Now this is a great construction. Looks like if you can dream-it you can build-it for sure.

 

Thanks Randy & Watt_the? Yea, if you can dream it and draw it, the PP can cut it!

 

I spilled the details on the latest CrashCast...It flies great, rather it did fly great..up until the wing decided to show it's joy for the flight by clapping

We had a structural failure of the wing, but the damage was very minor considering. The worst of it was when it pancaked to the ground...the nose caught the brunt of it. I will try to post pictures later this evening. Heck, I haven't even unloaded the trailer yet from Sunday...

I can say that it is a BEAST with the power system detailed earlier!! WAY WAY more than it will ever need

A couple of small changes after the repair, and I am pretty sure she will be SEFF ready. I am gonna have to add some struts, though I am leaning toward using dental floss or maybe spiderwire/kevlar for flying wires for the wing as opposed to a traditional strut. That would keep it looking more "Bee-like". There is just allot of lifting surface out there, and being under-cambered to boot helped me not only "Push the Limits of Foam," but exceed them, LOL!.

It has been a fun ride so far...and I have no reservations recommending someone else try it.


On a side note, Buk, I am looking forward to getting my Duck together and in the air. I already know exactly what power system to use! Thanks for the compliments...I was a little scatterbrained, I just hope it wasn't to bad for the listeners!

 

Fixed that for ya!

 

As promised...here are a few pics, right before I unloaded the trailer this afternoon.



Attached files

 

Well, here are those darn structural challenges we were talking about. But, nothing a 2" spar wouldn't fix.

 

Use what I used to use on my SPADs use a ruler for a spar

 

Yep...a little of the white Gorilla Glue, and some minor changes to the wing and she will be ready to fly again. Unfortunately, it won't happen this weekend. I was just told that I HAD to install new carpet in Eli's room on Saturday. So...that coupled with the high probability of rain on Sunday means a no-fly weekend.

Maybe I can sneak in some repair time, though. I need to get the Bee fixed so I can finish up a couple of other goodies for SEFF!

 

All right, so I got some time tonight to really look at and think about the repair. The nose section got epoxied back on. Some 30 minute Epoxy, and a nice large surface to mix it on helped, as well as a couple of acid brushes.

I joined the "cooler foam" back, and have it all jigged up to support the nose and plane while the epoxy sets. I also am going to add some fiberglass cloth to help scab the joints. With that, and a few well placed skewers I think the nose will be fine.

The good news is that I didn't find any other structural damage. When I build the next one, I do have some changes in mind. I will use 1 inch blu-cor for internal bracing, rather than the cooler foam I had on hand this time. I know there will be a weight penalty, but realistically, it won't affect performance.

The other thing is I will add the traditional landing gear box that a real Lazy Bee uses. I see the need for a floating, shock absorbing gear for this thing, even at this light of a weight. I think the damage would not have been as bad had if I had incorporated it first.

The wing...I have a few ideas, but until the fuse is finished, I am going to hold off on the wing repair, since the fuse will undergo some modifications.

 

OK, so I repaired the wing...a little more fiberglass and epoxy, as well as the addition of a yardstick spar, and it is strong! I got to fly it again, and I am HAPPY!!! The power system is beyond insane (thats a good thing!) and it flies very well. Quite responsive, and feels light as a feather (Wonder why, )

The wing held up well, and showed no signs of "Clapping" again. I am going to incorporate some tie-downs into the spar, though...the slightest breeze and she wants to dance all over the place while on the ground. There are still some improvements to be made, and I think I am going to go ahead and sheet the bottom of the wing. I still get a little twist, even with the dental floss bracing, that I want to eliminate, and it will make it easier to do the LEDs in the wing. I would rather have the wing glow like the rest of the fuse, rather than have the LEDs out in the open, where they will blind you when it is flying close by.

All in all, I am very happy with it, and am looking forward to getting more time on it. It is for sure a light wind flyer, but that will fit perfect with my intentions for it...early morning, late evening, and night time sorties!

I will try to get some video next time I take it out, and get that posted for you guyz. It really looks neat in the air!!

 

To much rain to find out...I hope I get a chance this coming weekend, else it will be SEFF before I know!!

 

OK...I know a couple of you are interested in how it did, and.........IT IS A SUCCESS!!!!!

Sheeting the bottom of the wing did not change the flight characteristics enough to worry about, and I am VERY happy with how it flies!!!

I had allot of compliments about it at SEFF, and some interest as well, so I have got to get the hobby funds built up so I can build the MKI and have a PP again. I really want to build a good looking one now, and incorporate all the mods into the final version.

The LEDS worked out very well, and it got a bunch of night flights. I did some formation night flying with it (which will most likely appear on the SKS video productions SEFF release later in the year) as well as getting "Golf Cart Certified" with it.

"GCC" consists of riding in a moving golf cart, Mule, Gator, etc wide open and flying the plane at the same time. I found out the top speed of the cart we used is 32 MPH, and the Bee was keeping up at less than 1/4 throttle!!! I sat in the back, and flew the Bee toward me, keeping it within 20 feet of the cart except for the turns. We took 2 trips around the 1700 x150 foot runway, and had a blast!

So...long story short, I am please with the way it flies, and I think it would actually do good on a .25 sized electric conversion. I hit full throttle once while going vertical, and it was WAY to much. For normal flight, I was getting 15-20 minutes and only putting 2000MAH back into the packs, so I am very happy with that.

If anyone wants to build one, I suggest doing it... There is a picture somewhere on RCG of it sitting on the flightline at night lit up, when I find it again, I will post it. I didn't get any video or pictures of it, as I was to busy flying it and everything else I could get my hands on!!!

Tim
AG4RZ

 

As mentioned, here is the pic of it on the flightline, waiting to go up on another night sortie. Thanks to Scott Thompson for taking this picture and posting it over at RCG. I was having so much fun flying it I never thought to get pictures of it all lit up!