I just got one of the Great Planes Evader Jets!

I have had my eye on this plane for awhile, and while my Yak 55M keeps calling me, I am waiting for some stuff from HK to finish what I need to start the build.

Meanwhile, I think that this plane will go a bit quicker, so I am going to do this one first. Stay tuned. Been a very busy year with work, new GF, golfing, flying what I have, etc...

SkyCadet

Boy its been some time since my last entry. Sorry gang. Between work, golfing, and family stuff, I've been pretty busy.

June 4 already! wow did that go fast!

Flew my Su-31 for a re-maiden this year as my flight test as a final part of joining the club. Nice bunch of guys out here. About 80 membership, and we are currently using 1.5/10 available acres for our field. The main runway is 31/13 and is a geo textile surface 600'x35'. Nice runway,,,

Anyway, just getting ready to replace my Pitts 12 15e motor and then fly that plane later this month. The solius flew last night, no major thermals, but really nice conditions. One of the other members had a FMS P51 - really nice bird!

He flew her for over 15 minutes between two batteries, and did some aerobatics, touch and goes, all sorts of great stuff. It is a definitely nice plane for those looking.

Smooth skies.... more to some!

Darren/Skycadet

Well, I am finally here, after a 1 month pack and move. Just waiting for my furniture to arrive before Christmas.

I did a pre-move last week with all my more delicate RC stuff, and it all arrived well. Not bad for a nearly 1000-mile journey in sub-zero weather!

Will be putting together my two Yak 55s, my big AeroPlus Yak55M is the initial priority, and then the smaller HK Yak55 replacement that's nearly finished from my rebuild after the mishap this summer.

Will be joining the Winnipeg-Hedley Aero Modellers (WHAM) in early 2014. They have a superb new runway. I'm looking forward to flying with the bunch.

Stay tuned for pix and build info on the AP Yak55M...

Merry Christmas to everyone here following my stuff. I hope that Santa brings you all many RC goodies this year! Cheers and all the best for 2014!!!

SkyCadet

Well, the new winter build project arrived last week!

I am looking forward to putting this together when I relocate to Winnipeg, MB.

Fit and finish of the plane looks good. When I unpack it for assembly I will post some photos of the bird. She's definitely the largest plane I have now.

My Mejzlik 16x11 CF 3 blade also arrived! A very nice propeller indeed!

Sims of this plane for my RealFlight 6.5 are flying smooth and crisp. I decided to use HiTec HS5625MG digital servos for this bird. I have those as well! Specs are pretty close to the recommended Futaba servos:


Modulation: Digital
Torque: 4.8V: 109.7 oz-in (7.90 kg-cm)
6.0V: 130.5 oz-in (9.40 kg-cm)
Speed: 4.8V: 0.17 sec/60°
6.0V: 0.14 sec/60°
Weight: 2.12 oz (60.0 g)
Dimensions: L:1.59 in (40.4 mm); W:0.77 in (19.6 mm); H:1.48 in (37.6 mm)
Motor Type: 3-pole
Gear Type: Metal
Rotation/Support: Dual Bearings

I haven't decided about the power system fully yet. I have the Hacker A50 S16 V3 unit in as well, and plane for a 85-100A ESC. Will be running 6S, in the 3000-4000mAh range. Since I have 5 of these, I may opt for a separate battery unit to drive the servos.

SkyCadet

I recently had a friend from work come by to see the Solius in action. He volunteered to shoot some video for me, and I got some much better shots of the glider in action this go around. This is using the new CF 12x8 folding props on the plane (AeroPlus RC). They work superbly.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSECnY-a6xk

SkyCadet

Well I had to do it!!!

I LOVE Yak55s, and this will be a second year in a row, another Yak is built over the frosty months.

This go around, a 60" class, Yak 55m 70E by Aeroplus RC. I'll be putting a 6s power system in her, with a Mejzlik 16x11 CF prop, and Hacker A50 16S V3 (1.7kW max, 365Kv motor). Stay tuned when that build begins! I'm moving to Winnipeg MB this late fall, so I'll probably wait until relocated.

Pix of plane color scheme and motor/prop from websites... Stay tune!

