A new wing for the swapable pod - The PP1.

The PP1... simple to build, easy to fly and more than capable ...Its a wing that fits into the triple set of models, The FT flier, The Nutball and the Delta... The PP1 fitting nicely between the Nutball and the Delta for flying ability..

Below is a 24" 6mm depron version.. the video taken from its maiden flight.. powered here by an Axi motor of 45gms weight... about 150W

Intro and Info.....History....part1

Sitting at the P/C with my flying buddy, watching youtube videos, thank you flitetest, we were talking about our kids and the paper models we used to make for them.. I had a version he had never seen, different from the normal paper darts everyone makes, and one that flies very well.. This paper plane tends to do a loop at speed when first thrown, then glide away nice and slowly.. So the thought struck us that it would likely convert to a nice foam model.. slow to wild in its flight

So into sketchup went the basic shape, it was just a simple top view dawing, measured from a folded A4 sheet... Then scaled up to the size we wanted..

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The PP1 was born

My requirements were for a hands off, slow and stable model,  with all the good aerobatic capability of a Nutball. but by using elevons I hoped to improve the roll....I wanted a simple  model, fast and easy to build and something that we could use at our indoor sessions

 Here is a new wing shape for the swapable pod...

The sketchup file containing the pod and wing 

You have the Nutball, FT flier and Delta.. now I add my PP1

Based on the paper plane shape it uses elevons , rudder and throttle for control.. it has all the fun characteristics of the great Nutball, but I think it did get cleaner more axial rolls and improved inverted flight.. It was designed to have the ability to fly slow and stable, and it acheives this by using a high dihedral angle..

With low rates its ideal as a starter model, but with high rates and lots of power it can go as wild as you like

I have made and flown the shape at a variety of sizes.. the one here , shown below , is at 20" to utilise the dollar tree foam board.. The drawings show a KFm2 wing build, This is the option for a high powered model

A single layer build will fly just as nicely.. however the single layer will need some spars added because its not as strong.. this is a low power option

The sizes I've made.... 16",17", 19", 24" in KFm2 and  30" with a KFm4 and lastly a few more 17" with a single layer only...

For spars I use a pallet strapping sandwich and this has proved more than strong enough on all of the models, even the single layer wing..

The drawings give enough details to do a measure and cut build... no fancy shapes, its all straight cuts.. I have also included a zip file with the sketchup drawing..(see the links )

The pink shows the second layer shape for the KF build, its a simple direct lamination. the pink lamination is made in two halves, cut down the center line, having it cut into two makes it easier to fit together.. laminate the sections and fill in any center cracks with hot glue..

The main shape is cut first, then on the underside the centre line is cut , but not right through.. the wing can then be cracked up, and given the twenty degrees of dihedral required.. use hot glue to fill the crack and set the angle..Now add the two half wing KF laminations..

The tail fin has a reinforcing CF rod hot glued down the front edge, which I would normally put through the wing down into a full length spline, on the swappable there is no spline, so make a tail end skid/spline to go under the wing at the rear.. and match your rudder size to include this extra skids depth

Fit the power pod.. you will have to work out the slot positions and cut these out..

Power systems.... 16-17" get a 15gm motor... 19 gets a 25gm Blue wonder type.. 24" gets 150W or so 50gms... the big 30" got a 3536 , 300W or so... these are all overpowered, they will fly with very low throttle positions.. its just more power is more fun when you want to go wild....

Power....For the swappable, a blue wonder is the minimum... 150W will go better, thats a motor of about 50gms.. or more if you feel wild.... go for a lower kv motor swinging a bigger prop, I tend to use 1000kv -150W bell motors with a 9x5 prop on 3S , for models of 12oz upward....

Note Down thrust is required, I have about 8 degrees down and 3 degrees right on mine.. the down is important

More info on the PP1 cab be found on rcgroups..  http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2105719

 all straight cuts, so its nice and easy..

The sketchup file containing the pod and wing 

Here are lines for the $ shop board... note the tail fin , top center , is my old shape, deep enough to go down to the bottom of my old spline.. this central top area of the sheet is available to cut your own shape out of...there is enough spare here to try different shapes... so leave this till last and make a shape that pleases you...

I am all for simple shapes , I simply measure, draw and then cut out the foam, it is quick.. The above picture should be enough to make your new wing, All that is missing are the slots for positioning the swappable pod

I leave that to you....

