that looks really nice all lit up

I remembered the original had a large CG range so I went to the forward limit too on this one.
Same results , up and down.
I found a rock in the parking lot , stuffed it in the nose and it got much better real fast.
The good thing about being a little tail heavy is it's easy to flair for landing, a good thing for a flying wing.
just so you know, there is a bunch of room under that equipment tray.
Enough space for the ESC and some small receivers.

It does look nice lit up , he made very good use of the clear leading edge.

BTW- the plastic can be marked with a colored marks-allot, any color you want .
Change your mind or want to try something different?
denatured alcohol on a rag will wipe it clean and not hurt the foam.

I was also thinking about scuffing up the inside of the leading edge piece to diffuse the light. There are so many lighting possibilities with this wing. Still brain storming now and will start putting it together once I finish what's on the work bench now...or buy another work bench.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. Funny you should mention diffusing the light Phil. I had the same idea during my build. My buddy Fitz gave me the tip of spraying the plastic with Testors Flat Clear to frost it. I did that to some scraps I had and it worked out well. In the end, I decided to leave them clear to see how the leading edge lights would illuminate the ground during low-level flight. I almost sanded an angle to the leading edge foam to aim the lights downward a little. I figured I could always go back and angle the lights and/or frost the leading edge later.

I'm happy to say that flights 2,3, and 4 went very well. I got to the field about 30 minutes before sunset and there was very little wind. With the added nose weight, the Popfly2 is now 9.2 oz and balances right at 4.5" from the trailing edge. Fixing the CG to the right spot made all the difference in flying. It isn't pitch sensitive anymore and launching is easy.

I know mine is a bit porky at this weight (yet still only 4.6 oz/sqft), but slow flight is super impressive. The crew at my field were amazed with the slow flybys. I cant imagine what the lighter ones are like.

It has plenty of power for steep climbouts and a good turn of speed when I asked for it. And that was really the only time I used full power. Most of the time I was at half-throttle or less. There is a little bit of throttle-pitch coupling, so I just need to play with my thrust angle a little.

Thanks to Russ and Tom for shooting pix and video in very poor lighting conditions. I'll post a few pix here and I'll try to get a video cobbled together soon. Hopefully I'll get some sharp daytime shots soon and also get a chance to try flying the Popfly2 in full darkness.

Terry

How did I know you would catch it.
Very good shot BTW.
I've seen you fly and it looks like Russ has too.
(Unpredictable flight paths are hard to keep in frame no matter how slow)

The indoor version is like trying to fly a news paper sheet in the wind outside.
looking forward to the indoor test.
At 6 oz flying weight, the speed it too slow for the control surfaces to do the job the same.
I'll have to enlarge them if I plan to throttle back any (and I do)

I bashed the design to a mid engine configuration with the motor at the CG point and a drive shaft going to the back.
Shoddy craftsmanship to tell the truth because the shaft alignment is not exactly true and she is very noisy at full power. (another reason to throttle back)
The equipment bay floor has been cut out and the ESC, RX, and 250 mah 2 call battery is in the nose.
A real hack job but I'm just looking for the light weight limit.
Even went with 2mm skin and tapered the control surfaces.
So far my conclusion: don't worry so much about the weight , making it lighter has not improved it much so far.

very nice! are you using 2s or 3s for your LEDs?

Originally Posted by sparks

How did I know you would catch it.

(Unpredictable flight paths are hard to keep in frame no matter how slow)

Guilty as charged. Although I can usually turn up the predictability knob for photo shoots...not this time.

Originally Posted by sparks

So far my conclusion: don't worry so much about the weight , making it lighter has not improved it much so far.

Maybe going with a tractor set-up will help. No wobbly shaft and you'll get a little propwash over the elevons. That's what I did with my super-light Zagi (8.5 oz) and it works pretty well.

Terry

Originally Posted by bsbauman

very nice! are you using 2s or 3s for your LEDs?

3S siphoned from the 3S-500 flight battery. No redundancy, no switch...just plug, cross fingers, and fly.

Here's some video:

Popfly2 Night Flyer (2 min 34 sec)

that looks pretty good, and seams to fly nice and slow if you want it to.

I was able to put in 2 full-dark night flights last night...fun stuff. Unfortunately, I was alone, so I dont have any photos or video. The wind was blowing pretty well, I think 6-7 mph. But that's ok because it helped keep the mosquitos off. They were swarming me at times. You kill one and 10 come to the funeral.

At first, I thought that the leading edge lights were too harsh in comparison to the inner lights, but I quickly decided that I like them. They are a good orientation reference. Then again, they may work just as well if they are diffused. As they are, they light up the ground quite well...I like that.The two chord-wise purple stripes (packing tape) on the wing bottom help a lot with orientation.

Both the yellow and purple show up very well, even at far distances. Strangely, the purple gives off an aura that surrounds that side of the plane. I've had the same effect with similar color LEDs, but I didnt think it would happen with them inside the wing. It's not a big deal, just interesting.

On my 2nd flight, I used a 3S-800, which is .7oz heaver than the 3S-500 I've been using. This brought the CG forward of the 4.5" mark. I liked how it handled, but thought it felt heavier. I didn't retrim, so the heavy feel may have just been that. Regardless, I made a couple changes so that I can get a similar CG with the smaller battery.

I cut out the battery section of the tray, and repositioned the tray about 3/8" forward of where it was. The battery now mounts directly to the horizontal leading edge section under the tray. The prop still has ample clearance from the trailing edge...although it is closer. I expect it to be a little noisier because of that. While I was at it, I added one washer under the bottom motor mount to lift the thrust line a few degrees. I'm thinking this will cure the throttle-pitch coupling.

More to come.
Terry

Originally Posted by jonquinn

that looks pretty good, and seams to fly nice and slow if you want it to.

Thanks...and yes, it slows down nicely.

Wow Terry very nice video, really shows what it can do.
I'd never be able to pull off a rolling circle.
Hope you don't mind but I linked it to my website.

I have a video but the guys I had to allow to do the flying is 1/4 scale guys and they was not at all used to flying a light weight model.
Full power all the time and jerked it all over the sky.
Even the hand launch looked like they thought it weighed a ton.
my poor little Popfly

Thanks again

Thanks Keith...glad you like it. Feel free to link the video wherever you like. My media is your media. I'm really hoping to get some night footage soon. And once I get this baby fully trimmed to my liking, I'll get those rolling circles down on the deck where you can see them (famous last words).

Looking forward to lots of night flying at BEST this year.

Terry