I'll have pics of the Oly spoiler setup for sure if I ever get a round tuit. Should be able to get back to the build by the end of the month. When you started your fuse contouring, which looks great, did you just jump in and start grinding? It looks like a lot of material to remove and I don't know where to start.

Someone gave me a round tuit once, but it disappeared in the years somewhere. However, I am going to order an OLY 3 tomorrow (( (Yeah, right. No, really, guarenteed!) ))

My plan at that point is to Mod the heck out of it

Carbon capped spars, kevlar wrapped if I can figure out how to do it, out to the tips only. LITE tips.
Preformed D-tube sheeting. (I mean what heck, let's go for it.)
Strengthened sharp T.E., tough L.E.
I am thinking laminating film for covering (http://www.laminatorwarehouse.com/la...ng_film.shtml), florescent spray paint here and there and a little bit of holographic tape (http://www.identi-tape.com/deco-holo.html) for bling and whistle. (Visibility) (( Or is that the other way around))

I want to round the Fuse more. I am hung on the idea of cutting diagonal grain balsa to join sides with top and bottom. Sand to the limits of reasonability, fiberglass (and/or whatever) judiciously.
Detachable tail parts?

So much to do, so many books to read, .......ain't Life grand

Originally Posted by dwells

When you started your fuse contouring, which looks great, did you just jump in and start grinding? It looks like a lot of material to remove and I don't know where to start.

Thats pretty much what I did for initial rough shaping, with a bench mounted drill and sanding disk attached. This decision was a time thing.
I would have prefered to use my generic perma-grit type sanding gear for this, but I cheated anyhow. Word of warning- the electric sanding disc method could be very perilous, it could be all to easy to stuff it up especially if the sanding disk is not rotating very flat.

Originally Posted by GDbot

Someone gave me a round tuit once, but it disappeared in the years somewhere. However, I am going to order an OLY 3 tomorrow (( (Yeah, right. No, really, guarenteed!) ))

My plan at that point is to Mod the heck out of it

Carbon capped spars, kevlar wrapped if I can figure out how to do it, out to the tips only. LITE tips.
Preformed D-tube sheeting. (I mean what heck, let's go for it.)
Strengthened sharp T.E., tough L.E.
I am thinking laminating film for covering (http://www.laminatorwarehouse.com/la...ng_film.shtml), florescent spray paint here and there and a little bit of holographic tape (http://www.identi-tape.com/deco-holo.html) for bling and whistle. (Visibility) (( Or is that the other way around))

I want to round the Fuse more. I am hung on the idea of cutting diagonal grain balsa to join sides with top and bottom. Sand to the limits of reasonability, fiberglass (and/or whatever) judiciously.
Detachable tail parts?

So much to do, so many books to read, .......ain't Life grand

Sounds like a genuine mission!! Looking forward to seeing and hearing more GD, especially the composite D-tube wing, I'm really interested in that for an Oly wing.

Thats pretty much what I did for initial rough shaping, with a bench mounted drill and sanding disk attached. This decision was a time thing.
I would have prefered to use my generic perma-grit type sanding gear for this, but I cheated anyhow. Word of warning- the electric sanding disc method could be very perilous, it could be all to easy to stuff it up especially if the sanding disk is not rotating very flat.

Thanks Steve, i'll just mark it up and take a little at a time.

GD,

Please take lots-a-pics, always love to see mods and ideas of someone building the same ship...

OK!....... That was the vague plan anyway. I'll send the check off for the kit Monday. (Or Tuesday......guaranteed!)

Thanks for the encouragement. Filling out the order form right now!

Check is in the mail! I am nervous now, love that feeling.

I need to order some tapered carbon spar material ( probably from CST), ... what is the length of the inboard panels? More or less than 48"?

GD if you build as per plan the Olympic III inner wings span 32" each.
Here's something though just in case you haven't got hold of all the specs yet; the inner wing panels have a constant wing section and chord right up to the outer panel join. The outer panel is both tapered in section and chord from the root to tip.

