Guinea Pig project

[Winglet]

Just wondering if anyone has built a Guinea Pig recently and what your experience was like?

Mine is well underway and it has been fun to build. I'm going with super big wheels to deal with our grass runway a bit better. Other than that. Stock with a power pack C.


.

Any tips or insight you can share will be appreciated.

 

[tamuct01]

The Guinea Pig was my first FT plane and the first airplane model I flew as an adult. It's very gentle and forgiving, but you do have to fly it. It has no dihedral, so you'll have to fly it in and out of turns. The original power pack C setup on 3S was docile. I quickly opted to upgrade the motors and ESCs to a 4S-capable setup. On 4S you could easily do vertical flight, wicked flat spins (differential thrust FTW!), and all other sorts of shenanigans. The landing gear on the Pig is a close tricycle, so it tended to tip over when taxiing in the grass. The 10x4 slow-fly props that were recommended with the original C pack did have a tendency to hit the ground when this happened. Moving to the smaller 9" or 8" props on 4S helped that.

Enjoy the Pig! I had mine for 6-7 years and flew the heck out of it. I decided to retire mine this summer at FliteFest and committed it to the combat gods. I'm going to take the power setup and build a Sea Duck with what survived.

 

[Winglet]

Thanks Tamuct01, That is exactly the information I was looking for. Obviously you liked the airplane flying it 6 years. Will see how the power goes with the new C pack motors. Good to know your success going to 4s. Mine is getting 4.25 inch dual mail wheels. Some how I sensed that it was a bit tippy. Hopefully my wider stance will curtail some of that?

I built the Sea Duck and basically wore it out over several years. Am currently working on a replacement. You will really like it. I think it shares the same wing with the Guinea Pig?

 

[Hondo76251]

If i do wheels, i like them big, but if I'm grass landing i usually just belly land. I think the nose wheel might give you fits in the grass.

Ive had good luck with the sea duck using something more like a tail dragger-ish sort of setup; ie- No nose wheel and move the two main gear way farther forward. (No tail wheel either) it throws the look off a bit if they're on the outside so i had them inside the fuselage, barely protruding.

Of course, my favorite has been to just attach some wear stips to the belly, aluminum or wood (something like old yard sticks) and with that i have no problem on grass, dirt or even gravel.

 

[tamuct01]

Yes, the Sea Duck and the Guinea Pig share the same wing. I got a Sea Angel for cheap at FF this year, and I'm thinking of glassing it and trying that out. I would like to glass the fuselage of the Sea Duck as well as make the wing tips removable for transport.

 

[Sero]

I've done the SeaDuck and Guinea Pig. Enjoy them both and agree with all above comments. I find them to be a bit under powered on 3s on hot days, they do fine on cold days. For the GP I changed the landing gear by adding some suspension, I find things stay in better shape that way and make the landings more enjoyable. It also adds to a little wider stance so it doesn't tip over so easy.

 

[Winglet]

I've done the SeaDuck and Guinea Pig. Enjoy them both and agree with all above comments. I find them to be a bit under powered on 3s on hot days, they do fine on cold days. For the GP I changed the landing gear by adding some suspension, I find things stay in better shape that way and make the landings more enjoyable. It also adds to a little wider stance so it doesn't tip over so easy.

I'd love to see your suspension setup. Sounds cool.

 

[churchjw]

I have built a Guinea pig from a speed build kit. And using power pack C motors/esc.

I am balancing it and it is extremely tail heavy. I have to put two 2200mah 3 cell batt (all the way forward) and additional weight to balance it.

Is that typical?

 

[Foamforce]

I have built a Guinea pig from a speed build kit. And using power pack C motors/esc.

I am balancing it and it is extremely tail heavy. I have to put two 2200mah 3 cell batt (all the way forward) and additional weight to balance it.

Is that typical?

Yup, that’s exactly how I fly mine. Two 2200 3s all the way forward. I hook the in parallel. Flies great!

 

[churchjw]

Yup, that’s exactly how I fly mine. Two 2200 3s all the way forward. I hook the in parallel. Flies great!

Thanks. Just wanted to make sure

Hopefully maiden it this weekend

 

[L Edge]

After building 2 transports and having a poor stance during landing where it always seems to dig the wing tip into the grass or scrape the concrete, yes, you better widen it as much as you can. Causes can either be crosswinds or clumps of grass hitting one of the wheels.

I first tried the second wheel under the landing gear cover, improved it some, then ended up putting it outside which greatly improved it even in cross wind landings.
Fuse is 4 1/8 inches wide and outer dimension of wheels is now 10 3/8". All you need to do is extend wheel cover to dress things up.

 

[Craig G]

I built one for FF23, it took a lot longer than I hoped but it turned out ok and flies amazing. It's a really good subject at any size.