Greetings fellow Soaring Fanatics,

After many revisions and suggestions, I've finally managed to fabricate a V-Tail Clamp that allows both sections of the tail to be removed for transport whilst still holding them securely during sport acrobatic flight. This was originally designed for the R2 Hobbies Passer & Passer X sailplanes, but can be adapted to almost any ship which has a similar top mount and V-Tail angle. I would however, consider fabricating similar clamps with different proportions/angles if enough pilots are interested.

This is a finished product and has been tested with great success on my local slope for many flights :-)
The total weight is 2.9g with plastic bolts and nuts.

I've also made PDF instructions with drilling templates to speed up the install, which is attached to this post.
*Note the PDF instructions show two options for installation. Option 1 requires that nuts be glued into the fuselage and is for intermediate to advanced builders only. Thus, this tutorial is for Option 2; in which holes are drilled completely through the fuselage and nuts are exposed on the exterior.

A handful of these V-Tail Clamps have been fabricated in bulk to make them more affordable for everyone and are for sale in the RCG Aircraft - Sailplanes (FS/W) forum section for $7.50+sh without hardware and $9.00+sh with plastic bolts and your choice of plastic or metal nuts.
Find theme here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...4#post24192238

So let's begin the tutorial:

Optional Step 8: If you're planning to disassemble the V-Tail as much as I do for transport; the holes in the balsa tails can be reinforced with a little thin CA glue for a extra durability. Be sure to let the CA completely dry before attempting to reassemble the V-Tail though; as it can become permanently attached.

What angle is the V at?

What do I do if it doesn't mathc the angle needed by my plane?

What's a couple degree's between tail's. Several year's ago I made mold's for a replacement v-tail upper and lower part's for the JADE Impulse which even today is a pretty good sloper. Any way I actually used 1/8th in. dia. pop-rivet's to install the assembly. The carbon version is very light. And the assembly is very easy to replace if necessary. Nice work on your V-tail mount.

Hi from RCbobcat55 I have heard in the past that 110 to 120 degrees is optimal for a v tail but I don't think a couple of degrees matters-just don't try 30 or 45 degrees-it could be embarrassing when the model doesn't turn (believe me -I tried it once many moons ago.) Great idea and cost effective. I plan on including them in some of my future kits. Bob M..

Originally Posted by rcbobcat55

Hi from RCbobcat55 I have heard in the past that 110 to 120 degrees is optimal for a v tail

It varies a lot by airplane. A model that needs a big stab and a small rudder uses a wide angle, a smaller stab witha big rudder uses a narrower one. My models tend to be in the latter category. The handling difference between 110 degrees and 90 degrees is *immense*.

There's an article on the charles river site that talks about generating V angles, there are a couple of different strategies.

Hi Everyone,
Apologies for the late reply and thanks for all the great responses to this little clamp. Work is crazy busy too today! Hopefully, I've replied to those of you who already sent me a PM earlier this morning and I'll get paid shipments out early tomorrow (Crossing fingers that this will help finish a few ships for weekend flights)

The current angle of the 2 Passer Thermo & 1 Passer X in my hanger is 105.5˚ as best as I could measure with the digital protractor.
I must have measured it 50+ times when the 1st prototype was being made...
Attached is a diagram with the angle called out for better clarity.

rdeis has a point, there is a generally accepted variation of V-Tail angles relative to each model and I've seen anything from Passer's 105.5˚ to greater & lesser angles on my birds which by in large, all flew as advertised. Thus to answer Fly2High's post, I'm willing make batches of clamps adjusted for specific angles/models as needed if enough people are interested. 10+ units are required to keep costs manageable for now.

I'm also trying to conceive of better methods for sorting out V-Tail linkages through skinny fuselages like the Passer and Raptor models.

Happy Soaring,

-8th

I was wondering if the VTail clamp part could be made with a hinge, say out of kevlar or something adn then a wedge be put from above to keep a hindged clamp open such that the angle determined by the fuse is maintained?

Just an idea.

Looks cool and best of luck. Have 2 VTail Manti that can be a pain to transport. I like your idea.

Thanks Fly2High. Transport is always an issue with me since I travel on both plane (the full size ones..hahahaa) and car with my gliders. I've had to repair a few of my V-Tails because of this, and that's how the V-Tail Clamp was born

Out of curiosity, what is the V-Tail angle on the Manti?

-8th

Originally Posted by 8thelephant

Thanks Fly2High. Transport is always an issue with me since I travel on both plane (the full size ones..hahahaa) and car with my gliders. I've had to repair a few of my V-Tails because of this, and that's how the V-Tail Clamp was born

Out of curiosity, what is the V-Tail angle on the Manti?

-8th

100 degrees (found in a thread here posted by Phil on Vtail specs: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=883642) and I do not know anyone who would say that the Mantis flew poorly.

Originally Posted by Fly2High

100 degrees (found in a thread here posted by Phil on Vtail specs: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=883642) and I do not know anyone who would say that the Mantis flew poorly.

Thanks Fly2High. Nice ship I wonder how many other 100˚ V-Tails are out there?
I've also had a suggestion that a version with only one (1) larger 4mm bolt be made for ease of installation....not sure if I'd trust it on my slopes though unless it had a pin connection too like that of the Raptor sailplanes.

-8th

This clamp is great. I received mine and it went together very easy. The directions were clear and professional. I hope to get more

I posted an idea on your 2nd batch thread regarding the idea of making a bottom clamp for flat deck installations. Sorry to repeat it here, but here are a couple of pics to show the flat deck and how a bottom clamp would fill the gap in this situation. It's always been a bit of a pain to get the proper angle and incidence with a v-tail and to make it removable adds one more challenge. Your clamps solves this problem.

This pics show the tail end of 60" SAMURAI twist wing sloper that I am assembling with various parts...the clamps being one key element.

Thanks for advancing the hobby!

Adam

Since this is more of a "Batch #2" question, I've replied in the other thread, but I'll keep checking this on too of course

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...2#post24309466

-8th