SkyCadet

Do you have a scale plane, aero sport plane or glider in the 2.2-3.3lb. range?

The combination of motors below and 45A ESC are just what the doctor ordered! The motors are very light, and handle easily over 400W each.

RCTimer 1000kV 480W motor (front mount)
http://www.rctimer.com/product_400.html
RCTimer 1000kV 480W motor (rear mount)
http://www.rctimer.com/product_139.html
RCTimer 1250kV motor, front mount
http://www.rctimer.com/product_401.html
RCTimer 1250kV motor, rear mount
http://www.rctimer.com/product_140.html
Turnigy AE-45A ESC (AWESOME ESC!!)
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dproduct=23871

Any of these combinations are awesome. However a REALLY good pair to note is the 1000kV motors with any prop in the 10-12" range. (and ESC)

On 3S, this system is powerful, yet very efficient. The pairing of the front mount (heli style) 1000kV motor and the 45A ESC is REALLY superb for gliders in the under 3.3lb. category. The Solius LOVES this setup!

I've used the 1250kV front mount in my Yak55 (45") and it is awesome with a 11x7x3 blade MAS prop.

What makes the 45A ESC so great? It has tons of options on its menu, to set many advances, timings, you name it. More than most ESCs in this range, and the menu is rather easy to follow for an ESC. It has a really nice 4A SBEC.

I also had one time a 1/2 full battery that I thought was full when flying my Solius glider. Despite being almost flat early, I still had enough running to prevent brown out of my radio,...Continue Reading

Yesteday, the weather was decent, albeit a tad windy, into the 20mph gust range.

I took the Inversa out for several runs - nicely handled the wind, and was rather stable. I did several flat and high rotation spins, some inverted and standard loops, a couple of knife edges (tough to hold during higher wind, though!), some higher altitude hovers, and even some high rate Lomcevacs! What a fun little plane!

All in all, I can say that this little Inverza really puts out as a spunky little mini-aerobat!

If anyone is looking for a nice, highly transportable good performing sport aeroplane, this certainly ticks off almost all the selection requirements.

SkyCadet

Sin (a) is to be used for this formula for the force, not cos a, in the initial calculation. I decided to simplify the whole thing to make it easier to calculate everything...

So, Torque (servo) will be Ts.

Ts = (w/L)*0.0403*(sin a)² * Av²

Where:

w is width of control surface (mean width or average)
L is the servo horn length - same units as width
a is the angle of deflection
A is area of surface being deflected in m²
v is the velocity (m/s)

0.0403 takes into account (metric units) the force conversion to kg, the Cd for a flat plate and the density of air at sea level, which is again the worst case.

Darren/SkyCadet

What a question!

Well, I have come up with some thoughts on this. when one is building a plane or selecting servos to perform the task for an airframe, it is good to have a guide. While my approach is not perfect, at least it should give a worst-case scenario and get one into the ball park.

Let's say we have a 2" wide elevator that will be deflecting up to 30° on a plane, and it is expected to fly at WOT (max speed) around 100km/h, or about 62mph.

Aerodynamics says that the drag force on a surface will be the main determinant for the force required to actuate this surface - while it will not entirely be subject to a continuous force, this is a good peak force treatment. Ideally, one would include skin friction, wake turbulence if applicable, and so on, but there's too many additional requirements to make this easy to figure, so we'll use this...

Fd = ½ Cd*p*A*v²; where:

Fd = drag force,
Cd = Coeff. of drag
A = surface area of the body
v = the velocity
p = fluid density (kg/m³)

Cd for a parallel plate is ~0.001 (laminar), ~0.005 (turbulent); it is 1.29 for a flat plate at 90° to the motion. Since the surface will usually be in laminar flow, we can use:

Cd = 1.29*cos a ; a is the angle of the deflected surface. 0.001 is close enough to zero for our purposes. since cos (30) is ½, we'll use this in our calculation...

I am going to use metric, but the same can be used for English units too.

v(max) = 100km/h is 27.78m/s (3.6km/h = 1.0m/s, so divide 100 by 3.6)

...Continue Reading

Just came in from 2 flights of 12 min each with the Inverza!

