Art Hobby High Aspect 3.1 build

[John Cole]

I received the High Aspect from Art Hobby last week, and thought I'd post a few pictures of how it goes together. Of course, these models aren't really 'built', they are assembled.

[John Cole]

Art Hobby models are unique in that many of their models share components. I like the way they are designed and manufactured. Of course, there are many better designs, lighter, stronger, more elaborate airframes, etc. And, more expensive. These designs seem to cram a lot of value into a well packed kit.

[John Cole]

Overall, the kit is well thought out, and goes together fast. I have a habit, like most modelers, to re-engineer things. I'm not sure why that is...

Anyway, the first 'improvement' I thought I could make on this model was the stabilizer. Don't get me wrong, the included stab would work well, is fairly light, and the finish is excellent. But, it is basically a flat plank with rounded edges, and I really like streamlined tail surfaces. I drew a built-up stab that I hoped would be lighter and more effective.

[John Cole]

With a laminated LE of balsa and spruce, and a rear spar of 3/16" sq. sandwiched with .007" carbon sheet, the structure got pretty stiff.

[John Cole]

The stabilizer structure is block sanded to a streamlined section. The high point is at 40%. The stab mounting block will require some additional shaping to nest the new stab profile.

[Resurgam]

Cool. I'm building a High Aspect at the moment as well - the electric version, though. Unfortunately I'm most of the way through, so I shan't be able to take advantage of the improvements you come up with.

BTW, what are your thoughts on the strength of the wing center joint for winch launching? I think I'd be hesitant to trust it with a full-pedal launch.

[John Cole]

Resurgam, my 'improvements' will not likely make much difference. More of a personal touch really.
Yeah, the center section... Well, I'm very old-school, and never understood the need for stomping the winch to death anyway. The butt-joint at the center should hold up well for 'normal' hi-start and winch launching. But you're right, I doubt this wing would take that kind of stress if one were standing on the switch.

John

[John Cole]

On to the wing panels. These are fun to work with, the degree of workmanship and finish from the factory is great.

[John Cole]

It's really important to use large sanding blocks with any model project, this one included.

[Will M]

Great info, John.

I have a High Aspect fuse, boom and tail set for use with another wing. I'm rather new at the hobby. Would you consider going into a little more detail when you get the the fuse, boom, servos, control rods, etc?

Thanks,

Mike

[Avetikus]

I like the idea about reinforcing the wing joints with epoxy and will incorporate it into my Sky-E build, but what 'high strength filler' do you use and where is a good place to get it?

[John Cole]

Mike, yes, I'll show some pictures of the fuselage assembly. It's important to follow a sequence on it, because you can easily build yourself into a corner. There are lots of ways to do it, and I'll post my ideas as to how I approached it.

Avetikus, the filler I use is West System 'High Strength, High Density Filler' from CST. It's really good stuff, especially when mixed with slower epoxy.

John

[emersunn]

Overall, the kit is well thought out, and goes together fast. I have a habit, like most modelers, to re-engineer things. I'm not sure why that is...

Becase that's where all the fun is!!!

:D

Hey are you the John I met this weekend? This is Super AVA Paul.

[John Cole]

Hey Paul! Dang, now you can see all the mistakes I make on this model. It could be ready for this coming weekend, but I have to be out of town, and will be gone the one after that too! Save some good air for me!

John

[Will M]

Super! Thanks, John.

[John Cole]

The elevator is light (4-6lb) 'C' grain 3/16" balsa. It is fairly soft stuff, so some glass is added in the center. I like to use the 3M 'peel and stick' method to apply glass before CA or resin is used.

[emersunn]

Mistakes? So far it is beautiful.

Coldwater park will be closed for an event this weekend anyway, take your time.

[John Cole]

Sorry to hear you guys won't get to fly there next weekend. The weather is really good now. Looking forward to getting this one done and in the air!

