Park Scale Models Mini Drake

[Nieuport Fly Guy]

Anyone seen this one???

http://www.parkscalemodels.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=73

I just had to have one for the lake nearby...(and when it freezes in the winter)!

[spad]

It's a beauty, and Zeke's kits are well-made and designed. I may just break down....

[racie34]

mines ready to maiden....

[Nieuport Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by racie34

mines ready to maiden....

She's a looker! Good luck.

My first test run I took her to a local mountain lake with my wife and a promise to go on a walk....put her on the water and just kept her on the water...chasing ducks...learning the controls. In the middle of the lake gave her too much throttle and she flipped over. Spent the next three hours as we waited for the wind to carry her to shore...and a local fisherman lured her back to shore. We did get our walk in, but wife asked me to leave the drake at home next time. Dried her out, salvaged the electronics and the camera...but tail section a little warped...so will have to fix that before she takes to the skys!

[racie34]

wow....no flights then? mine weighs 4.6oz...all up and im gonna just tosss it on its maiden rather than go looking for a pond.....on that stab...I couldnt cover mine without warping so I sheeted the bottom with a 1/32 sheet....light and did the job, its stiff now......i just need a good enough day to test.......Ill post after

[racie34]

I'm headed out to test it in an hour.....hand launch and trim hopefully....maybe take a video

[racie34]

hand launch...mini drake on Vimeo

micro Drake maiden on Vimeo

maidened okay...sorry for the dark video but it was almost dark........

[Nieuport Fly Guy]

That looks pretty good! Mine weighs in at 4 oz...what size prop are you using?

[racie34]

5x4.3.......mines 4.6 oz according to my scale...may be off some....maybe not

[racie34]

made a 32" foam one from thayer symes micro 16" ) free plan on fly rc...just blew it up to 32" and made a few changes.....flies great.

32" drake first flights on Vimeo

[Dragonflyer]

Anytime you go float flying always take a fishing pole/spinning reel and a tennis ball. Actually you could go to the pet store and pick up some smaller tennis type balls that would be easier to cast.
Cast or throw the ball out over the plane and reel her in.

Too Much Fun

DF aka Bill

[Nieuport Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by Dragonflyer

Anytime you go float flying always take a fishing pole/spinning reel and a tennis ball. Actually you could go to the pet store and pick up some smaller tennis type balls that would be easier to cast.
Cast or throw the ball out over the plane and reel her in.

Too Much Fun

DF aka Bill

There is a good reason to take up fishing! Great suggestion Dragonflyer. I bought an RC airboat and need to design a floatable string with perhaps small ping pong balls to retrieve the plane if another mishap occurs (saw a video on you tube a long time ago with this suggestion).

[racie34]

I have a pedal boat I take to the lake and if it isnt there , there's always the rentals

[Nieuport Fly Guy]

My wife was urging me to strip down to my "skivvies" to go get it...then later an Australian gal also said the same (" we do it all the time")...eventually she got her husband to reel it in with his fishing pole! A great learning experience!

[Vintauri]

i was able to fly mine at the Metrodome this past week. It's an awesome flyer. Very stable and smooth. It had no problem taking off from the artificial turf.

I posted a video on Youtube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=linl68reLBk

[Pops44rc]

Seriously thinking about adding one of these to the flying flotilla but would like to know more about the components and possible sources.

Thanks, Pops

[road king 97]

Here are the free plans for a 48 inch wingspan balsa drake http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=1252 Mine is my a bigger drake but but they called it a seacruiser . It is a 60 inch wingspan and its fast with a 60 os nitro motor on it. The free plan for the foam micro drake can be found here http://www.flyrc.com/index.php/micro...lans-download/ . joe

[xmech2k]

Just noticed this thread. I got my Mini Drake a couple of weeks ago. Finally built the wing last night, but haven't covered it yet. I think the motor I got will be too small: suppo-brushless-motors/brushless-motor-180-13g-2900kv-suppo-bl-1504

It's running at its amp limit with a 4x4 prop. But I see one at HeadsupRC that looks perfect.

Great links, RoadKing! Thanks! This is actually my first balsa build since some Guillows planes (that never flew well, my fault I'm sure!) when I was a kid. Hopefully it won't be too painful, and some larger planes will be in my future.

[xmech2k]

I promised pics of the wing for this I built to BroncoSquid, and don't know how to put them in a PM, so I figure this is an appropriate thread:





So easy, even I was able to do it!

(Now I see I just had to go advanced... Well here they are anyway!)

[Scotty909]

I just ordered one of these fine looking little planes. It ought to be a lot of fun at the local boat launch.

[BroncoSquid]

Ok lets try this again.....

Wing with alerions, dihedral is cut in half (template on paper), you can see a gap between wing pannels that has been filled already and new trailing edge.

[xmech2k]

Looks good! Must have been delicate work adding the ailerons. Did you have to add some structure to and around them? How about servos? Hope we get them done by the next float fly!