I have been running the dimensions of several planes I have, including the Oly III now on my building board, through the Sailplane Calc Excel spread sheet written by Curtis Suter to see if the spread sheet can be used to design and/or make modifications to improve specific handling characteristics. (It was in the April 2008 edition of the RC Soaring Digest and can be downloaded from his webpage here ). The other planes come out in the recommended ranges but I am getting some strange numbers for the roll stability (VvB) with the stock dihedral angles for the Oly III.

I have to input almost double the dihedral in each section (1.75" to 3" and 7.5" to 11" in terms of inches measured from a flat surface at the panel break and tip) to get the roll stability into the range recommended by Mark Drela for for a R/E plane - Curtis used some of Dr. D's work and planes to build the spread sheet. With the stock dihedral numbers for the Oly III, the calcs predict the plane will be very unstable in roll attitude.

Question: Obviously the Oly III flys very well with the recommended angles, and it would be a PITA to make different dihedral braces anyway, but is there something wrong in the spread sheet calcs for this large a plane (my other planes in the 1.5 to 2m range come out fine) or do the wing panels on the Oly flex in flight increasing the effective dihedral to get it into the right range? It is a big wing with not the most robust spar system by today's standards, but that seems like rather a lot of flex.


FC

Hi FC, I have no real idea on this matter myself.
Despite being a dedicated mathematics student I try to keep my flying by numbers to a minimum outside of obvious basic design parameters, I tend to achieve more on the sticks and in the air this way, by going by feel.

It might possibly be an anomoly in the software, but it might not be either by the theory of numbers given the algorythms involved. After spending only a little time in the murky waters of aerodynamic theory applied to model aircraft, I've recognised one thing- thank god the sum of an aircrafts dynamic handling range is the sum of more than what numbers may indicate!

But I would still like to hear what others that are more in the know have to say about what your data signifies, especially if its intended to model or predict actual real flight performance. I've not a lot of faith in current software dynamic flight modelling personally, outside of being a possible rough guide. No doubt it will get better with more extensive data matching.

BTW all, I'm finishing off the Oly fuse covering today, that along with managing the five other RC projects in the little work time I find for my hobbies means that the projects are slow, and also because I want to fly whenever I can too.

Thanks Steve.

I am corresponding with Curtis and have sent him my data for his review. I will post if he has any conclusions or ideas. Predicting real world behavior in anything from mathematical models is always challenging.

In another life I used to teach HS physics and it was a constant struggle to connect the "massless elephants on frictionless planes" in the text books to my students' real world experiences so they could grasp the underlying principles. My use of the modeling software here is of the "horseshoes and hand grenades" version of prediction; close is good enough! It has to be better than building multiple parts to get what I want by iteration.

My work on the Oly III has been slow too, but for other reasons. The fuse top went on this AM and I am waiting for the Titebond to set up before gluing the bottom and making a lot of balsa dust grinding in the profile. We have finally hit what passes for winter here (raining today but was 80F last weekend) so my free time is shifting from flying to building and repairing the accumulated damage acquired over the summer.

How are you covering the fuse? Film, paint, combination or other?

FC

Hi Steve, Good to see another glider guider in the area. I'm not sure if you were the person that came to our field (B.E.S.S) on woodgate road (near Bundy) a week or so ago? (I was away at an aerotow event) , but if so, please feel welcome to come back anytime you want.
we support every type of aero modelling, but I'm fairly tied with F3B, F3J, and aerotow.
Even if you weren't the person who came out, then I open an offer to you to come and fly with a group of like minded people, in a location where the thermal gods are very kind.
Give me a call sometime, 41517616
Cheers,
Dale Ward
B.E.S.S

Hi Dale, no that wasn't me in the last couple of weeks, but I did visit a few more weeks back, during the recent comp on a Sunday.
I'll return for some flying for sure in that nice open area, although I'm no gun RC pilot I liked the technical aspects to the site, I reckon the OlyIII would love it there on a fairly calm day. Looking forward to visiting again.

Steve.