John

[John Cole]

The sequence I mentioned earlier for constructing the model is basically as follows;

1. Complete wing center section.
2. Complete stabilizer and mounting block.
3. Mount stab to boom.
4. Install vertical fin, align perpendicular to stab.
5. Pushrod housings installed. CA at rear exits. Push plastic foam into boom to hold housings in place, about every 5". Leave room at front of boom for pod coupler to slide in to.
6. Mount wing center to fuselage pod.
7. Fit boom to pod, epoxy and align boom/stab to wing while glue still wet.
8. Next, install tow hook. Access to this area of the fuselage pod will be very restricted once the inner nose piece is glued in place.
9. Using another piece of foam, secure pushrod housings to the inside walls of the pod.
10. Prepare nose piece for radio gear. I installed the servos and battery before this part was attached to the pod. Holes in nose piece are made to accept the pushrod housings, aligning them with servos.
11. Glue on nose piece while threading pushrod housings through it.
12. Done. (whew)

John

[John Cole]

After the boom is bonded to the pod, the pushrod housings are secured in place, working from the rear forward. The fuselage is sort of built from the tail forward.

[schrederman]

Nice... what servos are you using... sorry, tried to zoom but it just got grainey...

Jack Womack

[Resurgam]

I dislike trying to get pushrods solidly fixed down the length of the boom - I always seem to end up with more flex than I like - so I decided to run them externally, as shown. This being an electric version, the servos are under the wing. At present the pushrod housings are just held with tape every few inches, eventually I'll probably CA them down. Not very pretty, and maybe less aerodynamically efficient, but very solid, and avoids making holes in the boom at the tail. (I too thought the elevator needed reinforcement in the center).

[LVsoaring]

John, could you elaborate on the 3M peel and stick method. I have an Art Hobby Sierra that I'm going to finish up in the next few weeks, and the balsa stab is, like you say, rather soft & light. I have heard of applying glass with 3M 77 before applying the resin, but have not heard of a peel n stick method.

[seanpcola]

Hi John,

Great thread. I have never seen a HA up close or how the wing joins together but I built a Vampire (144" ws) about 1 1/2 years ago that must have come from the same factory as the Art Hobby stuff. I cannot remember the factory's name as the box and the shop I bought it from no longer exists. The center wing joint looks identical to mine with the exception of a factory supplied aluminum square joiner of about 16" length. I made a solid CF joiner to replace it and also used CF in place of FG cloth for the center, top and bottom. So far it has taken full pedal launches though my winch is not of F3B rated power. Really want to see your opinion of how it flies.

Sean

[John Cole]

Jack, I decided on using HS-85bb's all around. I may need metal gears on the flaps, not sure. Resurgam, I thought seriously about running the pushrods on the outside. If they appear to flex a lot, I'll definitely change them out.

The peel n stick fiberglass method has been around for a long time, used in other areas of modeling, and homebuilts, too. 3M '77' aerosol glue is lightly sprayed onto the glass cloth, it's then allowed to set for a few minutes. Waxed paper is then applied on the cloth, protecting the spray glue. It will keep like this almost indefintely. When you need some glass, just cut out what is needed, peel the waxed paper off, and stick down. It can be easily relifted and moved if necessary, and will mold to curves. The consistency is like a big post-it note. CA or resin can be applied and aggressively wiped or blotted without the glass swimming around, big plus.
Sean, cool looking glider! The lineage is pretty clear. Hope these notes help!

John

[John Cole]

A few more pictures to post, then I'll be out of town for a while. No model work may be unbearable. Well, priorities you know. "In every life, some rain must fall..."

[bobthenuke]

Becase that's where all the fun is!!!

:D

Hey are you the John I met this weekend? This is Super AVA Paul.

Hey Super AVA Paul...I had a feeling that was *you*. :) I'll be doing the DLG thing this weekend since Coldwater will be off limits. I have a great park right around the corner from me that's just the right size for it and has some pretty decent thermal generators surrounding it.

John always tells me that his work is full of mistakes but he's the only one that can find them. :)

EZ Glider-Alpina/Super AVA-to-be bob

[bobthenuke]

"Looking into the pod opening, the blue plastic foam is holding the pushrods to the side. CA to secure them. At this point, the boom has been installed.The towhook is also shown."

John,

Is that foam included in the kit? It seems to me that it would be better (less weight) to use the magnetic method to aid in bonding the pushrod tubes to the boom walls. I realize that this is a minor weight savings, but every little bit may count. Just a thought.

bob

[Avetikus]

John,

Maybe I can ask you a quick question while you're away from the model. The Art Hobby book says to glass the butt ends of the wings, and then glue those together. Your method is a little different in that you block sand, spot-weld.. er.. spot-epoxy, then cover with glass.

