Bloody Wonder MkIII - Build

[SP0NZ]

View attachment 46988

Hey SPONZ,
Here is a pic of my BW mkIII build. Really like the plans and it feels like a really solid airplane. I also made some detachable landing gear as an option. My only issue so far is CG. No matter how it's configured it really wants to balance out a half inch behind the CG marks. I currently have a big 2200mah batt right behind the firewall and same result. Wondering where I messed up. Is there a set distance from the leading edge I could check my marks against?
Thanks again for the plans. - Matt

I just double checked the original FT plans for the V1 and they show it at 2.75" from the leading edge. That's a full 1" behind where I have it on my plans. The V2 plans do not show the CG at all. I would try it at the original 2.75". I really need to double check where I got that 1.75" CG location from. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[SP0NZ]

View attachment 46988

Hey SPONZ,
Here is a pic of my BW mkIII build. Really like the plans and it feels like a really solid airplane. I also made some detachable landing gear as an option. My only issue so far is CG. No matter how it's configured it really wants to balance out a half inch behind the CG marks. I currently have a big 2200mah batt right behind the firewall and same result. Wondering where I messed up. Is there a set distance from the leading edge I could check my marks against?
Thanks again for the plans. - Matt

Oh yeah, and your plane looks great!

 

[LandBasedMammal]

Thanks Dan,
That made a big difference. On those marks (2.75) it balances with either a 2200mah or 1300mah batt with plenty of wiggle room. It won't balance with anything lighter like a 500 or 800mah which makes me wonder if my plane isn't really too light( I have no scale sorry ). I'm only guessing because I built the wing, fuselage and power pod with white gorilla glue before my glue gun arrived and it cures pretty light compared to hot glue. I feel like I could easily counterweight the nose at these CG marks though.
Thanks so much for the info and again for the great plans. - Matt

 

[notreallyme]

My MKIII fly's great with the CG at 2.75"

 

[LandBasedMammal]

Thanks Dan and notreallyme. Confidence in my build has been restored! BTW is there something wrong with my landing gear?

 

[LandBasedMammal]

No wait. I got it.

Just kidding. Thanks guys.

 

[SP0NZ]

Thanks Dan and notreallyme. Confidence in my build has been restored! BTW is there something wrong with my landing gear?
View attachment 46999

Nope! I land like that about half the time! :black_eyed:

 

[RAGII]

Flew mine for the first time today. Flew great and was a blast. Ended up flying 5 rounds of combat ( I need more batteries ) I made my fuse 1/2" deeper than the original plans to protect my battery during landings.

A few pictures of my plane and some of the "cuts"

Before the Maiden


My second "cut" of the day. Decide to roll the streamer back up.


One of the other flyers


I am looking forward to many more rounds of combat.

Thanks SPONZ for a great design.

 

[SP0NZ]

Awesome! :applause:

Combat is addicting isn't it?

 

[RAGII]

Awesome! :applause:

Combat is addicting isn't it?

Yes it is. I flew SSC (just at our club) a few years ago, but there was definitely more carnage with that. You could easily go through 2-3 planes.

I am going to build a few more of these for myself and some friends so we can get more than 4 up in the air at a time.

 

[LooseBruce]

Flaps or flaperons That sort of thing??

Hi Guys,
I recently saw a post where someone said they had plenty of airspace above their yard but a tight landing area. This describes my yard also. I have never had a plane with flaps but I was wondering if the Bloody Wonder MKIII could benefit from using the ailerons as flaperons or reverse flaperons through mixing at the transmitter. I have no experience with flaps of any sort. It would be cool though if I could land the Bloody Wonder MKIII in a very short space.Right now it is large enough for UMX planes and sometimes large enough for my Slow Stick. I say sometimes because I use my shed and trees sometimes on the landing approach.
LooseBruce

 

[SP0NZ]

Hi Guys,
I recently saw a post where someone said they had plenty of airspace above their yard but a tight landing area. This describes my yard also. I have never had a plane with flaps but I was wondering if the Bloody Wonder MKIII could benefit from using the ailerons as flaperons or reverse flaperons through mixing at the transmitter. I have no experience with flaps of any sort. It would be cool though if I could land the Bloody Wonder MKIII in a very short space.Right now it is large enough for UMX planes and sometimes large enough for my Slow Stick. I say sometimes because I use my shed and trees sometimes on the landing approach.
LooseBruce

I've thought about it. In addition to being able to mix in flapperons on your Tx, you would have to build it with two aileron servos in order to do it. I would probably put the servos inside the wing and move them from the top to the bottom. It certainly would be fun to try it and it would be pretty easy to do.

