That "over the lake flying" is awesome! You fly in places I would never dare try!

I cut my plane directly from the cnc files, untouched. The nose angle is pretty much fixed by the slot and tab positions. I did not even put any pre bend into the surfboard sheet, just hot glued the ribs into place exactly as they fit up.

The only way to get less of an arc in it would be to modify the SU file to shorten the distance of the tabs.

Looking at your pics again, I see that mine does have quite a lot more bow in it than yours. Curious as to why..

 

Got to have that. I'm building it. Neighbor kids ought to flip over this.

 

Here is amount of throw on my elevons.... Not sure how I could get any more throw than this...

Attached files

 

A picture is worth a thousand words.... My bow measures 3" when laid flat on the table like yours.

It flys good, so long as you don't want to turn right with it. With the bigger motor (BP 2217-9), an 8x4 prop and a Thunderpower 1350 battery and 25 amp ESC, I can hit the bricks running and she does a great job of carving left turns in the sky.

I don't know if I can get the hot glue to release, but I will give it a shot. I've had some pretty good success with using a heat gun to loosen the hot glue. Maybe I won't have to build another one if I can rework this one.

But now I know what I need as a target reference. The ruler shot is a big help!

 

Ahhh yes, the bow was the culprit!

I firmly pressed down on the tip with brute force and hot glued a strip of carbon fiber to the top of surfboard while holding the shape I wanted.

The riggers on the bottom kinda bowed out in couple places, but the glue took hold and left me with a 2" table top clearance instead of 3".

I took it to a new flying field, one I have never been to even though I belong to the club and just had never gotten around to visiting.

The flying area was a small opening in the trees with a couple soccer fields, fences, light poles and such lurking to grab whatever I might send it the air, but I let er loose and to my happy surprise, I was surfing the airwaves over pear park with the ability to turn both left and right.

But before my jubilation could set in, the motor abruptly stopped running and sent surfer dude to tera firma.

Why me? What did I do to deserve this?

Well, anyway, I got enough of a taste to know it will fly as designed and there was no damage during the abrupt landing, so off to the workshop for analysis.

I thought it was another speed control gone awry, but then I discovered one of the three connectors from the brushless motor had a cold solder joint and had come loose. It was still partially making contact, causing the motor to work at times and then lock up.

I resoldered the connector and checked current draw which pulling 10.5 Amps on a 20A ESC, so I should be good to go again.

Tomorrow, I will return to Pear Park where the club meets weekly and hopefully this time, I will be able to put on a grand show. None of these folks know about this plane, so it ought to be fun. Can't wait to see the look on their faces when I unload it from the car! Attached files

 

After looking at the picture, I can tell you that mine is like Flash's was originally....I have to much bow. If the weather holds I will be home soon, and get a chance to fix it and try it out.

Tim
AG4RZ

 

Very cool design Mark. Can't wait to try it out. I ran into the same thing as Flash and iflyos with the amount of curve in the front. It does appear that the tabs need to be moved a little.

RC

 

Yesterday, I was finally able to put on a grand show with the Surfer Dude!

It handled flawlessly this time, carving left and right and performing magnificently.

It drew stares and comments and was a delight to small children.

This is by far the most interesting plane (if you call it that) that I have built! Thanks again Mark for thinking this up and making it happen!

I also flew the PiPlane, which is another strange aircraft! I have it propped with an oversize propeller that gives it the ability to climb endlessly (it seems) while doing torque rolls.

So between the two planes, I was able to make an impressive showing. Now to get some video!

 

Be sure to let us know when the new version is online!

I asked on RCG, but maybe I'll get an answer quicker here. I've got the 1300kv and 1500kv motors, but only 2S batteries. Any chance of propping this for 2S with one of those motors, or do I really need some 3S batteries?

 

I do have some 3S 1800mah batteries, they would definitely add some weight to the front. Maybe if they were scooted back a bit?

 

So I debuted the SS this weekend to the team at a show in Abingdon, Virginia. After we got the trailers set up and relaxed for a few, we took advantage of having low winds and a wide open full scale airport available to fly some foamies!

I dropped the nose on mine some, and he did alot better. If I carry some speed he turns right fine, if I slow down alot, he will turn right, but wider than a left turn at the same speed. Nothing I can't get over, though. I still need to take some more angle off the nose, but I figure I will wait till I get my PP built and then cut one from the new files..

He will be fine indoors without a doubt, for a few laps during the comedy portion of our indoor show.


Now, outdoors, he looks WICKED carving turns at full throttle. The guys always wonder what is up my sleeve each time we get together, and this really blew them away! The best part was the airport manager, and several of the full scale demo pilots coming over and "OOhing and AHHing" as I had a blast flying the SS.

Mark, I am loving this thing! Thanks again!!

Tim
AG4RZ

 

Well I flew the Surfer dude yesterday. It is certainly a very cool thing to see in the sky. It may have been the wind ( it was quite windy) but I was having trouble getting it to turn in either direction very well. The nose is about an 1 5/8" up.

I had two ideas to try....One is making the elevator a little larger by making it like a whale tail. The other is adding another control surface to the back like what is used on hydroplane boats. I have attached pictures of what I am talking about. Any thoughts?
Not sure how either of my ideas will work as I have not had a chance to try them out.Hopefully tomorrow.

RC Attached files