This is a Kevin Sharbonda Zone 2 DLG Wing build, this is my first ever wing build so I took it nice and slow.

I would just like to say the quality of Kevin's wings is fantastic, I've seen other wings to compare and this is excellent.

Some things i came across during this build, whilst joining the wing halves the epoxy out here in the high heat of the tropics goes off really quick, but i still had plenty of time to position and set my dihedral angle just. I used finely chopped up carbon fiber tow mixed into the resin to give me some extra strength.

I had originally drilled the bolt holes with a cordless drill, and unfortunately i drilled the holes off angle, so i had to re-pot the holes and do it again with a drill press.

But then i actually noticed after i re-drilled the holes, that my wing saddle was the one that was actually off not my drilling, so in order to be able to use both the original wing and this new wing, i added a very thin epoxy shim strip along the underneath of one side of the wing to compensate and bring the wing level.

Trying to get the push rods the correct length for the top drive gave me a real headache to get the proper geometry and resolution, once i got the geometry correct I finally came out with about 30 degrees of deflection for the flaps, but that should be fine.

On the throwing peg i chose to go with a round peg instead of the blade, as it seems to feel much more comfortable on my fingers, and i know people talk about the fact that it has more drag, but we shall see how that goes.

The wing covers were made from car sun shades that I cut up, shaped and used a heat sealing machine to mate the edges together

This wing did come out on the heavy side, I weighed it on the scale and it was 165g, but i did build it strong and it was my first ever wing build, so my next one will be lighter hopefully.

Just the flight test left to do, which I am really looking forward to.

All the best

D

looks nice!

Danny looking good.

Thanks Russ

Danny, I did receive your email! Please read this discription of the ZoneV2 by Gerald. It describes attributes of the wing and different aspects of the design goals and acheivments. Of most significance is the need to fly the wing faster than most and the variations in camber achieved. Don't give up on it as it takes a lot of pracyice to get used to any new plane 'specially with the way they all fly differently. Also get it in the hands of some other guys and get some varied feedback to see if you are all on the same page or missing something! Thanks and good luck with yer DLGing.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...7&postcount=15

Try 6mm camber for cruise and 10-12mm for thermal. Speed and launch are clean

Thanks Kevin, i did find out this morning that this wing definitely likes to fly faster than my other wing to perform the same if not better, it seems to hook lift much better at speed from what i could tell.

Browncbr1 thanks for your settings, I'll try them on my next session, but for some reason i found that when flying today (Flying in 6 - 9mph winds) that i needed 2 - 3mm of reflex for speed and launch, cruise was clean and i did not get into thermal with winds.

I do fly my DLG just a tad tail heavy as I find i read the plane better that way.

Danny

Hi Danny,,
The reflex causes drag on the zone2... just use clean for launch and speed... Don't be afraid to use a little camber with some nose weight in wind... I find that nose weight helps in wind .. you should be able to fly without ballast up to 15mph wind. Actually, i have never used ballast in mine, i just fly one that is a little heavier.

Hi Craig,

Oh wow no reflex, dam this is a different wing indeed, i never notice it caused drag to be honest.

I hope to get out tomorrow again in the morning so I'll use the clean for launch and speed, and I'll definitely be playing around with that camber.

Yep this plane is a heavy one, so no ballast, it fly's at 312g or 11oz but it's just right for the trade winds that we get on the island.

As you may know, flying in wind is a totally different ball game.

Thanks again

Danny

Originally Posted by browncbr1

Hi Danny,,
The reflex causes drag on the zone2... just use clean for launch and speed... Don't be afraid to use a little camber with some nose weight in wind... I find that nose weight helps in wind .. you should be able to fly without ballast up to 15mph wind. Actually, i have never used ballast in mine, i just fly one that is a little heavier.

Hi Danny,
If you take an ounce of weight out of your model, it will become a whole different animal...
not sure how your fuse and tails are done, but it might be worth it to investigate the tails and convert to pull/spring...
craig

Hi Craig,

Yep it would but my fuse is down as low as I can an get it at 146g, and that is using pull/spring. I have thought of taking out the rudder and going rudderless but that only frees up about 10g off the tail servo. I also thought of going to 1s system to bring weight down, but I would probably have to put the weight back as nose weight to get the C Of G In the right place.

Danny

Craig & Kevin,

Just an update, just got back from a 2 hour morning session, in winds between
15 - 18mph this morning.

Well what can i say, i did as you said Craig and put my launch and speed at clean, with my cruise at 2mm camber and my float at 4mm, just as a starting point.

Well i actually couldn't use the cruise and float in these winds this morning, so i stayed in speed and trimmed for best sink rate with enough forward speed for this wind.

Totally different DLG today, my launches were 30ft higher than usual (and i know the wind will help) and i was only launching at about 60 %.

Next thing i noticed is that wing seems to really climb well on the downwind, i was quite surprised, and she does float nice, and really climbs when you get into a thermal bubble. I actually managed to get at least 4 flights that lasted around the 2:30 to 3:00 mark in these winds.

I can't believe the big difference in just a simple change in camber settings.

Thanks for the advise so far.

Danny