Build- Laser Arts RES Scepter

[johnsocj]

Brian has been kind enough to send me, free of charge, a kit of the 100" Scepter RES Sailplane.

I recieved it today, and I'm very excited.

The deal is this- I build and fly the plane, and be brutally honest about the merits and demerits of the kit and aircraft, posting the process here, on RCGroups.

Sounds cool to me.

I will be building this craft to kit specs. No carbon this, no carbon that, D-tube whatever- strictly to kit specs.

The building process will be tracked with photographs and notes, as well as expenditures and time spent during the building process.

Anyhow- the stage is set!

Photos will follow on Monday. Thanks again Brian!

[johnsocj]

Photo's Today! I'm still shrinking them down to internet size, this may take some time.

This weekend, the fuselage was built, and the wing panels were started. The prefabrication of parts is extrodinary, and though there were a few problems, they were minor. I may have to post throughout the week, I have a great deal of information and photos to share.

More later today,

Christian

[fprintf]

Christian, when I need to shrink images down to size I create a copy of the original full sized image and then use a free download of Paint Shop Pro to "resize" the images to 800x600. This takes them down from about 1/2 meg to about 80k or so. It takes about 30 seconds for each photo.

I am looking forward to the photos. It sounds as if you have made lots of progress already! The fuse on these laser cut kits is awesome... they fall together faster than a jigsaw puzzle and just as tightly!

[johnsocj]

Thanks Fprint, I reduced them all to 800 by 600, we'll see how this goes.

I'm working on a hollowcore door worktable, with a 2x4 ceiling tile for the building surface. The window offers a really relaxed filtered light, and the door is big enough to hold the project, and small enough to force me to clean up regularly.

The box arrived in good shape, and all the parts inside were unharmed. I have to admit, I kind of miss having the "kit box" with the picture and short description, but if it keeps costs lower, then so be it.

All of the parts released from the sheets with ease, though I feel a few of the plywood parts were overly attached. All of the bits and pieces cleaned up quickly enough with the aid of a T-bar sander. Total time for initial layout, release and sorting of the parts: 1 hour.

[johnsocj]

I started with the fuselage. One minor issue here, partially a curse, partially a blessing. The tabs of the fuselage formers would not fit into the slots into the fuselage sides. I am almost completely certain that this is not Brian's fault, rather the thickness dimension of the plywood probably varies from batch to batch. Brief thickness sanding of each fuse former got the fit tight and right.

Dry fitting of the fuselage is crucial. I believe this should be in the instructions. One important example: the tow hook reinforcement plate is laminated to the fuselage bottom. This plate also fits precisely behind and in front of formers #4 and #5. Laminating this plate backwards could be devistating, as the adjustable tow hook slot is not centered between formers 4 and 5.

The fibreglass patches that help join the fore and aft fuse sides was not present. I used what I had on hand.

All of the fuselage formers are numbered in their bottom left. This aids in alignment, though former number 1 is numbered upside-down.

[johnsocj]

The fitting of the fore and aft fuse sides is pretty darn cool. They key together, preventing alignment problems. The instructions actually state that there is "no need to work on top of the plans" This works very well.

Problem- the plans have the pushrod exits drawn at different elevations, partly to allow pushrods to cross inside the fuse, and partly to allow for the different positions of the rudder and elevator. Though the aft fuse sides are labeled for left and right, they are identical, and both pushrod exits are cut lower than the ones on the plans.

[johnsocj]

After the fuselage popped together so quickly and accurately, I decided to move on to the tail surfaces. Many of the shaped parts are already laser cut, and like the rest of the laser cut pieces, are accurate to their discription. A few small (and yet still minor) problems rose their heads. 1/16"x1/4" basswood strip is used to reinforce the leading and trailing edges of the horizontal stab, and the main upright of the vertical stab. A 1/4"x1/4" piece of bass is used to join the two laser cut elevator halves. The 1/4" joiner was included, but too short for the job, and I fell about two inches short of the 1/16" stock, after the vertical stab piece, and the short horizontal piece were cut.

[johnsocj]

So anyway, I moved on to the wing. Basswood scrap from the wing spars provided the elevator joiner piece, and I'll cut the 1/16 by 1/4 material out of some sheet stock later. No biggie. I'll post wing shots tommorrow.

[Eberwein]

EEK! Well, I'm not sure why, but my BOM was wrong for that basswood piece. The correct lengths have just been cut and put into the kits in stock.

About the pushrod exit holes, I will change that in new production. If anyone thinks I should replace the parts in current kits, let me know and I'll do it.

