Rudder needed to takeoff?

GreenAce92 · Nov 07, 2009, 12:26 AM

This is probably a rhetorical question but.... I ran into a little problem here, designed a multipurpose ship but I forgot that I needed a rudder! It just so happened that I only had 2 servos to use and a nice power-plant and I wanted a plane which could 1) slope soar 2) be acrobatic and 3) land on snow and water and take off. Found a great place on the beech to fly, need to clear the dead birds though

. But yeah.

The design is original basically its a single float with wings but just a flat hulled rectangular hull. Very basic. With a single overhead mounted engine and rubber banded on wings. Should be a very robust all foam design.

So as long as I point it away from land I should be able to gun it and take off right?... What If I mixed the rudder and elevator together(would kinda suck nice turns but no barrel rolls(well axis rolls))

I'm going to try for a relatively thin airfoil that way my ailerons don't have to be too big and can make the bird do some nice maneuvers. Will really need to strap the motor down and other outer extremity parts.

Anyhow what do you guys think? Will she get on step fine? The attached image is just a scanned sketch, this will be made out of blue FFF material. Nothing fancy but I hope its rugged and will work.

The main goal was for simplicity and multipurpose as well as most fun too.

JimCasey · Nov 07, 2009, 10:20 PM

Non-rudder airplanes tend to be hand-launched. Lotsa times you need to correct direction on takeoff, and taxiing back without a rudder is likely to be monumentally unsuccessful.
Mixing rudder with elevator is kinda scary, but you could mix rudder with aileron and fly quite nicely.

You can get by without a water rudder. I have had many floatplanes that did so. But you will find it hard to live without an air rudder.

Rudder and elevator work well with some dihedral. Plenty of 3-channel planes fly this way.

lake flyer · Nov 08, 2009, 08:33 AM

My PZ Spit on floats has a water rudder but no air rudder . I have not had any problems taking off or landing .

mewert · Nov 21, 2009, 06:09 PM

If it were me, I would spend another ten bucks and buy a servo for rudder.

GreenAce92 · Nov 21, 2009, 11:54 PM

Yeah I'm sticking with the 3ch for now, trying to get a servo to come to life. Got a big list to buy around Christmas of parts lol so I can have more than one plane at all times.

Nov 07, 2009, 12:26 AM	#1
GreenAce92 Glowing orange electronics sux Join Date: May 2007 Location: Fredonia NY Posts: 2,270	Rudder needed to takeoff? This is probably a rhetorical question but.... I ran into a little problem here, designed a multipurpose ship but I forgot that I needed a rudder! It just so happened that I only had 2 servos to use and a nice power-plant and I wanted a plane which could 1) slope soar 2) be acrobatic and 3) land on snow and water and take off. Found a great place on the beech to fly, need to clear the dead birds though . But yeah. The design is original basically its a single float with wings but just a flat hulled rectangular hull. Very basic. With a single overhead mounted engine and rubber banded on wings. Should be a very robust all foam design. So as long as I point it away from land I should be able to gun it and take off right?... What If I mixed the rudder and elevator together(would kinda suck nice turns but no barrel rolls(well axis rolls)) I'm going to try for a relatively thin airfoil that way my ailerons don't have to be too big and can make the bird do some nice maneuvers. Will really need to strap the motor down and other outer extremity parts. Anyhow what do you guys think? Will she get on step fine? The attached image is just a scanned sketch, this will be made out of blue FFF material. Nothing fancy but I hope its rugged and will work. The main goal was for simplicity and multipurpose as well as most fun too. Attached Thumbnails 28.6 KB · Views: 35 24.9 KB · Views: 24 40.4 KB · Views: 25 30.7 KB · Views: 63

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Nov 07, 2009, 10:20 PM	#2
JimCasey Seaplane Nerd Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 461	Non-rudder airplanes tend to be hand-launched. Lotsa times you need to correct direction on takeoff, and taxiing back without a rudder is likely to be monumentally unsuccessful. Mixing rudder with elevator is kinda scary, but you could mix rudder with aileron and fly quite nicely. You can get by without a water rudder. I have had many floatplanes that did so. But you will find it hard to live without an air rudder. Rudder and elevator work well with some dihedral. Plenty of 3-channel planes fly this way.

Nov 08, 2009, 08:33 AM	#3
lake flyer Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Stony Lake, Ontario, Canada Posts: 3,782	My PZ Spit on floats has a water rudder but no air rudder . I have not had any problems taking off or landing .

Nov 21, 2009, 06:09 PM	#4
mewert Relax, have a Cub Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: College Place, WA Posts: 154	If it were me, I would spend another ten bucks and buy a servo for rudder.

Nov 21, 2009, 11:54 PM	#5
GreenAce92 Glowing orange electronics sux Join Date: May 2007 Location: Fredonia NY Posts: 2,270	Yeah I'm sticking with the 3ch for now, trying to get a servo to come to life. Got a big list to buy around Christmas of parts lol so I can have more than one plane at all times.