Any MM SmoothE flyers?

[SKYPILEIT]

1987tc is right,the SmoothE is a bit faster than other MM planes,I think its 'cause the wing is slightly thinner...and well,mine is powered kinda extreme.I'm currently using the 450XT Turbo outrunner from www.justgofly.com its just under 190 watts and will accellerate the SmoothE going up with 11X7 prop...and only 15 amps..!!
As far as wing covering is concerned,me thinks the tape is stronger,but the Solarfilm covering will look better.If you take your time and shrink the tape you can get some surprisingly great results.BTW,all the balsa parts on my SmoothE are covered with Solite and I like its lite weight.The combat guys from RCCA will tell you about the strength of tape on their combat planes....its cheap and repairs are usually done at the field.

[BEC]

Ed,

I've flown both the "Slowfly" and "Sport" wings and there's not much difference....the Slowfly version is just a bit sloppier in most maneuvers and not all that much slower or more stable.

That said, the SmoothE is one of my favorites - if not my favorite - plane to fly in any space larger than a small park/ball field. It's even been to Ireland with me (two summers ago).

I did the wing exactly as Doug's instructions called for (filament tape over the balsa spar, then colored packing tape over the whole of the wing. I have close to 160 flights on various power systems up to the "unlimited vertical" sorts and the wing is plenty strong. I don't do high speed dives and 90 degree pullouts with this (or any plane) though.

[AEAJR]

Originally Posted by BEC

Ed,

I've flown both the "Slowfly" and "Sport" wings and there's not much difference....the Slowfly version is just a bit sloppier in most maneuvers and not all that much slower or more stable.

That said, the SmoothE is one of my favorites - if not my favorite - plane to fly in any space larger than a small park/ball field. It's even been to Ireland with me (two summers ago).

I did the wing exactly as Doug's instructions called for (filament tape over the balsa spar, then colored packing tape over the whole of the wing. I have close to 160 flights on various power systems up to the "unlimited vertical" sorts and the wing is plenty strong. I don't do high speed dives and 90 degree pullouts with this (or any plane) though.

Thanks BEC!

I am not a speed demon nor am I a thrill flyer.

The slow fly wing will be for easy flying and thermaling. Most of my electrics have been 3 channel slow or easy flying parkies.

We have a limited motor run contest in the club. Not real serious, more a fun fly thing. The larger wing and lighter wing loading should do well for this.

If it proves to be very stable, with a good glide, I will also use the slow fly wing for teaching. I like to give the new guys lots of air time on 1/2 throttle till they feel confident.

The sport wing will turn this into an aerobatic trainer for me. Basic rolls, loops, spins, inverted flight, etc. My expereince in this area is limited but I will have a number of people to coach me. I still won't be a hot flyer. My brushless will be a 90watt outrunner. I don't expect it to go 3D but it should have plenty of climb and power for aerobatics. Should prepare me for a Tantrum or something like that next.

There are several MM owners at our field including SmoothE flyers so I will get good tips from them. But you guys are all so helpful, I just have to dip into this amazing knowledge pool for advice and tips.

This is going to be fun!

[Tailspin Ken]

Well my SmoothE fuse should be here today or Monday at the latest. In he past, I have never had a problem getting MM planes to fly, but I do have issues landing them in one piece. My field is very rough and, and it seems the landing gear rips out causing much damage to the rest of the fuse.
So this time I am going to try an experiment. I am going to put on Squirt 400 stlyle landing gear in the hopes that this will spread the shock of the rough landings an save the fuse.

[abramsgunner]

I find the faster I get my smoothe to fly... the faster I want it to fly. My current Smoothe is looking a little ragged after 2 non-fatal crashes.. hanger rash, and it being my first build (aka.. poor covering skills). I'm looking for my next build, and am trying to decide between another Smoothe, or an EVA sport. Anyone have both? How different is it to fly the low wing EVA vs. the Smoothe? I've got the Smoother pretty well figured out I think.. but have only been flying a couple months and don't want to get in over my head (at least not too deep, anyway).

Current Smoothe
BP-12 Delta, T-bird 18, 3S lipo, 9x5HD
Flaperon setup using 4 S75's and DX6 TX
No landing gear cuz I fly a hay field.

The Eva Series are easy to build. But they do build a lot different then a SmoothE does.
I have built several of each for other people. The SmoothE is said to fly faster then a lot of Mountain Models planes and the wing is thinner then the Eva Sport wing.

I have flown the SmoothE a good amount but not the Eva.

