An R/C Paramotor wing YOU can build!

[pretzeladdict]

Nice metal work.

It looks good man. That aluminum cleaned up nicely! I cannot wait to see that thing fly.

-Jesse-

 

[RCAiradventures]

Brent - It looks GREAT (and I'm glad all the holes lined up from the templates - whew!)! And your wing is looking superb! I feel very proud to see all of these new wings taking shape!

The only other thing you may need to do is remove the remaining material on the main frame plate to turn the consecutive smaller holes into 4 slots (basically to match the slots in the prop guard) - this is to accommodate motors with different hole spacing. I will add this detail to the plans.

keep up the great work!

-James

 

[Bdhost05]

Hole alignment

James, I did have a small issue with alignment one place, but thankfully we caught it before drilling. On the template, the two bolt holes that go through the hang point then through the frame didn't line up with the holes on the prop hoop. I just simply re-marked them and drilled them where they needed to be. I am guessing either I printed it wrong, or my prop hoop is slightly different than yours. Either way no big deal, just wanted others to be aware when they go to make their own.

Edit: the more I think about it, the more I am sure I somehow messed up on the printing of the templates. somehow, everything is scaled down from what it should be just a little bit. At this point, I am hoping I can make it work. Hopefully it won't change the flight characteristics!
Brent

 

[RCAiradventures]

Brent -

You will be fine. As long as the cart balance and weight are where they need to be, the wing shouldn't care too much.

-James

 

[u2fletch]

3D printed cage

James,
Designed an M2 style frame that can be 3D printed in sections which will fit on most printers.

Uploaded the files here : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2554955 View attachment Cage.zip

 

[RCAiradventures]

Sweet - Thanks! Excellent work!

 

[dutchmonkey]

James,
Designed an M2 style frame that can be 3D printed in sections which will fit on most printers.

Uploaded the files here : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2554955 View attachment 95515 View attachment 95516

do you have a solidworks model i could get for this i would like to play with cage support arms?

 

[Bdhost05]

Update!

So, I know it's been awhile, but we have been making progress, albeit slowly! For some reason, Fall just seems to be super busy this year for us. I've been meaning to update this a little more often, but just keep on procrastinating.

We got some 5 mil thick laminating pouches to make the mylars out of, and used a household iron to laminate them together. Definitely easier said than done! It was very hard to get a nice clear lamination without bubbles. The best results we got from putting the laminating sheets inside a cotton t-shirt, and setting the iron to high. Here is one of the sheets:


This is one of the practice mylars i sewed. I did a lot of practicing, and i'm glad i did!


I then took my time sewing these into the leading edge.


I actually really enjoyed this process, because of how nicely it makes the leading edge profile stand out.


And here is a closeup of some of them:


Whew, i was glad to get that process done! I really can't imagine how someone could sew in plastic rods instead. One thing i thought of trying next time is sewing the mylars on before i sew the ribs and panels together. I'm not sure if it would work, but i'd like to try.

Next, we got started on making attachment points. Shout out to my buddy Richard, he 3-D printed me out some attachment point jigs! (of course, also thank you James for designing the jig!) The string i got is a little smaller than i wish, but we've tried doing a zig-zag stitch and i think it'll work. Here is the first couple batches:


And here are all 120 of them! This sure was a great process to make these!


I've also been working on the cart, i fashioned some servo holders out of wood, and got two servos for the brakes:


And i bit the bullet and bought a beautiful brushless AXI motor to power this wing. The speed controller is one i had from another plane.


The end is in sight! I'm getting really excited to see this thing fly!!

-Brent-

 

[RCAiradventures]

Brent - your wing is really looking fantastic! I have tried several methods for attaching the mylars (and have done plastic rods on both this size and the 3 meter), and have found that it definitely works better attaching them after the wing is assembled. Perhaps not quite as easy as attaching the mylars before assembling the wing, but much more accurate.

The attachment points require a fair bit of patience (especially the A-line points), but go fairly quickly. You will love that AXI motor - it really goes!

Great job!!

-James

 

[RCAiradventures]

Hey, all - just finishing the prototype of the LuteFisk micro: 18" span, and should be a load of fun! Going to laser cut the cart today - stay tuned!

 

[RCAiradventures]

Might be time for the maiden in the morning!

 

[Bdhost05]

Lutefisk Micro

Wow, that is so cool!! I hope you make a video on the micro, can't wait to see it in flight! Good work as always!!!

 

[RCAiradventures]

Lessons were learned. . . I think I have found the size / aspect ratio limit for a paramotor wing. Next is to take the AR down to 3.5 from 5.1 to try and tame some of the instability. I found that even the slightest of control inputs sent the wing into a death spiral. So. . . by making a less efficient wing I am hoping to get it to behave a bit better.

