Pork Chop

My Feedback: (5)

It sounded as good as it looked in the air Bob! Congrats

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hi Everyone!
Thanks guys, yeah it sounded pretty cool, and it flew great! The landing was definitely hot!! Broke the prop when it nosed over, but that's ok...
I finished the repairs on the H1 today, and will be trying her again this Sunday. I'm going to move the C.G up, and re route some of the wiring.
I believe the real problem is the C.G location though. O.K that's all for now! Thanks, Bob

Pork Chop

My Feedback: (5)

Your maiden sure sounded like it was very tail heavy so moving the cg should make a difference. Are you going to guesstimate or are you going with the 1.25" you mentioned in an earlier post.

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

I'll move it up at least an inch. It's going to take a heck of a lot of lead up front to accomplish this. if I can get the 1 1/4, i'll do that.
Hey Dan, I looked at your cad drawing, and the sweep is only 2.5", not the 6" you have drawn. I think that'll put the cg much closer to the 5.5"
mark. Thanks for the help, Bob

All Day Dan

My Feedback: (5)

Have you built the long wing version or the short one? where is the CG now? Does it match the plans? Dan.

ibuild

It's not possible to see that it have been repaired at all, thats the thing if you have built it you can repair it just as well.

I want to tell you a short story, many moons ago when I was even younger than I am today I bought myself a ready to cover kit of a .40 size Zlin acrobat. I finished it and set it up as the plans, like everyone else I was careful to get the CG exactly right - as the plans showed... When I was to maiden it some guys from a local amateur TV station turned up, I knew them and I was to show everyone how it was done. No problem I thought to myself... I took off and the plane was impossible to control, it dropped at one side and i recovered it only for it to drop at the other side and it wiggled in a most spectacular way in to the woods. I took the long embarrassing walk to get it and the camera crew followed closely, when I had recovered the wreck and got back to the field they put the camera up in my face and asked me: how do you feel now? I did not see it on my TV but I heard from someone who did that most of my answer was replaced by a beeping sound...

Later when I had repaired it and there was no camera there I tried again, this time I had moved the CG forwards because I know that if it is too much forwards that is not critical. A too forwards CG makes the plane want more elevator and it comes in hot at landing - but it is most stable, a too rearwards CG on the other hand is absolutely critical and it can make the plane incontrollable very quickly. Yes it was the CG that was wrong and yes it was first set according to the plans. My moral in this story is that it's better too forwards than too rearwards, and don't settle for it - be prepared to adjust it rather than trying to get it accurately right away. My later experience with gliders tells me that getting the CG accurately for any given plane for the first flight is not possible, you simply set it a little too forwards as a safety measure, and then you gradually move it back to tune it in.

Very cool with the GeeBee, another classic racing plane that grasps the heart of any scale enthusiasts.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Good advise!

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Thanks, Norway
I've moved the C.G forward 1 1/4", the place where I believe it's supposed to be. I added 25 oz. of lead to accomplish this. I'll hopefully have a great video from Sunday's successful re- maiden flight!
Thanks again, Bob

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Hey Everyone,
Well the H1 is gone. It flew well for about 10 minutes, then the engine quit about 200 feet up, it stalled, and spiraled into the ground. I think it overheated, causing the stall.

I believe this plane was too heavy, and that was a major factor to it's demise. I will probably rebuild it, as a complete build up out of wood, in the next year. In hindsight,

there are many things that I will do differently next time. Well, not more much can be said! It's all part of this great hobby! Que sera-sera!

Thank You, everybody for the support and help!
Bob Lemay

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Sorry to hear it Bob!

cardinalflyer

My Feedback: (11)

Sorry to hear such news. I hope you consider either a reconstruct or new build. We have all been there.

All Day Dan

My Feedback: (5)

Please post the rebuild or new build. You're not alone. Dan.

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Thanks Guys,
Always great support from you all.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I ws think Bob your luck with your H-1 is about the same as the full scale original and replicas have had. Must be a design flaw!

rj lemay

My Feedback: (8)

Yeah, I agree Mike! She flew a heck of a lot better than the first flight, the CG had much to do with that... but it was still a handful... I do believe it was too
heavy, and we all know the lighter the plane is, the better and easier they are to fly. My next one, and there will be a next one, is going to be 100% built up,
with much more attention payed to weight. I'm going to size it down a little also, maybe around a 72" wing.
Thanks,Bob

ibuild

I admire your work, I hope to see more of it. You sure know how to chose challenging subjects concerning making a model airplane out of a real airplane. Make a light wing loading is the answer to everything considering a model airplane.