david a

Well, I finally finished my Debonair spad. I will test fly it Friday evening if the weather permits and will post the results of it here.

The only thing that I noticed is that only half of my ailerons move. The further toward the wingtip the less movement. I probably should have picked up another servo and installed one per aileron in the wing's center. We'll see how it flies and then determine if it's worth the extra effort in using two aileron servos.

SeacretsOceanCity

Sand the inside of the flute hinge careful not to go through, the stiffness goes away. I sand heavy 2 inches from each end of the ron. works good

DLSmith2

David A,

Looking good! Good luck on the maiden flight and don't forget the flight report!


Blue skies,

DL

P.S. Don't forget to put something on the wings to help maintain orientation and keep the sticker police from impounding your great looking Deb!

david a

Yeah, I tried to get a closer cut on the hinge and cut through in a small area about one inch long. I didn't think to use sandpaper, but you're right it would be better.

I do need to put on some colored stickers or paint it at least, to help with orientation. I'm not as concerned with how it looks right now as I am about how it will fly. If it shows promise then I'll pretty it up some, but if it flies like a brick then I'll scrap it and stick with balsa. I am hoping for the former however.

Captain351

I you built it even close to right and then balanced it properly it will fly very well.

I learned to fly on a Deb and have lost track how many times I have crashed it. The worst repair I ever had to make was to cut out a new Horizontal Stab because it bent over. I still fly it on windy days, it cuts the wind because of its weight

david a

It's built according to instructions and it balances out nicely. I'm guessing it weighs between 7 and 8 lbs. It's being powered by a TT-Pro 46 engine.

Were the reasons for your crashes, dumb thumbs or plane instability? Does your Deb drop like a rock when the throttle is reduced to idle or does it glide relatively well?

MockV

David,

Hello. I'm in the middle of building my Deb. I'd like to ask you a question about the wing wrap. How hard was it to glue onto the bottom and top of the wing with the 5" dihedral? I was test fitting mine yesterday and because of the point in the underside, I was thinking that I might have some trouble with it.

Could you give me any tips on this step? And any other steps to watch out for by chance? It would help out a lot. This is my first plane. I still have an aerostar kit I'm building on the side, but when I heard about Spads I had to stop with the kit!

Much Thanks,
James

david a

Hi James,

My wing-wrap went on very easily. I ran a #1 phillips head screwdriver down the middle (2") of the wrap a few times so that it would bend to accommodate the dihedral. I did this the full length of the wrap on one side. This will make it easier to bend over the point on the underside and into the crease on the topside of the wing. I marked the location of the wing-wrap edges on the wing as a guide and also to keep me from putting my glue dots too far out. Start on the underside of the wing and work around and over the top. Be sure to use the screwdriver to crease the wrap at the leading edge location. When you get it on you will see that it extends beyond the back of the wing. Just cut this excess off flush with the wing.

I found folding the wing to be the hardest part. I cheated on my spars a little by gluing small pieces of yardstick between the two spars. I thought that this would help strengthen the spars and hold them steady while wrestling with the wing folds.

trroscoe

My Feedback: (39)

Your Deb looks great. I built one several months ago for my kids to fly. I could never get them to go out to the field with me so I flew it myself. Wow what a great flying plane. It quickly became one of my favorites. I always took it with me and flew it every time I went flying. This past weekend one of my friends decided he had to have it and made me an offer that I couldn't pass up so it belongs to him now. Hope he has as much fun with it as I did. Now I have got to build me another one. I think I will build a DPS next. You will love your Deb and they fly great.

Rick

Ross Kean

David

Three tips on the stiff aileron hinge.
1) As mentioned above, you can sand the back of the hinge. I fold the aileron back as far as I can - all the way if the control horns aren't installed - and crease the middle. Use fine sandpaper and sand the hinge until it flexes easily. Be careful not to go through. If you don't want to sand, you will have to flex the hinge to the extremes several times to make movement easier. Don't worry, the hinge won't split.
2) After flexing to loosen up the line, you can use a Dremel with a cutting disk to cut slots along the hinge line. I sometimes cut 1" slots with 1 1/2" uncut coro between for the full length of the aileron. The dremel slots are better than knife cuts because the cuts will not tend to propagate.
3) If the hinge line splits from an accident (elastics will sometimes cut the hinge with less-than-gentle landings) you can use Robart hinge points to reattach the aileron. I have used these as well as conventional hinges with coroplast without difficulty. No need to trash the wing and movement is even better.

These methods will make a great improvement. Also, make sure that the horizontal stabilizer is as flat as possible otherwise the elevator may "lock" when the surface is flexed. Bamboo skewers polyglued (Elmers Probond polyurethane glue) into the flute before the hinge line will help a lot. Make sure the elevator hinge moves easily before you fly.