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Intro and developement Info....history part2.

By taking a few measurements the basic shape was put into sketchup.. Then scaled up....The first models were made at a 16-17" span for indoor use.. They had a straight across KF step line very similar to the paper model.. But later this shape was changed to more follw the leading edge lines, the shape shown in the plans.. This was purely for looks...

The first models also had a triangular fusulage similar to the paper model, with the wing going fully across, they were fine but over complicated the build, so we replaced them with a simpler doubled layer spline, you will be using your swappable power pod..

First builds.... from 3mm depron... note the pallet strapping top and bottom which does away with more expensive CF spars.. the 3mm depron models flew superbly but soon got chopped up at our indoor sessions

Second builds...for indoor flying.... Using 6mm EPP... mods, a simpler straight spline, into which we cut holes for the ESC and RX.. For the indoor versions the EPP is much better, being tougher with more bounce..

The high dihedral , of about 20 degrees, on the wings is for stability.. it may seem excessive, but it makes these models super stable and easy fliers.. My flying buddy likes an easy cruise round, This design makes that easy.. I like to be able to chuck them about, loops, rolls, inverted, a bit of combat.. This will do it all...Oddly inverted is easy with the COG more on the spot, They get hands off stable inverted when the COG goes back a bit from the plans.. Flying about, you can yank and bank on elevons and elevator or use combined rudder to do quicker changes of dirrection.. Rolls are fast enough on elevons alone but twice as fast using rudder and elevons..

Nose high, very stable, rudder does the stearing.. Hovers nice and easy... They quickly became our favourites for indoors...

here is a video of an indoor session. there can be up to 6 or so flying together, I made and sold a few for club members..

They do tend to multiply.. Next we are going to make some at UMX size...

Mine...

From inside to outside...

19" KFm2 from 6mmEPP.....24" KFm2 from 6mm depron...30" KFm4 from 6mm depron with the main layer doubled... all sizes have been good... all have identical flight characteristics.. but the bigger ones obviously use more sky...

here is my largest... a 30" version.. built heavy this flies at 30oz+.. I fly mine usually at about half power, and at my location I dont go for speedy setups

The build is easy , and is repeated through all the sizes......especially for you, as you are only making the wing to add to your power pods.. cut out the wing shape then partialy cut through the center line, crack it , hold it to your angle, fill the crack with hot glue

Next we laminate the KF top layer.. this is glued on in two parts, giving the center join a bit of a sand down to make a good fit and filling any cracks with hot glue... add pallet strapping or a spar across the wing.. Pallet strapping goes top and bottom , mirrored, it is glued on to the surface, Using a spar will be more of a problem, but a CF tube with a metal joiner bent to the angle will work and will probably look better under the wing..

the wings leading edge should be profiled , then reinforced with some tape..

The picture above was from my big build.. here the main layer was doubled up, and then the step layers were added.. the cloth at the elevon positions is for the hinge, it is glued between the layers of the wing, then the elevon is fitted, again a double layer fitted on the cloth..

This is not relevant for the board build, I would use the flitetest hinge method which works well

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As a follow up to the KF builds I have been making my indoor models with a single layer only, using 6 or 9mm EPP...

Here you will see two with KF and three without the step layer.. on 16-17" indoor models there is no difference to the flight, and they are strong enough as seen.. From my EPP sheets it is possible to cut two models for indoor flying.. my EPP is a lot bigger than the dollar tree board.. laid out below is the single layer basic 17"er. The two bare models seen above were sold on at our indoor club..

Seen below.......From a single EPP sheet I can get two 17" non KF wing models.. these have simpler splines below and a triangular nose block

Finally .....A dollar tree foamboard version ...

Made using the dollar tree board, the model can be seen in the video below, their KFm2 build did not use any spars..The KF layer adding enough strength to the wing on its own....  My preference however would be to use both the pallet strapping and a KF layer, strapping is simple to fit and add lots of strength/stiffness to the already strong wing... better safe than sorry...

A dollar tree foam board makes into one 20" span model, one or two have already been made, but not with the swappable pod system..

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=30502522&postcount=62

here is their video, I did laugh along with this crew, they were having too much fun.... on a small 20" model they had more than enough power..lol

I hope you try this shape, its performance is special... 

 again enjoy....  davereap....