Yes I used tape to hold the wing's outer panels in place. I did think about magnets, clips or small rubber bands & such but tape seems to be the simplest & probably the most reliable approach.

Nodd thanks for the drawing explaining the incidence . Wish i had the plans to build this thing like a month ago , I could of showed it off at our event on Sunday ( boo hoo ) Please let me know when you have the plans , I image this is going to be a very popular plane , once again cant express enough how i admire your building techniques , true scratch builder after my own heart lol.

http://www.aeromodelclubalgarve.yolasite.com/

Will upload some pictures on my blog maybe on the monday

Nodd,

Congratulations to your project, and I learned a lot from your documentation. Despite the fact that your skills are far superior to mine, I'd like to comment on your wing saddle design. Please don't take offense. I used exactly the same setup, and found a problem with it. There is obviously no way the wing can slide forward in a crash. If you hit the ground nose forward (which I hope will never happen, but invariably happens to me no matter which way I bungle the landing), then the momentum of the wing will press it firmly against the part of the pod between the saddle and the canopy, damaging either the pod or the wing (or both). This somewhat reduces the safety provided by holding down the wing with rubber bands.

I solved the problem by letting the wing push directly against the canopy. In other words, the canopy extends to directly in front of the wing. You can use fairings or cut the canopy to fit snugly with the wing. Obviously, the front wing bolt has to be put lower in order to be firmly embedded in the fuse. If you hit terra firma, there must be no obstacle for the wing sliding forward, effectively jettisoning the canopy. Holding the canopy down with magnets is good then, but make sure the canopy is attached to the fuse with a little piece of string. That is advisable in any event. I did run after canopies blown about, trying to not trample on the plane I was holding

Yeah I was mostly concerned with the wrenching effect from catching a wingtip & cartwheeling. The bands should help with that. You're correct of course, during a nose in situation the wing would impact the fuselage. I guess time will tell if that's an issue.

Your fix makes a lot of sense. Another approach I've seen is to place a "ramp" of sorts for the wing to ride up on. Something like this...



Maybe I'll work up a mod for the plans. Thanks for the suggestion.

that Sounds much better

Beautiful plane and great video! Well done, and thanks for sharing.

Jesper

hi there fromToledo

+1, good job, Nodd.

cheers -rjf

hi any news on a plan yet? Really excited to get started on this bird

Change of Plans
Sorry to report it'll be a little while still before plans are aviliable. I need to rework the wings. I'll get into the juicy details shortly but basically there's a major problem with the current wing design. I'll post more about that soon, my apologies for the delay.

Nice project and congratulations on a great lookin new bird !

Thanks,
Randy

Originally Posted by Nodd

Change of Plans
Sorry to report it'll be a little while still before plans are aviliable. I need to rework the wings. I'll get into the juicy details shortly but basically there's a major problem with the current wing design. I'll post more about that soon, my apologies for the delay.

What's the problem Nodd ????

I'm going to redesign & build a new wing for this sailplane.
As this thread is getting rather long I've started a new one here...

Sailplane Wing Design Round II

Hi Nodd,

could you put a picture showing how did you install the horns on v-tail control surfaces? I have 2 v-tail sailplanes but I think horns are not properly installed (they generate some stress when actuating)... I think about using ball links but I'm not sure if they are essencials...

Best Regards

Control horn geometry hurts my brain too. There can be some pretty complex stuff going on between the push-rod, horn & control surface. My setup doesn't produce any binding or stiffness in my v-tail, not sure if that's blind luck or because I aligned the control horns to the push-rod instead of to the ruddervator...



I also have a fair amount of push-rod exposed so that it can flex as needed. A common problem I've had with binding was often cured by simply cutting back the push-rod outer sleeve some. Obviously don't go too far or you'll end up with a sloppy linkage. Here's another angle...



If this doesn't help, maybe try starting a thread about your problem with a picture of your setup. Good luck.

Hi Nodd,

thanks... I'm finishing another v tail now... this time I will try to spend more time evaluating the linkage possibilities...

Best Regards