It's a great plane. A little faster landing than some trainers but flies as well as my Kadet Sr.

Ross

Marian

Hi,

It seems on the photo that the fuel tubing is going UP and DOWN (above the engine head).
If it is so, I would recommend you to put the tubing as short and as direct as possible.

david a

Glad to hear all the positive reports on others Deb. I sanded the hinge and it helped some, but I will probably go ahead and cut some slots in it as well.

Yeah, I haven't got around to cutting the fuel lines yet. I left them long until I was sure that I didn't need to reposition anything.

JohnWinger

My bud and I both have Debs. They fly GREAT. We usually just fly till out of fuel and deadstick them in. They glide just fine, provided they are balanced out right.

Mine just has the stock dihedral wing at this point. I used the same method as you, gluing the spars to each other with short pieces of yard stick. My bud's plane now has a flat BUHOR style wing on it. He has it shortened down to about 54" (I think) and it flies great still.

You will like it.

david a

Maybe you guys can post some pictures of your Debs. I'd like to see them to make sure mine is looking right.

Captain351

The reason for my crashes was that I was trying to learn to take off and land and not doing a very good job of it.

It floats better than it has any right to for being as heavy as it is.

david a

Captain351, about how much does your Deb weigh, mine comes in at about 7-1/2 to 8 lbs.

What size engines are you guys using on your Debs?

JohnWinger

David,

My Deb has a .46 FX on it with an 11x5 APC. More than enough motor. Also, it is a new motor, still in the break-in period, so I am not *****g out the RPM by any means. Hand launches by pulling right out of your hand.

Haven't weighed it, but I am pretty sure it is under 7 lbs. Floats well and cruises right along at 1/4 throttle or less.

Here's a pic. The engine wasn't installed at the time of the pic....

viper_bob

I built a Deb for my first glow powered plane last summer. Until then, I had been flying gliders and a Zagi400. My original Deb had a GMS .47 on it and flew like a dream. It's heavy enought that it will penetrate the wind better on those not so perfect days, but the wing loading is low enough that it glides Very well.

I used that plane to train my son and another young guy last summer. After the first flight, the other kid decided to build his own and is still flying it. Unfortunately, his Deb went in HARD into a paved highway next to our flying field. The crash took about 12" of fuse off the front and destroyed his engine.

I felt pretty bad for him, so to help him out, I sold him my GMS .47 for a little less than 1/2 price. I replaced mine with a TT Pro .46 and haven't been sorry. The GMS pipe I think helped out the .47, but the TT .46 is certainly no sloth. And it seems to idle and shut off a little easier.

I've since replace the original Deb wing with a larger wing with less dihedral..... It's now 68" with an average chord of about 15.5". We use it as a glider launch bird http://spadworld.net/viewtopic.php?t=3696 still with the TT .46.

You're gonna love it.

david a

Nice pics both of you. I like the tail dragger setup, very nice.

Winger, did you use an advertising sign to make yours or is that graphics?

Captain351

To be honest I haven't weighed it but I'd guess that 71/2 to 8 pounds is about right. I use a Tower .46 on mine. Sorry no pic's

david a

I'll let you all know how this bird flies tomorrow if the weather holds.

tileflyer

My Feedback: (9)

As long it balanced right you will love it!

JohnWinger

It'll fly fine, David. And, it will come back down as well

The coro on my Deb is all freebie signs. If you look on the port wing, you can see the marlborro man The wing is the same, top and bottom ... not recommended. Hard to tell top from bottom in flight. I also have an RNAF wing, blue on bottom and white on top, way better for keeping perspective in the air.

Good luck tomorrow! Give us the flight report.

perjar

Hey guys I also built a Deb and actualy finished it about a hour ago! I used diferent colors of coro on the wing and the tail. I decided to make mine a tail drager to take off some of they weight it still seems very heavy. One thing I was going to ask you was how will it fly with a 46 LA? Ive heard it will fly slowly and might be underpowered but dont I want slow speeds for a trainer? I'm 13 years old and dont have any money. I was going to ask my dad for a 46 fx but I didnt want to use the money and he probably wouldnt have baught it anyway. Right now everything is done the only thing I am worried about is will it fly?
I realy dont want it to crash after all that time I spent in the garage building by my self... well my dad did help me cut the pvc and hold down the wing and stuff.

DLSmith2

Perjar,

Howdy! Welcome to the wonderful world of SPAD! The OS .46LA will fly the Deb just fine! My first plane was a Debonair with an OS .46LA, and it flew like a champ with an 11x6 MAS or APC prop.

Down the road, if you build something else like a Das Plas Stick, the .46LA will do well on it, too (I have my .46LA on my DPS).

Be safe, have fun, and don't forget to post some pictures of your new plane!

Blue skies,

DL