Well, here's the pic of what I bought all Wal-Mart the other day for $6 and change... The micro Zagi project has been aborted and this is the latest project on the desk. Next is the Nesail Air Camper that I got today for Father's Day! http://www.nesail.com/aircamper.htm It is and absolute beauty and is a beast. It's going to be my full time aerial photography airplane. Anyway back to the Sky Crusier (also called the Spicy Wing). I'm just about completed with it and wanted to post some pics of the progress.

I took the dihedral down to 3/4". I also spent about 5 hours trying to use only ONE Selman mounted to the wing to operate the ailerons by using guitar string and small pieces of tubing. Everything seemed to be perfect and there was like ZERO binding but the Selman just couldn't put out the power to get enough deflection in the ailerons. So I then reverted back to Mike's Spicy Conversion insctructions and went with seperate aileron actuators. Here are a few pics...

Getting ready to work on the elvator Selman actuator (ahead of the RFFS) per Mike for CG purposes... It's going to be quite a challenge to get that big old CF rod from front to back without hitting anything but, I think I'll figure it out. Just about done with that.

Elevator deflection...

Wing and inners... I'm getting outstanding deflection on the ailerons (after getting them to move the right way!). I removed alot of foam to get the RFFS to fit flush with the surface in the bottom of the fuselage...

BTW, Mike I'm using the centering magnets on the on all the actuators. That should save me some heartache hopefully. Thanks for the tip and thanks again for the OUTSTANDING instruction manual in .pdf format. You've taken soooo much guess work out of this thing!

Any suggestions or comments or welcome!

Thanks guys, Lewis

How far back is the CG located from the LE of the wing? Thanks in advance! ,Lewis

Lewis,

I just ran down to the shop to look at the CG (and get in a Tiny-X flight before I got to work), and the CG is 1 " to 1 1/8" behind the LE at the fuselage. The FF CG is further back, but I could never get the plane to fly decently like that. The last one I built had one of the new .375 gram Azzar whip antennas sticking out of the back of the hatch area instead of the 'standard' Azzar mounted in the read of the fuse. That helps bring the CG a little forward, too.

You may need to lift (or offset) that BSD actuator up a 1/16" if you need more clearance at the crystal.

I wonder why you couldn't get one BSD to work both ailerons; any BSD should have enough thrust. Could you send me or post some pictures of the aileron linkage you couldn't make work? Perhaps I can help out there... That is really the best way to go if you can get it to work for you.

One last tip, launch at 1/2 to 3/4 power. Any more than that makes them want to torque roll pretty hard, and it is real easy to over-control until they are up to speed. Even then, you need to be VERY EASY on the controls...

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Ready for maiden! Hopefully, this will go better than the micro Zagi! I have the CG perfectly balanced at 1" from the LE. The battery is temporaraly rubber banded to the lower front of the fuse for easy adjustment and removal. I'm also going to try the heavier 230mah pack and see how it performs also.

The elevator throw is very extreme! I had to dial it down to like 25% up and down. The ailerons look about right. I've also dialed in alot of negative expo in hopes of less twitchy control.

I decided to reuse the canopy wing connector. I bent the 4 corners of it up and it makes a heck of a good attachment for the rubber band to hold the main wing attached.

I also opted to not use the factory switch since I'll be utilizing my homemade battery connectors.

Wish me luck! Hopefully, today or tomorrow for the maiden.

Thanks Mike,
Lewis

Another view...

Good luck! Let's hear how it flies for you! What is the final AUW?

I had actually cut away alot of that little tray that the RFFS fits into so nicely. Havening done that gave me plenty of clearance for the tail rod.

I know that someone could probably get the ailerons to function off one BSD but I put about 5 hours into it and could not get anywhere near the deflection needed to control this plane. The wires seemed to be bent a little too much where I had the rig located (wish I would have taken a pic). A better way would be to use a couple of "L" shaped pieces to act as levers between the BSD and the two ailerons. I'll follow up with my flight report next...

Originally posted by Mike Taylor
You may need to lift (or offset) that BSD actuator up a 1/16" if you need more clearance at the crystal.

I wonder why you couldn't get one BSD to work both ailerons; any BSD should have enough thrust. Could you send me or post some pictures of the aileron linkage you couldn't make work? Perhaps I can help out there... That is really the best way to go if you can get it to work for you.

One last tip, launch at 1/2 to 3/4 power. Any more than that makes them want to torque roll pretty hard, and it is real easy to over-control until they are up to speed. Even then, you need to be VERY EASY on the controls...

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Not Good!

I tried many different locations of the battery and trim levels on the elevator/ailerons with no luck. It kept wanting to fly to the left about 10-20' then nose-in.

Mike,
Do you think that my problem is that I mounted my motor on the opposite side that you did in your instructions? Also, I had the battery rubber banded directly under the plane in the middle. I noticed that you have yours mounted opposite of the motor. That probably keeps things balanced.

This is the only idea I could come up with since my motor is on the left and the plane wants to go left (at any throttle level)...

My last crash was so bad that it actually broke the KP prop! I didn't think a 1oz plane could break anything!

It seems like everybody on here is flying these Spicy Wings so there should be lots of knowledge out there...

Thanks in advance guys! Help!

I think having your motor mounted "in the opposite direction" is part of the problem. You have built in left thrust by having the motor centerline on the right side of the plane thus augmenting the normal left torque effect. See if you can mount it the other way and you still may additionally need some right thrust as well.

Keep at it. It WILL work after getting the bugs out.

Thanks Inari. I still can't believe I didn't notice which side Mike had the motor mounted on whenever I was doing my conversion! Anyway, rather than mess with the motor mounting, this morning I decided to mount the battery on the side of the fuselage (rather than centered directly underneath). I mounted it on the opposite side of the motor. And guess what... It flew! It wasn't pretty but it was definitely a partially controlled flight. I still need to find the sweet spot with the CG and the elevator reflex. I'll get to play with it more tonight.

,Lewis

You posted your flight results while I was in the hot tub. Glad it went well (or at least better).

If yours is mounted opposite mine, the shaft should still be in the center of the plane. I mounted the battery inside like that because that was the only way to get 3 pounds of worms into that 2 pound jar!

Mine exhibit the same sort of behavior in a slow launch. Try upping the speed of the launch, and cant the wings to the right a little bit (to start it out in a right hand turn). Half throttle and a couple clicks of 'up' works best for me on launch. As soon as they pick up speed, they fly a lot better.

My biggest problem is remembering how little input I need...

Didn't get a chance to try it again tonight. Too busy flying my Tiny in ZERO wind conditions.

I'll remember your launching advice the next time I try it...

Thanks again!
,Lewis