XXL Polaris scratch build

[Larry3215]

Here you go!

YouTube Video

[CHELLIE]

Thats Sweet Larry, She has Earned her Colors I think you were having Way too Much Fun Too Take care, Chellie

[Larry3215]

Yeah, I think she has earned them too. Thats the next step after some mods.

I need to make the battery hatch much larger to allow access to 2 packs as well as make up some air scoops. Then its color time!

Here are a few still shots from today. Thats my grandson helping me drink some hot chocolate

[CHELLIE]

I see a future RCer Drinking some hot Chocolate he is a Cute little guy, I have all of my grand Kids here today, all 4 of them they are a hand full 3 boys and one girl , the boys are 8,8 and 6 months old, and the Grand Daughter is 5, so i will not get to much work done on the Bi Plane today, but i did sneak out this morning, and got some flying in the boys did not want to go, Thats ok, they wanted to play video games insted, Take care, Chellie

[Larry3215]

He may well be a future RC'er but he is gonna have to learn to build his own planes before he gets to touch one of mine!

We have been practicing on the simulator from time to time BUT his favorite maneuver is "the crash"

The more peices that go flying off and the further they go the better he likes it

[CHELLIE]

Originally Posted by Larry3215

He may well be a future RC'er but he is gonna have to learn to build his own planes before he gets to touch one of mine!

We have been practicing on the simulator from time to time BUT his favorite maneuver is "the crash"

The more peices that go flying off and the further they go the better he likes it

Yea Right I bet Grandpa will buy him a crash resistant trainer before to long LOL

[Larry3215]

Yeah I probably will, but Im afraid he wont fly it unless it busts into a million pieces!

[larryross]

Nice Larry... given me renewed inspiration for mine. I may scrap my wing and start over. I think I will use PBIII and sandwich stiffeners inside and make a somewhat airfoil. I'll work a little more on the old one, but if it doesn't shape up soon it's a new one. Glad the maiden went well. BTW where did you put your ESC?

Larry

[Larry3215]

I put the Phoenix 80 controller inside the fuse up near the front. I like using short battery side leads - especially on hi power setups. The motor leads are 12ga and I braided and twisted the run back to the motor.

I didnt think to check it today to see if/how hot it was getting though. Should have done that!

I still need to check my peak amp draw too. I suspect Im drawing more than I thought I was going to. Im probably up in the 50-60 amp range based on my flight times.

Id be carefull about adding tooo much weight behind the CG but Im not as worried about it as I was before the flight. I dont think you really need an airfoil, but on the other hand, thats a good way to add stiffness. The flat wing seems to fly just fine.

Which reminds me - I need to weigh it again to see where Im at now befor I cover it.

[larryross]

I think by using PBIII I can make the wing lighter and stronger. I will also incorporate your removable wing design.

BTW how is that rigging working out?

Larry

Originally Posted by Larry3215

I put the Phoenix 80 controller inside the fuse up near the front. I like using short battery side leads - especially on hi power setups. The motor leads are 12ga and I braided and twisted the run back to the motor.

I didnt think to check it today to see if/how hot it was getting though. Should have done that!

I still need to check my peak amp draw too. I suspect Im drawing more than I thought I was going to. Im probably up in the 50-60 amp range based on my flight times.

Id be carefull about adding tooo much weight behind the CG but Im not as worried about it as I was before the flight. I dont think you really need an airfoil, but on the other hand, thats a good way to add stiffness. The flat wing seems to fly just fine.

Which reminds me - I need to weigh it again to see where Im at now befor I cover it.

[CHELLIE]

Now you Guys got me wanting to make a Polaris Sea Plane

[larryross]

NOOOOO Chellie NO NO Don't do it. Just kidding. Let's see that will make #8

[CHELLIE]

Originally Posted by larryross

NOOOOO Chellie NO NO Don't do it. Just kidding. Let's see that will make #8

LOL see, I told you I was Plane Crazy

[larryross]

Us foam addicts have to support each other. HEhehe

Originally Posted by CHELLIE

LOL see, I told you I was Plane Crazy

[Larry3215]

LOL We sure do!

The removable wing setup Im using works just fine. Its easy to set up and take down and seems plenty strong. I used the same setup on another of my large foamies - BUFY. It has a 6 foot span and weighs close to 7 pounds and I flew it HARD with no problems. Im sure it had much higher stress levels on the carbon/aluminum tubes and they never failed or even bent.

When I finally killed it, the plane cart wheeled and broke the fuse in half but the wings survived just fine.

The only thing I need to do on this one is find some small dental rubber bands. Ive been using cut off pieces of fuel tubing to keep the carbon tubes centered but they are a bit too fat.

Chellie you will like the way the Polaris flys. You dont really have to build it this big, but of course, bigger is better

[Larry3215]

Almost forgot - I just re-weighed it and my all up is 102 ounces or about 6.4 pounds! I must have been more careful than I normally am and didnt add as much weight as I usually do.

[larryross]

Can you show more detail on the polaris wing setup?

Larry

[Larry3215]

What part do you want to see?

How about I gather all the wing pics and post them in one place. Then you wont need to dig thru a bunch of posts.

[Larry3215]

Removable wing tube/spar details

[larryross]

That would be great Larry, but I was mainly interested in the way the carbon connected the wings to the center part(how they fit together) and what you were talking about rubber bands centering the tubes.

Larry

[Larry3215]

Oh ok. Im using aluminum arrow shafts and some carbon arrow shafts. The carbon shafts are a slip fit inside the aluminum shafts.

Look at those pics above. The aluminum arrow shafts get glued into the wing halves and into the center section of the fuse.

You can see one pic where the carbon tubes are sticking out of the fuse. They are inserted into the aluminum tubes that are glued into the fuse sections of the wing.

The reason you need to keep the carbn tubes centered is that they are only about 32" long and the wing span is 60". If you didnt hold them centered some way they could slide off to one side and that would probably let the wing fold.

I didnt want to put any holes or dimples in the aluminum tubes as that would weaken them, so a small rubber band on each side over the carbon tubes keeps them from sliding from side to side.

Im currently using pieces of surgical tubing I cut myself but its hard to cut thin enough pieces. So thats why I want the dental bands. They should be about right.

[Larry3215]

By the way - the carbon tubes are NOT glued in. They are left out for transportation and inserted at the field.

[larryross]

OK the next to the last picutre above explains what I was missing. Thanks Larry for your trouble. Some times you have draw me a picture and sometimes twice.

[CHELLIE]

Originally Posted by Larry3215

LOL We sure do!

The removable wing setup Im using works just fine. Its easy to set up and take down and seems plenty strong. I used the same setup on another of my large foamies - BUFY. It has a 6 foot span and weighs close to 7 pounds and I flew it HARD with no problems. Im sure it had much higher stress levels on the carbon/aluminum tubes and they never failed or even bent.

When I finally killed it, the plane cart wheeled and broke the fuse in half but the wings survived just fine.

The only thing I need to do on this one is find some small dental rubber bands. Ive been using cut off pieces of fuel tubing to keep the carbon tubes centered but they are a bit too fat.

Chellie you will like the way the Polaris flys. You dont really have to build it this big, but of course, bigger is better

LOL The plane seems to handel very nice, and will be the easiest sea plane that I will ever make , Yes us Foam Addicts have to stick together, as there is little hope for us

[benovisoff]

I had to sub to this...