Crashalott

Nice build thread there Larry.
I fly in my backyard and right now it is snow covered.
I have to keep it plowed in the winter if i want to fly.
I am thinking of building your Capricorn to fly here in the Jackpine surrounded yard.
I hope it is quite manuverable so i can keep it out of the trees.
When i get it built we will see.

Larry3215

Build it lite and stay off the throttle (just enough to keep it in the air) and you can fly in a very small space. That last video above, I was flying inside a 50x50 box that the camera could see. I have flown it in 1/2 a basket ball court many times and in my front yard which is even smaller.

You should be fine

Larry

Crashalott

Well i got it started, epoxied the 4 main pieces together yesterday.
Will try to do more on it later today.
One thing i am not clear on is how the rail that runs the length of the ship and that the sponsons is fastened to, is anchored or fastened. If it is just
glued on to the seam it can't be very strong.

Larry3215

Are you talking to the triangular shaped piece behind the sponson in the pics below?

Yes - its just glued to the bottom of the V and the back of the sponson. Some of the guys have put a grove in the back of the sponson but I dont bother.

The only times Ive broken that piece was when I was doing side ways slides into some obstruction - like a rock or a concrete curb or the edge of the lake or a dock I doubt any type of re-enforcement would have helped much in most of those cases.

Its best to remove the tape from the "V" before gluing it on as Ive found that CA doesnt stick to Blenderm all that well.

For normal flying and landings I havent had any issues.

One thing that does need to be done - make sure it doesnt touch the ground when the plane is sitting on the ground at rest.

You want the triangle to be a little shorter then the height of the sponson (1/2 inch or so is plenty. Mine is about 1/4" down) where it attaches. It should also stop an inch or two before it gets to the hinge line.

If you look at the second picture below - the view from the rear - you will see a small piece of plastic I glued on at the tail end near the hinge line.

That is a wear spot as it drags on the ground at low speeds. Jed uses plastic wing tip skids which will work just as well. I just use a scrap from the plastic I use on the sponsons. Note that the triangle stops just before the skid plate.

If you look closely at the pics you will see small chunks and pieces missing from "incidents"

By the way - the prefered glue for the main wing joints is the Gorilla or Polyurathane type glues. Im sure epoxy will work fine, though it may not be as flexible.

I have had better louck gluing on the triangles with PU glue as well. It seems to tollerate more abuse than CA or even epoxy joints on foam. I think because it has some give to it.

Larry

Larry3215

By the way - Post some pics!

Larry

Crashalott

Thanks for the comeback there Larry, i was thinking the triangular piece would have to be inserted in a grove to be strong but i guess if its going to break that won't stop it.
Here is what i have so far and i will try to do a little more on it today.

Larry3215

Looking good!

Larry

Crashalott

Here is a little art work started.

leadfeather

Larry,

How important is the W shape. If you flattened the W out of the wing to simplify the design and made the necessary adjustments for prop clearance etc. do you think it would it fly as well?

Larry3215

You could do that, but it wouldnt fly the same way. It would be just like a giant sized JAR or Pizza box flyer or similar models.

Not that they fly badly but they fly differently. The W shape adds in a large degree of roll stability - up-rite and inverted. Thats the main unique feature to how this model flys. If your flying slowly this plane will refuse to roll all the way - wheather its upside down or rite side up.

The folded W shape also lends some extra strength to the structure. A large flat sheet of depron the same size would need carbon spars for sure - front to back AND side to side.

In addition you would have to mount the motor a long ways up to get ground/water clearance - and/or add much taller sponsons or gear legs. That would change/offset the thrust angles enough to cause problems with trim I suspect.

Its certainly do-able, but it would be a completely different model - in more than looks

Larry

Larry

Larry3215

I may have forgotten to mention one minor little detail about the Capricorn and how it flys :o

A buddy of mine just got his first one finished and did the maiden today so that reminded me.

His Capricorn is now sitting 80 feet up in a very large pine tree

You see, so far about 98% of all the people who have built one have crashed or had some sort of 'event' on the maiden. I know, I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but what can I say....

