hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

Any body know what this design is called?
It was given to me about a year ago, partially built, and I finally got around to finishing it and maidened it today. I was very impressed with how well it flew, with the exception of the whole horizantal stab fluttering in a full throttle high speed dive! Any ideas how to stop that?
Its got a 48' wingspan and 32" fuse (from tail to firewall). I threw a .45 Super Tiger with 11x6 APC on it and will hover!!!

Villa

Hi hugger-4641
Walmart sells bamboo skewers that fit into the 4mm flutes. Look for them in the kitchen section. Put one into the hor stab right next to the elevator hinge, the full length of the stab. Put two more in, evenly spaced. Run two vertically in the vertical stab.

draftman1

its a demon with an upside down fuse, have fun with it! skewer the surfaces like Villa said

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

Thanks for the responses, I'll definetly try the skewers.
A Demon huh? Fitting name I quess, if I get the flutter fixed it will really scream. The flutter only showed up when I really pushed it or in a steep dive. Other than that, I really was surprised at how well it flew considering how heavy it is. Haven't weighed it yet, but I know it's heavier than any of my other .40 sized planes. I don't think I'll be going totaly SPAD any time soon, but I really did enjoy this one! I think I'll hang on to it a while, it will probably become my first choice for flying in high wind.

mclina

Looks like fun. I like the counter balanced rudder.

What's the third servo in the tail for? Was this used as a tow plane or something?

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

That's actually the throttle servo. I used a tube and nylon pushrod from a crashed PT 40 and ran it all the way up front to the engine. To help get the CG back where I wanted it I had to put all the servo's in the tail area as well as the rx and flight battery. The only thing forward of the back edge of the wing is the engine and fuel tank, and I put the rear of a 12oz fuel tank almost over the front wing bolts, so there really wasn't much room up there for a throttle servo anyway.

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

Guess I should also mention the strip of aluminum you see is exactly that, a small aluminum tag folded tightly over the servo and screwed into the fuse to hold the throttle servo in place. I also used a small piece of double stick tape to make sure strip is tight against the servo and doesn't allow it to wiggle. With the room I had, this was the quickest and lightest way to mount the servo on its side and keep it tucked up into the fuse.
This was my own inovation and not sure how it will hold up. The throttle servo is the only one I mounted this way. I figure it's not catastrophic if it does wiggle a little or actually comes loose, I could probably still land the plane if that happened. But I would be leary of mounting any of the other servos this way.

Villa

Hi hugger-4641
You have done a good job. Instead of the aluminum bracket you made for the servo, many of us use a nylon tie wrap from Lowe's. Good job on moving the servos to the rear in order not to use lead weight to get the CG correct. Since it is a SPAD, you could have moved the engine back a little to get the CG right, instead of putting the servos all the way to the rear. I offer these ideas for future builds. SPADS are great. That is all I fly now.

draftman1

I didnt see the rudder before. the plane has been modified to be a 3d plane, so its made for slower flight. at high speed, it will flutter

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

Thanks for the tips fellas. I did temporarily use a tie wrap that you can see wrapped around the fuse to help hold in the battery and reciever which are also jammed in with some foam, but I was kind of scared to use it on the servo, maybe some bigger ones would work ok. The aluminum strap is wider and hopefully has the servo captive inside the fuse, but if not, I'll try some tie wraps. I didn't realize this plane was for 3D, but that's ok too. Maybe I'll prop up to a 12x4 and see if behaves any better.

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

Hey Draftman 1, I like that spad Kaos in your gallery. Is it a 40 size?
If so, I might like to build one, where did you get the plans?

draftman1

Hey Hugger, that actualy is a 55 size, I did shrink it a little for a 46 and it did ok. Im sure you could shrink it down a little more I am drawing them now, I should have them sometime next week. PM me with your email and I will send them to you. thanks

BTW, the demon really isnt a 3d plane but the rudder has been modifyed to give better 3d performance. the elevator might be larger also. the ailerons look a little bit bigger also. if your not into 3d, I would redo the tail fins to the stock sizes. the plans are at www.spadtothebone.com look under free plans, then under classics, its on the .40 size button

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

Thanks for that link! I checked out that site and I will definetly have to build another S.P.A.D. I probably will build that Kaos you've got if it can be modified to work with a .46 engine. Otherwise, that Mustang looks like a cool project. After looking thru all those planes, I have to agree, looks like I have a Demon with the fuse inverted and the rudder modified. Here's a couple more updates to it.

