Vettster

The maiden flight.

So here it is after 3 winters building. Sorry for the quality of vid as my 85 year old dad did his best. Thanks pops!

This is actually my second attempt. The first was last week, but it was so nose heavy it wouldn't even leave the ground. I removed 1lb from the nose and had high hopes with this attempt. Its obvious I was headed in the right direction as she flew this time but the CG still has to go even further back as it took LONG run to get in the air. There was zero wind and the temp was -10c She maid it in the air but it took full UP elevator to get there and I had full up elevator the entire flight, so I decided to bring her in. It came in a bit hot ofcourse and with no elevator left she bounced and that was that. Damage is not to bad...but she will need some repairs before flying again.

In the air: It was a very short flight but the plane was very steady. It was surprisingly smooth and did not waddle around like the polarise, skipper do.
I think the -2* down thrust is right on as when full throttle was reduced to zero the plane did not pitch up or down, it just followed it coarse.

Regardless of the crash(not to worried.. I know someone that can fix it ) I am very pleased that it flew and I know Im headed in the right direction.
More testing will follow soon.

Square Nozzle

My Feedback: (1)

Great Job Trevor!!! You have accomplished something that few flyers of foamies will ever experience. To design, build and then successfully fly your own design is to me what modeling is all about. Your feeling of pride has to be overwhelming. Now a few questions. I've told you that I built a 125% North Star and strapped my Jet Cat P70 to It's back. It had the potential to be a fun, fast and unique float plane. I killed it by using to much aileron throw and I got it out of control once it left the water. What were your aileron throws? Did you use any Expo and was the plane sensitive in the roll axis?.

Vettster

Thanks John... Im really not bubbling with joy just yet as I still have some stuff to figure out. Im hoping the new CG location will show more improvement or its a thrust pitch issue or perhaps a horizontal stab issue. either way it IS controllable at this point.. so hoping its just the CG.

As for the throws.. I used about 4-5 mm up/down on the ailerons and 40% expo. It was a short flight and though I had full elevator the entire flight.. the plane felt just right. Banked very nice. Not sensitive at all. I also added reflex to the ailerons mixed with the elevator as someone mention. Not sure if that helped with the lift on take off or not, I imagine it did as others have mentioned doing the same with success.

I moved the CG back another 1".. hoping to see some improvement ie: less elevator.

Thanks for your interest.. always appreciated!

Vettster

Just got back from a very successful flight Not perfect yet as this was only its second flight.. but a big improvement. In preparation of this flight.. I reduced the horizontal stab angle -2* and raised the down thrust to about -1.5* I also moved the CG back 1"
I really should have done each separately, but time is not on my side.

Taxiing was much better since I replaced the keel with some very flexible rubber gasket material.

Take off: This time it took off in half the distance... but I still had to pull hard on the elevator. I had to max out the up elevator again, but still had some to play with this time. This area needs work as when I landed I could see I had it trimmed with 1/4" up elevator. What now? do I keep on moving the CG back? Do I pitch the horizontals stabs down more? In both cases the motor thrust angle had no effect on the pitch whether on the gas or not.

Flying: Well something has changed for sure. During the maiden the ailerons were perfect. Just the right amount with good response, but now they seem very unresponsive. It needs a lot to get it into the bank but then you quickly have to remove almost all of the input. The nose doesn't dive at all.
Did a full 4 min flight.

Landing: This time I kept two clicks of throttle on till she was about 20' off the ground and then killed the power. Its was nice to actually have elevator to input this time..lol She just glided in and landed as smoothly as you would expect from any foamy Polaris or Skipper.. Very Happy about that

The motor: Well I will admit I don't have much experience at all with Electric Prop planes.. Sure seems to have plenty of power! No complaints there. When on the gas all is good.. but when I back of the throttle there is a screeching noise? Anybody know what that is?

Sorry no video.. No one was available..but just as I took off I heard a car pull up. Turns out it was my dad..just a minute to late.. oh well.. glad he got to see it fly

Vettster

servo's on either side for turbine version so the pipe can pass threw


Servo location for Electric version. A single 400oz servo should do fine.


New Full Flying tail. I love it!
So I finally got around to doing the new tail. I held off hoping for better weather ha! 3 days of rain every weekend.

So anyways its a ginormous improvement not only in looks but also weight savings.
With the full flying tail the electric version can take advantage of using only one servo. I'm setting up for turbine use so it has to use 2. With the new tail I'm saving.....500g!!!!! That's huge and I see me taking ALL of the nose weights out.

Vettster

Had something much more elaborate in mind..but pressed for time I decided to keep it simple. Decals will be made by Cali. The weather is just now starting to improve. Maybe I'll get the forth flight in soon. Grrrrrr

Vettster

Sorry no vid of today's fourth flight, but WOW! Just like that all the problems are solved. I added the reflex (4mm up to the ailerons) as I was instructed to do by an aero engineer(darn I forget his name) and the last flight was just fantastic! No pitching problems, the roll rate was great...Just all of a sudden the plane now flys like its on rails. Even the Horizontal stabs are now level . I suspect the reflex has moved the Center of Lift forward or back but it is no longer feeling like its a 40lb plane when its only 22lbs.lol

Our field has FINALLY opened up for the season.. only 2 months late but soon the guys with the high quality cameras will be out and I will be able to capture some much needed, better quality videos. The plan is to have a couple more flights and then install the turbine OR fly it as an electric off the pond, and then put the turbine in it.