New 1/2A Combat Plane?

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AirWaveUS
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New 1/2A Combat Plane?

Post by AirWaveUS »

It took 2 months but i finally got my 1/2 started.
Image

It's a Bird of Prey by Edge RC.
AirWaveUS
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Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:44 pm
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Post by AirWaveUS »

It's all EPP, a pusher, 48" span, powered by a Mega. Right now I'm at a little over 21 ozs.

Image

Question is will it be too big or too heavy? Need help here.

Thanks,
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

Fly it and give some test reports. The rules are not set in stone at this point and will be tweaked as evidence is received.
Lou Melancon
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Post by Lou Melancon »

Bruce,
What is your target date for test flights? I'll bring a gasser 1/2A along for comparison. Also can bring my radar gun so we can get a speed reading.
slam
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Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2001 8:14 pm
Location: USA

Post by slam »

bruce,

been flying the bird of prey's brother, the devastator. been having trouble getting the zagi tape to stick to the epp.

there is a thread on e-zone that suggests a tension skin covering. basically it is using light spackling to fill the voids, then two VERY thin coats of poly glue. then a covering of fusable interfacing (thin fabric that stretches only one way, sold at wally world) with another coat of poly glue.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=488247


this is a clever variation of our water based polyurethane covering. the poly glue should be a little easier to apply (i had no luck with the wbp) and more flexible than fiberglass resin. have tried a small patch with rip stop nylon with pretty good adhesion. am going to try the interfacing on the devastator when i get a chance.

drew and i have used our devastators with and without streamers. we used two sided carpet tape with the streamers and i was surprised at how well the streamers stuck, even with the sweep. i got 5 cuts and drew got 3 before we midaired each other and came down. had to call it quits because the wire came out of my speed controller.

have had several full contact runs with them also. they seem to be tough.

i don't know if these planes will work with the current direction 1/2a is going. although they have much more wing area, drew's regular 1/2a is much more manuverable. mine is still kinda heavy at 20oz which might be part of it.

great planes though,

can't wait for a flight report.

slam
AirWaveUS
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Post by AirWaveUS »

Thanks Lou and Slam,

I'm at the covering stage now. I'm going to try Ultacoat-Light with 3M-77 or Rip-Stop\3M77. Which either one comes out the lightest. I sent my BOP to church this weekend and it is now holy ( 2 " holes drilled in the wing to reduce weight )[:)]

I hope to have it done by the weekend. Lou, I'll call if it looks like it will be ready and we can see if I can keep up with your IC 1/2A. I am hoping the foward swept wing will be a magnet for all your streamers[}:)]
ZenManiac
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Post by ZenManiac »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by slam</i>
<br />been flying the bird of prey's brother, the devastator. been having trouble getting the zagi tape to stick to the epp.

slam
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

<font size="2">A late addition...
Of course, all Zagi tapes are not created equal. Some of the one's I've used stick like crap. I recently got a model from JK Aerotech that seems to be the best I've tried. It's by Scotch, and is type 373. It seems like it's somewhat thicker than most, and when you cut it, there's more glue (it pulls like good mozerella cheese on a warm pizza) and seems stickier, even w/o heating it with an iron.

My searches on the internet have been scarce (unless you buy it by the case), but did find it at a local business supply company. Since I work for the university, they would let me buy it on my credit card.

Just a FYI.
</font id="size2">
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