I know you've got good reasons to do things the way you have, but how strong is your way? I'm hesitant to do it their way because I've read that the glassed butt ends may not always line up perfectly flat. Does your way save a lot of weight without sacrificing too much strength?

hmm..

Also, when do you install the servos? The first thing you do is join the center sections of the wing, and I can't see how you're going to run the servo wire extensions in to the fuselage.. :confused: Help, I'm a bit confused. I can't even figure out when to attach the wing ends.


Mike
-Av

[John Cole]

Hey everyone from N. Calif! Great weather, snow, rain, etc. I really mean it, though! Being from AZ, I appreciate this environment.
Bob, the foam is something I found laying around. It's not rubber foam, it's quite stiff, plastic stuff, feels kind of waxy, and weighs very little. But I'm sure it added a couple of grams, nonetheless.

Mike, I hope I didn't misread my instruction pamphlet. :eek: I think the glass is applied over the core ends where the carbon connectors go. The glass is applied to protect the raw ends of the wing cores when they're not connected. (remember, this is a 3-piece wing) But the tip/ outer panel joint is not treated at all, just glued together. I didn't mean to make it sound like I was putting such a small amount of epoxy on the joint prior to joining them, it's just that gobbing a bunch of glue on the foam does very little strength-wise. Apply just to the sheeting edges and LE. Let me know if this makes sense, assuming I didn't get it all wrong myself...
Before you join the center panels, mark on the wing bottom where the wire tunnels are located. After they are together and glassed, cut a hole in the bottom, right on the joint, to uncover the tunnels. The servo wires can be pulled through with a thin piece of music wire,barbed on one end to assist.
If you're not in a hurry, I'll be doing this soon, and will post pictures.

John

[Resurgam]

John wroteI think the glass is applied over the core ends where the carbon connectors go. The glass is applied to protect the raw ends of the wing cores when they're not connected. (remember, this is a 3-piece wing) But the tip/ outer panel joint is not treated at all, just glued together.

That's how I did it, too. Normally, you'd have a ply rib to protect the raw foam and the skin, but the glass is an elegant alternative.

[Avetikus]

That sounds pretty good. Thanks.

As for Northern CA, I love it, too. I grew up in Crescent City. Beautiful land. Absolutely beautiful. Then I moved to AZ. Quite a change! I remember someone saying "That's his car parked under that tree" and I said "What tree? That bush? We've got ferns the size of that 'tree'." :p

Hope you enjoy the vacation!


Mike
-Av

[John Cole]

Back again. Boy, things sure aren't the same in the old home town, but I suspect it's like that everywhere. All the places we used to fly at are now developed, and then some. Good news is I've noticed some guys have 'discovered' Goat Rock to slope at. We used to fly there in the mid 70's, crashed often.

John

[John Cole]

I found some time to work on the wings a little. They have already been varnished and finish sanded at this point.

[John Cole]

The new stab is covered with Oracover. Final weight was within a couple of grams of the original... :rolleyes:

[Resurgam]

The new stab is covered with Oracover. Final weight was within a couple of grams of the original...
Darn. It looks so nice I was going to try building one myself.

[John Cole]

Yeah, it's like 5 grams lighter than the unfinished original, so the weight savings was not as much as I thought it might be. It could be built lighter, no doubt. The shape might provide more positive control, but that's just theory. One thing for sure, it will be more visible.

John

[John Cole]

The aileron servos are installed, and will move on to the flaps soon.

[John Cole]

Here are several pictures of wing servo installation. It's a job that requires some quiet time, plan accordingly.

The model is basically finished, and I will include more pictures soon. It's been hand launched for testing only, and seems to glide well, but we all know how ground effect makes our gliders seem like they have a 90:1...

[Solarsail]

Great looking build! That custom tail is beautifully executed. It's worth it just for the appearance, even without a huge weight savings...

I'm getting started on a 2M Timon and I'm looking forward to seeing how you've handled the connection between the servo in the outboard wing panel and the center wing section. I've not made a 3-segment Art Hobby wing before and, judging by the rest of your build, I reckon you must have a good idea regarding the matter.

~mike

[Avetikus]

I've not made a 3-segment Art Hobby wing before

Heh.. Neither have I.. I glued the whole darn thing together. :D

No digging out those litty bitty servo wire channels, no sir. I'll have no truck with that!

Now... how do I get this 2m wing into the truck?

