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Thread OP
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Discussion
Large Scale Ag-Cat
Hello RCGroups!
I've been on and off in RC for some time now, my first airplane being an Alpha 60 trainer, made of Balsa. After what I can only assume was either battery problems, or interference, it spun itself into the ground, and I stayed away for some time from the hobby. Now that I see a revolution of electric aircraft that look really great, with LiPo technology, I decided to jump back in. I just recently bought a Super Cub 3 channel foam plane. I really enjoy flying it. I plan on building scratch airplanes now. My first project will be the Blu-Baby, as it seems to be very popular here, and my next one will be the Depron Thrush that I found here as well. After that, I'd like to tackle my favorite aircraft, the Grumman Ag-Cat. I have a set of plans for the "A" model with a 7.5 ft. wingspan. But after getting aggravated with balsa wood (I am NOT at all great with woodworking), I gave up. But after hearing about this group, and seeing what some people have done here, I'm really inspired to try scratch building again. But am I biting off more than I can chew with something like this? I'm shooting for a "B" model, 1/6 scale, which will bring my wingspan approximately 85 inches, and a length of 55 inches long (the total length is including the engine nacelle, and rudder). The fuselage and wings will be built up, rather than solid / hollowed out. Having never used any of this foam stuff yet, and knowing how many types there are, I am somewhat overwhelmed at what should be used, motor / battery selection, build / design techniques. 1.) The craze is in EPP, but can an aircraft this big use epp as the primary source of it's structure? Is EPP only good for profile type planes? 2.) I thought of making 4 separate wing panels (2 top, 2 bottom), and having them detachable for transport. I looked at other biplane RC airplanes (balsa's), and I think a good idea would be to leave the top center section in permanently mounted to the struts, while allowing the four wing sections to be removed and reconnected whenever I wanted to fly her. I considered having a thick wing rib with two holes cut in at the root of each panel, with the proper 3 degrees dihedral in place, and sliding them onto solid carbon rods going through the top center section (also with thick rigs on both sides of the center section), and fuselage center section so the wings can "plug in" (I hope I didn't confuse you with all this! lol) My only thing is, how would the wings STAY attached after plugging the wings onto the top center section, and fuselage lower section? Also, how thick should the carbon rods be that the wing panels will slide onto, if it's conceivable to even do it this way (this is NOT the same rods that I will probably use to reinforce the wing panels). For right now, those are the things that I'm racking my brain over. I'm in the Gulf of Mexico right now, and will be here for about 2 to 3 weeks probably, so I can't pick up my blue - cor at Lowes, or start printing out my exploded 3 views. BUT, I can possibly order what I need and have the materials waiting for me at home. (I'll be ordering some Depron anyway for the Thrush I mentioned above while I'm out here). I know that I'll need a motor bigger than what most park flyers will use, and that's fine. If it comes out like I want, it'll be worth it. Thank you all for your time, and I appreciate any ideas, criticisms (good or bad), and the like on what I'm going to hopefully accomplish in the upcoming months. Chris OH! And I'll probably include a build thread if I actually try this. But like I said, I'm just in brainstorming mode right now. |
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Thread OP
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Foamy Profile Ag-Cat
Hey Guys, forgot to mention, I'm also considering a profile foamy Ag-Cat. The following pics are EXTREMELY ROUGH drafts, that were drawn by hand just to test the idea out visually. The real one will be drawn against the actual 3 view drawings, have a landing gear (I hope), and graphics such as windows, side panel lines, etc. But like the full fuselage / wing setup in my previous post, I'm brainstorming on how to do that as well. I'd like to keep the dihedral in the wings if possible, just not sure how to go about that on a profile plane.
Chris |
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Thread OP
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Between the C & D models, I preferred the D's (the full scale C models were WAAAYYY underpowered). The B model I'm considering, will be the turbine variant. If I build it, and it goes well, I may consider a D model in the future. The advantage of that would be that the wing panels are identical between the B & D, so if there are any "lesson's learned" with the B model, at least they can be employed in the D.
As far as the profile builds, that might actually be what I do as my first scratch design project. I think I read somewhere that it wouldn't be a bad practice to do a profile before the full fuselage / wing design first. |
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here's small peanut plan for D model ag-cat
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