JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Awesome. I love hearing this stuff. I'll check out your build.
Hughes H-1 w/ Racing Wings
- Thread starter JohnRambozo
- Start date
Awesome. I love hearing this stuff. I'll check out your build.
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
I finally got my servos. I'll be putting the wings together tonight. Expect a maiden this weekend!
jayz 84
Posted a thousand or more times
Thats great man cant wait to hear how well she flys
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
I got done about what I expected to get done tonight. First post updated with progress.
I can't wait to fly her, jayz!
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Me too, nerdnic. First post updated with progress. Just have to mount the rear servos, attach the control arms, rods and get it in the air!
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Thanks jayz and nerdnic. I worked on it this afternoon and am very happy with the results. As you can see in the MAIDEN VIDEO on the first post!
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jayz 84
Posted a thousand or more times
That was awesome johnrambozo . Great maiden. You had a ruff start but thats do to this windy time of the year ive been getting alot of that besides rain every day.but glad to see that beautiful bird fly. So whats next a paint job and canopy or happy the way see is? You had all the worry in the small wing but she still floated like a dream. Great job man
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Thanks guys!
It was the worst kind of windy... Gusting hard then intermittently calm. I had a few upwind approaches where the plane jumped 5-10 feet in elevation up and down. I'll post a video of the second flight. I was able to get more low passes in once I was confident it was flying well.
Our narrator made an astute observation in the timing of the wind and my first launch. I wasn't sure if it was completely uncontrollable or what happened. It went up and rolled upside down about 20 feet up, so I immediately cut the power and pulled back. She said, "That was sad!" I was just happy it landed the way it did.
It has some unique flight characteristics, its very fast and agile. I was white knuckling it for a while. Most of what you see is only 50% throttle, although in that wind, full throttle didn't seem to go much faster.
Next I'll be painting it the traditional colors. Silver body and tail, blue wings with yellow lettering and of course the canopy. That canopy really makes the look of the H-1. I also have to update and finalize the plans for anyone interested in building their own.
By the way, those tiny ailerons worked perfectly with very little throw. I kept my rates on low (70% on the DX5e). It was too windy to get a sense of the rudder. The elevator is crazy sensitive. I'll have to have some fun with that when I'm not fighting with mother nature.
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JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Thats great man let use know when the plans are ready. Im always wanting to build something new. Im down to two FT planes (excluding my store bought ones) so i need to restock my wallsbuilding a 42in ws BF 109 right now
I definitely will. Over the next week or so you can expect updated plans as well as paint and finish.
I added video of my second flight on the same day with an outtake at the end. I got much better at the low passes. I did a low roll by accident and didn't crash. haha.
Where can I get a look at the 109?
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JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
I had a little issue yesterday taking it out to trim it under less windy conditions. I was having some trouble getting it trim right. I had to add more up elevator than I expected and when I flew by it seemed to be trying to pull to one side so I flew up high and cut the throttle, it came down and leveled off nicely, I put the throttle back up and it started diving and pulling to one side... Obviously the thrust angle was off.
I landed and looked at it. It was actually more down than I thought and had somehow ended up left almost as much. I probably should have fixed it on the spot but I figured I'd finish off the battery and adjust it later. It was flying well enough and I'd trimmed it to compensate for the time being.
That was all well and good and I flew a bit longer... I decided it was time to land before the battery got too low. I flew out over some baseball fields to get a nice long approach into the headwind. Right at the apex of the turn, when I was had lost all of my momentum, either the esc/motor overheated or the esc went into safety mode to preserve the battery. I could tell my power was gone. It just dropped. It was only a split second, but I had enough time to recognize if it was the safety mode, full throttle would give 50%, which is what I was flying at anyway, so it should have enough thrust to pull out of the dive. It didn't help at all, so I think it may have overheated or the battery had just given all it had to give. It wasn't working, so I cut the throttle completely and pulled full back before it disappeared behind the trees, hoping for the best.
I walked to the baseball field where it went down. I found it upside down. The wings were slightly askew. The tail was fine, so it didn't actually land upside down. That was good. Then I realized the point of impact was right on the nose. It must have pulled up and then stalled again. Whatever the case, it was hard enough to bend the metal motor mount and break the wooden firewall, pulling out a screw from the wood. Amazingly the motor is unharmed as was the rest of the plane, for the most part.
From what I've read, Hughes himself had a very similar incident. Trying to break a speed record he put in as little gas as he could to conserve weight. He knew how much time he had but kept pushing it anyway, ran it out of gas and belly landed in a beat field.
http://fly.historicwings.com/2012/09/the-hughes-h-1/
The plane won't need to be rebuilt but I am going to build a v2 anyway just to perfect the look. My proportions are a little off on the formers. The fuselage should be slightly thinner. This time I'll waterproof, paint it and work on saving weight where I can. I think I can make a more efficient cowl design, too.
As Hughes himself said after his crash, “We can fix her, she’ll go faster.”
I landed and looked at it. It was actually more down than I thought and had somehow ended up left almost as much. I probably should have fixed it on the spot but I figured I'd finish off the battery and adjust it later. It was flying well enough and I'd trimmed it to compensate for the time being.
That was all well and good and I flew a bit longer... I decided it was time to land before the battery got too low. I flew out over some baseball fields to get a nice long approach into the headwind. Right at the apex of the turn, when I was had lost all of my momentum, either the esc/motor overheated or the esc went into safety mode to preserve the battery. I could tell my power was gone. It just dropped. It was only a split second, but I had enough time to recognize if it was the safety mode, full throttle would give 50%, which is what I was flying at anyway, so it should have enough thrust to pull out of the dive. It didn't help at all, so I think it may have overheated or the battery had just given all it had to give. It wasn't working, so I cut the throttle completely and pulled full back before it disappeared behind the trees, hoping for the best.
