Flite Fest 2017: Bugatti 100P

[Mid7night]

Seriously....SERIOUSLY DUDE. That was the pinnacle of the whole week/end if ever there was one, for sure!!! I STILL shudder a little when I recall the mental images of those stalls...you weren't even CLOSE to "two mistakes high", but you kept the air flowin'. Amazing skill under pressure. And the landing...yeah, there was no gettin' around a nose-over, but luckily it just dug in and stopped, as opposed to cartwheeling or spinning. Considering all the "unchangables" of the day, you could not have flown a better flight. Congratulations bro!! I can't wait to see FT's coverage, and everyone else's home video of the flight. Mine will be up shortly.

Also, it was a great pleasure actually meeting you, especially sitting and just sharing about life, family, real crap. Looking forward to doing it again sometime. I told my wife, if y'all lived in the neighborhood, we'd definitely be having you over for dinner.

 

[cranialrectosis]

Holding my breath waiting for video.

 

[BridgeInspector]

Holding my breath waiting for video.

Here is some via RCSaylors. (@16m39s).

 

[cranialrectosis]

Yeah i was on RCSaylor's site yesterday. Nice family. Still hoping for more though.

 

[willsonman]

Ben, pretty sure we would become fast close friends if we lived closer. You know how to find me if you need ANYTHING. Starting to see bits and pieces now and it takes me right back to the moment and the adrenaline starts going. Not a Sunday flier but she just looks great tearing through the sky.

 

[Mid7night]

Just got all my daily vlogs uploaded. Bugatti content begins at 1:37, if you want to skip to it. Sorry I didn't get much, I was too enthralled just WATCHING the durnd thing!!

BTW: Landing clip is courtesy of my dad ... I was still holding my breath!

 

[Joker 53150]

The sky looks HUGE for flying when there is only ONE plane in the sky!

 

[cranialrectosis]

Thanks for the video Mid7night. Love that very angry bee and your puking dog plane.

Just found your F5 build. My pop worked for Northrop from the late 50s into the 90s. I got to see the F5 and the F20 IRL when I was a kid. Beautiful planes. Elegant in the air. Your build is magnificent.

 

[PsyBorg]

I had heard you were gearing up for the Bugatti run and Ben was going to fly after so I was on my way from my tent down to the Multi GP area. I was telling everyone that you were about to fly and I was surprised how many people on the main walkway and tent areas were aware of the Bugatti and were anticipating a flight the whole time there.

I was seriously impressed when you took the time to run it up for me the night before after learning I had yet to hear it live. That sound is unique for sure. Even when it unloaded as it was in air that set up is STILL a unique sound. From the Multi GP end as it was coming down that back side of the field into the turn to come back up wind that looked so majestic with the colors of the crowd on the ground the few clouds and the trees.

Such an impressive thing to see and definitely a high light of the entire event for many many people including myself.

 

[willsonman]

Many thanks guys. I look forward to any any all videos as it really give me new perspective on this one on how to fly it in the future.

Sad news. After all the programming and reprogramming in the TX, I somehow turned off the data logging feature for the RPM sensors so there is no telemetry data AGAIN after I flew the airplane. Oh well. One day it will happen.

I took some time to clean shop last night. Organizing tools, cleaning, and... getting the next big project ready. I spoke to some about this at the event but it will be a team effort this time. No solo project. While it has been done a million times, this subject is a typical crowd pleaser but will be done right. Also, many of you following along will need to frequent the balsa section more.

 

[willsonman]

*sigh* Still no FT video. I'm really looking forward to their footage as they have a knack for capturing moments on film very well. At any rate, I had a chance to sit down with the guys of the RC Roundtable podcast and talk about the Bugatti. Have a listen to Episode 34 here.

 

[willsonman]

In case you did miss it...

 

[planesmasher]

great job josh O.

 

[Michael9865]

Awesome video

 

[willsonman]

Had another look at the Bugatti this weekend. I've been invited to a club meeting in northern VA this week. I figured I needed to make her a bit more presentable so I swapped out both props from Flite Fest. One (the rear) was broken and the remaining blades had a bunch of scratched off paint from the horrible field from the landing.


