Ray Millington

Hi all
Me and my flying mates all have modern jets of various designs but we all fancied making a retro turbine model that we made when we started on this amazing
journey into turbines as i had a Super Reaper kit untouched i decided to build it during the Covid lockdown that we are in a the moment in the UK ,
I searched the threads and found "Dustflyers" tread about a mod that "Joe Weizer" made to his Reaper (split flaps) that reduced the deltas tendency to float
Looks a great idea respect to the late Joe Weizer.
Has anyone flown a reaper with the split flaps? if so did you set up the model as Ailevators and did you mix the canard elevators in the mix?
Thanks you for any replies keep well happy flying in the new year,
Best regards Ray.

BaldEagel

Ray

Read post 22 above.

Ray Millington

Hi Baldeagle,
Thanks for the reply i did read post 22 but i was hoping to have a reply from someone who had flown the Reaper with the split flap setup.
I built the fuselage yesterday,my wings are covered, but the balsa has lifted in some places with age i guess the kit is more than 10 years old.
I have a spare Jetcat 80 SE i plan to use i am fitting Electron retracts Jeti ds 24 radio so i have lots of options re mixers and flight modes,
I have decided to go with the split flaps,ailevators,and mix the canard elevators say 10% with the elevators,
Best regards Ray.

BaldEagel

Unless you are into square loops the Reaper does not need alleviators, with full flying canards it is more than capable of being lifted into vertical for any type of manoeuvre you wish to do, but each to his own, I glassed my wings just to make it easier to wipe down, only used it as a winter hack, but is a fun machine near impossible to stall it just mush's and loose's height like all delta's, when in this state it take a bit of height to recover and needs power to do it.

Ray Millington

Hi Baldeagle,
OK you have convinced me to go with the full canard system as you have described,
Can you please advise ,
1 On the design features of your canards i e did you use any mass balancing?
2 Is the positioning of the activating rod critical i e are they in the centre of the canards or are they positioned to give some mechanic advantage?
3 What travel did you have ?
4 At what point during the landing did you put the canards into the braking position?
As i have cnc capability i am sure i can produce the necessary brackets to support the activating rods without any play and hopefully avoid the dreaded flutter
Sorry if some of the questions are obvious but i have never flown a model with canards before so not sure how to set them up,
Thanks for your help,
Best regards Ray.SmileSmile

BaldEagel

Have a look at the CARF Rookie, I used all the canard equipment from one, no mass balance, just a good servo.
Travel is a personal thing as is Expo, but no more that 20mm up and down, and 70 degs for braking, I had half span flaps on my version so they where put into crow (up ailerons) on the base leg, the canards where used as a brake on final approach if needed, separate from the crow, once the crow was active the sink rate increases without much forward speed it was then just a case of controlling the decent with the throttle, I am pretty sure I posted build pics on here somewhere.

Another Reaper thread: SUPER REAPER MAIDEN FLIGHT SOON NEED ADVISES
And another: MICK REEVES SUPER REAPER BUILDING

Ray Millington

Hi Baldeagle,
Thanks for the reply so have i got this right?
Flight controls are
1 Full moving canards,
2 Ailerons (half span)
3 Flaps (half span) only moving down
4 Rudders
Use flaps and Ailerons in crow for landings and use canards at say 70 degrees for breaking,
I cant get my head round dropping the canards to 70 degrees on the landing approach ,is there not a big trim change when you do this,
Many thanks Ray

BaldEagel

No big trim change, a pitch up of the nose, but not excessive easily controlled, but masses of drag, obviously all of these settings should be tried at a suitable level before trying to land with them.