Plug is done. Here's a link to the build thread- https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1586877 Time to start making moulds.

I've been drawing up a PSS F104. Dimensions are fairly close to the Higgins F20 so hopefully it'll fly similarly. Span will be about 1150mm. Wing airfoil is HD45. The profile of the fuse is straight from the 3 views. I've slimmed up the rear end quite a bit. The wing and intakes have been moved forward. It's not very scale but it should fly a whole lot better.

The 1/2 moulded approach worked well for the Whip wing. I'm really happy with the results so I've decided to have a go at a second wing. I finally got all the CAD work done.

For a 60" sloper (Daryl Perkins Whip).

I'm trying to come up with something that's cleaner than a bagged wing but tougher than a lightweight moulded wing....Continue Reading

Well the prototype flew ok with my old Rotor wings. It flew just like my old Rotor. Shocking that

Time to draw up a better wing! Something bigger and faster

Time to pluck some numbers out of my arse. 66" span, 6.5" root, 3.5" tip. Basically just stretched out versions of the old Rotor wings I've been using. That's 330sqin of wing area. AUW of 45oz puts the wingloading at ~20oz/sqft. Sounds perfect!

I'm going to use an unswept 1/4 chord to prevent any strange stuff from happening as the wings pivot. 6.25/4-(3.5/4)=0.75

Next I'll figure out which airfoils I want to use.

Jordan

The moulds are producing good parts so it's time to start building a flyable plane.

I think I already mentioned it but the first plane will be using my old wingeron Rotor wings. They have the same 7.5% E374 as the VS Rotor but they have a 3.5" tip instead of 4.5". Resulting in higher taper, higher aspect, and less wing area (higher loading). They fly good, not spectacularly fast but they don't have any bad habits.

Here's a vid of my old Rotor-

Rotor Wingeron (1 min 54 sec)

The tail will be the same as a standard Vmax. It is sized for a high aspect 2m wing so it should be oversized when used with these wings. Exactly what I want.

I'm going to use the standard pin and cam drive system. The airbrake will be driven off a bellcrank on the wingrod.

Jordan

Well the moulds are finally finished. 7 pieces plus 4 inserts It was a lot of work. I didn't realise what I was getting into when I started shaping the plug

The boss is away at a baby shower (no boys allowed ) so it's time to get these moulds ready to pull parts.

Tentative fuse layup is-
100gsm tight weave.
200gsm @45deg.
2-3x full length strips of 4.1 uni carbon.
1-2x 200gsm @0-90 between the uni carbon (not on the boom). Maybe some kevlar reinforcement too.
11.9oz carbon around the wingrod/smiley cut area and ballast mount.
200gsm @45deg.

Nosecone- 100gsm, 200gsm, 5oz kevlar, 200gsm.

I'm a little worried that the boom will be too thin, flimsy, and prone to snap. I really put this thing on a diet when I was shaping the plug. I may need to add more reinforcement. Maybe a strip of balsa sandwiched between the uni carbon just to thicken up the part. Dunno, might have to do some testing.

I really want to be able to get one built and ready to fly within the next 3 weeks. We are heading over for a holiday in Southern California at the end of the month and I'd love to bring one along. But there is still a lot of work to get one airworthy.

Jordan

This build is going in my blog because I have no idea when/if I'm going to finish it. It's going to be a very busy year.

I'm going to have a crack at scratchbuilding a pitcheron sloper. It's not really an original design, more of a combination of the features I like in a TWF. And they are-

-Good looks.

-Sleek fuselage= Low drag.

-Generous horizontal tail volume. To make the plane more responsive in pitch.

-Plenty of room at the CG for ballast.

-Ability to use different wingspans. Between about 60"-80". Means a nice long tail moment for larger wingspans. And also the ability to change tail feathers to cope with the different sized wings.

-Inverted radio tray. Allows the wings to be mounted higher up on the fuse. More ground clearance = less likely to catch a wingtip when landing. Also allows taller cams to be used for better mechanical advantage.

-Both servos in front of the wingrod (plus the inverted tray) mean the servos will pull for up elevator. Also in normal flight the linkages will be under tension rather than compression (because of airfoil pitching moment).

-Airbrakes?? Dunno about this one yet.

For good looks it doesn't get any better than the VS Sailplanes line (Rotor, Xica, Vmax). So that's where I drew my inspiration when shaping the plug. The profile is similar to the Vmax/Xica but the fuselage is much much slimmer.

The plug was built up out of some old 3mm MDF I had lying around. With a few ply formers inside to hold the right shape. After the corners were rounded off I painted it with polyester resin, talc, and red pigment. Sanded it up to 1200g w&d then polished with cutting compound.

The supplies for the mould should be here next week. I'm gonna use polyester because it's cheap, easy, and I don't need to pull a heap of parts. The plan is to make 3 separate moulds. Nosecone, fuselage, and stinger.

Jordan

Just making sure everything works properly before taking them up to Manilla. A bit of PNF, TWF, and PSS. They all pull apart and pack flat. Will chuck in a foamie too (if there's room).

It is going to be a great week of flying, BSing, and drinking

Jordan

Been working on this one for a while. I punched a hole in the fin a few months back and when I was repairing it I went a bit crazy with the filler. The seam is smoothed over and all previous war wounds filled.

