Well, this all kind of started in another thread with me needing advice on wing design, but it has changed so much that I thought I would start a new thread. The first plane was way too heavy so I built a lighter weight pusher design that ended up with too tall of a profile. I decided to keep the same wing, since it seemed to work well, but I chopped the fuse profile into a shorter, leaner machine. I was using a 4:1 gb with a 13 x 6.5 prop, but that changed with the height reduction. It now has a 2.33 :1 gb and 9 x 4.7 prop. AUW 26 oz, sp400, 2s2p lipoly, 64" wingspan, 38" length. There was only a mild breeze this afternoon, though it was misting rain at intervals. I maidened it with the camera in video mode. I don't have a servo for the shutter on this cam yet. Video is bad on cloudy days with 10fps, but I just had to see if it worked. This plane flew beautifully! Silky smooth... I am very happy with the flat bottomed wing. I wish I had a little lower geared gb on it, but don't want to add height for the prop. Still, it climbed out fairly well and cruised at half throttle without losing altitude. It glides great and responds to control inputs well. I just need to add a little colored packing tape to the sides for looks and ding protection and I thing I may make a little better looking ball strap to replace the rubber band. I am trying to think up a cool name, but haven't decided on anything. I thought of Skyball, Orbitron, Rotophoto, and even Balled Eagle , which was pretty corny! Anyone have a good idea?

Randy

My son said name it Eyewitness.

Another Pic.

I'm interested in a wind report. Your initial success is exciting.

Your son's name is cute, but it might get strange looks by non-flyers.

You could paint the ball red and call it Rudolph.

fdisk,

Yeah, that big ole snoot is kind of out there ain't it? Could even put a red light in it. LOL. The wind wasn't blowing hard enough today to give any real report. I'm guessing less than 5mph above the tree line. I'm hoping it penetrates 10+mph without too much of the weathervaning that the taller profile had. I think it needs a Nippy Black, then it should cut through anything!

Randy

I'll say this...the flat bottomed wing seemed to just slip through the air without losing the lift that I thought I would, over the undercambered.

Randy

E-VL Eye

E-VL Eye....hmm, that kind of has a ring to it. I thought of a couple more too. Cue-ball, Eye-Fly? Heck, I don't know. This is the hardest part about building these things! Keep em comin guys!

Randy

Man, that thing looks SWEET! All your trials & tribulation were worth it..as for the name, I'd call it "Sammy Hall"..but I'm a sick bastage.

You could extend just the motor pylon slightly to get a taller prop. Hippo's frog is set up that way. I don't think that would cause as much weathervaning as a full fuse.

Yeah, that's probably what I'll do if I change out the gb. I'm going to fly a few more times like this and if I still think it needs to change, I think I'll put my 3:1 and 10 x 8 prop. I won't need to make the pylon very tall that way and the 3:1 usually gives me quite a bit of thrust. I'm going to fly in a few minutes before work. Looks like there is not much wind out there.

Randy

Would you mind giving a few more details on the wing? I looked back on the previous thread and there wasn't a whole lot about the build process or the dimentions other than width.

I'm especially curious about how tall the airfoil ended up being at the apex and it's weight.

fdisk,

The height at apex is approx 3/4". I believe the weight ended up at about 9 oz after I covered it. I know that the 20" panels weigh nearly an ounce each by themselves. I need to weigh it again to be sure. Basically the wing is just 3 panels baked in a jig in the oven. (told my wife I was baking wings and she thought we were having chicken!) The center panel is 30", middle outer is 10.5", and outer tips are 6.5". The dihedral is about 4 7/8" at each tip when the center panel is flat on the table. There is a carbon fiber arrrow shaft for a spar in the center section and foam spars in tips. 3 main ribs in center section the width of the wing saddle, 2 1/8". 1/32" plywood tabs to mount with nylon bolts to the saddle. I don't remeber if I put any ribs in the tips or not, but in the center section I did add a couple extra foam ribs. The wing has a light coat of spackle and paint with wbpu, and partially covered with colored packing tape. All the dihedral joints are epoxied and the rest was glued with Probond. I don't notice any wing flex even in a dive. It will flex some while holding the plane by the tips.
I just came in from flying. The winds were mild but by the end of the flight, I'm guessing they were gusting at 5mph at ground level and a bit stiffer above the trees. Just enough to toss you around every now and then, not enough for what I would call a "wind" test. Still, the plane flew great. I'm very pleased so far. I still need to tweak the trim a bit and maybe the cg a little. I think I'll keep the 2.33:1 gb on for a while. It has enough thrust to get dificult to see in about 5 or 6 minutes. I even pulled off a couple of loops. I think it would probably loop from level flight while the batts were fresh. The only real problem I'm having is with the color. The white gets hard to see too soon for me. I think I may add some bright stripes to the wing and see if it helps. I'll try to post some pictures of the wing later. I've got to leave for work now.

Randy

Thanks! That is a good start.

Another name: C-NI