Some pictures of both Matts and Brians Watts Up's in action this weekend at the first Bartletts Comp of the year...

Wow - that would be great. I bought the short kit & plans this winter, but my building schedule has slowed and I've put it on the shelf for a while. Sure would be fun to build both wings at the same time....

thx for a nice design

Originally Posted by Essex BOF

Might do plans for the new wing if there is enough interest.

Please do plans for the new wing. It sounds like a winner.

- Thomas

Originally Posted by thnilsen

Please do plans for the new wing. It sounds like a winner.

- Thomas

What he said.

I have just started on my build of the Watts UP having had all sorts of problems sourcing the boom for this model. I eventually had to offer up one of my 12' beach rods as all the suppliers of rod blanks I was able to find wanted my first born as payment.

I would indeed be interested in the plans for the new wing.

David

Sign me up for plans of the new wing as well!

Andy

Originally Posted by DavidWalker

What he said.

I have just started on my build of the Watts UP having had all sorts of problems sourcing the boom for this model. I eventually had to offer up one of my 12' beach rods as all the suppliers of rod blanks I was able to find wanted my first born as payment.

I would indeed be interested in the plans for the new wing.

David

You may have been better off getting the rod blank from the UK here including the shipping must have been cheaper than what you had in Aus
http://www.cheshirefishing.co.uk/sho...les.htm#impact

A few photos of my build from the short kit. Waiting for for some calmer weather for the first flight.


toolman59

Originally Posted by toolman59

A few photos of my build from the short kit. Waiting for for some calmer weather for the first flight.


toolman59

Cannot see any spoiler fitted?

Made a nice job of it but why is the elevator servo outside plus a cutout in the elevator to miss the fin.

BTW before anyone asks I have not drawn up the plan for the small aileron/flap wing as the take up on it was small and my time is being spent on other things for myself such as writing my memoirs of 60 + years in modelling.

This was PM'ed to me, just thought it might be of interest, perhaps he can come back and tell us more no doubt.
Must admit that I would never have tried that


About a month ago I saw your Watts Up at our local flying field and thought it was a very purposeful looking glider! Bought the plans from Traplet, built the fuselage and tail as per plans but.....fitted it with a spare pair of foam wings from a Graupner Electro Junior S I happened to have. These give a ~2m span.
Flew this hybrid for the first time at the weekend....our local chief flying instructor did the maiden and trimmed the plane out. Result - "One of the best soaring gliders I have flown for a long time!" We had two 15 minute flights..could have stay up much longer. Flies beautifully! In fact it seems to me it goes better than the original, fully Graupner, glider!! Just goes to show how important all parts of a glider are, not just the wings.
Thanks for a great fuselage!
Sean.
.

Hi All,
It has been a while, but my 2 metre, V-tail version of Watts Up is now ready for her maiden flight.

I scaled the wing down to 80% size, but kept the tailplane the same size as the original and converted it into a V-tail. I wanted to use the same motor as the original, so I scaled the length of the fuselage down to 80%, but kept the width and height of the pod to original dimensions.

Here are some photos.

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The 2m wing span version has now been flown, in slightly windier conditions than I would have hoped for on a maiden flight. The model showed that it will be very suitable for sport flying in winds up to 15 or 20mph.

Here is another photo

It may be of interest that the "Watts Up" was going to be a V tail after my other creations that I flew before. The arrangement had the V tail mounted on the bottom of the boom, held on by to M3 bolts into a ply vertical insert in the boom. Two snakes were used to operate the ruddervators. It did not happen as most of the people I canvased said a X tail is better, so that is what you got.

Pictures of the Frenesi & Frenes-E in the early 2000's
The lightweight wing for the glider version is shown on its own and the Frenes-E has the broad chord wing

Hi Brian,

I had never built a V-tail before, but my understanding was that you save some weight by not having a fin and rudder. Surely that is an advantage.

I pondered over a number of methods of attachment and decided to keep the model in the vein of the original by using a tail support, but of lower height. I personally prefer V-tails on top of the boom, as I think they look neater.

Originally Posted by Thermal Rider

Hi Brian,

I had never built a V-tail before, but my understanding was that you save some weight by not having a fin and rudder. Surely that is an advantage.

I pondered over a number of methods of attachment and decided to keep the model in the vein of the original by using a tail support, but of lower height. I personally prefer V-tails on top of the boom, as I think they look neater.

Yes you are quite right there is a weight saving even taking into acount the 10% increase in tail area added to allow for the decrease in planform area for the dihedral on the tail plane.

Yup, the top mounting looks better but the lower mounting using the V to locate the tailplane, is more practical & saves work
Most comp flyers seem to prefer X tails but I like V tails. There only disadvantage in my eyes is there lack of steerage when in landing configuration with only rudder for steering. Works best with full crow breaking.

Here is a photo of yet another smaller version of Watts Up with 2m wing, a V-tail and using a 480 size brushless inrunner. The maiden flight took place yesterday and showed good climbing potential in the thermals. AUW is 24oz (700g)