Reasonable front wheel weight?

kareez

Member
Hi
How much is the reasonable front wheel weight of the RC model airplane (Versawing- width 120 cm)?
I made it about 28 g (Without Servo). :)
 

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FDS

Elite member
That’s quite heavy for a small foamboard plane, but not that heavy for a large airliner. I would use the lightest possible wheels regardless.
 

kareez

Member
That’s quite heavy for a small foamboard plane, but not that heavy for a large airliner. I would use the lightest possible wheels regardless.
Is 28g really heavy for front wheel ?
So what is the weight of the front wheel like this (Picture attached)?
 

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FDS

Elite member
As I said already, it depends on the size of the plane. If it’s a 3-400g mini then that’s heavy. If it’s a 1-2kg model with a 4ft wingspan and twin engines then it isn’t. What are you trying to build?
Most FT landing gear is made from a bit of wire and a light foam wheel, or there’s no nose wheel since tail draggers are easier to set up with fixed gear.
 

kareez

Member
As I said already, it depends on the size of the plane. If it’s a 3-400g mini then that’s heavy. If it’s a 1-2kg model with a 4ft wingspan and twin engines then it isn’t. What are you trying to build?
Most FT landing gear is made from a bit of wire and a light foam wheel, or there’s no nose wheel since tail draggers are easier to set up with fixed gear.
I'm building a versa wing whit about 120cm wings and one engine in back..:cry:
 

quorneng

Master member
kareez
It can be useful to compare something like that to the weight of your motor/engine.
If it is a significant proportion (say 50%) you should ask yourself what is that weight doing for the plane? Would the plane fly better and/or longer with something lighter or even without it all together?
 

kareez

Member
kareez
It can be useful to compare something like that to the weight of your motor/engine.
If it is a significant proportion (say 50%) you should ask yourself what is that weight doing for the plane? Would the plane fly better and/or longer with something lighter or even without it all together?
Thanks quorneng
Motor: Leopard LC3542-920KV
Power: Gens 2600 mah-45C-11.1V-28.9Wh.
Propeller: 8*6
 

FDS

Elite member
Wheels on a wing is not a good idea IMO. Those retracts you linked are also scale type ones which will only work on the flattest of runways. You toss launch wings, they don’t ground launch under their own power. Those wheels and retracts also won’t allow the prop to clear the ground.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
You have some impressive looking landing gear. No reason they will not work. It’s hard to tell from the picture,they made be a bit short. I agree with @FDS, retracts are not nearly as tough as fixed gear. To be successful with retracts, you need to be very good at landing AND have a very smooth runway.

I don’t use landing gear on my Versa, just give it a toss to launch and belly land in the grass.
 

kareez

Member
Wheels on a wing is not a good idea IMO. Those retracts you linked are also scale type ones which will only work on the flattest of runways. You toss launch wings, they don’t ground launch under their own power. Those wheels and retracts also won’t allow the prop to clear the ground.
Thanks
I'm going to throw it by hand, but I want to land it on wheels and on the ground.
 

FDS

Elite member
Belly landing is much better with wings. You will still hit the prop with the ones you have linked and they are only going to work on a super flat runway. If you belly land in taller grass you will have a much better landing. There is no gain in having wheels on a wing.
 

kareez

Member
Belly landing is much better with wings. You will still hit the prop with the ones you have linked and they are only going to work on a super flat runway. If you belly land in taller grass you will have a much better landing. There is no gain in having wheels on a wing.
Thanks FDS (y)(y)
I live in Yazd. Yazd is one of the desert cities of Iran. There is no proper grass land around my place of residence. I'm going to throw it by hand on a desert road and finally landing down it in the road.

Desert is attached.

Also I'm worried. Because the wing may fall on the desert, the sand may penetrate and damage the engine.
I know. my English is very bad. sorry
 

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Piotrsko

Master member
Skids or sub rudders about two fingers long/ high should be enough to keep the motor out of the sand. Probably the only reason to put wheels on a wing is for touch and go landings
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
....Also I'm worried. Because the wing may fall on the desert, the sand may penetrate and damage the engine....
As others have said, you should consider skids. I would suggest something like the floats for flying off water. No need to make them V bottom, make them flat bottom. 2-3 inches tall, maybe an inch wide.

I doubt skids will prevent getting sand in your motor, the best you can hope for is to minimize the sand. When you get sand, water or compressed air will be the best way to clean it. Water will not hurt the motor, you can even run motors under water. Drying out the bearings should not be a problem in the desert. You may need to take the motor apart to clean is. I’d recommend getting a collection of E-clip retainer rings. They have the ability to disappear, when can get 100 for a few dollars, you don’t care.
 
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FDS

Elite member
I wouldn’t take off or land over any road. Scrubby sand is better. If you have rocky desert then as noted above skids is best. Those wheels will still not work reliably on the average road.
I forget not everyone has grass around! There’s a few desert pilots on here, they will have good advice for you. Skid plates are not hard to make, at least wings have plenty of surface area on the bottom to fix them to.
A can of airbrush propellant or a C02 canister for a small home welder would be ideal for blasting sand out the motor.
Your English is far better than my Arabic. It’s very good!
 

quorneng

Master member
kareez
As far as I can tell the recommended prop for a Leopard LC3542-920KV is a 12x6 up to 13x6.5. An 8x6 won't do any harm but the motor wont produce anything like the thrust it is capable of.
If you are limited to an 8x6 for some reason you don't need such a big (and heavy) motor. Even a modest 1200kv Emax 2822 will actually produce a bit more thrust turning an 8x6 on 3s and its only weighs 39 g rather than 135 g of the Leopard.
 
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varg

Build cheap, crash cheap
It's a nice piece, but 28g, add 10g for a servo since you're talking about steering, another 10 for steering mechanism and glue, 48g or so is a lot of weight to add to a 300-400g airplane. That's also quite a large motor you're putting on it so it will already be nose or tail heavy depending on whether you're making it a pusher or a tractor. Skids are a simple solution, as mentioned above, but bent wire landing gear can also be made lightweight and simply with a set of good pliers and a vise. See below:

2014-07-22-dan-s-phone-pictires-157-jpg_1406514285.jpg

From this article
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
There are several issues here with this build that I see.

1) The 920kv motor is a monster - it's heavy, and an 8x6 prop is simply undersized for it. It won't push anywhere near as much thrust as you'd like in that combination; you're looking at a 1.05 thrust/weight ratio - slightly more thrust than what the plane would weigh. It's barely enough to get it flying, with that combination.

2) If you change your prop up to a larger prop that's more appropriate, you'll need to cut the ailerons. While that is possible to do, you will lose control surface area, making the plane less responsive.

3) Putting wheels on a Versa Wing will add drag. Being that you are at your limits with the thrust/weight ratio as it is, adding weight and something that is going to increase drag, I honestly don't think your Versa Wing is going to fly. I think you're going to need to look at either changing your motor to a more efficient motor (say, a 29g, 1300kv motor), or fly it without wheels, or a combination of changing out to a different motor and flying without wheels.

I think if you try to fly with wheels and your motor combination, you're going to find it very frustrating - I'd rather you try it without wheels, at the very least, so that you can succeed with your flights.
 
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