I added larger main tires and a custom tail wheel made from a Dubro mount, Parkzone J-3 wheel, and 3/32 mild steel tig welding rod for the axel/control arm, which is bent to match and hidden in the contour of the bottom and rear edge of the rudder. No stress on the rudder itself this way since the "control arm" passes right thru between the two halves of the rudder control horn. I also bent a plastic landing gear mount around the edge of the rudder and passed one of the control horn screws thru just to be sure the "control arm" stayed locked in place.

I also changed the prop to 12x4 and skewered the tail and ailerons like you guys suggested and near as I can tell, all the flutter is gone. Flew two tanks thru it Saturday evening!

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

I showed this to a guy from my club and he says they used to fly S.P.A.D.s a lot at my club, but everyone quit flying them because the coro would get soft after 30 minutes in the hot Tennessee sun. If this turns out to be a winter plane only, that's fine, but has anybody here had the problem he's talking about?

Villa

Hi hugger-4641
I live further south than you and fly year around. I only fly SPADS. On a hot sunny day I put the plane in the shade between flights. Never leave it in a hot car either. My planes last about 5 years or more. Never a problem if you follow the above.

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

Thanks for the response! I don't know what kind of coro they were using or if they were skewering the control surfaces like you suggested. I guess I'll find out for myself how well it holds up. I love this plane in the wind!! Had about 8 to 10mph Saturday and it never knew it, except when I made a downwind turn about 6 feet high and didn't give enough throttle! Dropped a little quicker than I'm used to, but I'm learning. Tough plane, snapped a wing bolt and that was it! Back flying again in 2 minutes! But I'm curious, why only 5 years, degrading from UV?

Villa

Hi hugger-4641
Why only 5 years? Good question. I have never seen any Coroplast deterioration on my planes. They are not out in the sunlight a great deal on a yearly basis. I have seen Coroplast deterioration on our field club sign that is out in the weather all of the time. After about 5-7 years outside the sign material gets eaten up. After I flew my coroplast Flying Lawnmower, that I designed and built, for about 5 years, I had a very bad crash. I smiled because now I had a good reason to design and build something else, a SPAD Biplane. It flies fantastic. I have had a SPAD Canard for about 7 years. After about 3 years I had a mid-air that chopped up my wing but I landed OK. Made a new wing. I later redesigned it to have a swept wing, which is how I fly it now. I do miss my Flying Lawn Mower. With any luck I'll total something soon and be able to build another Flying Lawn Mower. Ha, Ha.

MrGreenSpeed

Nope;
Spads are so inexpensive and easy to build or fix a lot of Spadders give Spads away to new fliers or they get worn out or destroyed from pushing the limits of the pilots abilities

Jeff [8D]

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

colored coro is softer than white and yes it can get a little saggy in the sun or in the back of a hot pickup camper. I throw a towel over 'em if I can't find shade.

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

LOL. That makes sense! This is probably what will happen to mine as well. It will either be a casualty in my pursuit of better "skill" or given away for someone else to enjoy! I enjoy all types of planes, but at the moment my budget and my collection dictates that I not build anything more expensive than a S.P.A.D. I already have some spare engines and servos laying around anyway. None the less, I am amused with being able to make something so simple that flies so well! I have one balsa kit to start building soon, but I will probably also build at least one more S.P.A.D. this winter, maybe two.

eagle09tbl

That's the real beauty of spads. They are not expensive to build so when you do crash one, just build another.

You can build, fly and enjoy 10 spads of different types cheaper than you can buy one ARF.

Enjoy the experience !