Versa wing slope soarer

by pintokitkat | October 21, 2013 | (9) Posted in Just Fun

I wanted to build a foamie slope soarer for the weekend and searching the net I could only find plans for ones that needed lots of sanding, ones that used a hot wire and thick foam, or ones that didn't look like they'd fly.

I'd made an FT Versa Wing before, not that I ever got it to fly (my failing, not the design's), but I remembered what a solid, but light thing it was.  So out came the foamboard, the scalpel, parcel tape and the hot glue and hey presto, a glider that will fly all day (two or three days if I could stay awake that long) by using a 2200mah 3s lipo through a home made 5v regulator.  Why the big battery?  It fits in the hidey-hole at the front and acts as the main weight and I can plug it in and leave it on all day.  I did add another 40gm of lead inside the front to give it penetration, and after a bit of trimming, it flies really well.

First couple of launches it needed a friend to give it a steady throw into the wind, but after trimming, as you can see from the video, all I had to do was hold it up and let go of it.

The decals show Mighty Mouse - my hero as a kid, which I thought appropriate for a small, red and yellow super hero.

And the site is Callow Bank in Derbyshire (I think it's Derbyshire) - one of the Sheffield Society of Aeromodellers' sites.  It's a natural basin in the Peak District, probably twenty square miles overlooking Castleton, Hathersage, and backed by Higger Tor.  Breath-taking.

COMMENTS

Red20RC on October 22, 2013
Nice work! Exactly what I had in mind (and I know another guy who has done the same recently).
Pretty sure I used to climb around there when I was younger. Bit far to go now I'm down under though!
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alibopo on October 22, 2013
Brilliant! Exactly what it says on the box - versatile. And no pesky propellers to worry about :)
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lancaster on October 22, 2013
Hi
The versa wing is great - yours looks very stable.
I just finished a pusher versa wing and I'm planning to build the slope version.
I think the foamboard in the uk is heavier than dollartree so it needs plenty of weight in the nose.
I used kappa board from 4D modelshop
how far back is the cg to get stable flight?
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pintokitkat on October 23, 2013
It's a bit moveable depending on the wind, but 14.5cm from the point of the nose seems a good starting point. That's about 1cm in front of the servo cutout. However, I've not found it to be too critical.
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Paulobrasil on October 22, 2013
Nice Job!
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28th St. Air on October 23, 2013
what is your flying weight? the wind sounds pretty strong. how fast was it blowing ?
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pintokitkat on October 23, 2013
The weight is about 480gm with the battery and a bit of extra weight for stability. As for the wind speed, that was the day my tester gadget decided to stop working, but it must have been a good 20mph up there gusting to a bit more.
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pekote on October 22, 2013
Really nice video!!
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caveman on November 15, 2013
Great sloper wing! I've found that the key to the FTVersa is to ad twice as many score cuts for the airfoil, smoothing it out and making it way more efficient, which is critical for slope soaring. You can get more penetration and speed. These are soo easy to build as slopers, you can even add Piano wire to the LE for combat. Just finished my fourth one to give away. The Zagi owners I know are blown away by this wing... literally.

Great job pintokitkat!
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davereap on April 14, 2014
have got any pics of the battery hatch or gear fitting , or is it all fitted permanently message me through rcgroups under davereap please
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Versa wing slope soarer