FT Simple Soarer - BUILD

I flew more than just some hand throws in the backyard today. The Soarer flew really well. I had a 5-10 mph breeze, and lift on the slope was great for the Simple Soarer. I had some 1/2 hour flights, and I only landed because my hands were cold and I needed to warm them up. At times when the breeze was up a little more, it got a bit bumpy, but it still flew well. I had to scrub off altitude a couple of times because it was getting so high. There's no shortage of slope lift here in eastern Idaho, and with the recent rain, and some some sun today, there was thermal lift as well. I am really happy with this little plane. I'd like to tape it and make it more water resistant, but I really don't want to add any weight. I may have to build another one, and peel the paper, and replace it with tape or doculam. Since I am still landing in sage brush, it would be nice to have a little more toughness, but I hate to add weight! I really like it at 14 oz. I was able to get good lift in a very slight breeze. I only thought to bring my GoPro by the time I was halfway to my flying site, so sorry, no video.
 

daxian

Elite member
hi ...
i also got out for a flight test ....did not go too well !
rookie mistake ,elevator reversed ...put in half throttle, launched into the wind with what i thought was a little up trim ....ooooopppppss.
instant dive into the ground !!!! only broke the prop !!!
did a bit of a glide test after removing the broken prop and rechecking control surfaces /proper orientation ....
nice flat glide, but not at all floaty ...will definatley need to move the cog back a bit and give it some power next time .
only had the one prop in that size ,so need to order some more now !!!!!
 

Duarte_Silva

Junior Member
Hi, i have been with this project on my mind for some time. Finally i build it.
IMG_20151025_185550.jpg IMG_20151025_185726.jpg

The material used on the construction was 5mm depron that was covered with book covering film. The front section was my own design to better suit my electronics and to achive a better cg without adding more weigth. The construction with 5mm depron makes an extremely ligth airplane so i could put a Turnigy 2730 Brushless Motor 1500kv, TURNIGY Plush 18amp Speed Controller and a 800mAh 3S lipo with a lipo monitor buzzer. The total weigth is 540gr. Also to achieve that weigth you have to pay attention to the amount of hot glue that you use in the construction. Already tested the glider and it flew very well. Only thing to point out is that probably a wing with only one spar would be better for wind penetration and to reduce drag.
Also modified from using elastics to screw the wing into place.
 

mcpea

Junior Member
What prop?

According to a chart that I downloaded from Lazertoys you should be using an 8 to 10 inch prop, a 3S 1200 battery and a 20 amp ESC . This chart covers many motor, prop, ESC and a load of other items to go with your motor.
Good luck, Bix D. (mcpea)
 

jtbluefeather

New member
Well, between thundershowers today I FINALLY got a chance to fly my new SS! I kept it sorta close, because I'm still new at the whole maiden flight thing, and another thundershower was starting to roll in. Winds were 10 gusting to 15, though it would go from dead calm to 15 at it's whim, and the direction was all over the place.

I'm flying her with a scavenged Turnigy 2730-1500 motor with a scavenged Turnigy 18A plush ESC, powered by a 1000mAh 3S that I recovered from a downed Walkera Airwolf heli that I misguidedly tried to fly a long time ago. Two 5g servos scavenged from a downed Sparrow that I crashed within a second or two of launch several times until it was damaged to death. And I put in my old, old 72MHz rx to fly it with my old, dusty JR Max4 tx. That was from a gas trainer kit that I bought in the mid-90's, built, and crashed so often that the original fuse, wing and tail were held together with duct tape, epoxy, and hope. I've named her the Phoenix!

Question for you pro's out there... I flew it today with an 8x4.5 prop, which did ok considering the wind. I'm wondering what your thoughts might be for my setup for endurance, as in when we fly for the record at Flite Fest this summer. I'd like to take her clear up above most of the fray and just hang out there for the duration. (I'm also going to put a non-FPV möbius in to catch the action if possible)

This was remarkably easy to fly, and incredibly stable, even in the blustery random wind. My next time out will be on a calmer day, and I'll time the flights to see how long she stays up.
 

Dstu

New member
Where does the battery go?

I'm nearing completion of my simple soarer, is there a simple way to fit the battery in the power pod, or does even go there? I'm using 3S 800mA battery, and with the motor wires, battery wires etc it is very difficult to close everything up on the bench, I can't imagine doing this in the field.
 

Dstu

New member
Nice

I like the way you layed out the front of the plane I may do a similar mod myself. Nice paint job too!
 

N4RF

Member
I'm nearing completion of my simple soarer, is there a simple way to fit the battery in the power pod, or does even go there? I'm using 3S 800mA battery, and with the motor wires, battery wires etc it is very difficult to close everything up on the bench, I can't imagine doing this in the field.


Coincidentally, I was working on mine today too. I believe they put the battery on the bottom of the power pod near the end of the video. They did this via a cut out in the bottom of the power pod. I'm not entirely thrilled with that set up but will do the initial flights that way and then look for something better. I had to stop today because my transmitter and receiver must have had a fight and weren't talking. I'll try again later this week.

Good luck and let me know what you end up doing. I might (more likely, will) need to help.
 

Dstu

New member
Battery

I ended up cutting a trap door in the bottom of the power pod which is attached with Velcro, it may add some drag, but not as much as a battery
 

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GotCox

Member
Is there a place to get the plans for the soarer? The links on the first post are broken and I didn't see it in sponz plan index.
 

claytonbakerjr

Junior Member
Hello All,
Finally got a chance to build the Simple Soarer with the power pod but I am noticing some really large amount of being tail heavy.
I know this depends on motor, battery and such but curious, I know there are holes there for the skewers for the wings but is there a measurement to go by for distance from lets say motor mount to front of wing? That being said can I simply move the wing itself to the rear a little to compensate? Ive seen several pics in this thread and it seems some have selected to move the wing further back?
 

Piotrsko

Master member
Ive seen several pics in this thread and it seems some have selected to move the wing further back?

Yup that should do it all things being equal, but I have found that many here have no understanding of flight theory and tail heavy is also a complaint for too much incidence, improper motor set up, lack of compensating thrust. Rule of thumb on these airfoils is the CG should be about 1/3 of the width or generally on the high point. The proper way to determine tail heavy is an unpowered glide with elevator flat. No bobbles, nose twitches or radical up & downs AKA stalls for at least 20 foot.
 

claytonbakerjr

Junior Member
Yup that should do it all things being equal, but I have found that many here have no understanding of flight theory and tail heavy is also a complaint for too much incidence, improper motor set up, lack of compensating thrust. Rule of thumb on these airfoils is the CG should be about 1/3 of the width or generally on the high point. The proper way to determine tail heavy is an unpowered glide with elevator flat. No bobbles, nose twitches or radical up & downs AKA stalls for at least 20 foot.

Thanks I will keep that in mind and give that a shot.