[John Cole]

Busy as always, but enough time to post a few more pictures!

Here are a few details as to how I set up the wing servos. Lots of different methods can be used to do this, here is just one.

[John Cole]

The model is finished! This will be some kind of record for me, since some of my projects tend to s t r e t c h out a bit.

As mentioned, hand tosses look good. I hope to give it a zing real soon, but probably not till next weekend.

[Resurgam]

There are many ways to install wing servos!
... and here's how I did it on my High Aspect - I've had problems with the upper wing skin buckling when I directly attached servos in the past, so I frame up a little balsa box.

And, my word, yes that is a long skinny wing.

[John Cole]

Interesting. So the balsa servo box reinforces the area. Hmm... Is the buckling issue common to these designs? Should I expect problems if I leave it?
Yes, very long, skinny wing. Our pictures don't realy show that well. Good idea about the black paint underneath, I'll have to add something like that eventually. Thanks!

John

[Resurgam]

I may be over-reacting to problems with other planes, as each one is different. I wouldn't pull the servos out once they are glued in - that would likely cause more problems than it would solve. I would guess if there's some foam between the servo and the skin you will probably be OK.

I do suspect the natural wood finish will be difficult to see at altitude, especially since the wing is so narrow - from what I've read and seen, it's primarily the chord that determines ultimate visibility. I think the black finish should help some.

[seanpcola]

I may be over-reacting to problems with other planes, as each one is different. I wouldn't pull the servos out once they are glued in - that would likely cause more problems than it would solve. I would guess if there's some foam between the servo and the skin you will probably be OK.

I do suspect the natural wood finish will be difficult to see at altitude, especially since the wing is so narrow - from what I've read and seen, it's primarily the chord that determines ultimate visibility. I think the black finish should help some.




On the model that I posted a photo of earlier I suspected that I would have the same problem with servo mounting and the upper skin buckling. Had that before on similar construction. I made up some epoxy/micro, covered the servo with release film and made a bed by pouring the epoxy onto the inside of the upper skin and bedding the servo in. Made an excellent mount and prevented the problem. A balsa box works well also.

As for the natural wood, it does lack visibility. Instead of paint I stained the bottom skins with Ebony Varithane. Helped a bunch but it can still get dicey at altitude and certain views. Looong, skinny wings and fuse! :eek:

[Resurgam]

OK, I was just putting the plane together this afternoon to check CG, and I found the written instructions say 70mm back from the LE, but the plan shows 82mm back. Any clues as to which is correct, or should I email AH on this?

[Will M]

Have any of you reinforced the fuse and boom? I think I read somewhere that the fuse is a little fragile in the shoulder area where the wing joins and the boom splits easily??

[Forest Flyer]

Interesting. So the balsa servo box reinforces the area. Hmm... Is the buckling issue common to these designs? Should I expect problems if I leave it?
Yes, very long, skinny wing. Our pictures don't realy show that well. Good idea about the black paint underneath, I'll have to add something like that eventually. Thanks!

John
John,

I've never seen that problem in my AH planes. I could see that happening, however, if you make a very large servo bay.

Thanks for the nicely-documented thread!

FF

[John Cole]

Resurgam, I've been told by Andre that the drawing should always take precedence over the written instructions, so 82mm is probably an updated change. I've got mine balanced at 85mm, and seems fine for a starting point.
Will, the fuselage area where the wing mounts looks very strong on my model. Perhaps the older versions were made differently. One thing that is evident with this company; they DO respond to input from modelers in the field, and make appropriate changes in a timely manner. (No, I don't work for them! :^) )

FF, thanks!

J

[John Cole]

Some 'together' pictures! Flaps drop to 80+ deg, and are effective. Roll rate is slow but positive. I'll have a better flight report after next weekend.

[FlaFlyer]

Great job on the build thread John! Looking forward to the flight reports.

Steve

[Forest Flyer]

John,

It does indeed look very nice. Maybe I missed this info, but what it the AUW on the glider? Also, I hope that you are planning to take it easy on the winch launch.

FF

[Resurgam]

John - Thanks for the input on the CG. I'll go for 82 - 85 as a starting point. I'm hoping for a maiden this weekend, if the weather cooperates.

