Pond Racer Scratch build UPDATE
p with high quality video
UPDATE 2: New high quality footage from the maiden with my thoughts on the flight
UPDATE: The weather has finally cooperated here in Wisconsin so I finally got the chance to maiden the Pond Racer. Long story short...it flew beautifully right out of the hands. Very little trimming was needed and some were concerned about the elevator effectiveness due to the small size, but it proved to be sufficient, especially since this is a "pylon racer" and not aerobatic. The roll rate is smooth and predictable with the full span ailerons and there was no noticeable torque even without counter rotating propellers. The high wing loading requires a high landing speed so the wingtips and the tailets took a little damage from catching the grass, but everything is easily repairable and some strengthening will be added and she'll be back up soon. Below is a still from the flight and as soon as I figure out how to post some video of the flight I'll do that too! Thanks again for everyone's help
Here is a link to the low quality clip from Facebook...soon there will be some higher quality footage from the flight
This is my latest project during what I'm calling my Rutan scratch build phase. I think the Pond Racer is one of the most unique and beautiful aircraft ever designed and eventually my obsession got the best of me. The aircraft is all built up now and waiting for radio and motor installation but due to the encroaching winter here in Wisconsin the maiden might have to wait for warmer weather. There aren't any plans for this since its nothing but eye-balled using line drawings that you can get off a Google search but the rough stats are:
wingspan: ~32" (not including the raked wingtips)
center chord: 6 inches
wingtip chord: 3 inches
wing dihedral: 5 deg
wing forward sweep: 10 deg (if memory serves)
overall length: ~32" (from firewall to tip of vertical stab)
the engine pods are just the FT firewalls with essentially really long swappable pods attached and the wings are built up using FT's technique of folding over the foam board just like a versa wing.
I'm currently planning on using one 1300mah 3s batt in each pod adjusted of course for CG and the motors are really up to pilot's choice but I'm currently planning on using two 2208/14 with 7x4 props (not counter rotating because just to hard to find a good stock of them) which should be an absurd amount of power. Just one flies my Quickie (see below if interested) which overall is a larger aircraft with plenty of power in reserve.
If the horizontal stab and elevator prove too small it's an easy fix to add extensions but it's not supposed to be aerobatic so i shouldn't need a lot of throw if the CG is correct. We'll see.
Thanks to everyone on this forum and Facebook and especially the FT guys for bringing me back into a hobby that I always enjoyed with my father. He was the builder...I just flew em! HaHa
p with high quality videoUPDATE 2: New high quality footage from the maiden with my thoughts on the flight
UPDATE: The weather has finally cooperated here in Wisconsin so I finally got the chance to maiden the Pond Racer. Long story short...it flew beautifully right out of the hands. Very little trimming was needed and some were concerned about the elevator effectiveness due to the small size, but it proved to be sufficient, especially since this is a "pylon racer" and not aerobatic. The roll rate is smooth and predictable with the full span ailerons and there was no noticeable torque even without counter rotating propellers. The high wing loading requires a high landing speed so the wingtips and the tailets took a little damage from catching the grass, but everything is easily repairable and some strengthening will be added and she'll be back up soon. Below is a still from the flight and as soon as I figure out how to post some video of the flight I'll do that too! Thanks again for everyone's help
Here is a link to the low quality clip from Facebook...soon there will be some higher quality footage from the flight
This is my latest project during what I'm calling my Rutan scratch build phase. I think the Pond Racer is one of the most unique and beautiful aircraft ever designed and eventually my obsession got the best of me. The aircraft is all built up now and waiting for radio and motor installation but due to the encroaching winter here in Wisconsin the maiden might have to wait for warmer weather. There aren't any plans for this since its nothing but eye-balled using line drawings that you can get off a Google search but the rough stats are:
wingspan: ~32" (not including the raked wingtips)
center chord: 6 inches
wingtip chord: 3 inches
wing dihedral: 5 deg
wing forward sweep: 10 deg (if memory serves)
overall length: ~32" (from firewall to tip of vertical stab)
the engine pods are just the FT firewalls with essentially really long swappable pods attached and the wings are built up using FT's technique of folding over the foam board just like a versa wing.
I'm currently planning on using one 1300mah 3s batt in each pod adjusted of course for CG and the motors are really up to pilot's choice but I'm currently planning on using two 2208/14 with 7x4 props (not counter rotating because just to hard to find a good stock of them) which should be an absurd amount of power. Just one flies my Quickie (see below if interested) which overall is a larger aircraft with plenty of power in reserve.
If the horizontal stab and elevator prove too small it's an easy fix to add extensions but it's not supposed to be aerobatic so i shouldn't need a lot of throw if the CG is correct. We'll see.
Thanks to everyone on this forum and Facebook and especially the FT guys for bringing me back into a hobby that I always enjoyed with my father. He was the builder...I just flew em! HaHa
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