Bob,
Great prestation and photos. Can you give us a bit more info on the battery packs and major trim adjustments you made.
Best, DennisT
Hi Dennis:
Thanks for the kudos.
I'm using a single ThunderPower 5S 2200 battery pack, and it seems to work just fine. Next time I fly the ship I'll charge one battery separately (I usually charge 5 to 6 at a time on a para-board) and report on how many mA went back in.
The plane was slightly tail heavy at first (but very flyable), so I started adding clay inside the nose cone each flight until I achieved a good balance. This thing has corner to burn, so the extra weight in the nose didn't affect that. It was a bit light on line tension on the first couple of 1 minute 20 second flights, so we increased the inboard motor speed until that was cured. Still, with the 9-inch props (Zoars) it didn't pull very hard. More inboard motor speed would have helped that. But, when I went to the BadAss matched L&R 10x5 props, line tension was not an issue; it felt like it was attached to the end of a flagpole! With those props on I got a bit silly and just threw the ship all over the sky. It is most certainly one of the most fun airplanes I've flown.
Rick brought me back to earth a bit and we got back into a trim regimen until I ran out of batteries. Actually I had one left, but everyone else wanted to fly, so I put the Double Take away until I could retrofit it with the BadAss 2310-900 kv motors, Rick seems to think they will spin the 10-5 props better and produce a bit less heat. I may shorten the lines just a bit also; it is on 64 + feet center of airplane to center of handle now. This is not a big model at 565 square inches (think just slightly bigger than a Nobler...), and with the nose weight added it is now at just about 45 ounces with the battery on board (actual flight weight). The shorter lines may even increase the performance. I had a gut feeling that it was out there just a bit too far.
I will also try moving the leadouts a bit farther forward. Couldn't do this at the field on Friday because I didn't clearance the foam spar between the two cored out sections far enough to prevent the rear leadout from hitting it when moved forward. We've been flying most of our electric powered models with a somewhat further aft leadout placement, and I just assumed that I'd never need to move them very far forward. Rick Huff has discovered that with a twin you can move the leadouts very far forward and then increase the inboard motor speed to achieve a much better turn and lock. I tried this on my Turning Point twin - which flew at first just a bit better than the Wildfire twin - and found a whole new realm of turn, lock, and vertical/overhead performance. I then made that same change to the Wildfire and it too responded with much better performance all around. We are still on a learning curve with twins it seems, and they respond to some trim changes much differently than single motor ships. It just keeps getting better and better...
I also had the chance to fly Rick Huff's bf-110 twin (the one he flew at the Nats last year), and found it to be just about flawless in every respect; it turns incredibly well, tracks like a freight train in rounds, and, well, pulls like a freight train as well (my arm still hurts...). Then I let Rick fly my Crossfire, and he liked it a lot (it doesn't pull as had as his, however...).
Rick's brother, Tom was also there and he had his newly repaired and refinished Saturn with him for trimming. Rick and I spent a lot of time with that ship and got it flying really well, so all in all it was a very fun and productive day for all of us.
Next things to try on the Double Take will be a set of synthetic lines, the aforementioned BadAss 2310-900 motors, an adjustment to the internal foam spar (the old bandsaw blade through the leadout slot ploy - thank you Inspector Clouseau...). But the verdict for me is already in; this is one great flying little ship and I can see it becoming my go-to fun airplane.
I cannot promise when the plans for this one will be available, but I'm thinking sooner rather than later now that I've flown it and know that it is a good design. But, again, the limiting factor may be the availability of the proper foam core set for it (wing and tail), and, of course, time!.
Later - Bob
Topic: Eve of a spin-up (Read 1744 times)