WillM - I agree with John, the wing attachment looks quite strong. I'll have better insight after the first time I catch a wingtip on landing :eek:

[Will M]

John and Resurgam -- thanks for the info on the strength of the fuse. I'm building a wing and will use the HA fuse, boom and tail feathers. I'm pretty new at this and am sure I will, at some point, stub a wingtip on landing - hopefully, that will be the worst thing I do to it!!!!

[bobthenuke]

I can honestly say that I was very impressed with John's HA during our brief testing today...I wish I had a video of it making a couple of soaring passes on the knoll at the park in a breeze probably not more than 10 mph. At this point it appears to be a very easy way to get into some fairly med -high performance flying (based as much on the pilot as the airframe) at a cost relatively easy on the bank account. If I didn't have a 4 meter bird in the box right now I'd be *very* tempted to get one of these.

...bob

[markdrela]

Question:
How was the center wing joint done? Specifically, is there some sort of structural joiner between the carbon spars?

The reason I ask is that a few years ago one guy brought a newly built High-AR to the Charles River RC flying site. The first winch launch was done as gently as possible, with lots of pedal-tapping, but the wing still folded about halfway up. I examined the failed center joint, and was shocked to discover that the nice carbon I-beam spars were simply butted together in the center, with nothing but the glass wrap to transfer. The glass fibers simply tore at the spar butt joint. The builder (forget his name) said that he built it "stock". If that's true, this is a serious design flaw.

At the very least, there should be some very substantial carry-through pieces across the butt joints on the top and bottom sparcaps, with a cross-section similar to the sparcaps. The glass wrap is just way too weak for the job.

[Forest Flyer]

If this High Aspect was built stock, then the spar does not carry across the center joint. There was a fair amount of discussion in some other threads about the “winchability” of the larger stock-built AH planes, and the conclusion was that they can’t take a strong winch launch (certainly not like a good molded-wing can). However, having flown many AH planes, I can say that the center joint is plenty strong for anything that the plane will do while in flight (I fly only the e-glider versions). In any case, John C. should certainly be careful when first launching his HA using a winch.

FF

[Resurgam]

Yes, IMHO the center wing joint would DEFINITELY require reinforcement to stand a serious winch launch. Even for the electric version I added a short (4 inch or so long by 1/4 inch thick) joiner. The simple butt joint reinforced with a couple of layers of glass just didn't look strong enough to me.

[John Cole]

Thanks for the feedback. You guys are right, this model was built stock, which means the center spar is simply butt-joined.

Well, what to do. Mark, I hear you on the probable design flaw. My thoughts at the time while joining the center panels was that I'd never launch aggressively, as is my flying style. I figured the butt-joint would be adequate.

Perhaps all is not lost. I think I can add some strength to the finished assembly. I can imagine routing a thin slot next to the spar, to the forward and/or rear face, and lay in carbon joiner blades maybe 6" long.

Ok, what do you guys think? Sound like a good insurance policy to buy?? Thanks again for the input!!!

John

[John Cole]

Oh yes Forrest Flyer, RTF weight is 46 oz.

John

[Forest Flyer]

John,

Your suggestion sounds very feasible to me. It may even be a good time to make the modification given the way the wing is built. However, I have never done that mod myself. A few others (e.g., Resurgam) have done something like that, and maybe they will chime in here. In any case, at the current AUW of 46 oz, you will not have to worry about the extra weight .

FF

[Resurgam]

The spars are angled back, so that it's not a matter of just slipping in a straight joiner - I had to taper it back to match the angle of the spars. Also, the two spars did not quite line up on mine - one was about 1/16 or 3/32 closer to the LE, so I had to do a bit of cutting and fitting to get a reasonably snug fit for the joiner. Perhaps multiple thinner carbon blades laminated together might work for an insert?

[LVsoaring]

Been following the recent posts regarding spar strength. I have an old Sierra 2.5 that I am sorta halfheartedly working on. It has a 2 piece wing, with a wing joiner made of steel and laminated ply strips which fit between the upper and lower spars. The joiner is certainly stout enough itself, but I am concerned about the strength of the spar itself. I don't see any cf on them, and the webs that make up the forward and aft sides of the joiner box are a very thin material. Anyone familiar with this? Will it be safe to winch?

Rick

[John Cole]

Rick, I'm not falmiliar with that particular model, but it does sound like there may be huge stress points with that spar design. Good luck with the project.