[marty o]

For my Scepter, I wrapped lightweight fiberglass (3/4 oz.) over the joints between the 1/4"x1/4" basswood joiner and the two elevator halves to add strength. This was based on a suggestion Ollie Wilson made long ago for some other kit and may not be necessary for the Scepter. I also laid fiberglass over the trailing edges of the elevator and rudder after sanding the wood to a sharp edge. The edge turned out not to be very sharp, about 1/16", but maybe I've avoided some hangar rash by strengthening the balsa edges.
These changes probably helped my peace of mind but added weight of the tail.
Okay, I'll try not to chime in with any more useless posts. I'm enjoying your thread , however.

[MonkeyBone]

Looking good so far.... cant wait to see some more progress. I just received confirmation I should receive my Scepter kit Friday or Saturday :D .. The Scepter looks like a pretty straight forward and easy kit to build I hope. This will be my first wood kit build in about 4 years.

[MonkeyBone]

What servos do you plan to use in your Scepter standard or mini??

[johnsocj]

The fuse has plenty of room, so I'm using standard size servos there, but the wings don't have as much room. I'll be installing HS 81's, one for each spoiler. When you order, don't forget that you'll need a "Y" harness, and two 12" extensions.

The front of the nose fits 4 AA's in a square pack configuration with just enough room for some padding, and weight just front of the battery.

The reciever space is ample. Use whatever you like.

[johnsocj]

The wings are largely open structures, with only the first bay recieving sheeting. The following photos are of a center panel, dry fit. The spar caps and turbulator strips are basswood, the trailing edge is built-up with balsa (fprintf has a really good detail of the process on his Jester build thread) and the leading edge is a hardwood dowel. The spoilers are laser cut from plywood. The third rib and the root rib cap are also plywood to take the stress from the wing joiner rods. Again, everything fits immaculately.

[johnsocj]

Rib angle guages are also provided, lazer cut from the plywood sheets. These are super, super cool. As you can see, there's a bit of wood to play with here. A creative individual could eek out a bit more wingspan if he/she desired. However, I'm following the instructions. Though, I've wandered from the instructions with the outboard panels build.

The instructions would like you to place and glue all of the ribs, and then trim the shear webs to fit, and I have dutifully followed suit. I'm building the outboard panels now, using the webs to space the ribs, (aside from the tip root web, as it must be trimmed to the proper angle- this fits per plan.) and gluing the outboard wing panels as a wholistic assembly. This added 3/16" to the span.

I feel so guilty.

[johnsocj]

I feel at this point in the build I have to ask a few questions, primarily about the use of plywood.

The spoiler plates are plywood. Do they have to be made from plywood? Is that structure really neccessary? Hard balsa could effectively cut some weight here. Also, ply being ply, they're not quite flat, tape hinging will be a little difficult, though not impossible.

The rear fuse halves are also ply. Could hard balsa be substituted here as well? The addition of a thin mending plate between the fore and aft fuse sections with the use of hard balsa would take some serious weight out of the nose.

Of course, modifications like this would no doubt change the price point of this sailplane, and add to the complexity of an otherwise really simple build. Longerons would probably also have to be added along with the balsa fuse sides. It currently doesn't have them, nor does it need it.

[solo6796]

Christian,

Subscribing to your thread.

When I saw ya putting in plywood around the spoilers, I thought the same thing.... Seems a little hefty for that area.

AJ

[johnsocj]

It's really just the spoiler blades themselves. They're installed directly behind the top sparcap, bordered by ribs and a strip of basswood at the back. All very standard construction. There is a small servo shelf at the bottom of the wing, but plywood seems appropriate there.

[Eberwein]

Christian. I have to agree with you about the spoilers being plywood. In future kit runs, they will be balsa.

On the fuselage, however, I'm not sure if I'll be changin that yet. I'll let you all know if I do though. I agree that balsa on the rear fuselage pieces would be better as balsa. One of the pains for the builder will be to match the ply to the balsa at the joint. The ply measures 0.117-0.118 on average, where as the balsa measures 0.120 - 0.130 and sometimes further out from there, depending on the run. (measurements were taken on about 10% samples from each order throughout the last year). so, at the average low and high, you can end up with ~ 1/32" "step" at the joint. Then again, sanding the balsa down to meet it might not be a big deal wither? Thoughts??

[SoCalGliderFlyr]

Sand the balsa. Use 1/16" ply on the inside as the diagonal brace. Standard practise for ply/balsa fuse sides.

Very large spoiler blades made from balsa have to be thick. TE stock can work nicely here. Or you match the sheeting thickness with ply. Would be better to laminate two pieces of 1/32" to make the 1/16" as these would stay flat. In either case you should back the ply with some balsa. Again the lamination is to keep the ply flat.

I posted a sectional image in one of the BoT threads about adding spoilers.

