allanflowers

I have posted the prototype parts on e-bay. Hopefully these will find good homes. Check my post in the Product Announcements forum for the link.
Once I have cleared out some other kits, my garage will finally be ready for some projects, including the landing gear repair on my Cyclone 30. I haven't been able to fly it for months. Overheating may still be an issue but I will probably start off by going from 15 to 10 percent fuel and maybe a different propeller.

canadagoose

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Allan, the Cyclone is such a sweet looking plane, it would be a shame not to have plans for sale for the design. I would love to buy plans for this.

allanflowers

I will have plan sets, on a limited basis, for both the Cyclone 30 and the bigger one (65" wing span).
I will wait until I have a few orders, then print up the sets. If anyone is interested, e-mail or PM me and I will start a list. Cost-wise it will be pretty much at my cost since I have no current plans for this as a business thing.

IL2windhawk

If printing them out is a hassle, you could sell them digitally.

Go ahead and put me on the list for a copy of the Cyclone 30 plans.
What a great looking bird. !

Mike Mangus

I agree that digital plans might be a good idea if you would like to save on printing costs. The buyer/builder could take the digital file to a printer and get them printed.

One plan service I use does just that. All of his plans are digital. When you buy a plan, you get the plan set plus a certificate authorizing you to print x number of copies. Admittedly, it might be hard to enforce anyone from making extra copies or shareing the file, but even paper plans can be copied.

allanflowers

I don't have digital files on the big Cyclone plans and am very reluctant to release the ones I have on the Cyclone 30. Once they are out there, there is no controlling their unauthorized distribution.
So I will offer paper plans only.

IL2windhawk

Well, about 6 months after Allan's plans arrived, I've finally started.
This is my first scratchbuild. I'm learning lots of new skills as I go.
Blending the ribs into a harmonious shape was a delightful experience.
It's kinda magic when you unclamp them and they all match so nicely

Mine will be electric powered, which will allow me to fly it at a big parking
lot near my house. I fly a few small planes there already. I bought a 5"
plastic cowl on ebay that i think will be a nice match for the fuselage.

I'm gonna frame up the wings this week.

rockom

My Feedback: (2)

Allan,

You still shipping plans?
Let me know.

Thanks,
-Rocko

IL2windhawk

I framed up most of the wing tonight. 3.2 ounces so far Allan told me that
his plane reached the 4 pound mark when finished, so I'm trying to be very
conscious of the weight. That's alot of weight for this little wing, I think.

I'm doing things in a slightly different order than Allan did above. Hope it
doesn't come back to bite me in the arse. So far so good. The plans have
been flawless so far.

allanflowers

It's good to see your progress. Keep up the good work. I would beef up the landing gear plate a little because mine tore out too easily when I hit the dirt after a dead stick. If you are a good pilot, don't worry about it.
I don't have any plans printed up at the moment but could do so. PM me if anyone wants them. I would have the 30 size and the big ones.

rockom

My Feedback: (2)

Allan,

I'm not sure why but, I can't PM you. The PM icon is not available on your posts. Do you have it disabled?
Try to PM me and I'll reply.

Thanks,
-Rocko

allanflowers

I sent you a PM. Hopefully it will go through. I don't know why people can't PM me but will look in to it.
Allan

IL2windhawk

Hiya Allan,

Nice to see you posting in this thread again. I hope that you will be able to
check in from time to time, maybe give me some tips as I go along. So far
I've been managing OK, mostly thanks to your comprehensive photo journal
on the preceeding page. Thanks for that. Really, the only question that I've
got is how to assemble the wing to the fuselage? I can't seem to figure that
one out from the plans or your photos. I assume that a bolt goes through the
rounded part on the LE, but I'm not quite sure. Any advice you can provide
would be a big help.

Thanks for the tip on the landing gear. I will indeed add some extra strength.
I fly from a grass field, and furthermore I've been known to botch the landings
occasionally Where did the wood break on yours? Did that rectangular
plywood piece come out, fracturing the inboard ribs?

Tonight I added the rounded wing tips and the shear webs. I'm building this
baby completely with hand tools. Cutting and sanding those rounded tips took
some time, but it was fun. I think I will build up the fuselage next, before I
sheet the wings. First I've gotta cut out all the parts!

5.5oz so far.

allanflowers

Check the photos in Posts 3. 7 & 15 for details of how the wing attachs. The landing gear plate has a tongue which provides a foward mount and there are two bolts at the trailing edge. You could also use a dowel or dowels going out the wing's front edge into holes in the former, as long as they are well fixed into the wing.

IL2windhawk

Thanks again, Allan.
I finally see those holes in the TE. I dunno how I missed them before.


Last night I noticed that a 4" wide sheet of balsa sheet will perfectly fit
the curved forward surfaces of the wing. That's a pretty slick feature.
Nice time-saver. Did you design it like that on purpose?

IL2windhawk

Tonight I cut out the fuselage parts and squared/aligned the joints. I taped
things in alignment and sprayed with Windex to help form the wood. Tomorrow,
I will disassemble and cut out the 'lightening' holes. Also, I've still gotta cut the
firewall and a few other peices.

