After not finding pusher props for the Norvel I decided to take BMatthews advice and use a larger engine. An Enya 09 was mounted and 5 test glides (no engine) were attempted last Saturday. The female helping didn’t release very well and all attempts at downhill throw/ release were unsuccessful.

Today I went to the field hoping to find someone who could run 10 to12 MPH holding 5 pounds overhead (no wind today). However the epoxy on the engine rails did not withstand the second engine run and no attempt was made.

Loubud,

What is the location of the CG? I don’t have a manual. The 09-glow engine seems to make enough wind to fly on the wing.

Bill

Hi Bill,
The directions suck, unless of course you speak fluent German. The book doesn't actually tell you, you have to look at the plans and then measure. Ok, here goes. 3 and 7/8 inches from the leading edge. The book also says the all up weight should be 3 lbs, 6 1/2 ozs. It also says that it should run a Mabuchi 550 motor with an on/off switch and Nicads or a gas motor tho it doesn't say what size.
Anything else you need, just ask and I'll try to help. Maybe one of these planes will see the sky. I'll unpack mine and weigh it. I'll bet it's over the book's weight.

Loubud,

Thanks for the CG. I would guess that your glider would be at least a pound over the stated weight. The weight seems to indicate the airplane was designed to be a cliff glider with a small electric motor. What are you using on the wing hooks to secure the wings to the fuselage? Rubber bands don’t seem to hold the wings very tight.

Good luck with yours.

Bill

Hey Bill. I have the rubber band setup also. It should work ok. I have a little brushless outrunner and a 3 blade 8X6 prop. It puts out 2800 KV/Volt and 290 watts but the rest is an unknown to me. Oh, I'm using 3cell lipos also. We'll just have to wait and see.

Oh how TRUE!

Hi Bruce. Marshall here in WINNIPEG.

I've taken about 2 months off from the building of that AIRHOPPER - My contract with that school photo company is all but done with but the shoutin' - just a few more retakes and I can get back to work.

Even though the 2 mo. vacation from my project is over - I still had it in the back of my mind each day. Each day - even so - I would manage to stick a few chunks of balsa into place. Hah! I keep forgetting to stick that fairing in front of the rudder. LOL.

It's very much akin to planning a long, well deserved, vacation. The planning of it it - is half of the fun!

I don't recall where I left off with my images of it, - but I know that since you sent me a couple of drawings of the rudder/stab - and changing it into a flying stab. I have built the entire rudder 2x, I have made the horz stabs - no less than 3x.

WOW! What a learning process! I am just now, trying to get the alignment of the rods thru the rudder and into the stab itself to move smoothly. I keep getting a little bit of binding but as I keep making changes - they manage to work themselves out.

Also, if you recall, that the rudder was an integral part of the fuselage design. The aft section of the plane becomes the very weakest part of the entire build. Unltimately, I rebuilt the rudder and added the last section of the fuselage in reverse by taking the load bearing spars of the fuse and actually adding them up into the previous section. I also made those main parts a little thinner than specs asked for but used POPLAR instead. When all was said and done, -- RUDDER mounted as straight as the devices would allow, and I added a bit of epoxy to a little webbing to add some exterior srtength as seen in the attachments.

Overall, the fuselage with the rudder and the stabs added, (without any monokote) is weighing in at 19 oz.

I'll finish off the stabs this week (hopefully) and get started into the fabrication of the gull wing.


Marwen

The Aerofly was in the air today for somewhat longer than a 30-foot thud. An Enya 09 with a 7-4 prop cut to 6” will turn about 14,800. The engine thrust line is important and appears to be driving the glider down. With the engine running it is very squirrelly, probably all the air passing over the rudder. Next attempt we will use dual rates at 50% during the engine run. Without engine it appears to have a tendency to tip stall. It turned over (maybe tip stall) on two occasions and went into the ground. The rudder was damaged several times and the servo rails came out on the last ground impact. It requires a launch helper. Slowly the glider is revealing it’s flight characteristics and next attempt will probably be a real flight.

Rudder damage has been often enough to use self-taping screws in the hinges so the rudder can be removed for repair.


Bill