[SoCalGliderFlyr]

Christian, when I need to shrink images down to size I create a copy of the original full sized image and then use a free download of Paint Shop Pro to "resize" the images to 800x600. This takes them down from about 1/2 meg to about 80k or so. It takes about 30 seconds for each photo.


I have PSP-9 but still use PSP-7 for most everything. Great program for the price.

[SoCalGliderFlyr]

I'm working on a hollowcore door worktable, with a 2x4 ceiling tile for the building surface. The window offers a really relaxed filtered light, and the door is big enough to hold the project, and small enough to force me to clean up regularly.


Noting picture of very hard chair: Get a padded chair! Looking at that one hurts my behind!

[johnsocj]

Nah, I'm skinny and young yet, so the chair isn't such a big deal. It's alot more comfortable than it looks.

Theoretically, the spoiler blades and aft fuse sides could be lazer cut from the same sheet- if the blades needed a little support, 1/16 bass could be run on the extreme right and left sides, perpindicular to the grain.

As Brian mentions above, these are all tradeoffs- the simplicity of the build, for a little less weight here and there. And don't forget the all important price-point. A perfectly spec'd kit is pointless if it's never sold.

The same could be said for the wing structure. Why not sheet the leading edge? And if you're sheeting the leading edge, then why not D-tube? But that's not the point of this kit. It will fly, and it will fly well. It's not meant to be a speedster, it's not meant to take super high-load flying.

Another example is the wings hardwood dowel leading edge. It's not a perfect building style, but one of the kits greatest blessings. It's fast to install, needs no shaping, and will withstand the ocassional thwack! into a tree branch or two.

I'm glad you're enjoying the thread.

C.

[SoCalGliderFlyr]

I've been repairing some of the import RES's. The ones that use the kevlar/carbon preformed D-tube. These have no LE sub structure other than the formed D-tube. Thinking steamed 1/64" ply.

While I do like the nostalgia designs it's really a design statement. Some can be build "as was", some need some serious internal structure redesign. As long as it does not impact the original Design Statement I have no problems tweaking the internal structures.

[johnsocj]

All of the major structures are complete now- wing panels are complete, tail surfaces are complete, and the fuselage is complete. I'll have photos up shortly, primarily my method of finishing the wings trailing edges.

Next on the menu: Final sanding of tail surfaces, joining of wing panels, and reinforcement of wing joining hardware @ the wing root. Also, I'll be ordering radio equipment, and doing some installation prior to covering.

[fprintf]

One of the pains for the builder will be to match the ply to the balsa at the joint. The ply measures 0.117-0.118 on average, where as the balsa measures 0.120 - 0.130 and sometimes further out from there, depending on the run. (measurements were taken on about 10% samples from each order throughout the last year). so, at the average low and high, you can end up with ~ 1/32" "step" at the joint. Then again, sanding the balsa down to meet it might not be a big deal wither? Thoughts??

On my other plane they had such a joint. The joint was supported by a doubler (balsa stick, as I recall) and then the outside of the balsa was sanded down to the right thickness. The doubler made the 1/32" slight reduction in thickness of the balsa inconsequential so that there was no reduction in strength at the joint.

The other thing that was done on my Marauder was making the grain for the top and bottom sheeting of the fuselage at 45 degree angles to the fuselage sides, and exactly perpendicular to each other (when looking at the grain from either the top or bottom). It adds a tremendous amount of stiffness, was explained very well within the text of the instructions and doesn't add too much to the amount of balsa required in the kit. I plan to do this on my Jester build because it really can't hurt.

[johnsocj]

I'm also building a Marauder, though I put the build on hold for this project. I had considered using the diagonal fuse sheeting method here- but again, I'm building the kit to spec. I like the diagonal method, it seems to be very effective, though I'm not sure what the measurable difference would be. The Scepter is sheeted crosswise, both top and bottom. It doesn't seem to be lacking in any way, especially considering the ply fuse sides.

Many of the kits I've built have linear sheeting on the top, and crosswise sheeting on the bottom. The linear sheeting has been a weakness on some kits. I don't forsee the cross grain on top and bottom being a problem.

Christian

[johnsocj]

The built-up trailing edges were not nearly as difficult to build as I had anticipated. I removed the majority of the excess material from the lower trailing edge with a razor knife, though I don't recommend this to people with unsteady hands. I followed by taping the tips of the wing ribs to prevent overzealous sanding, and finished the job with a T-Bar sander. I used carpenters glue for this application, it allowed me some working time, and application of the glue over the entire surface area.

[johnsocj]

I pinned the wing panels down to the board to ensure flatness during the trailing edge process, of course.