I have the CG right on the button, and this thing flies great. Landing approaches are best with a touch of power to hold it and then cut just before TD.

I can hover this plane a bit, but need some practice. It handles very well for a mini, and is very zippy, even at low rates. The plane's rudder is very much like my Pitts 12 or my Yak 55: very low roll coupling, so doing flat turns is a hoot.

i've flown my buddy's Edge540QQ 280, the sister to this plane, and I think that this Inverza 280 flies a bit nicer, overall. At least from a rudder handling perpective for sure.

Darren/Skycadet

Hello!

Well, the new 280 class Inversa just screamed at me to get it, so I guess I did!

Mine had a loose rudder, so I reseated the hinges and used thin CA. Done! I also wanted the gear assembly tougher, so I carefully loosened it off, and then used medium 300F CA to re-attach the housing. NOW it's solid.

I then coated all surfaces with my special new coating formula (same one I used in lieu of standard white glue on my Solius - with a couple of extra goodies in there...) and then assembled the bird. I am running for now, some 3S 850mAh Zippy compact 25C batteries I have. The compartment has LOTS of room. I put these as far back as I can. My buddy, Remi J., has the 540QQ version of this plane, and he did not need to do anything to his to run it with the same batteries.

Mine required a 77mm CG aft of the wing leading edge (vs 42mm for the 540QQ). So, I HAD to add nearly 15g of tail weight to mine to get it balanced. I normally do not like adding that much weight to a light plane. However, so be it.

The Maiden went pretty well. I found it a tad tail heavy, so I moved the battery 1/4" forward and bingo! perfect CG.

This plane is very zippy! The 1800Kv motor in this plane is more than enough to take it unlimited vertical below WOT even with the extra weight. These are just a hoot to fly, and my second flight was in 15km/h wind, which the plane held well in. I added a few extra touches: yellow tint to the tralining edges of the wings and elevator, and...Continue Reading

My Su-31 was feeling neglected, and all this gliding is also making me less aggressive with manoeuvers. So, up she went this evening!

Dead calm, and I took her out for a nice run. I had forgotten how zippy this plane is! WOW. 3-4 feet max and she's up flying. Some inverted flight, an inverted Immelmann, a few snap rolls, and several loops were the foray tonight.

As is typical, this bird really performs well. 25% of the 1800mAh 3S left after 8min of flight. pretty good.

She flared beautifully and came to a nice rollout before stopping in deeper grass.

YES!

Smooth skies all!

SkyCadet

I had a great time with the glider today!

Windy at nearly 15kts. (36km/h max, variable from 21-37 or so), and temp. at 24°C. Partly cloudy, with nice sunny conditions otherwise. My buddy Remi J. shot the video, but missed my takeoff, and truncated some of the flight. So this video is the selected few good segments he got, and he DID get my landing well. I left the audio showing the windy conditions...

This plane flies great in the wind!

SoliusDemo1B (3 min 35 sec)

SkyCadet

Gliders have recently seen a significant increase in use in amateur RC. They have always been there, of course, but now, seemingly more than ever, a wealth of choices are out there for the R/C enthusiast. I will discuss briefly a few things relevant to gliding in general as it pertains to types of craft and setup and flying to hopefully help those needing a bit more information on this subject.

Gliders are traditionally UNpowered craft. They fly by utilizing their weight to provide the thrust for lift, and velocity provides this airflow. Basically, gravity and wind are the propulsion for these aircraft, just as wind and waves propel sailing vessels. Gliders will have long, narrow wings with high aspect ratios to provide high lift with minimum drag. These wings are able to lift the craft with seemingly very little forward velocity. Some have flaps to enhance lift, and spoilers which act as a drag and braking device to reduce lift and forward speed for slowing down the glider, esp. upon landing. They act as air brakes essentially.

In my youth and early 20s, I flew gliders myself, along with powered full scale light aircraft. Gliding is a LOT of fun - it is relaxing, and rather challenging, as often one attempts to stay aloft as long as possible. The pilot needs to learn to read the signs for lift, and take full advantage of it, if he/she can...

