Ohh, that would be cool. I hope to see pics...

 

Awesome! Glad to hear it.

Your gonna love it even more with no wind.

 

Well I finally got around to building one of these. man what a SWEET flying plane. I haven't flown a plane like this in a few years, and I forgot how much fun they were. I am comparing this one to a Fancy Foam Edge I flew for years. Wore the foam out. I did build another, and forgot all about it until this weekend.(Don't ask) I maidened both this Saturday.

I have my CG about 1/4" back from the spar, and it still seems like I can eek it back a bit more. Even with 45 degrees of control throw, I find I run out of elevator in a hover... I may have some up thrust built in somehow as I need to force the nose "down" a lot in a hover. I'm gonna add some washers. Then again I may be spoiled by the last one of these flatties I flew, a Fancy Foam edge with a full flying stab and 80 some degrees of throw
The Lil Ripper isn't as controllable in a hover (still need to play with the CG), but it doesn't hunt at all in level flight like my FF Edge. It hovers well but with the FF Edge I can have it bent over 45 degrees, and it just snaps back with a touch of rudder. Also snaps with the Lil Ripper are a lot cleaner. I still need to figure it out in knife edge. It does it well enough, but w/ the FF Edge, I can knife edge slip in to a hover on the deck... After flying it about 6 times now I am darned close...I think a more aft CG will help.

Well this is now officially my favorite bang for the buck airplane. By the end of the 2nd flight I was able to do FAST rolling circles around myself control line style and would only quit as I got dizzy. In flies "normally" WAY better than my FF Edge. The Elevator on the Edge would hunt with anything more than a fast idle. Snaps with the Lil Ripper are NOW, and stop NOW. Knife edge is VERY controllable with very little coupling. It was a bit breezy so the coupling might have been due to the breeze. I just need some more rudder or further aft CG to slip a knife edge into a hover. It does it, but it doesn't really lock in to an upright hover right away.

Here's a video my flying buddy posted of my first flight.... It is only getting better from there

 

Awesome! Thanks for the review. I'm glad your liking it.

 

Great write up Dave!
Thank you for posting this
Mark and Trish

 

Trish/Mark...thanks, but I just looked at it again, it does ramble all of the map. I should re-do it. I slapped it together while my dinner was heating in the microwave after a GREAT day of flying.

Anywho... Shaun, does the plane have a tendency to need a ton of down in a hover? That is once the hover is established, and it leans back a bit, it takes a TON of down elevator to get it back. If it leans forward a bit, it only takes a touch of up to get it back.
Or do I have some up thrust built into the motor? In level flight it is ROCK solid and trims just fine. I think I have the thrust line in-line with the wing; well it looks that way anyway. Elevator throws are symmetrical.

 

None of mine have reacted that way so I do wonder if your thrust angle could be off. I wouldn't think it could be far off though. Sounds like a washer might be needed.

 

THANKS!!!
I was gonna add a washer, but it flies so nice in level flight I didn't want to mess with that. No pitch change at all from real low throttle to WOT.
Can't hurt to try though, eh?
THANKS again

 

Update: I added 2 4-40 washers (it was a bit thicker than the 2-56 washers I have) to give a slight amount of down thrust. I was only able to fly it in my backyard which really isn't conducive to actually flying around, but I can hover back there, and do a little flying, but the plane always has to be turning...

Well with this washer, it hovers a LOT BETTER. It still has a slight tenancy to lean towards the canopy, but a lot less elevator is needed to bring it upright... From what I can tell it hasn't effected "normal" flight, but I need more room to really tell.

I also now have the CG set about 1/2" behind the spar. (Started at 1/4") and it appears to be a lot happier there. Knife Edge flight is more controllable, and I was able to muster some knife edge slips into a hover within the limited space. Like Dave Platt says... a model will tell you where it want's the CG

Can't wait to take it to the field this weekend to really see how these changes work.

 

Good news. Glad to hear the washers helped. I like the cg being back far also.
Have fun!