I looked at the mild damage again on the wing. There really is no structural damage. What happened is the rough field and perhaps the landing as well, caused the ply gear mounts to tear slightly from the foam. The foam gave way a bit and tore away from the ply. The glass tore a bit on the top side of the wing and the cosmetic damage is really the bulk of the repair. She could probably fly again just fine but I need to inject some gorilla glue into the joint to make sure the gear does not just shove through the top of the wing on another landing. So, after the glue, its a matter of removing some of the glass, spackle smooth, a little glass and fill and then paint. No rivets in this area so it really is a minimal repair.

 

[willsonman]

So, I'm digging this one up for a variety of reasons. I'll give a run down on recent activities and see if anyone has some additional thoughts.

I took the Bugatti to SEFF with full intentions of flying her. The Flex Innovation team was on-site giving seminars on and installing custom setups for their Aura system. Everything I've read about it is sensational and their track record is very high with this product. Laine, from Laine's Planes, had one installed in a Cuda and he had nothing but praise for it, despite it being a bit of a different flying experience. Laine is a pretty hardcore pilot with his Cudas and I trust the guy. I had the Flex guys install an Aura system in the Bugatti and they did a bang up job of it in a couple of hours.

I finally got the nerve to fly her after Carl got his second flight on the P-40. Let me tell you, there is no finer runway condition, short of a paved one, that I would ever find so I figured this would be the place to really try and put her through her paces. I've always known this airplane would probably have a short life. Dan Crews (CraftyDan) was the calm to my internal storm about flying this one.

It has always been about terra firma with this airplane. Again, the CG is only 1 cm aft of the wheel axle line so any sort of bump in the road makes her nose-over. I had 4 attempts to get her in the air after breaking all 4 of my reserve props and even attempting to fly on just one prop. I caved when one of the oleos twisted.

To where I am now... I've ordered a fresh supply of both props to try again. I am now SERIOUSLY considering a MAJOR overhaul of this airplane. This would include re-location of the main gear aft of the main spar. This would be the biggest amount of surgery. Then I would add a third strut at the nose to make this one a tricycle gear setup. I would leave the tail as-is, with the tail wheel, and elongate the struts so that she sits taller. This would clear the tail better for take-off rotation as well as solve my nose-over situation.

The thing is... will I really fly this one that much after I invest MORE time into such a modification? I really cannot answer that right now. The thing terrifies me. As in... a legitimate fright complete with sweaty hands and knot in my stomach every time I think of flying her. Not afraid to lose her... just afraid of someone or something getting hurt because of how she misbehaves with the ground.

100% looking for community input here. I honestly want your thoughts and insights to aid in this tough decision.

 

[rockyboy]

What about just adding the nose wheel only and seeing how she behaves on the ground?

 

[wilmracer]

So... I would HOPE you would be able to get her to the point you could really enjoy her. I know your regular field is a bit rough on gear, so it may end up something you only take to events or to other flying fields, but I would still hope you could get her up on a regular basis and share her because she is such an awesome model.

Obviously we've chatted about possible options before, but here is what I'd suggest for now. We know the tricycle gear is the BEST option as seen with George Mller's Katonka. I think it would be rather easy for you to add a nose retract unit in a suitable location. Before moving forward with the more major surgery of relocating the mains you could try a few flights with a section of music wire acting as a prop guard installed. You could go all the way and just add the nosewheel, but it would likely work well enough to just have the music wire with a bend for a skid to keep her from nosing over. Going with just the music wire to start with would save you needing to replace the strut down the road to change the stance when/if you lengthen the mains.

This will let you get some flights on her to see how she feels with the Aura, see if you enjoy flying her, and to decide whether the big surgery is still needed. Once the gear is up no one will know anyway.

Just my 2 cents. I can't wait to see her in the air again!

 

[willsonman]

The nose skid is certainly a valid idea. If I were to go that way, I would make a full mount for it with the intention that a retract would later be installed. Maybe even a retractable skid? I would probably end up making some sort of gear door that would be slaved to the gear channel but still... a valid idea.

 

[Tench745]

I don't know that adding more weight to this is where you want to be going.
I think you need to make the decision of how scale you want to keep this. If you're willing to sacrifice scale to enjoy flying it, just make it a trike and be done with it. If you're trying to preserve scale appearance, I'd start with a skid.
That said, if you are going to build a mount in the nose could take a retract, why not just install the retract at the same time? I wouldn't go through all the trouble of cutting in and making custom mounts etc without knowing you like how that changes the handling. Could you temporarily mount something to the firewall to test it before digging into everything?