Resurgam, ditto on everything you said. My spars didn't line up either, and of course are slightly swept. I think I may have the issue addressed, you guys let me know what you think.

John

[John Cole]

I figured I could add some strength to the center joint with the addition of a spar joiner.

Here's how I'm attacking this fix.

[John Cole]

The spar joiner will be located at the rear face of the spar, and cover about 75% of the spar width. I hope this helps!! :o

[John Cole]

The epoxy slurry is generously applied in the slot and on the blade.

The blade is tapped home using a high tech modeling tool. Yes, I use it on all my models. :D

[LostPlanetAirman]

-John,
Great build thread--thanks for sharing your experience. And wow, you are going for it! No messing around or hand wringing on reinforcing the center wing joint.
I've got an AH Serenity-E build coming up and I'm thinking that I should do a joiner as well.
I'm curious, if you had it to do again, I guess you would have done the joiner before joining the center wing panels. If so, do you have any thoughts on how to go about doing that?

Thanks,
Mike

[John Cole]

Mike, thanks for following along. Yep, I'd definitely do it again, and of course BEFORE the wings are joined. I'm not sure how, exactly. My method here was responding to damage control, but a better and different technique should be considered.

As Mark stated, the carbon spar caps must be tied together somehow. Perhaps you could go ahead and join the panels first, then cut away the sheeting over the spars where they meet, and bond a molded carbon strip over it. Or something to that effect.

Mark, thanks for sharing the experience of the poor fellow at your field. I was listening.

John

[Freakflyin]

Hey John,
I've just got to say that I too was worried about the integrity of my center section on my Serenity when we began winching it on it's maiden flight and subsequent test flights. Each launch was more aggressive than the last and we found that it could take a fairly aggressive launch. NOT full pedal but pretty close (fast tapping)... Flying it a few weeks ago I was even going after a medium zoom and the wing flex was minimal compared to what I expected.
My only deviation from the instructions was to up the cloth weight of the layers....

Mike

[Resurgam]

John, nice job on retrofitting the joiner! It looks to me that it will add a lot of strength.

[John Cole]

Hey Mike, we're neighbors!

Good to hear that your glider appears to be handling the launch loads well.

Maybe this wing was plenty strong before, it's hard to tell. At any rate, will be fun to try it out this coming weekend!

John

[Freakflyin]

Hey John,

We're also fellow 1/8AF... hope you're going this weekend.

Your spar fix is awesome!

Mike

[John Cole]

Mike, I'm hoping to test my glider this weekend. I really like the 1/8th AF meets, but sure don't like the drive to E. Mesa. I hope to make the fall fly-in for sure, may have something new by then.
The weather might be an issue this weekend, hope it goes well for the scale flyers!

John

[Freakflyin]

Hey John,
I look forward to your flying report! %^)

Gonna miss you at the OEAF flyin. It'll be my last for awhile as we're moving back to New England at the end of April...

Blue Skies!

Mike

[John Cole]

First hi-start launches proved to be non-events. The wings flexed very little overall. The climb seemed typical, ie. 60-70 deg high and very controllable.

[John Cole]

At 46 ounces, the model flies well. It has no obvious bad habits, and could be handled by a novice flyer.
It has a dampened roll, due to I suspect, the high aspect ratio, but this is an expected trade off for this type of airframe. Rudder and elevator control are comfortable and routine. When I drop flaps between 5 and 10 deg, the model slows noticably, and thus far seems to be a comfortable range for thermal flying. At 80 deg flap, the model pitches over(w/ elev mix) and becomes quite solid, and aileron control gets even less responsive. This is something to be aware of in tight landing situations. At full flaps, 50% up elev can be used during flair without fear of stall.
The first flight was great! I blundered into a building thermal at 50', and got lots of practice circling. The glider will stay with the lift easily; you simply rudder the turn gently, and be ready to 'high side' the ailerons more than what you might be used to.
To get out of this monster thermal, I applied full flap and full down elev trim after flying upwind 1/4 mile. Never during the flight did I feel anxious, until I was setting up landing and found the before-mentioned aileron dampening inconvenient near a tree line after the flaps were dropped. Perhaps this is a common trait with the newer designs, I don't know. Anyway, the flight was really fun! And for me, that's what it's all about. I'd recommend the H.A. 3.1M, and for the price, it seems like an excellent introduction to multi-channel model gliders.