I walked to the baseball field where it went down. I found it upside down. The wings were slightly askew. The tail was fine, so it didn't actually land upside down. That was good. Then I realized the point of impact was right on the nose. It must have pulled up and then stalled again. Whatever the case, it was hard enough to bend the metal motor mount and break the wooden firewall, pulling out a screw from the wood. Amazingly the motor is unharmed as was the rest of the plane, for the most part.
From what I've read, Hughes himself had a very similar incident. Trying to break a speed record he put in as little gas as he could to conserve weight. He knew how much time he had but kept pushing it anyway, ran it out of gas and belly landed in a beat field.
http://fly.historicwings.com/2012/09/the-hughes-h-1/
The plane won't need to be rebuilt but I am going to build a v2 anyway just to perfect the look. My proportions are a little off on the formers. The fuselage should be slightly thinner. This time I'll waterproof, paint it and work on saving weight where I can. I think I can make a more efficient cowl design, too.
As Hughes himself said after his crash, “We can fix her, she’ll go faster.”
Foam Addict
Squirrel member
YES!!! My favorite aviation quote ever!
I say that almost every time I crash too.:roll eyes:
This has been an awesome build to watch from my aviation starved college. I haven't built anything in 2 months, but watching you and Nerdnic have almost made up for that. I don't know how much longer I can resist...
I say that almost every time I crash too.:roll eyes:
This has been an awesome build to watch from my aviation starved college. I haven't built anything in 2 months, but watching you and Nerdnic have almost made up for that. I don't know how much longer I can resist...
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JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
YES!!! My favorite aviation quote ever!
I say that almost every time I crash too.:roll eyes:
This has been an awesome build to watch from my aviation starved college. I haven't built anything in 2 months, but watching you and Nerdnic have almost made up for that. Is there any chance of full plans? I don't know how much longer I can resist...
Haha. I'm glad we can keep you entertained.
There absolutely will be full plans very soon. Do you want me to design the larger wings in addition to the small racing wings or do you like to fly dangerously?
For myself, I'm keeping it dangerous.
I had a little issue yesterday taking it out to trim it under less windy conditions. I was having some trouble getting it trim right. I had to add more up elevator than I expected and when I flew by it seemed to be trying to pull to one side so I flew up high and cut the throttle, it came down and leveled off nicely, I put the throttle back up and it started diving and pulling to one side... Obviously the thrust angle was off.
I landed and looked at it. It was actually more down than I thought and had somehow ended up left almost as much. I probably should have fixed it on the spot but I figured I'd finish off the battery and adjust it later. It was flying well enough and I'd trimmed it to compensate for the time being.
That was all well and good and I flew a bit longer... I decided it was time to land before the battery got too low. I flew out over some baseball fields to get a nice long approach into the headwind. Right at the apex of the turn, when I was had lost all of my momentum, either the esc/motor overheated or the esc went into safety mode to preserve the battery. I could tell my power was gone. It just dropped. It was only a split second, but I had enough time to recognize if it was the safety mode, full throttle would give 50%, which is what I was flying at anyway, so it should have enough thrust to pull out of the dive. It didn't help at all, so I think it may have overheated or the battery had just given all it had to give. It wasn't working, so I cut the throttle completely and pulled full back before it disappeared behind the trees, hoping for the best.
I walked to the baseball field where it went down. I found it upside down. The wings were slightly askew. The tail was fine, so it didn't actually land upside down. That was good. Then I realized the point of impact was right on the nose. It must have pulled up and then stalled again. Whatever the case, it was hard enough to bend the metal motor mount and break the wooden firewall, pulling out a screw from the wood. Amazingly the motor is unharmed as was the rest of the plane, for the most part.
From what I've read, Hughes himself had a very similar incident. Trying to break a speed record he put in as little gas as he could to conserve weight. He knew how much time he had but kept pushing it anyway, ran it out of gas and belly landed in a beat field.
http://fly.historicwings.com/2012/09/the-hughes-h-1/
The plane won't need to be rebuilt but I am going to build a v2 anyway just to perfect the look. My proportions are a little off on the formers. The fuselage should be slightly thinner. This time I'll waterproof, paint it and work on saving weight where I can. I think I can make a more efficient cowl design, too.
As Hughes himself said after his crash, “We can fix her, she’ll go faster.”
Oh man, that's a bummer but she looked great flying. Good job man, this was a unique build and you did it justice.
Grounded Gremlin
The guy that doesn't fly
Fantastic!! Great build!
JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
Thank you, but, don't use past tense. Its not over! The airframe is actually in good shape. Its the power pod thats destroyed. I'm going to refine the formers to slim it down a bit, rebuild and release the plans.
Edit: I actually flattened out the motor mount and glued the firewall back together. I just have to get some more foam board and build another power pod, she'll be good as new.
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JohnRambozo
Posted a thousand or more times
I just want to keep those interested updated on the status of plans for this one.
I'm not 100% happy with the look of the fuse. I've been examining what is 'off' about it and it seems the section ahead of the cockpit is a little too wide and needs one former to get the right taper just before the cowl. I'll be slimming down and finishing off the plans, hopefully by the end of the week.
Is there interest in the longer cross-country wings? I can add those as an option, as well.
I'm not 100% happy with the look of the fuse. I've been examining what is 'off' about it and it seems the section ahead of the cockpit is a little too wide and needs one former to get the right taper just before the cowl. I'll be slimming down and finishing off the plans, hopefully by the end of the week.
Is there interest in the longer cross-country wings? I can add those as an option, as well.
