.......Houston, We have Gnats!

All things GNat Combat

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Dane McGee
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.......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by Dane McGee »

.


Went from this:


...
Image



.........to this:



...
Image



.......in under two hours including cutting a stack of engine mounts. With more practice I believe a person could build one start to finish in an hour if all tools and materials were handy.

I gotta throw on some linkages, a batt and Rx and I'll be ready to fling it.
I have another one in progress so I can carry um out to the local club and get after it.

I took it to the club meeting yesterday and response was good. I plan to host a club build party soon.
Dane "Mad Max" McGee
Greenville, Texas
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by boiler »

Good going Dane.
Bob (Longhaul) Loescher
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Bring those planes in closer where I can see them.
[url=http://www.rccombat.net/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=11380][img]http://www.rccombat.net/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=11381[/img][/url]
sgilkey
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by sgilkey »

Dane, what are those control horns made out of?

for years, I have been making mine out of phencepost, but that stuff is a bit thick, and it tends to curl when cut due to molded-in stresses. the PVC gutterpipe makes real nice control horns that are easy to make, but they are brittle and tend to break off at the base. for my gnats, I was planning to use the PVC gutterpipe, but glue together two thicknesses. yours don't look like gutter pipe material???
Scott Gilkey
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Dane McGee
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by Dane McGee »

They are made from the clear plastic angle used to protect drywall corners.....I got a 1x1x48" length from lowes.

Works good so far.
Dane "Mad Max" McGee
Greenville, Texas
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sgilkey
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by sgilkey »

hmmm, that sounds like a great idea! thanks
Scott Gilkey
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Dane McGee
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by Dane McGee »

Here is the newest Gnat using the other wing attatchment method.

Image

Image

Image

Image
Dane "Mad Max" McGee
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midair02
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by midair02 »

Looks good. Changing a wing will be a lot easier. I see you stapled the tip instead of using a zip tie.

Innovations through the sharing of ideas. Gotta love it.
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sgilkey
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by sgilkey »

Great ideas, guys, thanks for sharing.

I have mostly built my first Gnat but am very disappointed with the LE shape. I did not slit the coro on the inside of the LE fold, I figured the LE needs all the structure it can get. SO I used a roller (used for installing the retaining bead when installing screen in a screen door) to crease the coro cells on the inside of the fold. Then I folded over the LE, but it was very tough to fold over and wanted to spring back. so even though I screwed it to the rail in the center, and put spacer blocks and zip ties at the tip, the LE fold wanted to open up between the root and tip. So I added zip ties at mid span, but that only helped marginally. Bottom line is I have a lumpy LE and an uneven LE fold shape that looks to me like it will be very draggy. Dane's photos look like a nice, even, LE fold.

Are all of you slitting the inside of the coro cell, in order to get a good LE fold? Or some other method?

Other issue- I do not have 4x8 sheets of coro, and all the signs I have picked up by the side of the road are too small to make a wing. I made a wing "blank" by joining two pieces of coro using bamboo skewer pieces and PU glue, with a strip of tape down the joint, and made that the c/l of my wing. then cut the appropriate wing chord/span from that piece, to make my wing. Basically, it was more work than I would have liked, and a bit messy. Other than just using a bigger sheet of coro (I am not aware of any local sources for 4x8 sheets), does anybody have any suggestions for making a suitably large wing piece from two smaller pieces?

Thanks
Scott
Scott Gilkey
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midair02
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by midair02 »

Image

I use a seam ripper to remove 3 flutes in the LE. Folds over real easy.


Harbor Sales has 2'x3' sheets which saves on shipping. I bought 50 sheets for $121 shipped. Comes to $2.42 a sheet. It's the cheapest way I found to buy coro. Only downside is that they only have white and yellow in that size. The price break is at 50 sheets and you can mix and match colors, as long as buy at least 50.
http://www.harborsales.net/tabid/130/De ... ts#Product
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by Blue Note »

sgilkey wrote:(I am not aware of any local sources for 4x8 sheets)
I originally started getting pieces at the local sign shops. Once I told them what I was using it for and they didn't feel like I was trying to be competition for them, they informed me of their local suppliers. Sign material suppliers seem to be the cheapest place to find the corrugated plastics in a variety of colors. Plastics suppliers tend to only carry white around here. Most carry nothing but the 4mil variety, which is what the Gnats are using.

Good luck with the leading edge issue. I have built and flown quite a few SPADs over the past few years. Slitting the flutes makes a big difference in the shaping ability, but it is still Coroplast. No matter how you sugar coat it, it still sucks. I understand the rationale behind the SPAD planes, but personally I am sad to see the RCCA pushing into this direction. We continue to flip-flop around with "provisional classes" while effectively leaving the up-and-coming electric generation out of the fun...


ImageImageImageImageImageImage
Chris Gunter
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by boiler »

Chris, at the NATS this year Tom & Brian Neff demonstrated some electric fying wings that were great for an electric combat class. Simple outrunner motor and a 2s maximum lipo. They flew very well in a good wind. They were excited about the Gnats and those that were at the NATS were also excited about the electrics. If electrics are to become a combat class, I think it needs to be like the Gnat class with a one plane design and power plant. If not restricted, an all out tech war would reduce the new pilot pool to near zero.
Bob (Longhaul) Loescher
rcca# 621 RC Combat Geezer
Bring those planes in closer where I can see them.
[url=http://www.rccombat.net/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=11380][img]http://www.rccombat.net/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=11381[/img][/url]
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by boiler »

Scott, the coro signs at the gas stations are large enough for Gnat construction. You need to make contact with the manager or the vendor for used signs. I have found some along the road after big wind storms.
Bob (Longhaul) Loescher
rcca# 621 RC Combat Geezer
Bring those planes in closer where I can see them.
[url=http://www.rccombat.net/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=11380][img]http://www.rccombat.net/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=11381[/img][/url]
sgilkey
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by sgilkey »

OK, guys, thanks for the info. So, Dominator, I presume you have concluded that ripping the three flutes does not significantly reduce the toughness of the LE of the wing? Thanks again.
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by Blue Note »

boiler wrote:Chris, at the NATS this year Tom & Brian Neff demonstrated some electric fying wings that were great for an electric combat class. Simple outrunner motor and a 2s maximum lipo. They flew very well in a good wind. They were excited about the Gnats and those that were at the NATS were also excited about the electrics. If electrics are to become a combat class, I think it needs to be like the Gnat class with a one plane design and power plant. If not restricted, an all out tech war would reduce the new pilot pool to near zero.

Good to know. Thanks.
Chris Gunter
East TN
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midair02
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Re: .......Houston, We have Gnats!

Post by midair02 »

sgilkey wrote:So, Dominator, I presume you have concluded that ripping the three flutes does not significantly reduce the toughness of the LE of the wing? Thanks again.
They have held up pretty good. Most wings I have replaced, had big chunks missing caused by prop strikes.

There are whole flutes in LE. It's removed, whole, removed, whole, removed.
William "Dominator" Drumm III
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