This afternoon I went for what was suppose to be a quick flight in the park down the street with my AXN. I flew for about three minutes before flying it full speed into the top of one of the taller trees at the park. It's facing down with the wings slotted in two branches. I brought a ladder out so I could get to the lowest branch and climb up to get it but the lowest branch was rotten and broke off. It's about 40 feet up. I'm thinking of using my slow stick to mount a rescue mission tomorrow if the wind doesn't send it down tonight.

Hopefully I'll be able to keep momentum up with the biplane.

Today I trimmed and taped the front of the airplane, I also spent some time sanding down the propeller as it was out of balance. I gave up and put two layers of good masking tape to counter balance it. I've attached the sketchy landing gear and skis. I don't think my ski attachment is going to work with the rubber bans as they are. There's just too much tension for the coroplast connection.

I seemed to have lost the spinner nut to attach the propeller. That could be a problem. The aileron Servos aren't working either. We'll see how much extra time these problems will take to solve.

The weight of the plane is much more than I was hoping for. I haven't weighed it but I know it's way over. I'm guessing it's 12 lbs by now. Much of the weight is me being lazy and wanting to finish sooner.

I hate trees,, I have spent way too much time trying to get the branches to let go of my planes... I never thought fishing skills would be used to fly planes, but I retrieved several with a treble hook a weight and a good casting rod..

Good luck

Originally Posted by Corocrumpler

I hate trees,, I have spent way too much time trying to get the branches to let go of my planes... I never thought fishing skills would be used to fly planes, but I retrieved several with a treble hook a weight and a good casting rod..

Good luck

Thanks for the tip Corocrumpler, I'm trying out the slingshot method right now. Mixed results thusfar.

Turns out I'm missing the spinner nut for the biplane. It'll be three weeks before I get it from HK. I should have everything ready by then though.

As I wait for the new spinner / nut to come from HongKong, I've replaced the tape holding the wing ribs to the leading edge and untied the string struts. The tape let go in places and the strings were no longer taught. I'll be re-tying the strings when the spinner gets closer. I've strengthened the ski mounts on the skis and added a collar (prob hub) to the landing gear.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll get the Ailerons cut and the Y-connector working soon.

The AXN is still in the tree. I've started walking to work and see it twice a day now. I'm hoping for a wind storm but that could be a while.

Things have slowed down but thanks for reading! I look forward to making a maiden flight video!

-Paul

Ah, the true spirit of SPAD! Well done.

We're still out here.

I'd like to see this get finished, myself.

So I finally got the spinner & Nut I needed from HK. I re-attached the starboard ski and landing gear after some hanger rash. With everything ready I took it out in my yard. Man that thing has POWER! Its really responsive and I didn't use full throttle yet. I'm really looking forward to flying it when the wind dies down. I centered the elevator and Rudderservos before attaching the control horns as they're enclosed with no access to them. When I plugged in the battery, the rudder happened to be off center by more than full trim. Lovely .

I had a lapse in aptitude when attaching the landing gear as I can no longer attach the wings to the fuse. I'll be rigging the landing gear on with some Velcro so the fuse will be able to fit between the wing struts. Does anyone have a better idea to make the landing gear removable? Should I cut the metal in the middle and make connectors for it?

I'm really nervous and excited to maiden this! I'll be sure to strap a key-chain camera on when the day finally comes.

P.S.

I sent my nutball on a rescue mission for my tree-bound AXN. It met the same fate. Tried climbing it a few times (have to pull myself up with rope) no dice. I'll get them down soon.

Lot of folks build the landing gear onto a plate and then rubber band the plate over the top of the fuselage. Don't know how well that would work with such a large plane, but it just might. I'll see if I can find some pics of what I'm talking about.

Check out this link..... there are several methods of attaching LG to a fuselage, and maybe one of them will fire up an idea that's applicable to your situation: http://spadfest.rcspads.com/thumbnails.php?album=130

This is the one I was thinking about that maybe you could attach to your fuse......

Originally Posted by JohnsPop

Check out this link..... there are several methods of attaching LG to a fuselage, and maybe one of them will fire up an idea that's applicable to your situation: http://spadfest.rcspads.com/thumbnails.php?album=130

This is the one I was thinking about that maybe you could attach to your fuse......

Thanks JohnsPop,
You're link sparked an idea. I'll be working on it tonight. I'm not 100% on which way to do it but I've got some ideas.

-Paul

I think I've go everything set now. As soon as the wind and snow dies down I'll finally be taking this bird on it's maiden flight.

I ended up using rubber bands to attach the landing gear; thanks Johnspop!
I made a quick "hatch door" to adjust the push-rods at the servo connection.
With the battery and ESC to the starboard side and a key chain camera at the end of the wing it balances laterally. The CG is spot on thanks to the heavy landing gear.

I haven't weighed it get but it feels much heavier than our 8-9lb goal.

I really hope to fly it ASAP!

Awesome! We're looking forward to it. If that's a 10+ lb. plane, you might want more rubber bands on that LG. If the snow is perfectly smooth, you might be ok, but the least little drift or bump will probably fold that under.

Originally Posted by JohnsPop

Awesome! We're looking forward to it. If that's a 10+ lb. plane, you might want more rubber bands on that LG. If the snow is perfectly smooth, you might be ok, but the least little drift or bump will probably fold that under.

Good Call John'spop, I did throw another couple on there.

I Just did a maiden flight! (it wasn't pretty)

I got everything together including a friend and after walking out to the location and setting everything up I learned that the battery was basically dead. It's probably just drained from testing and sitting for months and from being puffed. I taxied it anyway and it took off a few times. The landing gear kept collapsing, it was a mess! I eventually just took off the landing gear, the prop went about 1" into the snow. The thing ended up taking off for a 15-20 second maiden flight before an unanticipated landing.

Maiden flight of the 88" SPAD Tiger Moth (0 min 29 sec)

I went home and charged the battery. Fixing the airplane was a breeze, all that was needed was tape for the cracked wing and two replacement tooth pics. I added a rubber band to hold the battery in position, that needs work.

On my next try the Battery wiggled off the rubber band and pulled one of the esc / motor connections. Then my tx controller battery died (I had just replaced them 20 minutes before! (the batteries had been in the cold garage for a while)).

Video and Pics to come!