I returned to the tail surfaces. They are primarily built up, but some larger pieces are lazer cut. This is very nice, especially the tabbed feature of the vertical stab into the horizontal stab. The vertical stab also reaches down into the rear of the fuse, for a really secure fit. Nice. You'll notice I treat the leading edge of the vertical stab as a single piece, until I've finished sanding the leading edge profile. I'll cut them apart after. Carpenters glue is used here also. The monoject irrigation syringes are particularly good for this.

At this point, all major pieces are built. Wing joiners need to be completed, root ribs added, epoxy and aft shear webs added in joiner boxes, and radio installation started in the inboard wing panels. The first bay of the wing roots recieves sheeting as well.

Sanding will be minimal. There will be only minor touch up on the wings, trailing edges, tips, and simply making surfaces match here and there. The fuselage is primarily ply, shaping is reserved for the nose. I may add a touch of fibreglass here, even though it's not mentioned in the plans or instructions. The balsa is very soft. The tail feathers will recieve the most attention. I do like a shapely tail.

Overall, the excellent fit of the parts is leading to a short trip between construction and covering. I'm pleased.

[johnsocj]

Whoops! Forgot to add these photos of the tail parts, the second photo is the Scepter tail parts hanging just in front of my Marauder tail parts.

[JimHSoars]

The monoject irrigation syringes are particularly good for this.
johnsocj;

I've been thinking of using just this sort of thing for yellow wood glue too. I like the longer curved tips in the photo. At what sort of store would I find these Monoject Irrigation Syringes?

TIA
Jim

[johnsocj]

I pick them up at my local medical supply store. Some of your larger drug stores will have them as well. These particular syringes are usually used for dental irrigation. They'll run about three bucks a piece.

[Hostage-46]

Christian,

What is that you're using for a building board?

[johnsocj]

I'm using a 2'x4' ceiling tile on top of a hollow core closet door. The ceiling tile is flipped nice side down, the "ugly" side is smoother. The closet door costs around $17, and the ceiling tile is about $3. Just about the best workbench anywhere for a yuppie coupon.

[MonkeyBone]

The builds looking good!! How are you going to do the washout in the wing? I know it tells you in the instructions to do it when you cover the panel but I was wondering if there would be any way to build it in while you where building the wing?

[johnsocj]

I think the instructions call for something like an eighth of an inch of washout or so. Without the covering on the wing, I can flex the trailing edge of the wingtip panels up and down about an inch. (twisting motion around the spar, not flexion of the spar) "Building it in" is pointless. Final washout, or lack of it, must be determined carefully when covering this wing, or most open structure wings.

[johnsocj]

It's been a few days, sorry all. I'm at that funny place in the build, where it looks like an airplane, but there's still so much to do.

I finished joining the wing panels a few days ago, which was very easy, finished sheeting the first wing bays, and applying the aft shear webs. All fit well.

While waiting for my flight pack from ServoCity, I'm sanding surfaces to shape. I have some photos to share, but I left my camera at home this morning. Sorry.

I will share one photo- the root ribs where the inboard and outboard wing panels join. They have lovely little marks drawn on them with the laser, to indicate where the rib needs to be cut away to insert the joiner. They're wrong. But it really doesn't matter, the ribs cut away just the same, and the joiners fit snugly.

[johnsocj]

So, you can see another nice touch in this kit- the spar caps on the tip panel are a lighter weight material than the spar caps on the inboard panel. The joiner fills the entire area from the front to the rear of the spars on the outboard panel, but leaves a little room fore and aft. No biggie, both bays that recieve the joiner also get shear webs front and back.

[fly1milehi]

Christain,
does the upper surface of the wing get sheeting from the LE to the Spar?
Greg

[johnsocj]

No, the only sheeting on the wing is the first bay at the root of each wing half. The plane is described as being "inspired by the Olympic II platform" Like the Olympic series, the wing is turbulated, not sheeted.

[johnsocj]

Ah sanding. There's not a whole lot to do on this kit, so relish what you can. I love a good shaping job, it's the freeflighter in me. These plans actually show a really great taper on the vertical and horizontal fins, not the usual just round the edges approach. It doesn't take very long, and the results are well worth it.

[johnsocj]

Oh, and I've decided to do all flying surfaces in transparents. Yellow for the control surfaces and behind the spar, with blue on the main tail surfaces and forward of the spar.

The fuse will probably be white. I'm still working on that one, but some of this will have to wait (especially covering the wings) until I get my package from Servo City. Any day now.

[johnsocj]

WooHoo!!! I just recieved my ServoCity flight pack, and it's all good. I had to relieve the front of the fuse just a bit to fit my battery back, (1700Mah Nicad) but I can say that I'm definitely getting all I can get out of it. Photos later.