Bagged up a fresh set of wings too. Nice high AR. Modified Drela foils. Cores CNC'd by Off the Edge Sailplanes.

Just laid down the paint today. I'm not overly happy with the finish. spray enamel sucks. Oh well, at least it will be ready to fly at Manilla.

Jordan

Finally got around to painting and putting panel lines on my BD-5. I have been flying it in primer since Jan/Feb

I got the fuse and cores from Dan Sampson (ISRDAN) last year. It has a 2pc bagged wing (carbon/balsa/glass) and removable fin and stab. It packs down nice and small.

I had aileron flutter problems to begin with. Turned out the torque rods were too wimpy. So after some surgery it flew a lot better.

It flies great. Nice and fast with a good roll rate. It does really well in light lift considering it weighs just over 50oz.

Maiden vid-

BD-5 Maiden (1 min 9 sec)

Halfpipes in light lift-

Lazy Halfpipes With BD-5 (1 min 27 sec)

...Continue Reading

My Higgins Rodent is finally ready for a maiden. Maybe this weekend.

Balanced slightly nose heavy it's around 2kg/70oz with a wing loading or 25oz/sqft. The wing isn't standard. Glenn (Zipper) from Off the Edge hooked me up with some 7% RG-14 cores.

Radio gear is 3x Hyperion DS13-TMB servos, Spektrum AR500 Rx, and 2000mah 4.8V Eneloop pack.

The plane is pretty stout. John Higgins laid up the fuse in kevlar. The wing has 20mm of Tassie oak at the LE and tips and is bagged with uni glass, bias glass, and kevlar.

Once the maiden is out of the way I'll paint it up nice and make provision for ballast. I also have a set of 48" Higgins core to build a big air wing for it.

Jordan

Well I had a birthday last week. The girlfriend must have been listening to all my pestering because she got me a Corsair kit from Shane at Oz Skunkworx. Shane's build thread is here. I'm really stoked with the kit. It's going to look amazing in the air.

I'm putting this in my blog because it's going to be a really long build. I'm going to take my time and hopefully make it nice. Will work on it in between a few other projects.

This one's going to get a bolt on wing and removable stab for travel (hopefully to the 2011 ISR PSS Fest). The build should be fairly straight forward. Wing will be sheeted with pre-cured glass skins, tassie oak for the LE, and balsa for the tips. Stab will be balsa sheet bagged in glass. Most of the time will probably be spent thinking and putting on the finishing touches. I've never built a plane with with all the panel lines and scale crap so this will a bit of a learning experience for me.

I'm awaiting a resupply of resin and stuff so I'm making a start one the fuse first. A bit of a rinse under the tap gets rid of PVA. Then sand/scrape the seams to get rid of the flashing. Only the tiniest bit of filling and sanding will be needed to get everything nice and smooth. Being primed in the mould means there are no pinholes to fill It definitely saves a lot of work.

Jordan

A very fun little plane Took this vid early last month. Finally got round to editing and uploading it.

Pica Pitcheron (3 min 4 sec)

Jordan

Had a great morning out at Lake George. 15-20mph. The wind was a bit far South for the lift to be big but it was still flyable. Only managed to get one pic as the camera battery was dead.

Jordan

Well I've been rather slack with this blog thing. I'm still alive and flying. I get up the hills most days after work. I smashed up my ballasted Moth in some big winds a while back and that's still out of action. I tried slope racing for the first time and loved it. I'm looking forward to the second round.

The weekend was good. Saturday in particular. Here's some video-

Mangere Mt - 17 Jan 09 (4 min 20 sec)

Well I had a nice little story written out for you but for some reason my jet lagged brain made me hit the escape key and all was lost

Well here's a summary-

I'm back at work I arrived in Auckland early yesterday morning. The flight home was long and painful but the planes and I made it back unscathed. Thanks Toby and Dan for the packing materials. When we landed the flags at the airport were showing a fair amount of wind. I got home and put the Moth on charge, curled one down into the porcelain, and had a shower. After a caffiene pill and a fresh set of clothes I headed for the slope, Mount Victoria. Mt Vic is in the middle of Devonport, Auckland. It's an old volcano that can be flown on anything except a southerly. The north east slope is my favourite. Yesterday the wind was blowing southwest about 10-15mph. The southwest slope isn't that great but still flyable. I remembered Matin talking about the Moth CG and saying that most people have a nose heavy plane. I decided to do a bit of fiddling around and found that it really ripped once the CG was pushed back. I slowly moved it from about 39mm to just a touch over 40mm from the LE. Elevator throws are down to about one mm each way. After a few hours up the hill I had some wicked sunburn. I'd forgotten about the lack of an ozone layer we have down here. The caffiene wore off late afternoon so after a nice feed of fish and chips it was time for a sleep. It was the best I've had in months. One thing I won't miss about San Diego are those 3am trains down at 32nd St.

Well I was going to post photos but just realised that the memory stick is still in my computer back home I'll post them tomorrow. I'm not having a good day. It seems like all the Mondays I've missed have caught back up to me.

Take care,

Jordan

Dec 12th- Pics added!!!