John

[Will M]

John,

Thanks for the great build thread!! Lot's of help.

[Forest Flyer]

John,

What was the wind like during your first flights? Do you have any idea about how the HA will do in a significant wind? Planning on doing a winch launch soon?

Thanks for the flight report,

FF

[John Cole]

FF, there was a very gentle breeze, 3-5 perhaps. I think the HA would do ok in wind, it feels slippery. Ballast would certainly come in handy in those conditions.
I hope to winch it soon, and will post results. Our club is moving to a new field, so it may be another week or so before that happens.
Will, you're welcome!

John

[Komet]

Mike, thanks for following along. Yep, I'd definitely do it again, and of course BEFORE the wings are joined. I'm not sure how, exactly. My method here was responding to damage control, but a better and different technique should be considered.

As Mark stated, the carbon spar caps must be tied together somehow. Perhaps you could go ahead and join the panels first, then cut away the sheeting over the spars where they meet, and bond a molded carbon strip over it. Or something to that effect.

Mark, thanks for sharing the experience of the poor fellow at your field. I was listening.

John
Nice mod John, I have an unbuilt Hi Aspect and I think I'll add a jointer too. I'm trying to work out how to do it before joining the wings and I think your solution is pretty good.

Mike, what motor are you thinking for your Hi Aspect, No of cells etc? I'm considering a 480 sized kontronic on 10 cells of a Hacker B40.

[Resurgam]

I'm not Mike :) but I'm using a Typhoon 29/18/14. However, it disassembled itself about 5 seconds into the maiden on Sunday :( The shaft pulled out and the can made nasty grinding noises on the stator. It was going up pretty well until then ... fortunately I got the plane down in one piece, and Warbirds RC is replacing the motor (good folks to deal with, BTW - it's already shipped). I've had good experiences with Typhoons before, so I hope this is just an oddball case.

[Resurgam]

Maidened the High Aspect today (new motor and all). I set the CG at 82mm for the first flight, and moved it back to 84-85mm for the second. I think it could go a bit further back still. Let me say I'm very impressed with the capabilities of this plane. I only made two flights, and terminated both of them voluntarily. It signals lift well, and responds very well to camber in thermal mode. One interesting thing I noticed is that it will go into a hands-off stable turn in a thermal, even when trimmed for straight flight. This happened at least twice today, it seems to fly itself.

It will tip stall if slowed down too much in a turn, but the recovery is quick. Penetration is good, seems to speed up well without losing too much altitude. I did not have reflex programmed, but I expect it would raise the top end speed as this foil seems to like camber changes.

The flaps are effective at 90 degree deflection - not quite like a Mantis, but then nothing is - and let you get out of a boomer quickly (I had a couple of opportunities to try this today!). Directional control is good on landing with the flaps down. I didn't have crow programmed, but had no problems landing where I wanted.

Overall, definitely a keeper.

[John Cole]

Resurgam, congratulations! Your observations seem to follow the experiences I had on my maiden flight as well. Yeah, I'm with you, I think I'll keep mine around too! :)

John

[nmsantiago41]

John - thanks for a great build post and pix proving lift exists! I fly an ArtHobby Poly 1.5 meter and have enjoyed it for almost 2 years - I've watched the guys in Albuquerque fly both the Bubble Dancer and Ava - pretty awesome, but more often than not the Poly finds a dab of lift and away we go. How do you think the Hi Aspect compares with the Ava, winch issues aside?

thanks,

jim lawrence
Portales, NM

[John Cole]

Jim,
I've not flown an Ava to date, but I do have a comperable ship, an '06 Topaz. I'm thinking we're comparing apples to oranges when talking about an Art Hobby H.A. (4 channel, heavier wing loading, etc) and an Ava (3 channel RES type airframe).
Your question is a good one. My H.A. and Topaz are completely different models (which is why I purchased both ;) ). You would probably be very happy with either one, and if you plan to fly contests, selection would be more important. If it's sport flying you're interested in, I would suggest the H.A., only because it's much cheaper, and it's technically more interesting flying with flaps (my opinion).

I've been flying my H.A. quite a lot lately, but still havn't winched it yet. I made a fairly stout hi-start, and the model has been performing really well. It gets really high with little effort, and likes to stay there. I've performed some high speed passes, and it's VERY quiet. Fun model.

John