Plans for the Kolibri high-alpha flyer

Dr. Looping Looie

Elite member
Nice looking build!! :D


@Dr. Looping Looie it's a pretty awesome feeling seeing other people build your designs, isn't it? Sure is one of my favorite things about releasing plans :D
Yes, its super cool!:D
Thanks for your interest in my designs, for me as a scratch builder, its a lot of extra work to do plans and stuff, and its great to see the community helping each other out and building the designs! Im still trying to do plans myself, so maybe you can expect some stuff in the near future!
 

jpot1

Elite member
Dr. Looping Looie & Jpot1,

Thanks for the design and for formatting them. I tile printed at 85% to fit to Adams foam board sheets without seams and it worked out great. No changes needed for channels, etc. Built with 9 gram servos and EMAX 2204/2300kv motor. All up weight with 610Mah 3S is 290 grams. Really looking forward to flying as I love the Nutball high alpha flying.

Now if Mother Nature will only cooperate. Will let you know how it flies.

Thanks again!

Jan
@Yawnsky24 - how did the plans work out? I had to guess on a couple of things and had not built it to check.

I can certainly scale things down and adjust the folds accordingly but was sticking to @Dr. Looping Looie orig design. Let us know how it fly’s and then I’ll adjust.
 

Yawnsky24

Member
Looping Looie, my hat is off to you and the community of designers here. I'm not a designer, just not in my skill set so far but I love to scratch build and fly. Between Flight Test and the awesome community, I never have a shortage of great designs to try!

It looks like the weather here is going to be pretty wet this weekend so probably will not be able to maiden until next weekend. As soon as the weather cooperates I will try to get some video to put up of the Kolibri in flight.
 

Yawnsky24

Member
Jpot1, the plans worked out great. I printed full size first but realized that it was a little larger than the FB sheet size. I scaled down to 85% and everything came out great. All of the channels were fine as is with no changes. I guessed a little on the mating of the wing to the main fuse as there is a gap at the front and the main fuse does not go all the way back to the rear of the wing. I just went with it and it looks pretty good as is. I did add a small spacer between the font of the motor mount and the end of the hatch which seems to have worked as well.
for the servos, I mounted them in the fuse on the bottom. I saw that Looping Looie had his servos in the vertical stabs on top but it was easier to put them on the bottom for me. I really thought that it was going to be tail heavy with the tape but I actually have to move the 650Mah 3S fairly far back in the nose to balance at LL's recommended location. I'll let you know once I get a chance to maiden how it flies.

Altogether a fun build and plans were right on!
 

Dr. Looping Looie

Elite member
@Yawnsky24 some tipps for your maiden about how it flies: first, you might get pretty hard wing rock, dont try to fight it, it wont turn the thing over. Second, it doesnt really matter how much you pull that elevator, it wont stall. For high alpha manouvers, pull back the elevator all the way and controll your angle with your throttle. The best way to launch it is to put it almost vertical on the ground and launch it like a rocket.
Have fun and tell us your experiences!
 

Yawnsky24

Member
Looping Looie, thanks, will do. I am really looking forward to this as I love flying the Nutball and FT Vector high Alpha.
 

Yawnsky24

Member
Looping Looie, quick question. I was looking at the post for your Kolibri in the Mad Scratch Builders forum and it looked like there was a bit of "up thrust" on the pusher motor. I have the motor mounted pretty much flat to the back of the fuse and was wondering if I should change that a bit prior to the maiden. I know that is normal on many pusher type planes but did not even consider for this one.

Let me know if you get a chance. If not, I will try it as is and then odify and try to see what works best.

Thanks, Jan
 

Dr. Looping Looie

Elite member
@SP0NZ oh hell yes that would be epic! Thank you so much!

@Yawnsky24 theres absolutely no thrust angle, so youre alright! After youve flown it abit, could you also tell us the things you didnt like, that way we can make it better!
 

Gazoo

Well-known member
OK people, I am witnessing one of the greatest things about this forum. Someone comes up with a cool idea and shares it. Other forum members show tremendous support and run with it.

It's nice to see a so much collaboration. Lots of positive and helpful people here!
 

Yawnsky24

Member
Looping Looie, I'll try it as is and then experiment with some shims and share the results.
I have to comment on the beautiful place you have to fly there. Looks ideal with great views!
Nice flying as well, I'm excited to get this thing in the air.
 

Dr. Looping Looie

Elite member
Let me know when you are done tweaking on the design and want the final plans prepared.
As you can see on the video, its pretty much perfect. Only problem is that the batteries need to go very far in the back, so I would suggest make the cutout in the front of the wing abou 3cm longer, so that the wing (with CG ) shifts a little forward. That would increase battery range and make battery changes easyer. Other than that, go ahead, and thak you so much for doing this!
 

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
Does this look about right? I was uncertain what you wanted by the hatch area so I took the liberty to make the power pod mount a "C" fold to make the top edge clean. I then made the top hatch a little long so you could adjust on the fly. Hope this helps!

@jpot1 Can you export this to DXF or DWG? That would help me out a lot. Thanks.