Keep in mind that the Eva Landing gear could rip out on a real rough landing area. Also the wing is built up and covered unlike the solid wing on the SmoothE.
You might want to build another SmoothE then the Eva.
Wes

[Tailspin Ken]

Yay! my SmoothE fuse arrived Saturday morning. I will start construction as soon as I get my "Nasty" finished. I plan on running a Hi Max outrunner on the SmoothE and it will mount on the supplied stick mount. I am sure that the motor will not fit under the cowl and modifications will be needed. Does anyone have any pictures of how they mounted their outrunners or any advice for me concerning this?
Thanks,
Ken

I did not do anything special to get mine to fit. All I did was use two of the 3 laminations of the nose block. Fit ok then.

Wes

[Tailspin Ken]

Well my fuse is almost finished. Did some reinforcement to the fuse and made the mod to add the Squirt landing gear. The gear fits perfectly! Got to cover it and install the electrionics and she will be reasy for maiden.
Ken

[SKYPILEIT]

Hey SmoothE pilots...anyone still flying with all the heat..??I've had mine out twice this month already and its as fun as ever.trying to get an inflight pic but my cameraman is having some difficulties with the camera.Stay tuned....and tell us all about your SmoothE flights..

[abramsgunner]

I fly my SmoothE about every other day... usually wait till about 6:30 when the temps drop a bit. Last few weeks, I've spent as much time building as flying. Built, flew, crashed, destroyed a Nasty... lots of fun. I destroyed it flying on a day with simply too much wind for a flat foam airplane/kite. I just completed a Big Nasty that seems to fly Ok; still gotta get her trimmed out and she's a bit underpowered with an ARC 130 inrunner running 6.6:1 gearbox and GWS 10x6HD prop. My SmoothE is still my favorite sweet flyer. I wrecked her again (tried to roll too close to the ground and lost it; 3rd time I've pushed the motormount out the side of the fuse.. easy repair) but she still flies great on a BP-12 delta and 9x5HD prop. I'm still window shopping for my next MM airplane.. can't decide between another SmoothE or the EVA sport (maybe Bipe).

[SKYPILEIT]

but,I've got a few others that are mo' funner... I have a blast with my Dandy GT and Switchback...the newest is my Miniflash and I haven't had the time to get the first few flights in yet.Maybe later this weekend,I like to fly the SmoothE when its a bit windy,it seems to handle/penetrate better than the others.Those few ozs. and thin wing seem to make a diff in the wind.

[abramsgunner]

I looked at the Dandy GT and Switchback.. both seem like great airplanes.. but my smaller packs are cheap 3S 1650's and I figured they might be a bit heavy for those airframes. I eventually want to get a few quality 1250-1350 size packs that give me both amps and light weight.. but don't have the cash to spend on them at the moment. Also, I only have 3 motors at the moment, 2 - BP12d's and the ARC 20mm/gearbox setup I mentioned earlier... all a bit porky.

[tom1968]

I've been looking at a SmoothE as an aileron trainer - a second plane after my current well-used EasyStar (just customized with ailerons but waiting for the rain to stop so I can maiden it). Now the comments about it being fast and having a thin wing are making me wonder. Would it be smarter to go with something a little more pedestrian, and leave the SmoothE for a third plane?

[SKYPILEIT]

Go for it..the SmoothE is very easy to fly,just make sure you use the right glue and tape the wing.Makes it stronger...but still light.All around great sport plane and manuvers well.

[abramsgunner]

My second plane was my SmoothE after about 6 weeks flying my EZ*. I think it makes an excellent aileron trainer and you will love it. Fast is a relative term... it can pick up a little speed on a good brushless setup, but is by no means a speed demon. The SmoothE is very smooth and predictable, and has no tendancy to stall at low speeds. In fact, the hardest thing about my SmoothE is getting it back on the ground, as it will glide forever and you have to fly it to the ground, especially with any sort of headwind. It is also very easy to build, very sturdy, and an all around pleasure to own.

I'm almost finished building a Dandy GT, and will let chime in after I get a few flight on her. The Dandy fuse is much more cramped, and my limited modelling skills are showing as I try to stuff all my gear in there. The airframe is very light though, so it should be a good performer.

Personally, I would love a SmoothE GT wing, or at least the stock sport wing minus the built in dihedral *grin*

[tom1968]

Thanks for the reassurance guys. I will go for it. With kids in college it'll have to wait for Christmas - something to look forward to. Meanwhile I maidened the EasyStar with ailerons yesterday - had them on very low throws to see what would happen, so it was kind of mushy responding but it worked. Increased the throws last night and will try again. That will get me ready for the SmoothE.

Are Hitec HS55 servos enough for the SmoothE or should I be looking at something like the HS81?

[AEAJR]

I searched the thread but I can't find what I need. I just finished a SmoothE. I have a sport and a slow fly wing, both with ailerons.

I want to set the CG, but the manual gives a very odd spec. It says 1/2" in front of the front spar. Strange!

