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Build Log
My new AP plane with Nikon P3
Here is my new Ap plane. Simple, classic scratch built design 990 gr
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The first one was less successful
The first design was less successful. I made a mistake with the dihedral of the wing and made the plane to wide. It was big ungainly and overpowered. At 1.5m Span with the P3 it was at 1300gr. The new plane is lighter at 990gr all up. It flies much better. I lost the 1.3 kg beast over some houses in the neighbourhood and I was extremely lucky not to hit a car, house or child. That kind of shook me. (not to speak of the people I missed
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Nice looking AP plane and the light weight is impressive.
Looking at your wing - two things have my concern: The ribs appear to be spaced widely apart (4"?) which may produce distortion of the airfoil (sagging between the ribs). Perhaps half-ribs (LE to spar) placed between full ribs would have been nice. The lack of shear webs (vertical grain balsa) in the center of the wing running out at least several rib bays on each wing panel. They really help strengthen a wing. But if it isn't broke, why fix it? ![]() R/E |
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Thanks for the tip
I wanted to go light on this one. Sagging can be a problem, but I have not noticed in this wing. This is my standard wing, which I have built for ca. 10 models already and have had good experiences till now. The predecessor wing had the shear webs but was heavier. More of a concern is that the first picture sortie was far from optimal from the camera point of view. 99% of the pics were not sharp but blurry. I used the sports mode but had the vibration reduction on. Since I have not had problems with the sports mode of the nikon 3700 I think I will try a flight without the vibration reduction.
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Quote:
Nice job there Kestral, always a pleasure to see a scratchbuild. ![]() -Roger |
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Quote:
May not be a concern in this situation. I usually see it brought up relative to sailplanes, but it must distort the airfoil with that wide rib spacing. As to the shear webs, there have been a couple of wings fold on the EZ 400 plane when loaded with AP gear. The EZ 400 wing looks very much like this one. Are the spars hard balsa or hardwood? R/E |
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First ok pictures
Not quite there yet, still not sharp enough for my taste. The plan does look a bit like a Pilatus Porter. After having build at least 10 of them in my hobby carrier no wonder! I just love that plane. Anyway I am starting to get usable picture. I seem to get best results when gliding down from a climb. This time the Vibration reduction was on. I thought that that was the problem at first but now it seems to work. next flight I will try without the VR but more gliding.
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Last edited by kestrel2003; Jul 26, 2006 at 07:48 AM.
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Nikon 3700 VS P3
I am not to sure about the qualities of the newer P3. But I am still on the learning curve. The 8 million vs 3.2 Million Pix make a difference. I looked at selected areas on 3700 pictures and p3 pictures. A direct comparison is not possible due to differences in sun position, haze, time of year etc. The p3 seems to catch more detail but the 3700 pictures seem more crisp.
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Last edited by kestrel2003; Jul 26, 2006 at 07:49 AM.
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Proof of the pudding
Which picture is a P3 image which one the 3700? Which one is better?
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Getting the System operational
I am still fine tuning the Plane and the camera. Here are some shots of the inside and of the plane.
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Last edited by kestrel2003; Jul 29, 2006 at 09:40 AM.
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Fine tunning getting along well.
It is a very sweet plane to fly. Only visibility is still a problem. Gliding is surprisingly good, considering the flat bottom clark y profile. I can get real high (about 200m) and glide down nicley for making pictures. Today was not sunny enough for really good pictures (an problem with Nikons) but I used the autolevel function in adobe photshop and the pictures look quite nice. Now I will try and get some flying done in other places. On Saturday I am booked at a electric fly-in in Hutwil. Hope to make some nice shots there.
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Today's flight was very successful
Now I am getting better picture.
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