I hate to bother you gents with this again, but I prefer to build large(er) planes so that I can see them a little better.

I am re-entering the sport and got a Tower .75 with the intention of building a trainer first, then something sporty or maybe a biplane.

What trainer will accomodate the .75? I would prefer to enlarge a Debonair, but don't quite know how to do that.

BTW, I have only 4mm coro and American 2.5X2.5 gutter pipe.

ahatcher

ahatcher,
What I would suggest is indeed to scale up the Deb...at least the wing and tail surfaces. I would highly recommend you consider a wing ala RNAF construction...that is a 4 mil bottom panel and 2 mil top skin.
http://www.spadtothebone.com/SPAD/Do..._4/page_4.html
The dowel in the leading edge is not necessary. This will lighten the weight a little and give you an opportunity to use two colors to differentiate the top vs bottom. With this you could make
2-12" wide 4 mil bottom panels from 1-24" wide piece of Coro. With say 2" wide ailerons you would have a 14" wing cord....make it say 72" (6" dihedral) to 76" (6.25" dihedral) wing span. If, as you state only have 4 mil then 4 mil it is...I would still make the wing 12" wide + 2" ailerons for a 14" chord.
You should scale up the tail feathers 10-15% as well. Make the vert stab rudder say 12" X 12" and shape to your liking. Add a few inches to the width of the stab and length. The Deb has a rather large tail to begin with so you don't need to go too much larger. If it looks right it probably is. I would also suggest flying wires between the vert & horizontal stab for a little more support...you may be able to see the wires on both in the picture.
Keep the fuse length at 40"....that is enough. I would suggest reinforcing the rear taper with a scrap piece of PVC channel say 6" long with lightning holes.
Here is a picture of my modified Deb and Corocub on floats. I prefer the taper on the bottom and the vert stab in the middle on top. The yellow one is a flat wing Deb with the wing wider and longer (66") with a OS .70 fourstroke.


Assuming you make it a trike gear, I would suggest use a 3/16" nose gear or a Faults dual nose gear.
That should get you going.
I note you are not to far from me...that is Lake Lanier in the picture....I am just North of Atlanta. Do you belong to a club?
Craig

CraigA,
I like the Cub a lot! What are the dimensions? 70in span X what width? Ailerons? Fuse? How much does it weigh? How much do the floats add? Looks great!

rsieminski,
Here are the statistics:
Wing Span: 66"
Wing Chord (incl 2" ailerons): 13"
Fuse Length: 40"
Vert Stab: 11" wide (incl 4-1/2" rudder) X 10" high
Horizontal Stab: 10" wide (incl 3-1/2" elevator) X 20" long
Weight: 6 lbs 15 oz
Wing Loading: 18.6 oz/ft^2
Floats: 2 lbs 0 oz (weighed off plane)
A few more shots for you. Note:
site holes in the fuse over the fuel tank
bolt on wing
parachute drop (wire & rubber band gizmo)
wheel pants made from scrap PVC
flying wires on tail feathers
tail reinforcement on tapered section (PVC channel w/holes)


Craig

I'm even more impressed! How did you make the wheel pant? They really finish off the plane! Parachute gizmo? How's it work? I'd really like to add that to a big bird.
The more I look at it the better it looks. The flying wires and control horns are very clean looking!

rsieminski,
The wheel pants are made by heating and bending a strip of PVC formed around a wooden block/mold shaped to the form of the wheel pant. I cut it out of a 2X4 on a band saw. I then used the wood block as a template to make the sides. The sides are then glued to the fenders. I added balsa triangle reinforcements in the cornors as I am not sure how strong the glue joint is. I used a Dremel and drum sander to shape the wheel opening. The pants are attached/held on to the axle by a wheel collar which has been soldered to a small brass plate...probably 1/2" X 1-1/2" long which is screwed to the inside of the wheel pant. I have to confess I have not flown with the pants on yet...they are more for show than go.
The parachute drop is a servo on the inside the fuse with a piece of music wire poking thru the side of the fuse. I used a 1/4" nylon bolt and nut in the side of the fuse with a hole thru the center of the bolt to guide the wire. If you look real close you can see the wire poking out the side of the fuse...right above the wheel pant in the picture. The wire is long enough to accept and hold the rubber band when in the extended position. The parachute is placed under the stretched rubber band on the bottom of the fuse. When the servo is actuated...retracting the music wire inside the nylon bolt....twang...the rubber band releases dropping the chute. The rubber band is held in place on the opposite side of the fuse with another piece of heated/bent/formed PVC scrap...kind of in a "J" shape with the "J" closed.
I hope this makes sense...if not I'll post some pictures at a later date.
Craig

Hey Hatcher,

I see your from Athens. I'm from Athens too and just thought I'd say hello.
I'm new to the RC sport . Are you aware of any flying clubs in the area ? I could really use some pointers on how to keep the ground from running into my planes.


KMize

Craig: The more posts I see of your planes the more impressed I become. Nice detail on undersides! You have some neat ideas, I would enjoy seeing more on the para drop even if I never set one up.

I am re-entering the sport and haven't built a SPAD yet. I last flew in '86.

There is a club in Winder:
http://hosenose.com/scenicflyers/

and the Winder hobby shop:

http://www.winderhobby.com/


There are also the Sandpit Flyers:
http://www.athensrc.00server.com/

I plan to start work on breaking in my engine and SPAD building this weekend.
I plan to fly over at a school on the East side of town.

I will go with the big, stable, trainer first to get me re-oriented and get the engine broken in properly.

I highly recommend FMS.

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

I found the Debonair and downloaded it for FMS and fly it often. Quite nice to be able to test fly the model before you build it.

HATCHER
Hatcher

ahatcher,
Not to be a party pooper, but if you are re-entering the RC world, you might want to think about a buddy box with an experienced pilot. FMS is cool, but is nowhere near the real experience. Schools mean kids, and the sound of a whining 2 stroke is like a magnet. Isn't there a club near you that could help you get reacquainted with the sport?

your post is recognized. I plan to visit the Winder club this Saturday and see about getting started there.