Tip-stall prone Cub

[Nodd]

I'd been flying this Piper Cub (from Nitroplanes) for eight months now. She entered a spin around 60 feet up, this was the result...



She was a nice looking plane, lots of scale detail, fair quality parts. She always felt a little on the heavy side though, flew like she had a moderate wing-loading, not very Cub like IMO. She also had a real nasty tendency to tip stall. I played around with the CG, that didn't help. Looking at the wings, there appeared to be zero washout built into the wingtips. That combined with the weight & a short coupled tail meant she was a real handful if stalled. Probably didn't help that I botched a stall turn (hammer head) at around 60', sent her into a nasty spin. As expected at that altitude there wasn't enough room to recover. Also didn't help that I nailed the throttle in hopes of powering out... CRUNCH... right into the dirt.

Oh well. I probably could repair her but I think I'm going to lay her to rest. If she was a nicer flying plane maybe I'd break out the glue but I think I'll salvage the parts & use them in another project.

...and another one bites the dust

[rcers]

Nodd CG is a small factor - but I think you hit the issue with the washout. That really helps move the center of stall toward the root not the tip.



Mike

[Nodd]

All is not lost! I've decided to make a new plane from the remaining parts. You can read about that project here...

Piper Cub Sailplane

[JetPlaneFlyer]

It looks like it would have fixed up without too much trouble, all the bits seem to be there, just glue the foam bits back together.. Then see if you cant twist a bit of washout into the wings.

Probably too late if you have cannibalised the bits for another project?

[Nodd]

Yeah the foam may have been repairable, maybe, but the plastic wing mount & cabin area were a total loss. I'm not too worried about it, the new project should be fun.

[Nodd]

UPDATE
Well I've completed my recycled Cub project. I built this cute little Cub sailplane using the Cub's wing & tailfeathers...



If you're interested here's the build log & video...

Cub Sailplane - Build Log

Cub Sailplane - Flight Footage

[gramps2161]

Nod great job recycling the cub into a glider I enjoyed following your build thread on this cub conversion.
I was checking out some old kits from a kit cutter and came across the Guppy glider made me think of your cub.
Well done so what's next?

[Nodd]

Thank you. Yeah I like the Guppy too. Although I've not built or flown one its possible my Cub design was somewhat influenced by that plane. I also kept guppies in my fish tank for many years too. I guess I just like that shape ><>

I have a few things going on right now. I'm putting together a profile foamy combat plane so I can compete against my club mates. Videos of that begin here. I'm also still working on my electric sailplane build. The latest info on that can be found here. Once that's complete I'm planning to build a Spitfire although there's a twist (not saying what it is yet). Then next on the list is a model of my sister's boyfriend's full scale bi-plane (again not giving away too many details just yet). Then I'd like to start work on a whacky canard, twin pusher design I've been playing around with in my flight-sim design software. And assuming I get all that done, I have a very special sailplane design in mind but that's top-secret for now *evil grin*. Well that's what I have planned, I'm sure they're be all sorts of other projects popping up too.

[gramps2161]

Sounds like you have a full schedule for the upcoming months of cold and darkness. That will keep you busy designing and building hope you post up with some of it here.

Ya I had guppies too. They were easy to keep, and reproduced like rabbits.