Tench745
Master member
I was thinking along the same lines.
Cafe Racer Mk II (swappable)
- Thread starter Tench745
- Start date
Tench745
Master member
Time and weather finally cooperated!
Before a new maiden I added a battery shelf to the Mk2.1 for easier CG adjustment.
I took advantage of the nice 40º F weather we have today. The wind was fairly calm below the trees with occasional gusts to 10MPH, but it was much stronger above the trees.
With the CG corrected the 2.1 behaves much more like the Mk2.0 did. She seems to like to fly faster than the 2.0 did. Rudder is a must and my thumbs are getting pretty rusty. I think my rates are way off from where they need to be, but it was windy enough I couldn't tell.
I found that elevator and rudder authority drop off much more abruptly than I remember when you chop the throttle. This bit me on landing. I had cut the throttle and pitched for a steep approach to get down into the wind shadow of the trees while keeping my airspeed up. I intended to level out a few feet off the deck and bleed off speed until she settled into the grass, but when I pulled the plane just kept on going where it was pointed and broke neatly into three pieces. The Gorilla Glue is drying on that repair as I write this; easy fix.
I'm interested in exploring these behaviors more on a calmer day. I flew for four minutes and the battery was at 58% on "landing."
Before a new maiden I added a battery shelf to the Mk2.1 for easier CG adjustment.
I took advantage of the nice 40º F weather we have today. The wind was fairly calm below the trees with occasional gusts to 10MPH, but it was much stronger above the trees.
With the CG corrected the 2.1 behaves much more like the Mk2.0 did. She seems to like to fly faster than the 2.0 did. Rudder is a must and my thumbs are getting pretty rusty. I think my rates are way off from where they need to be, but it was windy enough I couldn't tell.
I found that elevator and rudder authority drop off much more abruptly than I remember when you chop the throttle. This bit me on landing. I had cut the throttle and pitched for a steep approach to get down into the wind shadow of the trees while keeping my airspeed up. I intended to level out a few feet off the deck and bleed off speed until she settled into the grass, but when I pulled the plane just kept on going where it was pointed and broke neatly into three pieces. The Gorilla Glue is drying on that repair as I write this; easy fix.
I'm interested in exploring these behaviors more on a calmer day. I flew for four minutes and the battery was at 58% on "landing."
Tench745
Master member
Flew the Mk2.1 again today. I upped my low rates and everything behaved much more like I remembered, but when the wind picked up I was over-controlling and wished I had lower low rates again. I did get some video, but the auto focus hates filming planes, so it's blurry as heck. I'll post it because I want to have the record, but don't feel obligated to watch any.
Tench745
Master member
Plans for Version 2.1 have been posted to the resources section.
I would appreciate feedback from anyone who downloads the plans.
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?resources/mcb-cafe-racer-mk2.128/
I would appreciate feedback from anyone who downloads the plans.
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?resources/mcb-cafe-racer-mk2.128/