I have now glued a one meter long carbon fiber tube into the bottom of the wing using epoxy. This tube was placed next to the front wooden spar & was 3mm in diameter. I used a Dremel style tool to cut the grouve using a 3mm router bit. By cutting the grouve next to the front spar I made making a straight cut easier.

I have placed a bead of silicon sealant arond the elevator servo to prevent water getting into the fuselage through there.

My new batteries have arrived so now its only a matter of letting the epoxy cure, charging the batteries and then test flying.

Ken

Originally Posted by baddb1

Nice flight!! Is that a camera mount you added on top?

Yes it is a go pro camera mount

Simple spray rails, made from the plastic of a blister-pack.
Glued on with white Gorilla glue, painted with red acrylic paint.
Such a thing could not be molded into the model, you have to do it,
if you want to keep the spray out of your props.

That looks like an easy mod with some clear .020 plastic. I'd probably put a swollow cut with an xacto and ca them in. Thats what I did with the ventral fin on the WildCatFish. TW

My test flight yesterday was abandoned because of an intermitant aileron servo. On investigation this was traced to a faulty "Y" lead. Thr "Y" lead has been rebuilt and a further attemt at a maiden flight will be made this afternoon when the wind drops.

Without ailerons all a I could do was to make some water handeling tests using diferential throttle. These tests were successfull but I may add a bit more diferential to get a tighter turn at slow speed while on the water.

Ken

Well the maiden flight has been carried out and a few problems have become apparent.

Firstly the high thrust line is forcing the nose down at full throttle making the CL-415 dig its nose in while on the water. I had to abort my first Take Off attempt because of this. On the next attempt I used 3/4 throttle untill the model was clear of the water and then went to full throttl for the climb out

Secondly a large amount of up trim was needed even though my GC was at the recommended 70mm. I suspect that the recomended CG may be too far forward. This would exasibate the nose down tendency at fuul throttle when the model is on the water.

Thirdly the ailerons were not very effective at slow flight and I had to add some rudder to make the model turn onto its landing approach.

The one thing that stood out is that this model certainly has a presence when flying.

I have just measured up the CL-415 and used my CG formula to calculate where the CG should be.The answer was 5.9 inches from the TE. Aproximately 3/4 of an inch behind the recomended point.

Ken

Hi guys,

my pimped CL-415 is still waiting for a better maiden weather. Any suggestion about rec. CG and aileron and rudder movements ?
Used two Turnigy L2205-1350 motors with 2x 20 A controllers with GWS 8x4
counterrotating props. with diff. thrust mix.

Rudi

Originally Posted by kensp

Well the maiden flight has been carried out and a few problems have become apparent.

Firstly the high thrust line is forcing the nose down at full throttle making the CL-415 dig its nose in while on the water. I had to abort my first Take Off attempt because of this. On the next attempt I used 3/4 throttle untill the model was clear of the water and then went to full throttl for the climb out

Secondly a large amount of up trim was needed even though my GC was at the recommended 70mm. I suspect that the recomended CG may be too far forward. This would exasibate the nose down tendency at fuul throttle when the model is on the water.

Thirdly the ailerons were not very effective at slow flight and I had to add some rudder to make the model turn onto its landing approach.

The one thing that stood out is that this model certainly has a presence when flying.

I have just measured up the CL-415 and used my CG formula to calculate where the CG should be.The answer was 5.9 inches from the TE. Aproximately 3/4 of an inch behind the recomended point.

Ken

Thanks for verifying the CG point. I noticed the same nose heavy condition when using the factory CG recommendation. I just moved the battery until I got it where she flew perfect! Not very scientific, I know . How does one calculate the correct CG anyway? Thanks.

Originally Posted by Rudi

Hi guys,

my pimped CL-415 is still waiting for a better maiden weather. Any suggestion about rec. CG and aileron and rudder movements ?
Used two Turnigy L2205-1350 motors with 2x 20 A controllers with GWS 8x4
counterrotating props. with diff. thrust mix.

Rudi

Looks good! I like your little details that were added! As mentioned above, I would move the CG back.

baddb1


you can use this for cg:

http://adamone.rchomepage.com/cg_calc.htm

but the nose down tendency is in part because the
prop's are above the center line. my other high wing
sea plane has the same problem, I just feed the throttle in
slowly till the elevator becomes effictive enough to overcome
the high center line

Originally Posted by baddb1

Thanks for verifying the CG point. I noticed the same nose heavy condition when using the factory CG recommendation. I just moved the battery until I got it where she flew perfect! Not very scientific, I know . How does one calculate the correct CG anyway? Thanks.

This is a very good CG calculator. It takes into account many things the other ones do not, such as the effect of the fuselage, tail position in the wing wake, CG height, etc. It will give much better results, particularly with airplanes that are unusual in any way, such as having a large fuselage, or a big vertical distnace between the wing and CG. I think the CL-415 falls into both of those categories.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1106300

It is also useful to place the components virtually, to get the CG to come out at your desired static margin, before you even assemble the airplane. I really like this calculator.

Kevin

Interesting calculators, thanks! Now with my motor calc program and these I could be asking for trouble!!

Here's one Ive used.
http://www.nasascale.org/howtos/cg-calculator.htm

I have to make my wings so they split in half for transport. I would like to do away with the support rods that connect to the bottom of the fuselage. What else have people done to strengthen the wings without gluing them permanently?

Originally Posted by baddb1

Looks good! I like your little details that were added! As mentioned above, I would move the CG back.

Many thx, it is so easy to making the CL-415 looks like a real airplane and not like a cheap china toy. Any movement recommantion ?

Thx

Rudi