RC Gliders come in various types, and there are many contests as well. I will not get into those as such, but I will outline the...Continue Reading

Great window where wind dropped to 8km/h or so this weekend, 1h before dusk - it was 20-40km/h all day...

The Solius flew smooth as silk --- again!

I do notice this plane definitely floats better than my Calypso. I caught some very subtle thermals which extended glide times by at least 30%. It started getting dimmer out, so I brought her in. Total flying time: 18 min. Not much, but enough to enjoy getting a better feel for her. Battery left: 72%!

That's about 45 minutes of powered climbouts total per 1800mAh battery on average so far. AWESOME...

Got some major lift mid field during final, and extended my final over 30m from where I had planned, but I left lots of excess room for the landing this time .

Still need to work on precision TDs...

A fabulous aircraft, looking forward to more fun as weather and worktime permit.

SkyCadet

WOW! This bird really glides. Once trimmed, she's sweet in the air, and silky smooth off the line.

The motor (RC Timer 3536/8 1000Kv/480W) and AE45 Turnigy ESC ran very cool and I had almost 60% battery left after a re-maiden flight of 20 minutes with 4-5 climbouts to 80m or so. I say re-maiden since the first flight had only hard braking selected, and the prop was still free-wheeling. It made it tricky to land safely without damaging the prop, but I did it on our grassy field.

The main (#2) maiden went by the numbers, with the prop folding back properly, and once re-trimmed out, it was awesome! This bird just floats as it goes about 40km/h or more through the air! I almost overshot my landing tonight, as the plane did a small hop and flew another 20m before settling down on its wheel and skid. It rolled about another 6-8m. Only 4m from the tree line!!!

It'll take a bit to get used to this faster glider.

Mine weighs in at ~1300g (46oz.) AUW. That's only 2oz. heavier than the rated glider only sailplane version of this bird according to multiplex's specs on the bird. No wonder mine just floats!

All in all, an excellent model, well built and it flies great!

My videographer had taken ill tonight, so I had to maiden when I could.

Smooth skies all!

SkyCadet

Got the whole thing assembled, and balanced. 1800mAh 3S battery sits nicely in the cockpit.

Pix below - Just tidying up wiring to make thing neater, and then off to maiden today!!!

Static power test with a 1500mAh 3S yielded 34A peak, 353W peak - around cruise yields about 125W. Given this, the 1800mAh battery, assuming 10% prop unloading, should give a total powered run to 75% cutoff of 7.5 minutes at cruise!! Climbout under WOT would be around 3 min max continuous.

Stay tuned! the weather looks cooperative for a maiden...

Skycadet

All is done!

Just need to do final assembly, check throws, and finalize electronics set up and CG. Then off to maiden!

Pics of my scheme below (minus the vertical stab decals until I do the CG and finaly tail adjustments)...

Skycadet

All the core assembly is DONE!

Servos installed, fuse complete, motor and spinner installed, wings done, and wing skids also. I am currently letting my canopy dry.

Canopy was painted with black around the periphery, with gun metal metallic for the cockpit, seat and such, with black on the seat headrest and floor mats. The faux instrument panel was also placed, and so was the fake seat. I did not realize until placement that the seat was somewhat translucent. That made the over brushed paint show up a bit. Not a huge issue, really.

Canopy bubble was attached using standard canopy glue, on both the sides of the base and on the plexiglas itself. It fit perfectly, and seems to hold well so far, but it won't be cured until morning.

Pre-treatment of the sides before application was with IPA 99% and some accelerator as well to open the pores better for adhesion. After 2h of curing, it still needs more, but a test fit confirmed a good bond.

Some pix of the basically done plane. I just need to apply decals and some wing striping for better visibility. Then, install electronics, coat with Weldbond:water (50/50 mix), test the throws, and go flying!

I always coat the foamies with this mix. It makes them much tougher on the surface and seems to act as a surface varnish and micro skin to reduce drag.

FYI, I had to use HiTec 82-MGs on the aileron servos as all HiTec Digitals on the wings required some fitting. These fit perfectly. So I am semi-digital (tail only).

Pix below, with more after final assembly...

SkyCadet