[johnsocj]

So, last week I recieved my package from Servo City- everything was as promised- and the battery just barely fit. Great. I had to relieve some of the fuselage in order to fit the battery in- it's a little bigger than your standard 4AA pack, but I'm happy to have the extra flight time, and the extra weight.

Radio installation went smoothly- my only kind-of complaint is how close the servo arms are to one another. I wanted to rotate one servo, so the arms were one in front, and one in back, but then the rear servo arm got in the way of the canopy closure system. The servos had to be installed per plan. I had to use the innermost hole of the smallest servo arm.

[johnsocj]

Besides the radio install, a great deal of covering was done over the weekend. I spent about six hours with Super Monokote, and about three hours in total finishing and painting the fuselage. There's still a bunch of work to do, including attaching tail surfaces, installing the spoiler mechanisms (the servos and their leads were run prior to covering), attaching and trimming the linkages to the tail surfaces, and checking and correcting any warps in the wings after covering.

I'm attaching a really poor teaser shot- but no-one gets to see it until it's really done.

I'm on schedule for trim flights this weekend.

[fprintf]

Congratulations on your progress! It is really great to see what a motivated and fast builder can do! That teaser shot looks really nice as well. I can't wait to see it fly.

[johnsocj]

Thanks fprint,

I don't share your resposibilites with family and children, so things move a bit quicker over here, though, eventually, I'd be happy to make the trade.

It looks like an airplane, but that doesn't mean it's ready to fly. There's much to be done, and these final steps are some of the most important, and can't be rushed.

Question: the micro servos in the wings (hs81's) have to be attached to the plywood plate behind the spar. What adhesives are reccommeded here? Epoxy and Goop are near the top of my list, and perhaps servo tape?

Christian

[fprintf]

Christian,

I was planning on using Household Goop. I have always found it is strong enough, especially on plywood, and yet can be cut through relatively easily.

[johnsocj]

I ended up installing velcro for the spoiler's servo platform plates. I don't know if it will work well or not. The primary reason I'm trying this is because I've always been dead set against it.

I installed the super sticky adhesive type, with the hook covering the entire plywood servo platform area, and the loop on the servo itself. When or if this idea fails, I'll remove and goop. The velcro itself is very well adhesed to its relative parts, the only potential issue is the stability of the velcro/velcro bond. We'll see.

I've weighed the entire aircraft, it's coming out at 50 oz even. The plane is advertised as being between 48 and 52 oz. Right on. The only weight to be added is balancing weight in the nose.

I've ditched the plywood spoiler plates, and am making my own from hard balsa, capped with strips of bass on the ends to prevent warpage. This is overkill, I'm sure, but so it goes. This has saved some significant weight.

Other Changes: Pushrods. Supplied in the kit were horns, .054 music wire pushrods with very nicely bent Z bends at the end, and red housings from the ubiquitous sullivan Gold-n-Rod kits.

I'm sorry, I just couldn't get over this, and had to change it. The music wire was smaller than the holes in the horns, so that was a little shakey, and the music wire was not well supported by the cavernous outer housings. I felt this was way to sloppy. The red housings were already installed in the fuse, so I bought a gold-n-rod set, and simply installed the yellow rods into the existing red housings, along with all the nice terminal hardware. This also allowed me to use the horns I wanted on the servos, and not the uber-cut-down ones I needed to use with the screw-clamp type. I feel much more secure with this setup.

I will be finished with all construction and radio installation this weekend, and weather willing, will be trim flying next week.

Cheers,

Christian

[johnsocj]

Oh, and the last big decision to make: Should the spoilers be covered in blue, yellow, or something completely different? This could put me back a whole week!! Should spoiler plates stand out, or should they blend in? Could they be used as a tool, and covered in holographic film?

Oh horror! Oh horror! What should I do??? (note attempt at humor)

[solo6796]

I vote Blend with the wing...

AJ

[georgeg]

[QUOTE=johnsocj]Should spoiler plates stand out, or should they blend in? Could they be used as a tool, and covered in holographic film?

QUOTE]

Blend with the wings on the outside by all means but contrast wildly on the underside to show if the spoilers are opening at all on launch. It does happen from time to time and I think it may be likely if you're using velcro to mount the spoiler servos.

[fprintf]

Contrast. :)

[johnsocj]

I like the idea about putting a contrasting color underneath- that's something I didn't think about.

Thanks.

[johnsocj]

OK, so weather willing- it's been a bit windy for trim flights... She's ready to go. A pretty bird by all acounts, but the nose weight put her above target, and those spoilers are a pain to rig. I ditched the velcro days ago, it took up far too much thickness, but the positive actuation of the spoiler, that is, servo determining both up and down end points, and on seperate wings no less, is a pain in the arse. I've installed HS-81's, and any stress gets them all buzzy, so trimming in ANY amount of down beyond the stop is problematic. Normally closed spoilers (rubberbands, etc) with the servo only determining the opening are way easier.

