Favorite SSC Combat Design Features?
 

Hey All,

What do you like about your favorite SSC design? What do you wish it did better?

Since we enjoy designing and tinkering my friend and I would like to design a new SSC design. We are also building a CNC foam cutter. So of course the wings will be foam core.

What is everyone's favorite covering material? I've read on here about rip-stop nylon, packing tape, etc.

Are there any opinins on spars?(Arrow shafts, balsa and carbon, yardsticks, etc)?

Thanks,

Chris

RE: Favorite SSC Combat Design Features?
 

I use no spars, just a water based floor board paint impregnated paper covering of the wing, which can take a lot of abuse and is very repairable. Any hard elements in there is for the opponent ,so it will hit harder!

RE: Favorite SSC Combat Design Features?
 

For spars, I personally like the 1/8" fiberglass rods. I use them for the top and bottom spars. They allow the wings to flex a bit, which is great for absorbing hits without causing dramatic failures. I personally don't like carbon or wood for spars because I've seen too many failures in mid-airs.

A of guys are using EPP foam in the leading edge. It's really toxic to cut, which is why I'm not doing it myself right now, but it seems like a good idea. I personally use just a foam and tape leading edge right now, and while I get dents, they don't really hurt performance much.

For covering, I haven't seen anyone use ripstop or anything like that in SSC in quite a while. Tape is lighter, faster, and easier to field repair, and plenty strong for this class. You can also heat-shrink out wrinkles.

I'm not sure, but I don't think SSC is being flown in the Netherlands, they are probably flying 1/12th scale combat under Aces rules. I doubt a sparless design would last in SSC because I don't think it would handle the 64" wingspans that are pretty typical.

As for design elements, I personally really like my own designed Rapier. Which makes sense, since it is my own design with a few ideas from other guys here and there. That said, some things to consider:

- Getting electronics/pushrods/wires protected helps survive hits.
- Thin profile fuses are often not the strongest tings out there, but they are light.
- Look at the various fuse designs out there. The fencepost fuses work really well, but leave the tank exposed. The metal rails work well, but the metal can be bent in a hard nose-first crash. I use a foam/coro fuse with fiberglass rods that are very strong, but time consuming to build.
- For airfoil, you'll want something that has a soft stall and flys well at the Re of SSC planes.
- You'll want lots of wing area. At least 550, maybe more. I use 600sqin, and I tnk some guys are now using even more than that. It's a balance between weight, drag, and providing enough lift to turn tight and get a nice stall.
- you want a BIG vertical stab, bigger than you think you want. More vertical area means better tracking though tight turns and a can actually delay a stall. More vertical area also means better handling with a streamer on the wingtip and faster recovery from mid-air induced flat spins or other stalled conditions.
- A bigger horizontal stab makes the CG less critical. Smaller, full flying stabs make for a toucher plane but one that can get into and out of a turn faster. This is a personal preference thing.
- Consider how you are going to launch it. You need to able to give the plane a solid shove when launching downwind, so you want a plane that you can handle and throw in your preferred way. Make sure you can easily grip and throw it easily. Bad launches make for 0 rounds, and sometimes lead to injuries.

Just some things to consider when doing your own designing. I personally love designing my own planes. Feel free to ask if you have more specific questions.

btw, if you want to see how I build the Rapier, look at www.MidAtlanticCombat.com

RE: Favorite SSC Combat Design Features?
 

Montage,

I really like the way you did your fuse. I think I may use a few of your ideas with the solid foam. I built a spad with the coro bent into a box shape using foam as bulkheads. It was light and strong, but I like the way you cut out holes for the equiptment.

I think I will give the glass rods a look as well. I've been meaning to buy one of the dremil tool router attachements, looks like this gives me a good excuse.

For an airfoil that has a good Cl and a gentle stall I think it's hard to beat the old 2412. I've got a wing with 1.5 degrees of washout that has a very soft stall, but you can still fly acrobatics with it.

I've never flown a full flying horizontal stab. I have a SPAD3DT that I will have to experiment with....

Have you done any tail volume calculations? I ususally use something around 0.4 for sport planes.

I have as much fun designing as I do crashing...wait that came out wrong. Oh well...

We are thinking about having a SSC combat / race. If you loose your streamer your out. Combine the events and it becomes speed or strategy....Has anyone tried this?

RE: Favorite SSC Combat Design Features?
 

In the Netherlands, we are watching you!
For wing design, not a matter of argument, I want to exchange views. In my opinion, the wing without fuselage will carry it's own weight without any bending in tight curves. The fuselage however will need to be accelerated as well, and imposes a bending moment on the wing. This is the same in SSC as in ACES 1/12.
Paper wing skins are plastic-like when fully hard. Near the wing center piece I laminate them with extra plies, up to 4 near the fuselage for a total paper thickness of 0.5mm. This is extremely strong, and is the same main principle as used in airliners with stressed skin wings.
This wing construction has extreme damping characteristics, and will not shatter on impact or flutter. It just gets dented locally, and is repaired by cutting out a piece of foam, and add one or two local paper layers after sanding to shape.
What is the airfoil you use?
I use a flatbottom foil of own design with droop-snoot layout, which is very simple to build. In SSC with short tail feather coupling it would need quite some aileron reflex to cancel foil pitch moment, but it is stall free up to 18° AoA, and has very low air resistance in tight curves. Air resistance is very low with Cl @1.5 . Negative curves are not very good, so you need to roll before banking.

RE: Favorite SSC Combat Design Features?
 

I like to use poly glue impregnated sash cord for spars. has plenty of TOUGH and is unbreakable not to mention dirt cheap:D

RE: Favorite SSC Combat Design Features?
 

Ozmo,

Is sash cord like string? What diameter would you say it is?

Thanks!

Chris

RE: Favorite SSC Combat Design Features?
 

Sash cord is the string on most curtains or blinds and is a braided cotton over stranded cotton about 1/8 inch dia. A similar sized dacron or nylon braided cord would be stronger. However the cotton stuff absorbs the poly glue well. I find this method not quite as rigid as fiberglass but I was looking for tensile strength and flexability. one advantage is you lay this in just like the fibergass rod but you can use one length for top and bottom as it is limp when applied so the dihedral joint is no problem.

RE: Favorite SSC Combat Design Features?
 

That's a pretty cool trick with the sash cord. I wonder, do you think it would work for a Corsair wing? That would really make that design much easier to do. Or will it not stand up to the stresses in a heavier 2548 class plane?

RE: Favorite SSC Combat Design Features?
 

Hi montague,
I really don't know if it would hold up. I think it would still be in one piece after it ran through a brick wall though. My only concern would be less compressional strength than FG. I suspect the difference would be minimal. it would be stronger (and heavier ) with epoxy. probably to heavy. you could sneak in a little carbon fiber at the bends on the top, doubt it would need it on the bottom.