Don and I were at the Skymasters meeting last night to present what we do as Strong RC Motors LLC, Ken's CAD Models, and Model Plane Foam Inc. Also indoor streamer combat was discussed at length. Great meeting and lots of interest in this activity.

The StingRay got alot of attention, as many pilots there owned one. Ted was there also with his. By the end of the discussion, the desire was to have a scaled StingRay if possible. To that end I am sharing this with you.

Mini StingRay
Wingspan - 24"
Wing Area - 137 sq. in.
Motor - 10g 2000 Kv
Propeller - GWS 6 x 3
Battery - Turnigy NanoTech 460 mAh 2s
Projected AUW - 100g - 113.5g

There is 1 meter of .051" carbon fiber rod reinforcement, a 22.5" long 3mm carbon tube spar, and a 10.75" length of the same tube material longitudinally placed in the fuselage.

Should "float like a Butterfly and sting like Bee"

Ken

Nice Ken. Got something new to do with the J-Bug gear. Course thats if I ever get back to the hobby.

That looks great, Ken!

If it flies half as well as its big brother, it will be hit.

Thanks for the encouragement guys. The plan is to knock out a couple this weekend, test for any bad habits, and if all is well demo them Tuesday at 1PM at USA.

Ken

I'll be paying attn for sure Ken. I hope to finally have the rest of our stuff out of our old house and into the new, incl'g all my plane stuff and maybe even have a build area set up come holiday time. I have always wanted to do a small elevon ship for that gear. I did GPW's BluAlbacorde at 80% with it to great results but wanted to do something more along the lines of a wing. I think I would favor this even more over a traditional wing. I will be very interested in hearing it's slower flight characteristics.

Jimmy,
It is good to hear from you!

I have high expectations for this ship. She should be very stable with a wide speed range. Gonna be light.

Hope all is well in your new digs,
Ken

Sorry I could not make it last night, sounds like it would have been fun, but once home, I really did not have the energy to go out again.

This morning Ted was telling me about the meeting last night and I started thinking…

Perhaps, just perhaps, we could attract more indoor combat folks if we used an off the shelf model that anyone could buy and go fly. I know there are a lot of guys out there (including me) who just do not have the time or inclination to build but would still like to combat, so I was thinking that one of the off-the-shelf Horizon Hobbies micro aircraft would do the trick nicely. They are light, sturdy, take one heck of a beating (at least mine have) and have readily available spare parts. The gear in them is reliable and as light weight as it gets and they all use the same battery, therefore they are all relatively similar in performance.

Also, their slow flying speed and low weight produces low momentum thereby reducing the chance of damage to indoor lights, ceiling, spectators and whatever else they may accidently hit (we all have hit stuff with our combat planes, including each other) and there is just no way we can build anything as light weight and low mass as these planes. Besides, they “Look” like real airplanes and that has always been one of Don’s requests.

In that regard, I am particularly fond of the micro T-28 as possible combat platform as it is very maneuverable and has acceptable vertical performance and should be capable of hauling a ¼” crepe paper streamer. Besides, lots of guys already have them and may be willing to give combat a try if it costs nothing to start with, and they can be bought used on eBay and RC Groups classifieds!

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Jordon

Ken, things are going good for the most part thanks. The usual frustrations with moving in a hurry then realizing the fun has just begun.
But we all love the house and the neighborhood is awesome so it's all good.

Jordon,
A very well spoken $0.02 worth. I have a Sukhoi that ready to do battle in that case. Do you have a good way of cutting streamer down to 1/4" or a source for it? This could be a class by itself.

If possible you should show up Tuesday at 1PM at USA and pitch it. You bring yours and some streamer and we can try it out.

Ken

Ken,

I will try cutting our normal streamer down to 1/4" the same way I cut it now, it may work. I'll let you know if it does or you could just check how many fingers I have next time you see me...

Jordon

Originally Posted by Jordonr

Ken,

I will try cutting our normal streamer down to 1/4" the same way I cut it now, it may work. I'll let you know if it does or you could just check how many fingers I have next time you see me...

Jordon

Heh..Heh..Heh... Just don't cut off your flying thimbs...

Dave F
>< *>

Originally Posted by Jordonr

Ken,

I will try cutting our normal streamer down to 1/4" the same way I cut it now, it may work. I'll let you know if it does or you could just check how many fingers I have next time you see me...

Jordon

Thanks Jordon! Be careful.

I timed assembly for the Mini StingRay. Including knocking the parts out of the sheet total time was 30 minutes. This is using Foam Tac adhesive, which seems more than up to the task since there is little laminating to do on this build.

Ken

Completed the Mini StingRay this evening. The Turnigy 2211-1700Kv motor (16g) puts the CG right on, with room to adjust for lighter or heavier motors. The AUW is right on target at 3.84 oz (110g) with a 350 mAh 2s battery.

These deviate from the specs in the previous post, in that I used what I have currently for motors. Slipped my E-Flite Park 250 into the second one. It built within a gram of the first one.

Don and I are ready to give them a shake down tomorrow.

Ken

Originally Posted by dz1sfb

Completed the Mini StingRay this evening. The Turnigy 2211-1700Kv motor (16g) puts the CG right on, with room to adjust for lighter or heavier motors. The AUW is right on target at 3.84 oz (110g) with a 350 mAh 2s battery.

Ready to maiden tomorrow.

Ken

Ken, Nice looking plane. What is the coating on the wing that gives it the shine?

Just some clear packing tape Greg.

Ken