Just got finished with a small Skyraider with a 51" wingspan. 390sq inches of wing and an all up weight of 5 1/2 pounds gives me a wing loading of 32.5oz. How does this wing loading sound to people? I know trainers can be around 25oz and some warbirds can reach the 50oz area. I am an experienced war bird and scale float plane pilot but I've never done the math before just flown what I've built. I'm curious on opinions.

Thanks in advance.

i did the math which is 390 divided by 144 equals 2.7 and 5,5 lbs translates to 88 oz which is divided by 2.7 giving u 32. something oz per sq inch. every airplane I fly, i do the math to get an idea of how it'll fly but also taking into consideration the airfoil , tail area is included into the equation as well. for example I put together a kyosho p-40 for my dad and the wing loading came out to 23 - 25 oz per sq inch. its 7 1/2 lbs.. with that in mind I put a stronger motor to compensate for the extra weight. it comes in hot without flaps but penetrates wind really well.. u did'nt mention the motor used on u r skyraider but i hope it's got extra oommpphhh....i'm also using a 14 X 10 prop on the p-40 to have the extra thrust / torque to control landings.. anyways u r plane might come in hot or kinda fast..whats the airfoil ? so for it's size u most likely have closer to 450 inches total including fuse, tail so 450 gives u more closer to 28 -29 oz per sq inch. even at 30 with ur experience you'll do fine..probally have a ball with the bird.. do u fly in wind ? calm days will give hotter landings unless u go aft with cg to feather it in.. I flew slopers with higher wing loadings and it was awesome in wind...everyone else stayed down so i ended up with the whole sky....

The airfoil looks to be relatively thick on your plane. Wing loading should be calculated on the wing volume and not the wing surface. I think you should be just fine.

One of the first ARFs I flew 20 some years ago now was a 49 inch span Super Star, over 6 lbs, tapered wing and a K&B 40 on it. It was a hot ship and had to be landed with speed. It would do snap rolls like no other plane I have owned due to the high wing loading. As for your bird, take it up to altitude on its first flight and see how it handles slow flight. Do a few stalls as well. As the others have said, with your wing loading and wing, it should do fine, especially with your prior experience. You have a nice looking ship there.

By the way.... A nice wing loading calculator is available at http://adamone.rchomepage.com/design.htm . Go about 2/3rds down the page and you will see the table to fill out. This has been around RCU a bit but some might not have seen it. I also calculate wing loading on every airplane I fly.

Thanks for all the replies and info. I will let you all know how the maiden goes.

Ted

Hi Ted, It's been awhile...

Is that another Kyosho plane? Your Skyraider looks great whatever it is

Anyway, if you go back a few years when we were kicking around on the old style Kyosho Bf109s build threads you may recall that I ended up at a whopping 9lbs on my 109 after all of the mods. The wing loading figured at just over 40oz sq in, or maybe just under. Like 39 or 41.

Still flying it and love it's characteristics. Nice gentle forward stall and good rollout on take-offs and landings. Cruises at 1/2-1/3 throttle and climbs out great with a Saito FA-62. Flies like it's on rails, not twitchy in light gusts or wind, lands great with or without flaps deployed. A couple of the guys at the field who have flown it say it feels a bit slow on the response to input or that it flies and acts more like a 1/5 or 1/4 scale bird than a 1/7.5....stable, not "snappy".

So even if it is heavy by some standards it ought to fly just fine. You have the hours and experience under your belt so put it in the air and enjoy!

Hi Frets, How you doing? Yes, it's an old Kyosho so I figure it will fly well. I just thought what people would think as the damn wing does look small. When I figured what my BT kingfisher on float comes out at I'm even less worried. My Kingfisher weighs 10.6lbs and it figures to be right around 40oz. It flies excellent so I'm not worried about this Skyraider one bit. New project might be a Maratuka Rufe. I need to look at it better because it is the .40 size one and I have been told the wing loading is high on that. I will figure it out and post it here soon. I suspect it to come in close to my Kingfisher as it is also a 59" span and it's weight is listed at 6.5 to 8 lbs. I know the area will be less than the Kingfisher but if I can come out at the 8 lbs I should be fine too.

Ted