Ken said it much better than I could! It was his guidance that got me to make the change in mine.

Wouldn't worry about the rain as much as the wind. Recorded 24mph typical with occasional dips to 8 & gusts to 26 this morning in bean field next to house. Hard to stand still!

Originally Posted by LCountach

Thanks for the advice Ken. Looks like I have to start adding weight to the nose. It was what I also suspected and wanted to avoid. Bummer. Also thanks for the explanation of what the real jets are doing in the videos.

Too bad its supposed to rain today. I would love to test again.

John,
Wondering if you can move the battery further forward, or go with a bigger battery.

Ken

worst case scenario, move the motor fwd. I've done it.

Battery forward and motor forward are both good ideas. This current tiger is actually my second build of the same plane. My original had the motor at the end of the tail and battery right up in the nose. My second build (Current One) moved the motor forward and the battery back while still moving the CG 1cm forward. It would require another complete rebuild to move the motor. To move the battery would require tearing out the nose I currently have and building a new one. Tearing it out may cause a lot of damage in the process. A bigger battery may fit with little work but I am not sure it would be enough forward shift to the CG and it's just adding weight anyway. I think the best solution would be to move the battery. I just rebuilt the front half of the plane a week ago after a crash. Not really looking forward to that again. What I chose to do for now is move the CG another 1cm farther forward by adding some weight far out in the nose. When I find a good CG for this airframe I may build another sometime in the future.

I took the plane out to Metro Beach after the rain stopped and it dried up a bit. You were right about the wind. Damn was it windy! I decided to fly anyway. I trimmed the canards to neutral and launched. I got the plane up really high above the trees. I then pointed into the wind let go of the sticks. When it ran out of momentum it gently nosed down. It then gained some speed and leveled out in to a glide. I was shocked how well it was behaving. It descended slowly and totally flat. I decided to use slight Ailerons touches to guide it in. It landed flat with no power or elevator input. I don't know if that's what is supposed to happen but I was impressed. I launched again to try some high speed passes but found that very risky. It was just to windy to safely keep trying. I got the plane back on the ground in one piece and was thankful for that. I was happy at least at what it did do so I went home.

After that I decided to build a Stingray instead of crashing the tiger. I printed out the tiled PDF and made the parts from tracing that. The airframe is done but I still need to mount the electronics. I really couldn't find a good place for the receiver or ESC. Cutting holes just seemed like it would weaken the airframe way too much. I also don't have the servos yet. So for now it sits until I decide what to do with the electronics.

John,
Sounds like some good progress. Maybe the best to hope for is to get the configuration all doped out and then build an optimized one.

On the StingRay, the receiver and esc are best strapped to the side of the fuselage. In the prototype I had put those components into slots in the fuselage and found myself breaking the fuselage regularly. That little notch in the fuselage at the CG point allows for the battery and rx/esc retainer straps.

Ken

Originally Posted by dz1sfb

On the StingRay, the receiver and esc are best strapped to the side of the fuselage. In the prototype I had put those components into slots in the fuselage and found myself breaking the fuselage regularly. That little notch in the fuselage at the CG point allows for the battery and rx/esc retainer straps.

I hadn't thought of using the strap for anything other than the battery. That's a great idea. I will do that. Thanks!

Originally Posted by bz1mcr

Don't forget we are all invited to Fly some combat demonstrations for the guys at ShyMasters Scripps road field this Saturday. I sugges we plan to arrive before 5:00 so we can be all set to go by 5:15 or 5:30 PM. Also we are invited to stay and do some night flying after the combat demos.

Last night I think I heard Jordon, Ted, Joe, and Vic saying they planned to attend. I'll be there also. any others?

Observers are also welcome but pilots must show AMA membership to be able to fly. If you want to join on line you can get a printout that will allow you to fly. Park flyer members can fly any "Park flyer" planes. That would cover most anything we fly, unless Vic has his FPV plane ready. That would require an full open AMA membership.

So, who plans to participate? Did I get the 4 guys mentioned above correct?

I plan to come to Skymasters on Saturday. I am really looking forward to the combat demo - I have two planes all tuned in and ready. I am also looking forward to the night flying. It will be neat to see the sky lit up with multiple planes.
Joe

Originally Posted by fannonjk

I plan to come to Skymasters on Saturday. I am really looking forward to the combat demo - I have two planes all tuned in and ready. I am also looking forward to the night flying. It will be neat to see the sky lit up with multiple planes.
Joe

I won't make it for combat, but will be there for the night flying. Got my FireFly all rigged with lighting. Seems like a fitting name for a night flyer.

Ken

Originally Posted by springer

Actually, I think I didn't get it last week, think it was the week before, although I suppose I could browse back through the thread.... I'll try to be at the flyin sat. so you can take the crown from me!

Mike
Last week was a windy day and only three of us did combat with no kills, so I guess you legally have the longest King of Combat reign thus far. However, this could all end Saturday afternoon!
Joe

John: if your tiger glides like that power off, then I don't think I'd fool with cg, but rather thrust angle. The right angle may look wierd, but nontheless fly the plane correctly. I have built several that require wierd looking angles (like the OSG) to make the plane fly straight and level power on.

Originally Posted by springer

John: if your tiger glides like that power off, then I don't think I'd fool with cg, but rather thrust angle. The right angle may look wierd, but nontheless fly the plane correctly. I have built several that require wierd looking angles (like the OSG) to make the plane fly straight and level power on.

The Tiger glided level as I described yesterday with the added weight and strong head wind. Today I went back to metro just before it rained and tested again. There was almost no wind. I did the same test from very high up. This time without wind helping the plane still glides well but at a slight nose down angle. It comes in a touch too steep to land like it did with the wind and requires a flare out before touchdown. Having no wind today was also a great chance to try level flight passes again. At very low throttle it requires slight up stick to stay flying. 50% is very neutral. 100% requires slight stick down to stay level. It also needs slight right stick to counter the torque.

If that is how a plane is supposed to act please let me now. I really don't know the proper behavior. My guess is now with the weight and motor at slight down thrust I am very close.

I won’t be able to make tonight’s Skymasters combat; I forgot that this is my wife’s birthday weekend and we will be going out to dinner instead. Hope you guys have nice weather and a lot of fun.

Jordon

Hey John! Haven't been on here lately, I kept meaning to suggest to you to join up on here. Glad to see you already did. Hey for checking the weather we all use this website.

http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/laun...=KMTC&state=MI

It shows much more accurate weather readings designed for flying, the air/wind speed is the most important. That link is for the Mt. Clemens area. Good stuff. Btw transmitter on order! Due in weeks and its all yours.

Tim, what transmitter did you order?
Jimbo

Hi Guys. Where is this Skymasters thing happening and at what time?