A Circle does Fly

[L Edge]

Today 25mph winds roar outside. Having the EZ Pack 2 and some crappy and heavy foam given to me, decided to see if a 12 inch circle can fly. Given that the FC can act as the rudder, got to work. 2 and 1/2 hrs passed and I was ready to fly.

Building:
Cut one 12 circle
After the 12 inch circle was cut, it was a simple almost 1/2 circle cut out.
3 scores were done and glued after jigged
Motors, FC, and battery installed.
CG was determined

Went to the cellar and got a total of 12 flights to determine the CG, setting up left and right turns starting at about 5 ft and ending up releasing plane about 33 ft flying, and directing it to the catch zone.

I named this one Rolling Along. Will put up video soon.

For you that really like to design planes or have the passion to fly almost every day, FT EZ Pack V2 (about $40) offers you hours of fun. Good way to introduce your kids to all about building and flying and what I can't do(decorating the plane).

If enough interest, will do a build video.

 

[Merv]

Great idea

 

[Michael9865]

Looks good.

 

[Foamforce]

Seedball

 

[Piotrsko]

You missed the pizza pie pan wing mod to my slow stick maybe 3-4 years back. We were wondeings if a flat no airfoil wing would bank or just skid or even fly, so I used a 36 diameter trashcan lid as a pattern. Flew normally, stalled poorly at low altitude. We decided that the massive angle of attack acted like diehederal.

 

[FoamyDM]

Today 25mph winds roar outside. Having the EZ Pack 2 and some crappy and heavy foam given to me, decided to see if a 12 inch circle can fly. Given that the FC can act as the rudder, got to work. 2 and 1/2 hrs passed and I was ready to fly.

Building:
Cut one 12 circle
After the 12 inch circle was cut, it was a simple almost 1/2 circle cut out.
3 scores were done and glued after jigged
Motors, FC, and battery installed.
CG was determined

Went to the cellar and got a total of 12 flights to determine the CG, setting up left and right turns starting at about 5 ft and ending up releasing plane about 33 ft flying, and directing it to the catch zone.

View attachment 242859

I named this one Rolling Along. Will put up video soon.

For you that really like to design planes or have the passion to fly almost every day, FT EZ Pack V2 (about $40) offers you hours of fun. Good way to introduce your kids to all about building and flying and what I can't do(decorating the plane).

If enough interest, will do a build video.

I did nearly the exact same thing! That's Awesome.

 

[L Edge]

You missed the pizza pie pan wing mod to my slow stick maybe 3-4 years back. We were wondeings if a flat no airfoil wing would bank or just skid or even fly, so I used a 36 diameter trashcan lid as a pattern. Flew normally, stalled poorly at low altitude. We decided that the massive angle of attack acted like diehederal.

Here is my ugly flying object (UFO) consisting of just a flat sheet (that's all) or plate(had a FC to run rudder using differential thrust) which I wondered would it and how long it would go. It worked.

Notice my new technology of STEALTH that I turned on and off as I flew.

 

[L Edge]

I did nearly the exact same thing! That's Awesome.

Circle is basically the same design as my Delta Dart. I left out the vertical components from the underbody to the tail, so it isn't tail heavy. Always a number of ways to accomplish the same thing. Interesting.

 

[FoamyDM]

Circle is basically the same design as my Delta Dart. I left out the vertical components from the underbody to the tail, so it isn't tail heavy. Always a number of ways to accomplish the same thing. Interesting.

I like it. I have a decent ballast (15-20 g) which means I can host a larger 1s bat on the ez system.

 

[L Edge]

Doing some testing on Rolling Along, I accomplished a full ROLL and continued flying!!!!!!!!!!!

With the other EZ pack planes, if you set it up properly, you can e-loop it with no problem. The reason I designed the circle was an off shoot of my Delta Dart (yes ,it has a vertical component)to see if a EZ plane will roll. So by having no vertical components and a proper CG and manipulating the throttle and TV with the proper sequence, did a crazy roll.

 

[L Edge]

Rolling Along needs to be trimmed out and the way I start is use the "Blue Ketcher". It is best to start off with calm conditions and what is better than the cellar that has a runway of 42 1/2 ft. The blue tarp is hung and slanted so it slides down to prevent dings or damage. You can use garage, gym, hallway, whatever.

Goal:
Find CG, position of throttle so it will fly level, add power to climb and less power to have a descending slope that is comfortable to you. Also determine rate for turns.

First is to stand about 5', and let go under power and see what happens. Keep moving back until you under control to hit "ketcher". In my case, 42.5 ft. It might look boring to you, but video reveals

a) at that CG,
throttle position to fly level, how much to add to climb, subtract to have negative glide slope, what happens if you accelerate or what happens if you throttle off.
determine rate of turn of plane if it is on high or low.

Video shows CG needs to be moved forward.

Being a tough bird having no vertical structure to act as a rudder, wanted to see what happens outside in wind. Now you see why I call it Roll Along, so it has potential when you have throttle and TV. Does tack nicely with TV and slides over nicely to the right with the wind.

So back to cellar, add weight and redo.

 

[FishbonesAir]

I did nearly the exact same thing! That's Awesome.

Foamy, do you have an actual plan for your circle plane, or do you just make it up as you go?

I'd be interested in making one, but don't really want to straight cowboy it. 😁