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skywagon project..dumb luck

Discussion in '* Scratch Built Section *' started by dhc8guru, May 14, 2011.

  1. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

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    This is a prototype and as with most my prototypes, I scrap them or do some heavy tweeking to get what I want. But when I did the maiden flight, my jaw almost fell off in disbelief of how well this plane flew. On take off, the tail popped up, cruised on down the street for about 10 feet then did a perfect departure. It was beautiful! The gear I have on the plane came from another so it is a bit long and I have shortened it up since I took this photo. I have also curve the wing tips up for better banking ability.

    Takes about two hours to build. I used .75" thick sheathing and 6 mm depron. The fuselage is actually two halves glued together making it 1.5" thick.

    The only change I am going to do is make the electronics compartment smaller.

    I am going to make these available as kits.Shortly, after I get some assembly directions together, I am going to make the G-gode available to Phlatprinter owners for free. just need to email me and I will send it to you.

    Items needed

    3/4 Dow foam sheeting (lowes or HD stocks it)
    6mm depron.
    carbon rod (or similar)for the control rods
    control horns
    power system etc.. I use a bluewonder motor, 12 amp esc and two HK micro servos.
    two pairs of super strong magnets for the hatch.
    small piece of lite-ply for the motor mount and landing gear attachment.
    Carbon rod for wing reinforcement
    two light weight wheels
    Piano wire for the landing gear.

    You will also need a cutting bid capable of making a single cut through 3/4" foam. I use a rotozip drywall bit. Lowes sells a pack with six bits for $8 (ish)

    My flying weight is 9.5 oz.
    27" length
    34" wingspan Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  2. 3DMON

    3DMON Moderator Staff Member

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    Nice looking plane. Good job man! :doubleup:
     
  3. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    This is a beauty. Wow nice job dhc8guru! :doubleup:
     
  4. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

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    http://m.youtube.com/index?client=mv-google&desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US&rdm=4mkdhp479#/watch?v=_GfwoNyRycM

    My wife shot this video off her phone. The wind was blowing at about 15 mph. The plane handles it pretty well. The plane is a blast to fly. To get a nice landing out of it, you have to fly a real steep approach and flare when it bottoms out. Now that I have gotten comfortable with it, I like to take off at a near vertical departure, do a hammerhead and come back and land. I'll try and get a video of it.
     
  5. Evil-Tunes

    Evil-Tunes Moderator Staff Member

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  6. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

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    Thanks evil-tunes for properly posting the vid. It really turned out to be poor quality. I will get a better one together.

    I cleaned up and made the changes I wanted. I will cut and assemble a V2 version. I am debating on whether I should add ailerons to the plane. Atleast configure it for the option to add them in. Two reasons for adding ailerons; reason one, I am retarded when flying rudder only and the other is it really sucks on a cross wind landing without ailerons. My original goal was to keep it simple for new pilots.
    I have already started the preplanning on the next plane, a Pilatus Porter. I am going to reconfigure a full body tab and slot version I have already designed and go with the same construction as the Skywagon. The Skywagon design is really easy to assemble and I want to keep this with my planes. This plane will definitely have ailerons,
     
  7. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

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    A much better video
     
  8. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

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    V2 version is nearly complete. No more exposed control rods and servo's for the elevator and rudder. I went ahead and installed ailerons and tied the wing down with a tab and slot in the front and magnets in the back. The revisions really smooth out the design.

    Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  9. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Very nice and clean design! :good:
    When are you thinking kits will be ready? :)
    Mark and Trish
     
  10. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

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    Hopefully the kits will be ready soon. I want to relocate the wood tab on top of the wing to the bottom so it's is hidden. Other than that I need to solve the packaging logistics. I may end up having to make the wing a two piece design to get it to a reasonable shipping size. But I am trying to avoid that.
     
  11. Watt_the?

    Watt_the? Member

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    Nice model, congratulations :doubleup:
     
  12. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

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    Thanks! I am pretty happy flying it. Haven't had that much fun with a plane in awhile. Although I get a bigger smile seeing other people having fun flying it.
    In the video, the wind was blowing pretty good so the plane looks kinda squirlly. But when the wind is a little calmer it shines. :D
    Hopefully these Texas winds will calm down soon. Too me, February through June is the down season in Texas because of the wind.
     
  13. rescue911

    rescue911 Active Member

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    I know what to do with the .75 foam insulation in my shop walls now.
    Take it down and make planes with it. :think:
     
  14. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

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    I should be getting the g-code files up sometime next week for the PP owners. I will also post some assembly instructions with a part list.
     
  15. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

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    Last night I finished building the updated version two (with ailerons).The wind was actually playing nice for once so I took it for a few tests flights.
    It's not much of a aerobatic plane as I figured. But man! Its a blast to putt around with and shoot touch and go's. The airfoil has proven to give a great glide ratio. Crop the power and will just float like a glider and slowly decend. Not much of a stall, you gotta force it to happen. When it does stall, it just kinda bobbles and slowly drops the nose with no wing tipping. Definitely a great beginner plane. I was hoping for better roll capabilities. The ailerons have plenty of authority but the roll is slow and once it hits inverted things get a little ugly. I didn't have the chance to do full inverted but I'd be surprised if it could pull it off with that airfoil. But I didn't design the plane to be aerobatic.
    On a 3S 500mah lipo battery, it will cruise around for about 7-10 minutes. It will still fly nice carrying the weight of a 3S 1000mah lipo if you want more runtime.
    What I shot for in the design has all worked out, a great park flyer that is easy to take-off, land and maneuver. The build is quick and the plane is durable. With a 34" wingspan and around 9-10 oz flying weigt, it makes a great outdoor flyer.

    Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  16. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

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    I did some more test flying last friday... I was pushing it too its limits to see what the wing holding strength was. I found that under full power in a dive, the wing would flutter caused by the ailerons I added. This lead to the front wing wood tab popping out of the slot. I did some redesign work that I believe will solve this problem.

    This problem got me thinking if having a removable wing is really worth it? I incorporated a removable wing not because I think many people are going to remove the wing for transport but really just to make wing replacements easier.

    What do you guys think? Either way I guess the builder can make the choice to do either.
     

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