Wing Combat

What's a Watt? What's a Brushless? How many Watts are in a HorsePower? Help a clueless pilot out by posting your P=E*I Knowledge here!

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satjack
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Wing Combat

Post by satjack »

Is anyone flying electric wing combat with streamers?
slam
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Post by slam »

i am working on it but not much is out there.

most flying wing combat is full contact.

slam
Cutter
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Post by Cutter »

Hello & Happy New year! Im planning on going to the E-Fest in Champaign, Illinois. One of the Events that They are holding is Full Contact Combat! Im thinking that Zagi style would be best suited for this event. The weight limit is 16oz (or less). Can anyone point me in the direction to find more info on making a Scratch built EPP wing. Thanks in advance.
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

At our indoor combat in the HS gym last Sunday one kid had a wing which was a wire frame covered with Saran Wrap. It towed a streamer fine and had a forwared prop to cut streamers quite well. The advantage I think it had was the wire frame protruded in front of the prop and could save a broken prop on a floor nap.
drewjet
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Post by drewjet »

Try Here http://edgerc.com/index.htm

I just bought a 48" devastator from here. workmanship and design seem very good.
sgilkey
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Post by sgilkey »

this may not be what you guys are after but you can do streamer combat with pusher flying wings. I did not like the idea of tearing up planes and servos with full-contact Zagi combat so we tape streamers to the TE of the wing, about 4 inches or so outboard of center. We use regular dennecrepe material and thread in place of string. Tie a couple of knots in the end of the thread, then tape it to the top of the wing with scotch tape (the knots just in front of the tape to help keep it from pulling thru). you get a lot of drapes due to the LE sweep, but it's still a ton of fun. conceviably you could even score drapes as 1 and cuts as 2 or 3 or something. we just scored cuts. The streamer will catch in the tip plate and break maybe half the time. you can also get prop cuts although they more often than not (but not always) wrap around the prop. but it's real easy to land, clear the prop, and relaunch right away with electrics. we hardly ever fouled our prop with our own streamer, it can happen it you run out of vertical and flop over but not usually in normal maneuvering. TONS of fun!!
Cutter
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Post by Cutter »

Thanks for the replies. The devastator looks like a Great ship. I just heard of a few Requirements for this FULL Contact (no Streamer) Combat ships. They must be 14oz or under, and the winner is determined by who's still flying. This is a 1 round event. So now Im looking at a Lite Zagi style that can run for 20+ mins. Im thinking around 6oz flying wt, with a CD ROM motor.
slam
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Post by slam »

cutter. sounds more like the pocket combat ships than full 48" zagi type planes.

the zagi type full contacts use a 16/15/4 mega motor that is well over 3oz by itself. the planes come in between 25 and 40 oz with battery.

the pocket combat planes are much smaller and lighter. we flew some a couple of years ago. they were fun but hard to hit each other because they were so small. i have 2 pocket combats coming so will revisit it and see if we can hit each other again.

drew and i are experimenting with zagi type wings for 1/2a. a pusher would be ideal for electrics and these planes are available and TOUGH. the sweep is my only concern, but maybe with sticky stuff on it, the cuts will be close to a straight wing.

have an old zagi that i modified to hold a bp 12 outrunner. it won't spin a 6x2 prop 20k but the speed seems to be about what i have observed from the 1/2a's. will experiment further.

slam
sgilkey
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Post by sgilkey »

slam, if you have a chance could you post photos of how you converted your Zagi to the brushless BP? i've been thinking of trying a similar conversion but have not come up with a good way to mount the motor. what prop are you running? Brian did convert an old Blue Foamie to the BP motor he got for Christmas (his Me109 is still on the building table) and he test flew it in between our 1/2A test flights, the new motor really works nicely in place of the old S400!
Lee Liddle
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Post by Lee Liddle »

Scott, here`s a suggestion. Get a dowel that is the right dia to fit in the Zaggi`s motor cradle. I think that it`s 1 1/8" Most outrunners come with a radial type firewall mount. Screw the mount to the end of the dowel and just tie-wrap it into place like you would the brushed motor. One advantage to this is that you could easily go back to the original motor or to an inrunner style brushless.
slam
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Post by slam »

my motor mount i stole from the devastator kit (at least the design). it is a piece of aluminum 1/16 x 1 1/2" (lowes). cut about 5" off. bent it 90 degrees about 1 1/2" from end. drilled holes to line up with bp motor mount holes, drilled lightning holes in main part of aluminum, and glued to bottom of zagi. i then put bidi tape over it. motor mount part sticks through the foam and sticks up on the top side.

the whole mount weighs about 1/2oz. i didn't use any of the original zagi mounting or tray. this plane was beat up and heavy so i stripped it down and built it light. rtf it weighs 13oz with a 830ma 3cell, gws servos, and 18a speed controller. it actually flew great with the big 2000ma 3cell i use in my ssc (5oz?).

now that i know i have weight to use, i would use hs81mg's and more strapping tape. my next 1/2a try will have a different motor.

will get pictures posted if you have questions

slam
sgilkey
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Post by sgilkey »

slam and Lee, both of those suggestions are great and very clear, no photos needed. thanks! Slam, what prop did you use? I WAS concerned that the little Gunther turning at about 14-15k on a S400 would be way faster than an outrunner turning a 8x6, but then Brian flew the Blue Foamie he converted and I would say level speed is better, while climb is much better! For a little wing, that thing turns pretty sweet too! He was trying to tempt me to combat with the 1/2A Arrow, but I declined. i didn't want to beat him too badly (as i always do when we fly together) so early in the season.
slam
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Post by slam »

am flying an apc 8x4 prop at about 8amps.

haven't checked rpms but it flew great....until the wooden motor mount broke...hence the aluminum motor mount.

slam
Cutter
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Post by Cutter »

Hey Slam
I seen a video on the Pocket Combat planes. Those things are Little Hot Rods! Do they slow down nice, or do they stall at low speeds? Im planning on taking the 48" Zagi Airfoil and reduce it down a few steps and make a 24" or 30" wing. I would like to get some slower speeds out of it so I can fly Low & Close. Also so I can fly indoors.
slam
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Post by slam »

they fly fairly well at slow speeds, depending on rtf weight. keep it light.

i don't know if they are slow enough for indoors though.

we used to fly them WAY up close.

slam
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