First flight

Started by naatumach, June 15, 2011, 11:37:35 PM

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naatumach

Approximately after 1 year and god knows how many bitter disappointments and countless models.
First flight.
My process of building is first find out the payload weight refer to http://adamone.rchomepage.com for calculations to get a good dimension, thrust to weight ratio and wing loading.
I made three models. All of them three channel.
Model one, was a straight wing. It flew and rolled over and crashed
Model two, added a dihedral to the straight wing but it really didnt take off, im guessing i was not putting enough throttle.
Model three, removed the wing and elevators, introduced a pizza box type planform with ailerons+elevators. Removed the control from the rudder and fixed it.
Since the model one rolled and model two was giving some human induced error so i decided to go for roll control without reducing weight.
So model one and two had two servos for rudder and elevator and a wing made of two layers of 12mm depron.
Now to add ailerons+elevators without increasing weight i used the two servos to make ailerons+elevators fixed the rudder, and used a one layer of depron instead of two with the same span but double chord length. So basically i guess not increase in weight and also the big planform has a good parachute effect. :)

I fly awful but hey its my FIRST time so yay!

Will maintain the same body but will make different planforms after i receive props from rcdhamaka.

Any ideas where i can get balsa(preferably cheap) or easy pushrods and control horns, i made control horns for this from a sim card plastic and of my previous plane i used balsa but now  dont have balsa and i cant get in touch with rcforallin so i got in touch with rcdhamaka but they are out of stock of balsas. And im in chennai, any ideas.

Thanks to countless people who gave me lots of much needed advice over the period of one year and im most grateful to mr dhiraj for his swift actions in shipping me the much needed depron.

Vaibhav

Video of Model three -

Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.

Samanth

Not bad :thumbsup:
Your doing great :)
Get your hands on some Depron / Biofoam , you could make awesome models.
Check out the foamies at parkjets.com
Steve Shumate's plans are till date the best I have ever come across -
http://www.parkjets.com/free-plans/category/by-steve-shumate-jetset44

And you could try getting balsa from rcbazaar.com
Rcpowers Extra 300
JAS-39 Gripen
F-117 Nighthawk
HK EPP-FPV 1.8m plane
Trex 450 Pro
Spektrum DX6i

naatumach

#2
[Admin Note] Unnecessary quote removed..

Thank you :)
I somehow could make plans work so i get my inspiration from http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1333878
thanks parkjets.com will also be a great help.
I'll check out rcbazaar
Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.

naatumach

Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.

naatumach

I am absolutely in love with this aircraft. The planform is so large that no matter what happens it doesnt crash if you can pull up the elevator. I was flying it and god knows how the motor stopped, the motor is doing that a lot, its like its skidding i'll try to get the bottom of it. earlier it was vibrating a lot. i fixed that. Now ill check the wires. anyways, the motor stopped about twenty feet above ground but still i managed to land it on my feet without ANY hassle.
I would totally recommend it to a beginner.
The only catch is that one needs a Tx with mixing or needs a mixer. For that i am most thankful to sundaram sir who i got the tx from and vc sir.
I really feel that a good tx is a MUST for a beginner because such is i guess a one time investment and it has numerous uses and is only limited by the owner.
*i love things whose utility is limited by the owners imagination*
Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.

Swapnil

Wow! That's one simple-but-cool plane.  :thumbsup:
I'm gonna try it. Could you please tell me about the power setup (motor, prop, batt) and dimensions (chord, span, CG)?

naatumach

sure... ill upload it in a few hours
Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.

naatumach

#7
PARTS
Motor : RCFORALL Brushless 2805/1400KV
ESC   : RCFORALL DY 18 AMP ESC
Battery : RCFORALL 11.1V 1000 mah
Servos 2 nos : RCFORALL DY 0204 : 9 gms
Prop : 8x6 EF (Rcdhamaka sells them for 60 rupees and they they feel much sturdier than the orange ones)
Depron: 12mm (that i got from Mr Dhiraj)
Adhesive:5min Epoxy and Double sided tape

