New scratch built foamie

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by dgjessing

Thanks guys

dhawk - I did a low wing version - see post 13 above. It's a pretty good flyer as long as the wind isn't too strong.

After building a couple wings with a full airfoil i will never go back to any kind of flat wing . I know its just me and my old ways but a flat wing or even a profile plane drives me nuts. I love your full fuse but i think it would look better and fly better with a full airfoil wing. Most here including dgjessing have built more in foam than me because i started only less than a year ago but when i picked up how to bend $tree foam over with out breaking it to make a wing i will never go back. I would like to see your low wing bird with a full airfoil wing. joe

[mclarkson]

Originally Posted by road king 97

when i picked up how to bend $tree foam over with out breaking it

What's your trick?

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by mclarkson

What's your trick?

You have to cut a V groove on the inside where you want to fold it and then a piece of tape on the outside . Kinda limber it up first by lightly bending around a pipe then fold it over .Here is where i learned while building one http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...ghlight=ultron

[dgjessing]

Flew it today - works great! A bit more wind than you want for a maiden flight, but it did just fine. The power-to-weight ratio is fun - it can climb & climb until just about out of sight in no time at all. Can do HUGE loops . Flies inverted just as well as normal. Definitely my new favorite plane

[dgjessing]

More power!

climbing

[dgjessing]

OK, one more of these, but that's it!

This one is going to be identical to the last except for having a wing with a "proper" airfoil rather than the KF style of all the others. I'm just curious what difference it makes.

[dgjessing]

Moving right along! Hoping for a maiden flight tomorrow afternoon.

[mclarkson]

Looking good (and Easter-y)!

[Rolling Thunder]

Originally Posted by mclarkson

What's your trick?

I like using a heat gun to bend the foam. You have to remove the paper on the inside of the wing first. Then clamp a straight edge where you want it to bend & heat it up till it bends over. Great thing about it is after its bent it will stay bent. No springback

[dgjessing]

Well there's good news and bad news on the maiden flight(s). The good news is that the thing flies great! The bad news is that the receiver was defective and I lost control a couple times. You'd think that I would not have flown again after the first mishap, eh? Well, it wasn't apparent that the radio failed the first time. I was right on the end of the expected battery duration, and it seemed to loose power. So I was making some fairly tight dead-stick turns to try to avoid trees when suddenly the motor came back on line and I plowed into a bunch of bushes. No damage at all . So I took it up again - this time it was obvious that the radio failed because I had some good altitude, it was early in the flight, and the plane just didn't respond anymore when I got a good distance out. I cut the throttle (not sure if that instruction got through) and watched it crash. Came in nose first and cracked the firewall. The motor seems to be OK, although the shaft was pushed in a ways. Minor cracks in the wing, already fixed. I've swapped out the Orange Rx for another, known to be good. Maybe we'll try again tomorrow.

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by dgjessing

I've swapped out the Orange Rx for another, known to be good. Maybe we'll try again tomorrow.

A lot of guys in my club flying those 100 MPH foamie jets are using the low cost Spektrum receivers. A few more $$$. But, zero problems.

http://spektrumrc.com/Products/Defau...rodID=SPMAR400

Interesting youtube test of these receivers. It's only a sample of two units, but did provide useful information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRyOXDGgIh8

[road king 97]

A sprektrum reciever will cost a little more (well alot) but i wont use any orange recievers in my scratch builds . I fly a plane till i get sick of it then take the reciever out for my new build. I think they sell a better reciever from hobbyking now but i have not tried one yet ,still waiting to hear how they work from the guys who bought them first. joe

[dgjessing]

I've got 8 Orange receivers in use currently - this is the only one that I've had a problem with. I replaced it and flew the plane again today (following a range test!) - no problems at all this time.

The plane flies great! It's definitely faster, and smoother in flight than the KF wing version. It's a real floater with the power off, and can maintain altitude and just a little throttle (20% or so). It was too windy to fly much today though - I decided to quit while I was ahead .