Author Topic: PRECISION AEROBATICS KATANA MD, 23 OZ AS IS WITH C/L MOTOR CRUTCH, 500 SQ IN . (Read 3018 times)

Walter Hicks · « **Reply #1 on:** April 05, 2009, 08:41:47 PM »

C/L CONVERSION MOTOR MOUNT CRUTCH .

Walter Hicks · « **Reply #2 on:** April 05, 2009, 08:43:23 PM »

C/F LANDING GEAR, VERY LIGHT COWL , C/F REINFORCED, C/F RODS TO REINFORCE FUSE, VERY RIGID FUSE.

Walter Hicks · « **Reply #3 on:** April 05, 2009, 08:45:32 PM »

WILL HAVE BRODAK .40 , 4" BELLCRANK ,CONTROL SYSTEM PER FRANK WILLIAMS KATANA MINI 35 OZ PROJECTED WEIGHT,

Walter Hicks · « **Reply #4 on:** April 05, 2009, 08:53:58 PM »

The engineering on this plane is incredible, very light 1/16 wood holes everywhere and Carbon fiber rods( very small)

to reinforce everything also something they call Carbon Fiber Fusion.This plane is the big brother to the Mini Katana

that Frank Williams converted to c/l several years ago. Having said all that, it sure seems that they (Precision

Aerobatics) sure have a handle on how to make things light and very rigid. I had my Engineer friend check this out

and he was impressed with the design concepts. Again long tail, very light sufficient wing area 500 sq in,

very rigid everywhere. lots of carbon fiber reinforcements at the critical places. And yes this is designed for electric 3D.

Frank flew the Mini Katana successfully and I am sure this one will work also. Motor crutch is not complete in the

pictures it will have a box for tank and for rigidity.

Allan Perret · « **Reply #5 on:** April 07, 2009, 07:53:54 AM »

Hey Walter:
That looks like its gonna be a killer ARF.
Who sells that baby and how much?

Bob Reeves · « **Reply #6 on:** April 07, 2009, 08:59:07 AM »

They have a web site.. http://www.precisionaerobatics.com/index.php

Walter Hicks · « **Reply #7 on:** April 10, 2009, 10:40:29 PM »

Alan,

Sorry for the late reply, I have been out of State in the Wonderful state of Texas, and Louisiana.

For those of you living in those areas they sure are beautiful and wonderful people!

I purchased my plane from Atlantic Hobby , for $164.00 on a special. They are normally $190.00. They are worth every

Penny. The main reason I got the plane was to see the construction, and to experiment with a long tail light , thinner

wing plane with lots of power(Brodak .40) 35 oz.

bob branch · « **Reply #8 on:** April 11, 2009, 06:48:21 AM »

Walter

Please keep us appraised of the flight results of the plane. That level of power is very interesting. I did a glow conversion of the original Katana similar to Frank's plane but with OS .30 four stroke power. Motor was way too anemic and I converted it to RC where it made a wonderful sport plane with the motor but of course would not do 3D as not enough power to hover it. If your power system works out and the plane works out (the thin wing is an issue I'd like to see what you think of once you have flown it) then an axi 2826 electric would be in the ballpark as well and staying electric would be a very easy deal.

The reason I am interested in your results with the thin wing is that I'm not sure we have a good read on this in stunt. In rc 3D flying we all thought you had to have a really thick wing to do that kind of flying. The planes essentially just keep on flying no mater how slow you fly. They never stall / spin out of the air unless you command them to do it. But the new thinner wing planes that came out about the time of the original Katana fly 3D just as well with the same resistance to stall. And they have a larger speed range also, which is important to us in stunt cause we fly much faster than 3D rc is flown, a good 20 mph faster. The thinner winged 3D planes also fly precision aerobatics better in rc. This implies they grove better. I think that the reason its all working is because of the huge ailerons. Unlike what alot of rc fliers think, you do not have to have 45 degree deflections to fly 3D. I routinely have a setting a third of that and fly much of the time with those deflections. This is a range much more like what we deflect in CL stunt. The big ailerons (now flaps on a stunt conversion) create a huge modification in the airfoil shape and I'm interested to know if the planes will act more like what we have come to expect with our more normal stunt configurations. Do you have capability in your conversion to adjust flap and elevator rates? My guess is those will require some experimentation to find out the proper ratios.

anxiously awaiting your results

bob branch

Rudy Taube · « **Reply #9 on:** April 12, 2009, 05:24:48 PM »

Hi Walter,

What Bob said!

One other question: How did you deal with the bellcrank mounting with the pass through wing tube in the same area? TIA for your ans. .... Photos of your solution would be very helpful.

If you can show that the modern RC relatively thin airfoils can work in a CL plane it would be great news for CL. I have several of the modern (extremely well designed, strong, light, and beautiful) RC aircraft, and they are great. It would be nice to be able to convert one to CL. They would be even easier for me since I fly electric CL. It would only require minor changes, the bellcrank being one.

The fact that these planes are already light and are take-apart is a big plus for those of us who travel with our planes. Unlike some of the CL ARFs, these planes are perfectly covered with high quality film. If it was not for the CL BOM rule we could just fly (and be competitive with) these beautiful creations!

Regards,

john e. holliday · « **Reply #10 on:** April 13, 2009, 12:41:44 PM »

There's that word again. BOM only applies to appearance points, AMA Junior, AMA Senior and AMA open classes. I went to the site and like the looks of the planes and the construction looks durable for our use. DOC Holliday

bob branch · « **Reply #11 on:** April 13, 2009, 02:06:49 PM »

I have had several of Precision's models including the Katana mini. The construction is beyond durable. Its breath taking, highly creative, and unbelievably strong. I have incorporated as much of their methods as I can into my building.

bob