 

[LooseBruce]

HIGH HAY DILEMMA SOLVED

Hi Guys,
I recently got a Distance-RC beacon which I will be putting on my planes. It seems to work well for long distance locating but not so much for the zeroing in phase. I have a Loc8tor unit on the way to help me find planes that I cannot find even though they are close by. Case in point, I recently lost my Mini GUinea Cargo twin in high hay. At one point I was 5 feet away from it but could not see it.By the time I found it the next day it had been through a thunderstorm. Both motors and one ESC were toast as well as ALL of the foam.

Anyway tonight I put a combat streamer on my Bloody Wonder MKIII thinking that it would lie on top of the hay after a landing or crash.It worked great. Here is a short edited video of it just for fun.

The next flight landed in deeper hay and the streamer and even the white leader was essential in finding the plane even though it was probably less than 40 ft .

 

[chobson303]

My Bloody Wonder MKIII

The Flite Test Bloody Wonder was the first scratch built RC Plane I successfully flew several years ago. I have over the past few years built two more. When I saw the MKIII last week I had to build it. Hopefully, I'll maiden it today. A very easy build. Thanks for the new design, I may even build the Bloody Baron later.

 

[SP0NZ]

The Flite Test Bloody Wonder was the first scratch built RC Plane I successfully flew several years ago. I have over the past few years built two more. When I saw the MKIII last week I had to build it. Hopefully, I'll maiden it today. A very easy build. Thanks for the new design, I may even build the Bloody Baron later.

Nice work. Thanks for the feedback. I had my first RC success with the Bloody Wonder too. If you build the Bloody Baron, I think you will like it even more than the BW. I know I do.

 

[chobson303]

Changed Motor!!!

Nice work. Thanks for the feedback. I had my first RC success with the Bloody Wonder too. If you build the Bloody Baron, I think you will like it even more than the BW. I know I do.

Well, the maiden didn't go very well. I guess I built it a bit heavy for my 1200kv motor. Had a 2200kv motor laying around so I used it with a 6x4 prop. Oh boy howdy does she take off now. I had several flights today before the wind came up. And she flies like I remember the FT Bloody wonder did and even better. Well I'm a bit better pilot after a year and a half. I guess I'll need to build the Baron, I've got plenty of DTF board laying around. Great new design. Where can I donate?

 

[chobson303]

Oh. Plans are Free.

Well, the maiden didn't go very well. I guess I built it a bit heavy for my 1200kv motor. Had a 2200kv motor laying around so I used it with a 6x4 prop. Oh boy howdy does she take off now. I had several flights today before the wind came up. And she flies like I remember the FT Bloody wonder did and even better. Well I'm a bit better pilot after a year and a half. I guess I'll need to build the Baron, I've got plenty of DTF board laying around. Great new design. Where can I donate?

Oh I see the plans are free. You did a great mod. Thanks.

 

[BeezerFish]

Would you recommend reinforcing the leading edge of the vertical stabilizers with bamboo skewers?

 

[SP0NZ]

Would you recommend reinforcing the leading edge of the vertical stabilizers with bamboo skewers?

I have not seen much of a need for it, but it would only add a minimal amount of weight. I don't think it will hurt the performance at all.

 

[BeezerFish]

Just need to put the electronics in and it's ready to maiden. I made a couple alterations from the plan. The air scoop is a plastic spoon I cut in half. I'm thinking this might help force air over the esc. I also added a third vertical stabilizer for no reason than I thought it looked cool. Lastly, because I fly by corn and bean fields I added some skewers to the leading edges of the outside stabilizers to provide some protection during the inevitable crash