Why is my Slow Stick so heavy?

Dr. Phil says it's all my fault, and Richard Simmons won't return my emails. I'm completely befuddled.

The stock weight is supposed to be between 12 and 15.5 ounces, though I don't know if that includes a battery pack. With batteries, my AUW is 23 oz.

The light stuff:

I am using 9 gram servos, 5 gram receiver, 5 gram speed control, and only applied one decal on the main wing, lol. I'm using the stock LG, no reinforcement, and stock main wing reinforcement. I even left out the stock battery mounts!

The potentially heavy stuff:

I have a one ounce 5/16" square stick in the fuse, a bamboo skewer at the LE of the horizontal stabilizer, and a 5" piece of the same 5/16" stock along the vertical stabilizer(can't weigh more than a few grams).

My battery pack is heavy. No getting around it. It's a homemade pack that weighs an eyelash under 6 oz even.

But that still leaves me at 17 oz w/o battery. Since the SS was made to run full size gear, shouldn't my ounce and a quarter in extras be made up for by the micro gear? How could ANYONE get it down to 12 oz stock?

All this said, it flies well. VERY well. This is my second SS, and the first one was 5 oz heavier, but that's another story alltogether. It climbs out fine, loops, ROG's, everything I would expect from it and a bit more. I HAVE checked my weight on another scale too, lol... just in case.

Thank you for viewing, and all comments/ suggestions are welcome.

Bill in the Delta

**EDIT** when re-reading the post, I noticed some numbers didn't add up, I re-weighed everything and ammended it..

If it flies well, there's really no point to change anything except maybe going LiPo.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

Hi Mindblade...

Did you ever get your wing reinforcement worked out? Was curious to hear what you were planning on using...

There are a couple reasons for my concern about the weight. One was just curiosity, wondering how mine got to be so much over the suggested weight. Two, I still have and plan to use the stock power system and think the performance would be enhanced with less weight.. And three.... there's this little 2oz video camera sitting on my desk begging for a ride. I've hauled it up to see if it would work, but it was a S-L-O-W climb and I couldn't run at less than full throttle.

Í agree, with your statement "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" but I can't help but offer "if it ain't broke, I'm still modding it" as a retort, lol

Bill

Yeah, Boomer is sending me what I need.

Hopefully I'll be flying again next week. Have to make sure to pay homage to the wind god.

(Check my user title)

I have to agree with Phil and Richard on this one. You've got a problem... and you're in denial . The numbers just don't add up. Mine has been heavily modded with brass dihedral rod joiners, epoxied spars, arrow shaft in the boom, large foam wheels, 350C (for the time being), extra reinforcing tape, etc. I checked the weight last weekend and it comes in at 13 oz w/o batteries.

But, I agree with everyone else... it really doesn't matter if it flies. I've flown this one with a 400C, 8 ounce battery pack, camera, and shutter switch electronics. Not exactly a quick climbout, but it got up to spec height for some good photos.

Might want to find a third set of scales!

John

Comparison numbers:

I used Hitec HS-55s, a Berg 5 rx, Maxx/MPI wheels, and MiniAC brushless power. The brushless may have saved part of an ounce over stock. Weight without battery was about 13 oz, including wing. I went with hollow CF tubes on the wing and glued them with Probond, and the wing alone weighed just over 3 oz. With a 6.75 oz 9x1100 hecell pack, I ended up at just under 20 oz.

Question: you mention 5/16 stock in the fuse at front and back. Can this be removed to weigh? If you have more than a few inches of very light balsa, this could add measurable weight. I eventually bent my fuse for down/right thrust, and of course it kinked. To strengthen it, I packed a few inches of balsa stock into the front then tapped it back until it occupied the bend area.

Karl

I actually don't know what kind of wood it was, lol... I assumed it was spruce until I went back to the hobby shop to get more. It came out of a "this and that" box and was the lightest stick I could find that seemed strong enough for the job.

I had to sand it to fit and I weighed it before installation. It weighs a smidge over an ounce(I think it was 1.06 oz) It's purpose was to reinforce the area under the wing up to the motor where the fuse is supposed to be vulnerable. I also cut a piece off of the stick to re-mount with my D/R thrust built in. I too had problems with bending the fuse on my last SS. The stick is stuck and can't be removed for a re-weigh.

I used a bit of probond here and there, and maybe those few grams added up. Perhaps I need to meditate alone with my SS and reach the higher state of parkflyer zen... Only then might I reach an understanding with the unwanted grams.

Thanks for the responses,

Bill

ndflicks,
I know mine is heavier by a few oz, but with KAN batt's and a Mega, who cares?
Check out my mods:
www.angelfire.com/tx/nale/eplanes.html

It actually flies better with some weight, maybe not as good indoors, but again, who cares?

I like your page, uglyplane. Looks like you suffer from the same malady I do. Our office was originally for work, but now has become a hangar. My SS does fly well in wind, better it seems than lighter stick planes I've seen, and I imagine the weight has a lot to do with it. It still floats really well, too.

Regarding your PF6, if you don't mind, what was the gearbox/motor you used on it?


Bill

For one thing the SS is not designed to be flown with standard radio gear, it is capable of flying set up that way but it definately is NOT designed for it. It states right on the front of the box that it is designed to be flown at 338-440g (11.9-15.5oz). I flew my sons SS with standard sized radio gear and it was a "lead sled" so I went to a Hitec 555 Rx with two Hitec HS81's I had laying around. We have flown it with an 8-cell AAA NiMH, 9-cell AAA NiMH, and 8-cell AA NiMH packs and it flies the best ( best combination of maneuverability, climb rate and duration) with the 8-cell AAA's. I have an extra EPS350C that I am thinking about installing and using the Etec 1200 Li-Po pack out of my Corsair.

12 ounces is optimistic, but not unreachable. Go easy on the epoxy.

John

Have you checked your scale ??

Great responses, thanks to all!

Full size gear:

I shouldn't have stated as fact that the SS was designed for full size gear. But it has been brought up on Ezone several times that when it was first introduced in 2002, part of the idea was to snag the RC car guys as they could just put their existing gear on board. I don't know this for fact, but it hasn't to my knowledge been refuted by GWS. I also understand that here in the US, we have seperate radio frequencies for aircraft, but I'm under the impression that things are different in the East.

Too much epoxy:

I am bad about that with balsa build ups, lol. I still haven't learned that a little goes a long way. But on this plane, there isn't much to glue, and I used probond. I used just a tiny bead w/water between the wing halves and on the LE reinforcement.

Checking the scale:

I took a few items to the Post Office to be weighed, hoping my scale was off, but to no avail.. I just have a portly SS, lol.

I can't see how 12 oz is acheivable, I'd like to see it for myself. Should I buy yet another SS at some point, I'm going to weigh all of the components before I build(including gear) and see if that helps figure out how it got so big.

Mind you, I'm not unhappy with it at all. Maybe Dr. Phil is right after all. It's all my fault. I should just love it the way it is, I'm not as thin as I used to be either, lol. And it does fly and flies pretty darn good. It's a brisk, windless morning. I think I'll take my Slow Stick out.

Bill in the Delta

Mines between 11 and 12oz. I used a razor 350 and 2 cell etec 1200. Radio gear is 2 hs55s and a berg 5. I have checked my scale against a verified scale where my friend works, and it actually weighs things a little heavy. My scale weighed my nemesis at 5 3/4 and the verified one weighed it at 5.45oz.