That said, they work now. And here she is!!!

[fly1milehi]

LOOKS TERRIFIC!!!!!!

Nice finishing job!
Greg

[Hostage-46]

Very nice, I'm inspired to get moving on my Houston Hawk

[fprintf]

Wow Christian, it looks awesome! I am very impressed with the speed and precision with which you have built this plane. I only did a few little bits on mine tonight but it is coming together. I am using HS81s on my spoilers too but am tempted to just rig up some strings and a central servo since that is way easier imho.

Looks nice! I can't wait for a test flight and launch report.

[johnsocj]

Unfortunately, the Santa-Ana winds are howling. Trim flights will have to wait until these winds die down, and well, sometimes they last for quite a while. I guess I'll have to pull out the weasel and wait.

[johnsocj]

No, no weasel today, the winds died down to but a loud whisper, I quickly trimmed the lady at my field- hey why does she turn left when I'm thinking right? Reverse that servo (duh.) add a couple clicks of down and we're good to go. She's got a good flat glide, about three hundred feet off of a hefty overhand toss.

Since the wind was blowing, and I'm not really a thermal guy when it comes down to it, Beacon Ridge was the place to be. SoCalEdison is doing a lot of work out there, and though the road sign says "Closed" the gate is wide open, and all of the Edison people waived and smiled. There was a whisper of wind over the hill, and a few ravens working the ridge, so I put her together, did a range test, yes the rudder is turning in the correct direction, the spoilers are not responsive..... F it..... a couple more clicks of down for good measure, and over she went.

[johnsocj]

The colors seem to work well enough at distance, the blue is dark enough to provide contrast, and the yellow is bright enough to beacon. I took all the photos myself, while flying, the lens is zoomed all the way out, or in, or well, you know. She's very stable, flies herself for the most part. A few times she would fly toward the upper ridge, give a full, slow turn, and continue past and down the lower ridge all by her lonesome. Further out I was able to work her to a good speck, though this was more her doing than my own. Bringing her down was interesting, she's got a nice whistle in a dive- the poor dear, thinks she's a moldie, you know? I hate to break it to her.- I even worked in a half hearted hammerhead.

She'll turn tightly enough, but I had a hard time keeping altitude in tighter turns. Of course I was sloping her, not thermal flying, and this is more of an issue of overall C. of G. than it is the design.

She also likes a bit of speed, too slow, and she'll do the repetitive tiny stall thing, though she never dropped a wing, even with the wind at her side. I have yet to test this during landing approaches, of course, and it should also be said, I have not added the reccomended washout. Currently the wings are dead flat.

I was able to trim out the elevator with prolonged flying, it's very neutral now, and at most speeds, though again, if you slow her down too much she'll drop her nose, though not a tip. I'm guessing I can take a little weight out of the front yet.

Rudder response is good, but flat, the wing doesn't tend to drop until you put in the elevator, I'm used to the wing dropping a touch more before putting in the elevator. It took me a couple of minutes to get used to this, but I got the turns smooth enough by the end of the flight.

Landing was uneventful, I just kind of settled her in to the higher slope of the hill, the wind was calm enough that there really wasn't much turbulance over the ridge. All in all the flight was about twenty minutes. I threw her over again, but got a little brave with the side of the hill, and well, I've got some covering to repair.

Feel free to ask me any questions, make any reccommendations- many of you are far more experienced fliers than myself.

Christian

[johnsocj]

The landing.

[tw126a]

Nice job Christian! As a newbie I followed your build with interest. How does it compare with the Oly 11 in construction and flying. Would this be a suitable bird for a beginner? Congratulations on the maiden.

Tom

[marty o]

Christian,
How do you like the Scepter, now that you've had a little more time with it?

Tom,
I would say the plane has good flying qualities for a beginner. Very docile and stable, fairly sturdy, but thermals very well. If you don't have much building experience, you might need a bit of help even though it's easy to build. The instructions are not as detailed as a beginner would need to build it on his own.

[johnsocj]

Oh Man Marty- I wish I knew, I got slammed with work right after Spring Break, I've been working most weekends, I worked last weekend, and hey! I'm at work right now. I'll have some more flights in in the next couple of weeks, but with my short time on the sticks, I can easily agree with your description.

I thought I replied to Tom?? Sorry. My only caveat for a beginner is the setup with the wing rods, and getting those spoilers dialed in without the aid of a computerized radio. I've fiddled with them a bit more, and I can't seem to keep my servos from buzzing at me.

It's maybe a little speedier than a raw beginner may like. Though with help (flight instructor) this shouldn't be a problem, and actually help a pilot. It may be more of a step-up from a foamy type plane than a raw beginner plane.

