balsa ultra-micro (built-up style)

by anonymous rc pilot | January 3, 2014 | (6) Posted in Projects

I was bored so I started building, my original idea was to make a small balsa free-flight model with an airfoil with the look of an Aeronca champ or piper cub, here are my results: a wingspan of 21.5in and a length of 10.5in this is one of my smallest builds. Its' arf weight is 21.6g and ready to fly it wieghs 41 grams. Two things about this bulid are unique, one the built-up construction (including airfoil) (I used packing tape and seran-rap to cover my wing), two I realy just made up the design as I went although generally following the look of the cub and champ. I will use a simple micro 3ch setup "barrowed" from a hobbyzone champ and the small brushed motor from a micro parkzone p51. my maiden "flight" was very short  my horizontal stab. was giving a down imput, anyways after managing to warm up a battery in the 0 degree temps I took it off in about 30 feet and chrash landed. As far as I can tell my wing perfoms well. After my first true flights I got it balenced out but I still had rudder problems, the plane tended to like tight circles and hated wind. After some more flying I found it likes to get into a knife edge attitude. This is probably due to the torque of the motor I will work on the this.

 

Here are some pics of of construction and the finished product.

 

COMMENTS

LordVader on February 4, 2014
Really cool, nice idea with the surround wrap and packing tape.
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rcflyer729 on February 4, 2014
good job nice plane

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RC Wonder on February 4, 2014
its a bit messy i would use ca and solar lite covering film but otherwise good

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#3 on February 4, 2014
Good try not to many building out of wood anymore I agree with Rc Wonder it is a bit messy the problem with the rudder and tight turns could be the angle of the prop thats a prowerfull motor you are going to have to put in some right angle on the prop or left turns will be tight and right turns will be difficult
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anonymous rc pilot on February 4, 2014
I will work on the motor angle, thanks I didn't consider the torque. When get the rudder/motor-angle problem I will look into a better covering
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augernaught on February 4, 2014
How about just white or wood glue and simple copy paper for covering?
Would hold it's shape and improve the airfoil I think.
It's not to heavy and it looks like you have enough motor anyway.
Could even clean up some of the hot glue with a solder iron or heated knife
and cover most of the fuselage to get rid of a lot of drag too.
I have a BNIB Guillows balsa 27" span P-40 Warhawk I would love to convert to
RC for indoor flying so I am very interested to see how your flight gear
works out for you :)
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anonymous rc pilot on February 5, 2014
Interesting idea with a paper/glue covering I will have to try it and yes it is a draggy fuse if i have success with re-covering my wings i will do the same for the fuse. As for the power setup it might be enough for your p-40 although you might want to consider a light brushless set-up. in the past i have abused all of my 1s batteries so i have hardly enough power to do the job well, but Im very happy with this set-up in light planes
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augernaught on February 8, 2014
I just found this today at Towerhobbies.
I am not pushing any brand or store, but dang if this don't look like just what
I want and need for a Guillows P-40 balsa and tissue INDOOR build???

No idea what motor might be light enough to pull it tho..............


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johanjonker on February 5, 2014
Hotglue n a balsa plane?.. this is where thin CA works best..

Hope it flies it looks really draggy, and flimsy..
Post some flight videos..
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anonymous rc pilot on February 5, 2014
I certainly agree with you but not being a balsa builder I didn't have any at the time. yes it certainly flies but it is a bit draggy although not terrible if and when i re-cover the wing i will do the same for the fuse. as for the flimsyness I did some subtle reinforcing and it has taken many a nose-over without much damage.The reason I used such impractically thin wood in the fuse was i wanted it to be sort-of scale. im still working on a video i've had bad weather and don't have an indoor area.
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Readingrox on February 9, 2014
Looks really cool
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Xerx on February 20, 2014
Ever tried Mylar sail repair tape? Its really thin and light, and yet very very strong.
You can even get it in different colors if you dislike the clear one.
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anonymous rc pilot on February 21, 2014
where can I find some, sounds like good stuff
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balsa ultra-micro (built-up style)