CONSTRUCTION
1. Make the fuselage
  i. Cut out three strips of dimensions 45x6cm
 ii. Join them with epoxy
iii. Make a U-Channel such that the battery can fit inside the channel with some room for the esc.
iv. Make motor mount: Join (epoxy) two squares (5x5cm) of depron such that they can fit i the front of the fuselage. Then hold the motor on one side (non square) of the cuboid and secure very tightly with zip tie.  Pass tooth picks through the sides into the channel so that they hold the mount securely. You can easily remove the bottom of the motor and mount it without working on the motor. It becomes easy.
2. Make the planform of dimension - (40+6)x50 cm - 40cm wing and 6cm control surface  (ailerons+elevator). Cut out the control surface (ailerons+elevator) and hinge them.(40 cm chord and 50cm span)
3. Make rudder - Use arbitrary dimensions, with height 20cm (from the bottom of the channel) and 12cm width. Cut it in the shape of a triangle or trapezium
3. Place the rudder in the channel join with glue or tape. Support along with the wall of the U-Channel.
4. Place all electronics in the channel ie Prop - Motor - Mount - ESC - Battery - Rx.
5. Now find the CG of the the complete fuselage, and mark with a pen.
6. Sand the front of the wing, makes the wing lesser of a bluff body.
7. Mark one third on the wing from the leading edge.
8. Put two servos on the wing preferably along the 1/3rd line equidistant from the fuselage and connect them to control horns on the elevators.
9. Connect the servos to channel one and channel two and mix both.
10.You can make the cover but thats pretty redundant.

Center of gravity-
1.If the CG of the fuselage is on top of the 1/3rd line then the plane will continuously flare up.
2.It the CG of the fuselage is in front of the 1/3rd line the plane will start coming under control. I place it 1inch in front.

Sources of error -
1.Try placing all the components in the closest area possible and along the 1/3rd line.
2.Loose motor mount causes lots of vibrations.

Things to keep in mind -
Minimize weight as much as you can.
Model is pretty sensitive, it is my first flying one but still i can feel it being very sensitive.

Flying method -
1. Throttle upto 75%
2. Launch the model, dont drop, dont throw, be gentle
3. As soon as the model leave your hand there will be a trade off between your throw and the motor's pull and the gravity.
4. If all goes as planned the motor will pull the model and make it fly. Then you can reduce throttle, and continue flying.

Troubleshooting -
Even if the anything goes wrong in midair. Donot worry, the low aspect ratio will give a parachute effect and you can still control the roll and pitch to land the model.

*I could have made a better plan but i only have powerpoint in my home computer, else i could have given better plans, i hope they suffice*
Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.

Swapnil

Thanks for the plan Vaibhav! :)
Gonna try it soon....

naatumach

Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.

sundaram

Vaibhav Congrads on your maiden Flight. The bird was flying gracefully.  {:)} {:)} {:)}

My Best wishes for many more future builds.  :thumbsup:

naatumach

thank you sir. :) and the Tx Battery is now doing wonders :) Thanks for getting me out of that fix too :)
Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.

sundaram

You are most welcome for any assistance, which you think is possible from me. Happy flying.  :thumbsup:

Swapnil

Vaibhav, I was thinking about removing the airfoil from my pizza-box to reduce weight. What do you say?

naatumach

#14
Removing airfoil wont really reduce significant weight.
Did u try to fly it once?
also if you have a wing of same thickness one airfoil and other flat the airfoil one will actually have a lesser volume. So its a win win situation. :)
Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.

sushil_anand

Pardon my possible ignorance, but how does one "remove an airfoil" ?
Hangar: Zlin 50L -120, CMPro Super Chipmunk, Ultimate Bipe EP, Imagine 50, Christen Eagle 160, Ultra Stick, Super Sports Senior

naatumach

i am assuming swapnil actually means making a flat wing
Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.

Swapnil

Sushil sir, the foil shape is made of a 4mm coro as base and a 3mm coro as curved part. I was thinking about removing the 3mm coro.

naatumach

#18
i think its safe to remove the coro because here we're not actually flying but actually coming in and out of stalls. There is no actual flying here. its only stalling.
Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.

Swapnil

Ah, Anwar sir's surely gonna remove that 'unnecessary quote'!  :P
Better remove it yourself! :)

naatumach

Motto: build, fly, and modify.
Prefers working on designs than electronics.
No pre-made plans. Use blueprints, make calculations, build, fly, troubleshoot, fly again.