C.

[marty o]

I also have not been able to fly for a while. Anybody having fun with airplanes out there?

[fprintf]

I have been able to fly, but not build! Argh! (it took me 1 hour to finish covering my fuse last night)

[Mirage1]

I Flew my Sceptre today about 5 in the evening. Calm to light winds. 75 F One hand launch showed no ugly surprises so up the high start she went. I had the tow hook as far forward as it would go. I needed to use small rudder inputs going up but I got three nice flights and caught a small thermal on one and stayed up about ten minutes. The county park I fly in is a old army helicopter field with some asphalt pads scattered around the grassy areas. Those put off some good lift when heated. Very majestic FLAT glide. I had about three clicks of up trim in. (too much nose weight?) I put 6 oz in nose to get it to balance at the aft edge of wing rod. I was excited. Played with the spoilers, I have them set for 80 up and they just about stop her.

[marty o]

Very cool. Congratulations.
I dont' remember how much nose weight is in my Scepter, but 6 ounces seems like a lot. I'm sure she'll carry the weight just fine, though.
Tell us more when you get more flights on her.

Marty
The master of vicarious flying

[Mirage1]

I flew again today since I was off work. It was about 80 and puffy white clouds, winds 5-10. Had one bad landing on a pop off took a serious chunk out of the nose on some asphalt but I flew anyhow and got 35 minutes two flights later. Once I got above a certain altitude it seemed like lift was everywhere and I could have stayed up for as long as I wanted. I deployed the spoilers and headed her into the wind and it tracked straight as an arrow , nice descent speed hands off and I had grass to cut etc so I called it a day. I like this plane.

[marty o]

Thanks, Mirage. I needed that.
I agree, the Scepter is a terrific plane.

[johnsocj]

I need to work less.

C.

[Mirage1]

Out of curiosity, where do Sceptre flyers have their plane balanced and tow hook position. I balanced mine at the drawing position and the tow hook as far forward as the slot allows. The speed of the plane can vary a lot with just a click or two of trim. Maybe it is my CG.

[marty o]

I checked last night -- my Scepter balances at 3 1/4" behind the leading edge, at the back edge of the spar. That appears to be 1/8 to 1/4" behind the location shown on the drawings.
The stem of the towhook is centered 3/4" behind the front of the slot.
I started with the towhook near the front of the slot. That worked fine on the hi-start but gave very poor launches on the club winch. Last time I flew, I moved the hook back a little at a time to it's current location. This improved the climb during launch and it's still rock steady on the high start. I'm hoping for a substantial improvement on winch launches but haven't tried it yet.

[Eberwein]

Just an update ...

Well, I finally broke down and bought www.LaserArts.com (http://www.LaserArts.com) from a squatter!

The old web sites will be forwarding to the new site shortly (waiting for DNS updates to propegate).

Let me know what you think about it. We're still adding thinks and more images as time allows, but it's fully functional, and a lot better than our old one.

[sundog]

Looks good Brian. Really like the tabs for specs, manual etc. which keeps most info above the fold. Also cleaner and easier to navigate.

[varoman1]

About three years ago I built a Scepter and really enjoyed flying it. Flew next to a buddy who flew an Olympic II. Both flew well with the Oly having a better light air edge while the Scepter handled wind better. Keep in mind that the Oly was much lighter than the Scepter. I lost the plane in a large corn field. Found it nearly two months later in late Sebtember. A failed HS81MG rudder servo did me in. I gave it away due to a lot of warping after many rains. Any way as I remember the build, I removed as much of the plywood as possible and I wish I had removed more!
Spoilers and spoiler frame were replaced with light sheet balsa. Used one piece of ply for the main wing panel to tip panel joiners. At the root end used long pieces of 1/16 ply and formed a box to epoxy fill around the brass wing rod receivers. Sawed off nearly 5 inches from the wing rod. Should have replaced the ply rear fuselage with balsa. My spoilers ran with string to a servo in the fuse. Used 3/16 bent alu tubes to
guide the servo string to the servo. Magnets held the servos shut. I seem to recall the weight to be around the mid 40's but don't quote that! If I would have replaced the rear fuse with balsa, I could have really reduced the weight. The top of the fuse just forward of the wing rod could be made as a removable hatch for ballast or a nice spot for a servo for the string operated spoilers. I dont recall if it applys to this plane, but do not put turbulator spars on the bottom of the airfoil.
Sorry to ramble. Just thought I would pass on some info. It was a very good flying plane. Quiet and dependable except for the rudder servo and high corn!

[Mirage1]

Why no turbulator spars on bottom?