Normally the CG is set as something from the leading edge or the trailing edge.

Can someone help me with the proper spec? It looks like it should be about 2 3/8" from the leading edge.

[buzzltyr]

Hi Ed,
I'd suggest using the recommended CG point, in front of the spar. I did a beta build for Doug on the SmoothE, and I remember asking him if I should set the CG at the spar. He wrote back in a hurry and told me no, that it needed to be in front of the spar. IIRC, it has something to do with the airfoil shape. But I'd follow the instructions for the maiden.

That said, I have moved the battery back on mine when I want to fly inverted circuits (which I've managed to do a couple of times), and I want to input less elevator to stay inverted.

My SmoothE, after three years, is still my "all around, throw it around the sky" plane. I still have the original wing, although I'm on my second fuselage. It's unusual for me to show up at the field and not have it with me. Enjoy! It's a great plane.


Mark

[tom1968]

I measured mine and got 2-7/16 behind the leading edge - very close to Ed's 2-3/8.

The maiden flight was last Sunday. Wow what a nice flying plane. It makes me look like a much better pilot than I am. Very responsive but very smooth, like to fly fast, likes to fly slow, full aerobatics but not twitchy - I really, really like this plane. Thanks guys for all the advice in this thread.

[jcerne]

This Mountain Models SmoothE (slow-fly with ailerons) is my first attempt at building an RC airplane. I've been impressed with the quality of the kit and the folks at Mountain Models have been extremely helpful in helping me choose components and in giving advice on building the plane. They even mailed me extra aileron control horns free of charge after I had misplaced the originals! The plane is covered with Econolite.



Components:

BP 21 Brushless Outrunner with a GWS 9x4.7 Propeller

Castle Creations Thunderbird 18 Brushless Speed Control

Great Planes LiPo 11.1V 910mAh 3S 15C

Hitec HFS-05MS 5-Channel SC Micro Receiver

Hitec HS-55 Economy Sub Micro Servos



All up weight: 21.5 oz (a bit heavier than most other SmoothEs; I'll try to go lighter, especially on the tail end, for my next build).



Modifications:



* 1.2mm ID teflon tube starts at rear of crutch and guides the antenna all the way to the back of the tail (see lower right part of receiver compartment photo). I did this so that I could thread (or rethread if I have to replace the receiver) the antenna to the back of the tail after the plane was covered.

It's tricky gluing teflon to the frame, but I found that roughening the surface with sandpaper allows epoxy to get a fairly good grip. The excess antenna has been wrapped around a homemade bobbin right in front of the teflon tube.



* used the same teflon tubing as a guide for the tail wheel wire strut.



* wing saddle/seating tape


* 1 oz aluminum block added just beneath the motor to get the CG right. Aluminum block is held by both velcro and nylon screw (see nose photo)



* added two 1/8" carbon rods/spars across the wings, one in just in front of the aileron servo and one about an inch in front of the wing trailing edge (aileron leading edge)




I would really like to thank this forum for providing a wealth of very useful information. MountainFlyer gave me great advice on strengthening the wings with carbon rods. http://www.yourzagi.com/hinges.htm was very helpful in hinging the control surfaces. Although it may hurt the looks, I put the hinges on after covering to help them stick better and also to make repairing/replacing the hinges easier. The folks at Fields Hobby in Clarence and HobbytownUSA in Amherst have been very helpful as well.


Since this is my first aileron plane (my first and only RC plane before this was a Red Hawk), I also have a few questions about flying it.


* Can you recommend a club and/or instructor near Amherst, NY?

* Rudder vs. aileron? Should I try to mainly use the rudder to direct the plane on landings? I'm afraid of tip stalling or crashing a wing tip into the ground if I use the ailerons too much when the plane is low.



Thanks for all your help!

[1987tc]

I know it has been ages since anyone has posted in this thread.
But I thought what the heck...
So here is my newest SmoothE. My GF is also about to start building her 2nd plane and first balsa plane. A SmoothE sport. Then she will be doing a Switchback Sport.

[1987tc]

Did all the other SmoothE fans fall off the planet? Looks like I am the only one still posting in this thread!

Has anyone ever tried putting floats on a SmoothE? When I flew the other day there was a good bit of standing water and it got me to thinking. We also have a couple of lakes nearby. One close to the airport where we do the fly in. And since I have thought maybe we should consider adding float flying to the fly in I was thinking of trying floats.

[gramps2161]

Bet ya that would look sweet on a set of foam floats, and as long as you have plenty of power it should get on step and take off fine.

[1987tc]

Thanks I think it would too. Mine is not super powered. But not at all lacking for what I do.
So I think it would have enough.
I would think someone would have done it at least once by now.