novabill

mnrcaerobat


Have you flown it yet?

mnrcaerobat

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I did take it out yesterday for two flights about a minute each. I was only able to get a short flat spin and that was about it. My linkages were all sloppy. I repaired them today. They seem much better, and hopefully I can sneak out tomorrow or the next day to fly it again.

novabill

That was two weeks ago, have you gotten her dialed in yet?

William

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

No, it's all ready to go, but I have been too busy. I needed to finish up an extra 300 that I was building this winter. I want to try it again this week. I will take it out on Tuesday and get a better flight report with pictures hopefully on Wednesday.

novabill

I flew mine today and had a ball. There was a guy visiting our club who flys TOC and he put her through her paces. He even got her to do a KE loop. In the end he agreed that she needs a larger hor stab, but not a thing more. You are alright though, because I had modifyed the stab when I sent it to you. We broke #9 for two hours straight and the rudder paid for it. There is no hinge left and the rudder is hanging on the bottom hinge (if that makes sence). I think I can fix it with some sign vynal though. I am going to move the CG back to close to 8" and redo the stab to add about 20 SQin and fly on tues. Also, I need to check lateral balance, she's falling out of hover to the left. There was a guy who shot tons of video today and he said he would try to link it to this thread. Talk to you all soon.

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

I was thinking of building the stab and elevators out of 1/4" x 1/4" balsa. I think they would be stiffer and make it perform better. It seemed to be too weak when I flew it. I did have some sloppiness in the connections and have that fixed, and hope to try it more tomorrow night.

novabill

With tight linkages, it should be ok. It is verry soft with a forward CG, play with that before you change to balsa. I am somewhere around 7"back and planning to go another 1/2" for the next flights. It is quite responsive, but I feel it needs just a little more. I'll let you know.

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

I set up with the CG at 7". I didn't get enough flight time. I had lots of elevator flutter and weak control horns on my ailerons. I am anxious to get it out again.

I also recently re-setup my Funtana and completed my extra 300s, so this one has been idle. Hopefully tomorrows weather will cooperate.

novabill

Supposed to be nice down here. I am going to program some ele-flap into mine tonight, as it was suggested It hight help me with the high alpha stuff. The weather is getting better here and I am ready for some serious thrashing

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

The weather is beautiful here also. Yesterday was 50, sunny and no wind. Today is 67, PC and nearly 20 mph wind. Tomorrow looks good. I also want to program some spoilerons into mine. The horizon hobby website has a write up on the funtana, and he talks about this. I think he starts the flaps at 3/4 stick on the elevator.

novabill

Try it in a heavy wind, it is a ball

mnrcaerobat

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I really enjoyed flying my spa3d in the wind.

mnrcaerobat

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Here are a couple of pictures of my plane. Going out to fly now.

mnrcaerobat

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Top

mnrcaerobat

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Bottom

mnrcaerobat

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Build pics

mnrcaerobat

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build pics

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

I should have a flight report in a few hours.

Current weather is 58 degrees, mostly sunny, NW wind at 16 MPH.

I will be flying this plane with an MDS 48 with a Mousse Can Muffler and 12.25 x 3.75 prop.

novabill

Sweet, I am leaving to fly too, 69degrees and light wind

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

It did not go well again. While getting it trimmed out, I turned into the wind and the elevator started to flutter very badly. It ended up shearing one half of the stab. It was a nice clean break and I have never seen cloroplast do that. I did not even have much airspeed and the elevator was floppin like a kite. I used to only get flutter with the spa3d at top speed, and I was no where even close to that.

This project is going to have to sit. I don't have any build time for the repair. I think a balsa tail would make this a nice plane. I just don't have time right now to build it. I will keep you posted with any updates.

novabill

It was a bad day for both of us. I tore mine up pretty good too. Busted motor mount and I ripped up the front of the fuse bad. But boy was it fun. I had flapps set to drop two inches at full up elevator and the loops were incredible. I was practicing zooming across the runway inverted in kind of a hover with the tail just MMs away from the ground and as I lost control, I gunned it to gain some altitude. Well' I overcorrected at some point and smack. It is not as bad as it sounds though, a few hours and she will be better than new. I am going to take this opportunity to redesign the hor stab and change the look of the fuse.
Brian, I dont understand what is going on with your elevator. Do you have bamboo skewers running through your counterbalances front to back? Are your linkages tight? Is your servo sloppy? You have the LE of your stab tapered, I made mine straight so that I would have a CF rod at the LE. Could it be bending in flight? Yesterday I was flying mine flat out for a while (prolly 80-90 mph but not making any sudden moves with it) just to see what it would do and I did'nt have any flutter whatsoever. If the linkages are tight and the counterbalances supported it should be ok. Please let me know if I can help in any way.

SDR-Hammer

Novabill, I was going to build a SP3DT with a carbon fiber hockey stick and really like many of the design aspects you’ve incorporated. I have a couple questions for you.

I think I’ve figured out how you fastened the motor mount to the “fuse”, but can you explain?

Also I noticed with the wing you keep the upper cord straight across the top of the fuse instead of bringing it under the fuse at mid point. I was just wondering if you’ve tired the aforementioned design and have any performance comparisons to share?

Last question for now. How did you do the tail wheel?

novabill

I originally planned on using a CF hockey stick. Too much $ though. If you have one, use it but it might be too brittle where the screws fasten at the motor mount. It was easier to mount the wing the way I did it and I have'nt had the incidence problems with running it under the fuse. Everyone talks about having to reflex their ailerons up 1/4 to 3/8" and mine are level allowing it to fly consistently over a broader speed range.
I do'nt use a tail-wheel I have a skid made out of .078 music wire. I have never had ground handling problems with this.
The motor mount is simple. I cut out the space for the motor to mount to, then I made two cuts from back to front spaced 1.5" apart and slide this area into the EFI fuse.
As you read, I beat it up pretty bad the other day and have repairs planned for tomorrow night. They include a new motor mount, fuse and redesigned stab/ele. I am going to shoot many pictures which will explain alot of the build processes, so keep tuned.
This plane costs 3 times more $ to build (about $60) and takes 3 times longer (about 20 hours less than a balsa model) than a spa3d. But what you get is a plane that flys like a balsa plane except for one thing, IT WONT GLIDE. It will fly both fast and slow and will KE to some extent. Weight is 4.5lb and I think it could be trimmed to 4-4.25lb (I have standard servos, used way too much glue in the wing and have a bellcrank in the back with two wheel collars attached to it going to two pushrods with two ele. horns.). The Coro Katana I am building will be built with 48" WS and hopefully shed 1/4 pound.

Flying Arrow

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Hi novabill,

Your SPA3d is awsome, you have done a great Job.

I would appreciate sending me the mesurement ( plan) and part list of materials. Any information will help,
Thank you so much

novabill

The wing diagram on page 2 is correct except, I make mine 40". I have some more pics to post, but I left the disk at home. I will try to get them up tonight. They explain the motor mount and fuse desigh a little better. I will try to figure out how to get the stabs on cad and post them this afternoon.