Took a bad hit this morning, fibre tape came loose and jammed up the motor, which snapped the motor mount and the prop ripped 1/4 through the wing. Not sure if it's salvageable... HoryzonHD also killed.

She's up and running again! Better than ever. Ordered another 2 Swifts and mid section

Good to hear that!
And that is why I really like foam planes/wings.

Originally Posted by IceWind

Good to hear that!
And that is why I really like foam planes/wings.

Thanks, foam all the way..

My mistakes were not making it rigid enough, spoiling the aerofoil with gadgets and taking liberties with the CG. All good now.

I've got a Hacker branded Swift II that I won in a raffle nearly a year ago. I finally got around to finishing it out. I went for a lightweight set-up, using a berg 4, 5g HTX servos, a hacker x-12 ESC, a "blue Wonder" style 1700kv motor spinning a GWS 7x3.5 prop, with a 3S 1050mah rhino providing motivation.

It tips the scales at 294g, or about 10.4 oz AUW.

I could probably shave that .4 oz off by tidying up extra wires, etc, but I think I'll wait to see how it flies, first.

This is my first flying wing, so I'm apprehensive about the maiden, but I'm off to do it anyways. Wish me luck!

:EDIT: Success! With the wing on the nose-heavy side of the recommended CG range, a firm toss into the wind from the top of a water retention basin was all that was needed to get this wing flying. It was supposed to be a simple glide test, but after a second or two of it doing nothing unexpected, I cracked the throttle open, and off she went. I didn't even bother to trim it, as the turbulence from the wind would make that endeavor fruitless.

As expected, it's not a rocket, but with more than 1:1 power to weight, it goes exactly when you say go, it just takes a while for it to get where it's going. With it's low top speed, low rates won't be needed by me. It's got plenty of elevator but lacks the "drill bit" style roll rate some are used to having on a flying wing, but it's still plenty sporty.

I realized when I got home that, though fully charged, the battery I used has seen better days. With a resting voltage of 11.4, it drops to 9.7V under a "full load" of just less than 6 amps.

Once the weather smooths out, I'll swap the quarter in the nose for a nickle, and get it trimmed in. With any luck, I might even be able to catch a thermal or three with it!

Today I got confirmation that this wing is light enough to thermal. Unfortunately, it also lacks the mass to help move it around efficiently, leaving me to chase the thermal down-wind, losing all the gains in the process.

I also remembered about a little GWS 7060 Slow Fly prop I had laying around. I was hoping it might give the plane a little more pep. As it turns out, it just sucked up more amps, crushing the voltage of my worn out packs. I ended up at just over 80W, but no more speed, so I'll likely switch back to the 7x.3.5 for a bit over 60W, and better flight times.

I have a Swift II in a typical config. I noticed the other day when doing some low fly bys that it was rocking back and forth on lateral axis like it was fighting yaw.

Has anyone else seen this and is there a reason and a fix or just typical of a wing.

This is my first wing and it does fly great and takes a lot of abuse.

There are two things that normally cause what you described.

One is the c of g too far back or just flying too slow. If too slow maybe you were flying with the wind and your air speed was too slow even though you seemed to be flying quite fast..

Originally Posted by BD700

I have a Swift II in a typical config. I noticed the other day when doing some low fly bys that it was rocking back and forth on lateral axis like it was fighting yaw.

Has anyone else seen this and is there a reason and a fix or just typical of a wing.

This is my first wing and it does fly great and takes a lot of abuse.

Hi, I'm building my first Swift and I do not like a tiny bit those original winglets. Has anyone tried Ritewing style winglets on his Swift? Thanks

Originally Posted by Majki

Hi, I'm building my first Swift and I do not like a tiny bit those original winglets. Has anyone tried Ritewing style winglets on his Swift? Thanks

You can try whatever you want, there's no 'wrong' way. If it doesn't fly right, just try again.

I know the Swift II is not really designed to be a fast wing.....for that I would fly my Ritewing or F-27Q.

But what suggestions do you guy's have for a faster setup (Motor,Prop and ESC) on the Swift II.

Within reason, what would be a good fast Swift II setup?

Thanks,
-mike-

Originally Posted by boiko

I know the Swift II is not really designed to be a fast wing.....for that I would fly my Ritewing or F-27Q.

But what suggestions do you guy's have for a faster setup (Motor,Prop and ESC) on the Swift II.

Within reason, what would be a good fast Swift II setup?

Thanks,
-mike-

I was sick of the problems with my smaller motor on the Swift 2 so am currently installing a RC Timer 2836-6 1500kv. I have one on a HEAVY ElleBee with a 3000mah LiPo and it makes it go a reasonable speed and that is a bigger wing.
http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goo...1&productname=

I am just going to do the AMP readings now and see how the c of g goes. I am not after a fast wing as I will be doing FPV but it should go quite fast. If I want faster I suppose I could go from a 3S to 4S LiPo. That would be fast and the motor can take it.

But if you want fast I would get a motor no heaver than mine but a 2700kv one. The reason I liked the RC Timer motor was it was very quiet compared to the 2500kv motors we were using.

Someone else may be able to provide details of a fast full setup.

Hi guys, I've only flown my Swift for about 2 hours and already my ailerons have broken from the constant movement. They were very thin from the offset but I was expecting it to last a little longer then only 2 hours flight time.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a stronger wing setup that wont just fall apart on me? I was thinking more of a surf board type material if such a thing exists?

My elevons broke free too but only after a good long time and plenty of crashes. I just taped them all the way across with Blenderm and then added 3 or 4 strips running front to rear per side. These front to rear hinges are one inch in width.

A friend makes hinges on his EPP planes by using Welder glue. He learned this method when he built a 3D Hobbies foamie. Suggest you check their web site. It may not sound like it would work but he's been flying that plane for 2 seasons now and they are perfect. They look good too because you hardly notice them.

Originally Posted by UAV.APM

Hi guys, I've only flown my Swift for about 2 hours and already my ailerons have broken from the constant movement. They were very thin from the offset but I was expecting it to last a little longer then only 2 hours flight time.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a stronger wing setup that wont just fall apart on me? I was thinking more of a surf board type material if such a thing exists?

Some people cut them off from new as they do not like the foam hinge and tape them on.

I just use wide fiberglass tape on top and bottom of the wing on most of my bigger planes. Lost_Dawg just mentioned he uses Blenderm tape which is lighter and you can hardly notice it on the wing. On the mini wings like MiniSwift the fiberglass tape is too heavy so I use Blenderm tape. hobbyking.com now sell Blenderm tape as it is expensive from the chemist. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...win_Pack_.html

When taping the underside of the wing you must put the elevon up fully before you put the tape on and when doing the top have the elevon down as far as possible. HK have different sizes of fiberglass tape. Here is a 24mm one. I use the 50mm on elevons.but could go a bit smaller. Some use the narrow one and just put three strips to hold on the elevon but I go full length.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...m_x_50mtr.html

I also just worked out if the tape does not stick spray on contact adhesive on the foam and if you put the tape on when the contact is still wet, it is very hard to get off which is good.