Guillows SE5a Kit 202 Rubber Power to RC Conversion

TooJung2Die

Master member
Ready to Maiden

She's ready for her beauty shots before the maiden flight. Rigging is braided fishing line. The windshield in the plans didn't look anything like the ones on a real SE5a. This one looks more scale. The whole airplane got two coats of 50/50 Eze Dope brushed over the decals. Two months to build almost exactly to the day. Seems longer. The hands will be shakin' during the first flight. :eek:

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The weather today is miserable. The weekend looks to be no better. Here's hoping the next post has a flight video before too long.

jon
 
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nhk750

Aviation Enthusiast
Nice! My hands always shake when I fly my hand built wood models, don't care about the foam crap, so no shake with them.
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
Ready to Maiden

She's ready for her beauty shots before the maiden flight. Rigging is braided fishing line. The whole airplane got two coats of 50/50 Eze Dope brushed over the decals. Two months to build almost exactly to the day. Seems longer. The hands will be shakin' during the first flight. :eek:

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The weather today is miserable. The weekend looks to be no better. Here's hoping the next post has a flight video before too long.

jon

Very, very pretty. Happy flying!
 

Bricks

Master member
Hard to believe it started life as a rubber power, way curious to see how it flies with the extra weight of the gear, fingers crossed for a successful maiden.
 

TooJung2Die

Master member
Have you flown it yet?
I wish. The weather around here has been miserable. :( Wind, rain, snow, more rain. If there was a suitable moment for flying I was probably working or otherwise occupied. I haven't flown anything in so long I will need to warmup the stick fingers with one of my more forgiving foam board airplanes. This SE5 is a great warmup airplane. Very slow and easy to fly. You all will know when the Guillow's SE5a flies!

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jon
 
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BS projects inc.

Elite member
I wish. The weather around here has been miserable. :( Wind, rain, snow, more rain. If there was a suitable moment for flying I was probably working or otherwise occupied. I haven't flown anything in so long I will need to warmup the stick fingers with one of my less critical foam board airplanes. The other SE5a I made is a great warmup airplane. Very slow and easy to fly. You all will know when the Guillow's SE5a flies!

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jon
There wouldn't happen to be a set of plans for that would there?
 

TooJung2Die

Master member
Maiden Flight!

The Guillow's SE5a is officially a flier. Today was as good as it's going to get for flying during the winter; low 40's, sun, calm winds with occasional light gusts. I double checked the CG then added 1/2 oz of lead to the nose for insurance but it wasn't enough as you'll see in the video. She took off from the ground and landed hard at least six times, never landing right side up. When I saw two of the cabane struts had cracked I stopped and took her home for some quick repairs. The landing gear held up great for all the hard landings it endured.

Back in the shop I moved the battery position as far forward as possible, touching the back of the firewall. Now the CG is almost to the leading edge of the bottom wing. I got a few more flights in at the end of the day. Much better! Now I felt confident enough to pull a few loops and wing-overs. It flies as well as you would expect from an SE5a. I greased the last landing of the day and called it a success.

Here's the tail heavy fugly landing maiden flight:


Jon
 
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TooJung2Die

Master member
Thanks, but the flight in the video wasn't that great. You know the old saying, "...a tail heavy airplane only flies once"? It was a handful trying to fly it and land it.

Now there is a bad bearing in the motor. It got really noisy and vibrated on the last couple of flights. I took the motor apart tonight and the rear motor bearing is defective. The motor has less than one hour on it. :( I have a smaller 1811/1500KV motor that should be enough. It'll have to wait until after Christmas though. I'll post another video of it flying in proper trim after that.
Jon
 
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TooJung2Die

Master member
I ordered a new 1806/2100kv motor from Hobby King. The 1811/1500kv I have on hand will require too much modification and it'll need more ballast to match the 1806 in weight.

This is why I find brushless motor numbers so confusing. You would assume an 1811 motor is larger than an 1806. Right? Not in this case. The 1811 is physically half the size of the 1806. The 1806 with propeller weighs 32 grams. The 1811 with same propeller weighs 17 grams. The 1811 is on the right.

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At least the motor is in the USA warehouse so it should arrive in under two weeks. HK is so slow!
Jon
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Some manufacturers use 1806 as the outer bell measurements, and others use the inner stator measurements. Very frustrating as the motors can be very different in power output while looking like the same size designation.
 

TooJung2Die

Master member
The new motor finally arrived. I shimmed the motor mount to give it more right thrust. All the electronics are moved as close to the nose as possible. The battery is up against the firewall. The ESC is below the battery. The receiver is right behind the battery. This shifted enough weight forward that the half ounce of lead ballast in the nose could be removed. Every little bit of weight saved is important in an airplane this small.

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All we need now is some decent weather. I want to get some video of it really flying.
jon
 

Bricks

Master member
I was amazed I thought she would fly a lot slower good job getting her down I could see you fighting her pretty hard. Great looking build give yourself a pat on the back just for the build if nothing else.
 

TooJung2Die

Master member
I'm sure she'll fly slower next time out. The only way I can keep a tail heavy airplane under control is to keep the speed up.