30" EPP KF Cat
11 turn BW 24g motor
9gram 10amp esc
4-5gr servos
8040GWS prop cut to 7"
500mah 3S 20C lipo

I decided to mash up a few designs in an attempt to build a tough, slow flying 3Dish EPP Cat.

I took the 24" Alleycat wing and increased it's width to 30" while extending the cord a couple inches. I drew up my own fuse section and made if really fat. I used the Alleycat boom as a guide, but made it fatter and fitted a much larger stab and rudder. I also increased the size of the horizontal stab and elevator. I'm looking for a plane that is capable of extreme aerobatics and flying in my backyard, crashing through trees and nose darts.



KF section under wing;



Large rudder;



Tough and light three layer fuse;



The fuse is three layers of EPP, 9mm/6mm/9mm. I'll take more pictures and update as the build progresses. Hoping it flies better than my previous two cats.

Coming together. I'm thinking of doubling part of the booms to add stiffness and to more closely match the center fuse. I've sanded the fuse round. If I double the booms I can sand them round to match the fuse.

Bottom of plane, haven't hinged the elevator yet.

Glide tested, CG found, kid approved. My daughter even says it "looks cool, can you build me one?"

Lukejt's EPP KF Fat Cat (0 min 43 sec)

After a few days and several hours of experimenting, I have this plane setup and flying GREAT! I've named it the Tough Cat, because it is one tough bird! It has already survived enough crashes to ruin a dozen Depron planes. It's still windy here, and my backyard is lined with trees, I've clipped them a bunch and crashed hard with little to no damage except for a handful of busted props (it's 19 degrees). This is the best windy weather plane I've flown to date.

I should have some video soon. The plane is capable of knife edge, KE loops, snap rolls, torque rolls, slow high A (but not hovering, there is no air over the control surfaces at ultra low speed), inverted flight, and high speed flying. It's a blast, and the three layer EPP fuse is built to take abuse, while being really light and stiff.

I stiffened the tail with a piece of Kevlar thread. The leading edges of the wings were rounded, Kevlar thread inserted and saturated with thin CA glue, then covered with strapping tape to further stiffen the wing. I chopped off the tip of the twin booms. The plane is now really stiff, light, responsive, stable and fast.

Kevlar thread in a triangle to the fuse. CF on horizontal stab completes the triangle.


Kevlar thread attached to outside of vert. stabs.


Underside of finished plane;



Battery is mounted nicely inside fuse, stays warm and protected, also keeps CG perfectly centered side to side;




Leading edge rounded, Kevlar inserted and thin CA glue applied to stiffen wing and LE;


Video to be posted asap.

....

I posted a video last night that I took with a #3 keyfob cam in my mouth, but it was awful so I pulled it. I took my son around the corner to a field today and asked him to keep the video short, around 2 minutes each. He turned off the camera every time I got close. lol

I had a full throttle full speed nose dart today, the only damage was broken kevlar thread to the tail, it flies the same so I left it off. I'm telling ya this is one tough plane! The nose compressed and it bounced about 3' in the air, I picked it up and tossed it and she flew just fine.

EPP Tough Cat 1 (0 min 57 sec)

Snap roll to ground

EPP Tough Cat 2 (0 min 23 sec)

Fly by after chasing cars

EPP Tough Cat fly by (0 min 16 sec)

That is a very nice foamy,flys really nice.
Are you going to do plans for it preferably tiled.
If plans are made available I will build one from depron as thats my favorite building material ,not very crash resistant but that makes me more careful with my flying.

I hope plans are made available soon.


John

Thanks JClassic. There are several plans for Depron Cat's here;

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=297635

I used the 24" AlleyCat as a starting point, changes are listed in the build as well as the last page or two of the above link. I believe the Tough Cat is more aerobatic, and stiffer w/o lot's of cf or bamboo due to the KF wing, layered fuse and shorter tail sections.

Later when I have time I'll read up on how to publish plans, I'd like to make them available to everybody for personal use.

I've built 4 or 5 Depron planes, they're all dead (including an AeroCat. I'm an abusive flier with a tree lined backyard. lol