Weight is 17 ounces so far, including the cowl and landing gear. I'm curious
about how much weight savings the lightening holes will amount to.

EDIT: pictures attached

IL2windhawk

The fuselage is now bonded together instead of just the dry-fitting shown above.
Cutting all lightening holes took a while, but it has saved me 2 ounces in the tail.
All up weight so far is 18.6 ounces with everything shown in the photo.

On the wing, I made my first significant deviations from Allan's plans. I've added
aileron torque rods for a center servo, and I'm building a FWD dowel / AFT fastener
attach method for the wing. Still working on that.

I was toying with the idea of hiding the antenna wire in the wing. Anyone have
experience with this?

IL2windhawk

Here's another progress update. I sheeted the upper wing sections and
I've almost finished the wing bolt-up. She's standing on her own two feet!

Next big area to tackle will be the firewall & lipo compartment, or possibly
the vertical stabilizer. All up weight is 21 ounces. So far so good.


Great plans, Allan.
This plane has alot of neat design features that make it a delightful build.


EDIT: photos attached

IL2windhawk

Progress Photos.

The stabilizers are almost completed: I just need to fabricate the elevators.
I made the stabilizers from sheeted stick-structures which will hopefully save
some weight in the tail. I finished the wing saddles and wing-bolt-up system.
I installed some pushrod tubes in the fuselage, and the antenna runs down a
tube in the fuselage that turns 90 degrees at the tail (see the tail-less photo).
I range-tested this configuration before building the tail around it.

All-up weight is 32 ounces so far: balancing about 3" behind proper CG without
the heavy propulsion components in the nose. Expecting a finished weight of
55-60 ounces.

IL2windhawk

Fuselage is sheeted.

I opted for a fully-sheeted fuselage, which I calculate added about 1-2 ounces in the tail.
I hope it's not a decision that I come to regret, but I'm predicting it will be!

All-up weight is now 35ounces with servos and RX.

mishal

Great job ..

IL2windhawk

Thanks for the kind words, Mishal. Sorry I did not reply sooner.

I took a short break from the project, but I'm back on track now. I've been working on the
last details and finishing the surface for covering. After quite a few putty/sanding iterations,
I have finally applied balsa-rite, and expect to start applying film covering this week. I will
attach an image of the color scheme I am considering.

The flying weight should end up close to Allan's prototype, maybe a couple of ounces less.
I expect ~62-63 ounces. I built in 2-deg of washout in the wings, so hopefully that will help.

I added a hatch on the bottom of the fuselage for access to the Lipo batteries. I will be using
two ThunderPower 2070mAh 3s1p batteries in parallel driving a Turnigy 900kV motor.

Coming right along now. The hardest thing left to do is the covering. Well... and the maiden flight

IL2windhawk

Covering

IL2windhawk

Going out for a maiden flight today. Wish me luck

IL2windhawk

Well the maiden flights went great! I flew it twice today. I wish I had some in-flight pictures to share. Maybe next time.

The airplane performs well in general, but I've still got a bit of fine-tuning to do. It seemed to be dragging the tail around a little bit in the air, so I think the CG needs to be a moved forward a bit more (current location is 2.75" ). Also, there was a nastly tendency to snap-stall to the left. I almost royally fouled the second landing because of this. Hopefully the snap tendency can be correctable with some adjustments to the lateral balance, but otherwise I will still be OK. At adequate speed she really lands like a sweetheart.

The motor provided good power, but not outstanding. It has enough thrust to perfom casual aerobatics like loops from level flight. It's not that I wish I had more power at the top end, but rather that I could cruise around with a lower throttle setting. It seemed that 75% was just enough to keep that tail from drooping. I'm hoping that when I get the CG adjusted the airplane will cruise easier at a lower power setting. This is issue #1.

I had a bit of wind today, perhaps 10 MPH. This plane handled it pretty well, but I think that is about the most I would want to fly in. These little birds can really get tossed about by the gusts.

I fly off a grass-field, and the grass was a bit long today. I'm suprised that I didn't have any nose-overs because I was expecting them. I always go pantless for the maiden flight, but now I'm going to make some wheel pants (possibly to fit larger wheels for the grass).



There hasn't been alot of responses thus far, but I'll go ahead and post some final specs for my plane.
Hopefully these help the others who purchased plans from Allan:

Wingspan: 48"
Approx Wing Area: 400 sq in
Length: 40"

Flying Weight: 70 ounces (4.4 lb)
Wing Loading: 0.175 oz / sq.in

Performance:
Motor: Turnigy 900kV Outrunner (ESC set for low timing)
Battery: 2x 2000mAh 3s1p packs in parrallel
Propellor: APC 14x7E
Max RPM: 6300
Max Thrust Est: 3.8 lb
Max Watts: 330W
Amp Draw
100%: 33A
75%: 20A
50%: 14A
Endurace: 8+ minutes @ 75% throttle

Maiden Flight Control Throws
Ailerons: 3/8"
Elevators: 1/2"
Rudder: 1"

Maiden Flight CG: 2.75" behind LE (this is possibly too far AFT!)




EDIT: Add'l Photos