Trees (trunks and limbs and forks) have been very popular. Im pretty sure trees are #1 on the list. One guy hit a fire hydrant. There was also a fence post and a chainlink (or maybe wire) fence in seperate events. There was a car, a roof, and a dog. There have been some into bushes (Scotch Broom is most popular. I dont recomend the BlackBerry) and even some plain old crash into the ground events and at least one snow bank. I dont recall any water crashes on the first flight, but I may have forgotten one or two

Keep in mind too that many of these people are (normally) outstanding pilots! The guy in the tree today and the guy who hit the fire hydrant and the tree fork guy and several others are all some of the best pilots in our club! Most of them are even instructors!

After today we will have to see about that tho.....

You have been warned!!!

Larry

Crashalott

Hey thanks a lot Larry, i live in the forest and im surronded by jackpines.
Here is another pic for ya.

Larry3215

Lookin good!

Your getting close so... watch out for that tree!!!!



Larry

Larry3215

Up-date on treed Capricorn - its still up there - most of it anyway.

He has been shooting arrows (with fishing line attached) at it trying to get one over a branch and shake it down.

So far he has a few holes in it and some broken pieces have fallen off. Its not looking good.

Larry

Crashalott

I use aluuminum poles from a roof rake and attach them to a 18ft golf ball retriever to get my planes out of a tree. If that don't work i cut the tree down. But i own the tree i cut down.
I live on 10.5 acres of mostly Jackpine.

Larry3215

He says this tree is not on his property and is about 100 ft tall with a 5 foot base. The capricorn is about 80 feet up.

If he doesnt get it today, there is a tree trimmer guy we can call who will climb the tree and retreve planes for a $75 fee.

Good luck on your maiden!

Larry

Crashalott

Thanks larry im still working on it.

Crashalott

Well i finally finished it this afternoon and took her out for the maiden.
Whoooahhh .......what a blast...on the ground or in the air it is really fun. Like ya said it will really fly slow if ya want and manuvers nicely in my small space. Here is a pic of her out in the snow.
I love it.

Larry3215

Congrats!

I like the "fuse" you added. Is it just a profile or is the rx and controller inside?

Post some more pics with close ups.

Also some details of the power system etc.

You broke with tradition by not crashing on the maiden - which is good!

Very nice!

Larry

leadfeather

Larry,

Is the primary purpose of the ribs (extending back from the sponsons) to help trap air under the deck to help with take off?

CHELLIE

Very nice job Crash Take care, Chellie

Larry3215

Im sure they do that to some degree, but that was not the original reason.

My buddy Jed (Flying W) came up with that addition when he built his first one based on my original bent wing version. He added them just because he thought it made the plane look better.

When I flew his, I noticed that his plane rolled faster and more precisely.

After comparing 3 different ones, we discovered that his was more resistant to twisting motions cause by aileron inputs. That twisting is responsible for a fair degree of aileron reversal, which slows down the roll rate - a lot.

We then went back and retro-fit all the others and found that it did help reduce twisting and improved roll rate, so thats the main reason they are there.

I dont remember any difference in take off ease after adding them, so I doubt they make much difference in that reguard. These things take very little power or effort to get off the ground anyway. Wing loading is down around 2oz/ft, so it doesnt take much to get them up or keep them up

By buddy finally got his down from the tree - in many many pieces. He did manage to save all the gear. His battery pack was down to 5 volts. He put it on his Cellpro and it did its "recovery mode" thing and brought it back up. Time will tell if it survives the low discharge. Ive had mixed results but sometimes you get lucky.

Larry

Crashalott

Larry, the fuse is full and contains the electrics all except the servo's.
The power is Towerpro 1024-08 for a GWS 1047 prop and i use 3s 11.1volt batt. 860amp
It has plenty of power if you want it.
I will get a pic of the top view for ya.

Crashalott

Chellie, thanks for the compliment.
Have a nice day now.
Crash

Crashalott

Larry, here is another Pic of the fuse.