Lou-

Our SSC is doing well. SSC and Tattoo's Gnat was the ticket to get more guys interested in combat. About four years ago, I brought out the first Spad(and man did I get grief over that plastic plane!) and combat plane(a Derelict with a Norvel Big Mig) to our field. Two years later, there was only me and one other guy combating. No one was interested-planes too fast!

Then Tattoo's Gnat and SSC were introduced,and that interested alot of others members. Slow enough to handle, easy to build(all the directions on one page). Now there's about 10 of us actively flying SSC and Open B at our club. It funny, but once the guys got a taste of SSC, they wanted to move up to Open B! The Gnats have all been abandon for other designs.

We don't keep score or track of kills and cuts-we're just out to have fun. We fly combat year around here in central Iowa. Our heated clubhouse allows us to do that. We're having a ball!!

Thanks again.

Swede

RE: A question about wing area for SSC
 

As Swede pointed, we are having a ball with both .15 SSC and .25 Open B combat and fly all year long. During wintry high wind days here in Iowa, the combat plane is just the ticket. We commonly have 6-8 planes in the sky at once and on occassion, as many as 10 gunships up there swooping, turning, and winding out to 19K rpms (we have a few highly tuned Norvel's). Some of us have started to wear safety helmets !

It's Saturday and now I have to go combatting !

Go do some flying, it's good for your health and you won't get carpal tunnel or strain your eyes from reading forum posts :D

RE: A question about wing area for SSC
 

Four of us in the Hamilton, Ohio Area (HAWKS - home of Havoc Over Hamilton) are flying Tufflight Panthers for both SSC and Open/Limited Open B. The Panther is about the perfect SSC bird - large wing area and light. At 60" span, it more than holds its own with everything else out there. The wing is a tad short for "B", but still very competitive. Built correctly and balanced correctly, they fly amazingly well. Watch the engine mounts though, they tend to sag giving downthrust. I am switching from the Tufflight material to a more brittle but stiffer HDPE material (cutting board, the white kind rather than the semi-translucent kind).

RJ Rose
RCCA 800

RE: A question about wing area for SSC
 

rjrose-

That's good to hear. We've ordered the solid white HDPE from the cuttingboardfactory.com.(their workhorse series) It's very good stuff.

Regal plastics has HDPE too but you have to order a 4' by 8' sheet. Get enough other guys to go in on a full sheet and it's not bad.


Swede