 

[RCAiradventures]

Working on a chunkier wing:

 

[Bdhost05]

Aw man, that's too bad! Way to persevere though! Will you be able to re-use the fabric and just re-rig it, or will it have to be completely rebuilt?
By the way, my wife and I worked hard today on our wing, and got it all rigged! Just a few finishing touches on the cart, and she'll fly! I tried kiting it quite a few times(inside) and boy am I excited! It leaps up and wants to fly! Just seeing it wanting to fly like that makes it completely worth all the work. I'm planning to post a video of it, but probably not the maiden because I'm kinda nervous, I've never flown one of these before. Thanks again for making these plans available James!
-Brent-

 

[RCAiradventures]

It's alright - I've had to trash a lot more wings than this - and I have accumulated about 10 yards of material over the last couple of years, so no worries there. I'll just make a new one and hone my skills in the process!

Great news on your wing! The first time you kite a new wing, it's pretty amazing - be sure to practice your launch and watch my flight prep video a few times until you are fairly comfortable with the inflation and release. Also, if you have issues with wingtip collapses dial in a bit of brake pressure (not too much). These single skin wings are a little finicky about having enough pressure in the canopy. Once you have it dialed in, it will fly the same every launch!

I'm glad you are enjoying the process and look forward to seeing your video!

-James

 

[RCAiradventures]

V2 of the micro is stitched and ready for ribs, which I'm working on preparing for the laser cutter:

 

[Bdhost05]

IT FLIES!!!

Well, i just have to say, I am extremely happy with how this wing flies! I have flown it 5 or so times now, and I am very happy with this design . Great job, James!

For the first flight I adjusted the brakes to the length specified on the plans, and launched it. The first launch was very rough, with lots of pendulum-ing and me not being quite sure which way i was going. I was pretty sure i was going to wreck, but I ended up keeping things under control Keep in mind, this is the first time I've ever flown something like this!

I was way over controlling it at first, and also being very heavy on the throttle. Once I calmed down my stick movements, It was pretty much smooth sailing from then on till the landing. Flying an RC paramotor is definitely much different than flying RC planes, which I've done a good deal of. In all the times I've flown this paramotor, i have never gone much over 1/2 throttle. It seems like this thing has way more power than i'll ever use! Maybe it'll come in handy once i'm more used to flying this thing.

On the third flight, I was feeling adventurous, and decided to stall the wing. I got up fairly high, cut the throttle, and started pulling back on the brakes. All of a sudden the wing folded and shot down behind the cart, and the cart started pretty much free falling . I let off the brakes as fast as i could, and the wing halfway re-inflated. I realized though too late that I hadn't started nearly high enough, and i had also done the maneuver over a terrible location (an unharvested cornfield). Smack! I was picturing in my mind corn stalks poking up through the wing fabric, but when i ran out to see, there was no damage whatsoever!. The worst i had to deal with was just untangling some lines from cornstalks.

Up to the fourth flight, i had set the brakes where they were specified in the plans, and I hadn't experienced a single collapse (other than the intentional one on the third flight). This thing is rock solid! I decided to see if i could let more brake line out, to see where it would fly best. I set the brakes so I could take off with them pulled to the marks, but so that i could let the out with trim. I found that I could let them out around 1 cm. or so with no collapses, but if i let it out much more, I would start to get wingtip collapses during wind gusts.

This morning, I got up early and flew before it got gusty. I also did a lot of practicing takeoffs and flares for landing. I also tried a few spirals, but no more stalls It is such a great feeling seeing this thing flying! I'm planning on posting a video and more pictures, but i just wanted to share the good report!

 

[RCAiradventures]

FANTASTIC! I'm so glad that you got it into the air - what a great accomplishment!

It's gratifying for me to hear of another LuteFisk in the air, and I am very proud of you for seeing it through. It feels great to see it in the air - I can't wait for the video! (it's also nice for me to hear that my brake measurements are fairly accurate )

Great Job, Brent!

 

[RCAiradventures]

ROG? Yes, please!

So, I've been playing around with takeoffs from the ground. Sometimes it gets a little tedious always hand-launching.

The Opale 5 meter wing can takeoff from the ground, but they use a completely different brake geometry at the cart that allows this. Not so much with the smaller wings - it is partly a problem of scale as well. As the wing gets smaller and closer to the prop, the propwash has more of a negative effect on the wing and the cart rollout does not precede the wash hitting the wing in time for it to come overhead.

Full-scale trikes sometimes use A-line assists - this pulls the A lines in at the start of the takeoff roll to expedite the wing coming overhead to avoid the bulk of the prop wash. After trying a few different methods to accomplish this, I think I have a winner:

Next is to scale the technique down a bit to see if I can get the smaller Lutefisk wing to follow suit!