Well, it is coming along, Tim Wescott sent me his timer, which works great.  I have the foam parts cut out and they weigh .72 ounces.  I think the whole plane will come in under 4.5 ounces!  I am waiting for Eric Rule to cut the ply parts for me, and it is a short bit of work to final assembly.

I'll post the plans as a .PDF ASAP, though they are preliminary until I get the first prototype flying.  The ET-1 took a couple of revisions until it was right.  TLAR will only go just so far with a totally new design.  

Here is the initial concept.  Fuselage is 3/8" foam, wings and tail 3mm Depron. 

I just got the ply parts today. I hope to build the model tomorrow and then see what modifications are needed. It would be great to have one to sell at the Fullerton Airport Day on the 10th, and another one or two at RCX the following weekend.

Real, cheap entry level CL trainers just don't exist at present. The ET-1 kit and power system is OK for a club at nearly $200 with battery and charger, but insane for a single flyer to learn on, then discard.

The goal with the ET-2 is to have a total system at around $50. Plane, power system, charger, lines and handle. Probably will be more than that, but certainly under $100. The plan is to have the plane, not only built, but test flown when sold.

The good news is that I have 7 more power systems. The bad news is, that was all they had, and I haven't found another source. We can only hope that GWS isn't discontinuing this unit as it seems perfect for the project.

The CL community REALLY needs this! Kids bashing a PT-19 to death in a cul-de-sac just isn't a happening thing anymore. We need badly to fix that. Unlike FF and RC our planes can be flown in very limited spaces. Add to that cheap, safe electric power and there is some hope for the future.

In today's puffball attitude environment, avoiding flammable fuel, fingers in the prop, engine starting problems, fire, burns from hot engine parts et. al. is the only game in town. Back in the day, that all was a challenge to overcome.  Today it is a budding lawsuit.

But don't get me started (or you guys either, this thread isn't the place for that discussion).

I hope to fly it before the end of this weekend.  Here are photos of the initial prototype. Changes are likely to be necessary.  Certainly the wheels won't be commercial ones! We will come up with laser cut ones.

The weight came out at my target 4.5 ounces!!! 

I need to work out the handle design to guarantee smooth flight for the beginner. The bellcrank to elevator ratio is about .5, and I want no more than 1 handle to bellcrank, and probably less.  The goal is to just be able to handle the wind, and fly level.  This puppy is FRAGILE. But repairable with epoxy or foam safe CA.  Perhaps the fuselage should be coroplast, not foam.  This is a project in development, and there are a lot of things to be learned.

Larry
That is way cool.  What a great idea. 

Can you tell us a little more about the timmer and power package?

How about this one Larry? Would it do the job (maybe too expensive)

http://www.rcplanet.com/Great_Planes_ElectriFly_T_280_7_2_9_6V_Ferrite_Mot_p/GPMG0300.htm?gclid=CMO8hZG1i74CFYtDMgodo1QAbQ

Got my a** in gear and shot some photos for youse guys! (Well, I lived in Patterson, NJ for about 6 months).

Here are the power pack and charge/battery systems.

The spinners have all different sizes of hole.  The spinner presses into the prop, then onto the motor, and a different spinner will put the prop onto a different-sized motor.

I ran a check today to see how many flights I could get on one battery charge. The timer is set for 45 second flights. It ran 8 times, and ran down on #9. No problem with NiMh batteries, in fact fully cycling them is a good thing as long as you then unplug the battery and let it recover.

Eric Rule just sent me the parts for the next version.  Changed trim settings and a Coroplast  fuselage should be a good step towards a final configuration. 

What about a balsa fuselage?  Just too expensive, or you don't like the non-waterproof part, or what?

I am looking at a possible mechanical switch system, though presently, it doesn't look any cheaper than the electronic one Tim Wescott designed and built for this project.  Thanks again, Tim!

Often when a customer comes to me for some super-zoot electronic solution, I start by seeing if I can solve their problem with some dead-simple mechanical or electro-mechanical one.  More often than not, and to my continual astonishment, I fail.

I am just building the Mk 3 version with trim changes to allow for controlled landings. Mind you none of the previous versions were damaged on landings, but glide is good. Downthrust, wing incidence and decalage have all been adjusted. Planned first flights Monday.

Here is the Mk III version. It is ready for production!  Eric Rule can cut you the Coroplast and Ply parts, I can provide drawings for the flying surfaces and specs on the motor, prop and battery.

Tim Wescott is upgrading the timer.