[varoman1]

The Mirage has a spar or two on the bottom and it also is a superb flying sailplane. I do not know if that particular airfoil was optimized by M. Selig. I know he worked on the semisymmetrical MTS airfoil. Anyway I would not want to trip or slow down flow under any wing. It would increase the drag.
The aerodynamic experts hopefully have a more indepth answer.

[Arbo]

So I got my Scepter, and started building. After building the inboard wing panels, I was looking at the plans, and wondered, what keeps the wings on the steel rod? What did I miss?

[jrgospod]

So I got my Scepter, and started building. After building the inboard wing panels, I was looking at the plans, and wondered, what keeps the wings on the steel rod? What did I miss?


Arbo,

Friction and wing joint tape. You usually put a strong clear 2-inch wide tape at the edge of each wing section panel to use for a taping surface. This will prevent you from destroying the covering when you remove the joint tape (a less sticky clear tape over the joint) after each use.

John

[Arbo]

Ah... I should have been able to figure that one out. Thanks.

[Arbo]

Once I had the wing center sections about done and the wing tubes in, before sealing up that section with the rear spar sheeting, I pumped in a good bit of PU, so it would expand and fill the area to have a solid section. Dunno if it will actually make that stronger... but seemed like a good idea... I know it's 'foaming' up as little bits of PU are oozing through the smallest of openings (ones I didn't even see where open)...

[johnsocj]

Wow! Didn't expect to see this thread open again anytime soon!

The Scepter is pretty awesome, as is, or with anyone's personal mods. I sadly landed mine at very high speed into the side of a hill in an extrodinarily violent manner. I kept the left wingtip for sentiment.

Enjoy! and don't get the wrong idea, it's a pretty durable craft.

C.

[Arbo]

I look forward to getting it in the air. For some reason my brain didn't register how big 100" is... now the wings are built and ready for touchup sanding and such, and I have them hooked together with the steal rod.. wow... big boys.. gonna be NICE.. :D :D

Working on the fuse now.

[Arbo]

Oh, almost forgot.. where the tubes you put through the fuse (wing rod and alignment) too long? Mine are about 1/8 inch too long, guess I gotta trim em down a bit.

[Arbo]

framed and covered (sans the racing stripes on the wing top).. bottom of wing is black/white/black/white every two bays, will be very visible. And no, the fuse isn't orange, it's a deep red that for some reason came out orange in the picture.

Tail feathers on and drying. And the tape and weight (on the tail) are stratigically placed so they are all straight and level. ;)

[Arbo]

Getting there...

[skypix]

Thanks for the great thread! Lots of useful info in there for an old '50s U-control builder (as a boy) and current foamie etc. builder who's tackling a Mirage short kit, an antique Sailaire and also currently flying full sized hang gliders myself, while I still can!


Much appreciated all the cool shots, if I ever buy a Sceptre I'll be referring to them...probably will also when I build the Mirage.

[Cash]

I ordered 2 Scepter 100's for a friend and myself (still awaiting arrival, should be here soon). I've enjoyed reading the posts and the photos which I think will help in preconstruction planning. Is there any new changes in the kit and building of the sailplane I should consider? Orange and cream will be my color scheme.

[Aobid]

I've got this kit, can't wait to get ready to build it. Wonder if I can lighten it up to as little as 40oz.

Maybe even move the servos forward than the plans. Also, I guess it's probably a good idea to use full size servos since the weight is needed.

Great Thread!

Aobid

[LVsoaring]

I built one about 6 months ago, and I had to add quite a bit of weight to the nose to get her to balance. The heaviest servos you can fit, as far forward as possible will help. The fuse is a bit narrow, so space is limited.

[jrgospod]

The heaviest servos you can fit, as far forward as possible will help. The fuse is a bit narrow, so space is limited.


Another approach is to use small equipment as far foreword as you can and then drill the nose tip for lead to get the weight at the extreme front fulcrum point of the plane. That approach will achieve less weight needed overall because the weight will be farther forward.

John.

[Aobid]

I built one about 6 months ago, and I had to add quite a bit of weight to the nose to get her to balance. The heaviest servos you can fit, as far forward as possible will help. The fuse is a bit narrow, so space is limited.

Thanks for the updates guys....


I haven't started on mine yet and was wondering if there is something I can change or remove on the tail to keep from adding so much weight.

I just HATE adding dead weight. I mostly plan on using this as a thermal ship of a small field hi-start.

I won't be sloping or flying in heavy winds so the extra weight would be useless.

[nlpken]

Aobid - if the sceptor nose is constructed the same as the sovereign using laminated 1/4 inch balsa with a plywood center piece, may I suggest you use hardwood for the nose block which I have done on several sovereigns. This makes the nose more rugged and also adds needed weight that is built in and beneficial at the same time.

Ken