FT Versa Wing - BUILD

[DennisSwe]

I'd go for 3mm depron, with a layer of tape or shrink film on the outer surfaces to stiffen it up and make it more robust.

You'll have to construct it a little differently though - for instance, you can't score uncovered depron and fold it in half for the spars, since it will just snap. You'll have to cut out the 2 spar halves seperately and glue them back to back. Scoring and folding the wing curve should work okay though.

Also, the lack of outer paper layers will make it a little less rigid. You probably should consider putting an extra depron spar in the wings, or maybe sinking some thin carbon rods into the underside of the wing across the joint.

On the plus side, it will probably end up being slightly lighter than the equivalent foam board aircraft.

I tried to use the 6mm first, but I didnt have any good sticky tape for det front leading edge.
So then I used 3mm depron for the top side of the wint, worked good...but now I have very flimsy elevons.

Will try to glue a second 3mm on them and hope it will stifffen it up good, and I´m going to tape the whole wing for extra stiffness.

Later today I´ll be finishing it, hopefully it will work good.
I´ll post some photos later.

 

[Billchuck]

If you can get some decent posterboard, you could laminate it onto the elevons to strengthen them.

 

[xuzme720]

If you can do it evenly, so they don't bow, a strip of tape under tension on both sides of the elevons will stiffen them up a lot...

 

[Jackster]

Can someone suggest a motor for a pusher build?

I am shopping at Hobbyking via international warehouse.

Thanks!

 

[willsonman]

Finished my build today. Well, started it too. Put everything (including printout and cutting and taping plans) together in about 6 hours. No kit... I scratchbuild everything Kids had fun watching. I had to add 3oz of lead to the nose but she flies very well! I retired my tried and true polaris to get this one up. Glad I did. Super fun and she really hauls the mail. This was my first pusher and my first wing. First launch was awkward but the second was not as bad. My only complaint is the noise. I exclusively fly electrics and one of the perks is being quiet. I'll have to be more selective when I fly this one.

Jackster, If memory serves me right my motor is an EMP 1900Kv outrunner. Not sure which one exactly or where I got it for that matter. I'm using a 7x6 APC-E prop and a 30A ESC. 2200mAh 3-cell powers it all. Using a Lemon-Rx reciever and it works very well. I even used clear packaging tape on the hole to let the rx light shine through. I may have to get some LEDs to light this thing up. Pics will come later. The duct tape will be the giveaway

 

[DennisSwe]

If you can do it evenly, so they don't bow, a strip of tape under tension on both sides of the elevons will stiffen them up a lot...

will try that!

 

[victour20010]

Practice scratch build completed.
I kind of rushed through building it.
Main goal was to get experience building and then flying it.
Next build will be better.
Electronics, motor/mount, foam-board, etc; I already had in stock.

Built plane with some deviations, such as:
- motor mounting
- servo mounting
- extended powerpod
- wings have a slight dihedral
- etc

I test flew it today twice; it worked well.
I never flew a flying wing before.
I found that I briefly lost visual 3D orientation of the plane a few times during flight.
Dunno, could have been one,some or all of the following reasons:
- cloudy sky
- black colored airplane
- delta-wing style airplane

Specs:
Motor - Park 480 / Outrunner / 1020Kv / 275watts / by E-flite (EFLM1505)
ESC - 40amp / EFLA312B by E-flite (with motor braking enabled)
Propeller- APC-E 8 x 8
Battery - 2100mAh 3S 11.1V 20C / by E-flite (EFLB21003S)
Receiver - SPMAR6210 by Spektrum
Transmitter - DX6i / SPMR6610 by Spektrum
Foam - Dollar Tree black foamboard
Servos - 7.5 gram / SPMDSP75 by Spektrum
Pushrods - Du-Bro .047.
Control horns - E-flite (EFLA211)
Battery weight - 6.6 ounces (187grams)
Flying weight - 1 lb and 7 ounces (650grams)

 

[Jimmy the Heater]

What is the all up weight of these? I have trouble getting my scratch builds light enough and was wondering what number to shoot for.

 

[xuzme720]

bold contrasting graphic on the top, or bottom, can help with orientation. Make sure it's different if you do both top and bottom, like stripes on the bottom and chevrons or swoops on the top...

 

[klaw]

Can someone suggest a motor for a pusher build?

This will depend on a couple of things:
1. What battery are you planning to run, or are you planning on getting a new one to suit this plane?
2. Are you planning on using an ESC that you already have? Do you have an upper limit for current?

Personally, I really like this motor: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__12919__D2826_6_2200kv_Outrunner_Motor.html
It's very cheap, relatively light, and quite tough. I use it in several of my planes and I haven't managed to kill one yet. With a 6x4 APC prop and 3 cell battery, it is good for around 650g of thrust at around 23A, or 7x4 to get about 700g at 27A. Swap to a 4-cell battery (yes, it handles 4S no problems) it pulls a bit over 30A and makes about 870g of thrust with a 6x4.

 

[klaw]

Here's my Versa, which I finished off over the weekend. It's set up as an unpowered slope soarer.

I used the standard plans scaled up to ~105% to get maximum wingspan (1100mm) and mounted the servos entirely internally, glued to the underside of the top wing surface. My only other modification was to glue 1mm carbon strips into the leading edge, inside the foam fold, to make the leading edge much harder to dent, and a layer of tape on the underside for strength and waterproofing.

The 3-channel receiver and 4 x AA NiCD batteries are mounted as far forward as possible in the nose, and and are accessed via a fold-open hatch cut into the underside. Even with the heavy batteries, it still needs about 60 grams of nose ballast to balance correctly. Total flying weight is just over 500 grams, which seems a little heavy.....I haven't flown it yet, I'm waiting for a windy day.

 

[Todd L]

Hi guys... I added lights to my Versa Wing for night flight.. Check it out!!

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?5192-Versa-Wing-for-Night-Flight!!-Post-your-pics!!

 

[willsonman]

A thought occurred to me. I have an EDF unit in my parts bin. Any input on how this would perform with it on the back rather than a pusher?

 

[victour20010]

My experience with EDF is that they are noisy, use up much more watts/amps and have less torque/thrust. You can expect to get less flight time when compared to using same battery you would have used with a prop setup.

 

[willsonman]

True, but the way the pusher sounds at the back is also fairly noisy. Might be a fun experiment in the future. It was 2 boards of foam to build so who cares?

 

[victour20010]

Yep, could be fun experiment. Create a nice looking EDF nacelle and mount it on top (maybe above the CG though). Or create two nacelle's and mount one on left and the other on right side.

 

[willsonman]

Yes, I was thinking of moving it forward since I would need a thrust tube to get better performance. I'll play with the idea and post here if I ever get to it. I've got 3 other planes on my building table. This one was a nice 5-hour distraction build.

 

[victour20010]

Is anyone getting slight yaw wobble during slow turns?

 

[DennisSwe]

Mine is soon finished!!! =)

just tested the motor with 3s and a 7x5 APC-style prop.
tested 4 diffrent lipos.

1st: 3s 1300mAh was empty (first I found): 74Watts
2nd: 3s 1300mAh almoste fully charged: 102Watts
3rd: 3s 3200mAh just to testa larger and newer battery: 147Watts
4th: 4s 3300mAh just for the fun of it (used in our FW450): 357Watts...

will try it with a 1300mAh 3s, hopefully the weather is better on friday, then I´ll test it!

 

[DennisSwe]

Now it´s ready...almost ;P
just have to make the batterybay and get CG right.



Had to use the tips of a propeller.