Deadeye

Hi guys. I designed this newest Cor-Star around a friend's crashed Venture 60 wings. I modified the wings by removing a bay from each side and adding flaps and barn door ailerons. I mixed in crow, and full length ailerons. The fuse is simply the Cor-Star fuse with no canopy and turtledeck. Tail feathers are the same except for the counterbalances.

My original idea was to make a low wing 'stick' type of plane, but one night when it was all assembled, my son comes into the garage and tells me 'it looks like something Batman would fly'. So I came up with the 'AeroBAT' name. Power is my trusty Saito 100. And all up weight is just a hair over 7 pounds. Yesterday was flight number 5 and 6, and she's really impressing me. Hovers at 1/2 - 2/3 throttle, and it has plenty of pull out power. I'm using a 14X8 prop, but am going to try a 15X4 for the next time out. She floats in real nice with full flaps. With the flaps at one deflection, and the ailerons at the other, it has about 110 degrees between the two.

One of the other mods to the wing was the use of 1/8 aircraft ply for the last rib. I installed 4-40 blind nuts in them for winglet attachements, ala Funtana 50X style. I haven't tried them yet, but am anxious to see how they contribute to knife edge flight. I'm also going to make a mount of some kind so I can use smoke bombs or the like on my wingtips.

Speaking of smoke, I picked up a 4 oz tank the other day at the LHS. I'm going to try for a smoke system that uses MinnFlyer's pump in his excellent 'Got Smoke' article here on RCU. She'll handle the extra weight OK, I think. Questions or comments are welcome.

P.S. It still needs a little vinyl trim work.

MrGreenSpeed

Great looking AeroBAT, cool name too.
I would love to see a video of that thing hanging on the prop.
I bet it sounds awesome with that Saito 100 on it.[8D]

Jeff

n74tg

Nice looking plane, but is it a SPAD; ie are you posting in the right forum?

Other than "sign vinyl" I don't see any references to things like alternative building materials or techniques that would make it a SPAD.

So, please tell us more about the plane.

Deadeye

That's the idea behind my Cor-Star series. They are SPADS that don't look like SPADS.

This one is a hybrid with balsa wings and a coroplast fuselage and tail feathers. Take a looksee [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_1201120/tm.htm]here[/link] to see my original Cor-Star thread. You could also search for Cor-Star Ultimate bipe, and Cor-Star Twin Torrent if you want to see my whole collection. Do a search for 'Tourmado' if you want to see my version of a coroplast LT-40.

The next three Cor-Stars I have waiting to be built will use foam core wings for weight savings and durability. I'm aiming for a 6 pounder one of these days.

n74tg

Randy, I stand corrected. I'm looking forward to reading the other threads in your link, especially the Ultimate Bipe.

Keep on building.

Omaha_RC_Flyer

Deadeye,

Nice Bird....I mean bat! Cool name to. Are the stabs double thickness (two 4mil pieces), like with the other coro-stars? Did you do anything to stiffen up the counterbalances?

Later,
Omaha

Deadeye

Omaha, thanks man. Stabs are like the original Cor-Star, doubled over 4 mil with mating side flutes kind of perpindicular to each other. No reinforcement on the counterbalances (but ALOT more waste when you cut them). I tried to poke some bamboo skewers through the rudder CB, but they wanted to poke out the sides instead of following across the flutes. I pulled them out and have done some HARD KE flight with no deformation of the CB, yet. I don't see it as a problem. I did use Dubro pull-pull cable and hard attachment points for tail braces. The hard points are a test in progress, but are so far proving effective, simple, and light. Details on that to follow as they are tested.

This is an experiment in tail feather counterbalances, as well as some other stuff I am testing. So far, so good. Someday all my designs will compile into the ultimate coroplast design. I do hope you all stay tuned to my wacky ideas until then.

RRR

koopster

Awesome looking plane! You talk of a foam core wing, what will you cover it with, sign vinyl or coro. I have often wondered if you took 2mil coro, split it in half and removed the flutes so you had just the outer sheet, and covered a foam core wing with it, would it be strong and light, or just a lot of work. If nobody else has tried that yet, I think I will give it a shot this winter. I'm rambling here, but a bird like the one you just posted does get the creative juices flowing for sure.
Great job as always Deadeye

Deadeye

Koopster, thanks for the comps. The foam core wing will more than likely be sheeted with balsa. A guy could use a low temp film covering right over the foam, but they are very prone to dents just by touching them. I'm looking for durability so the balsa sheet is the way to go. The foam wings could be lightened with lightening holes in the foam itself, or by partially sheeting the foam on the LE and TE, and using 'cap strips' over the main part of the wing.

I have also thought about using the skin from one side of the coro, but it seems like a lot of work. It would be very durable, though.