Scale Build Off - 1/4 scale (55") Pitts Challenger III

[Joker 53150]

Knowing what you know now about how it looks, the strength, and how easy/difficult it was to build, would you change your construction technique for the wing or the fuselage?

The wing looks good, very similar to a balsa wing - it'd be interesting to know what the weight difference would be.

 

[wilmracer]

Knowing what you know now about how it looks, the strength, and how easy/difficult it was to build, would you change your construction technique for the wing or the fuselage?

The wing looks good, very similar to a balsa wing - it'd be interesting to know what the weight difference would be.

Great question. I've given it a lot of thought and I would do several things differently. While I think the wings look cool and more scale than just standard sheeted foam core, they are HEAVY.

• Cut the thickness of almost all ply parts in half. I used a lot of 1/8th and 1/4" aircraft ply. I'd go 1/16th and 1/8 on almost everything except the cabane mounts, the motor mount, and the gear plate.
• Would probably go with a more traditional pushrod setup for the elevator.
• Might have skipped the flying wire mounts. I'm debating whether I'll use them on this one because of the weight.
• Would have skipped the semi-sheeted and filled wings and just sheeted the cores with 1/32 and glassed. Would have saved a few weeks of work and a LOT of weight
• Skip the 8 aileron setup, go with 4, and use 2 servos in the lower wing and a CF connecting rod (in the scale locaion) to connect the upper wing. That would get rid of 6 servos and the associated wiring/hatches.

I think If I had done those things differently she would be close to 10lbs (instead of close to 15) and would be a different kind of monster. Just doing the wings this way would have cut so much time off the build that I might have made the build off cutoff!

 

[saiga556]

Nice save on the maiden. Was hoping it would go off without a hitch. When I saw how it was behaving I figured with was gonna be splinters.

 

[Allenhat]

Glad the maiden went as well as it did for you. You have a beautiful flying machine there.

How much additional weight are you anticipating after painting and decals?

 

[wilmracer]

Glad the maiden went as well as it did for you. You have a beautiful flying machine there.

How much additional weight are you anticipating after painting and decals?

Hopefully not TOO much. I've found a few little things to adjust in the back that may help a bit. I'm always horrible at estimating the weight of paint, but I'll weigh her before and after. Unfortunately most of the aircraft, and most of the paint, will be aft of the CG. I don't think the Vinyl will add too much.

 

[wilmracer]

 

[roversgonemad]

My heart stopped on the approach where it started to tip! Nice save! Has to be satisfying to see it successfully fly.

 

[AkimboGlueGuns]

Looks great! How's it flying now? Also, will you be able to do any aerobatics with it @FF?

 

[shiitake]

Woow man! Congrats on your flights! What a scary first one but hey.. every landing you can walk away from is a good landing!

 

[wilmracer]

Looks great! How's it flying now? Also, will you be able to do any aerobatics with it @FF?

She was a lot better, but not there yet.

The next flight will be the first flight AFTER paint, so that will just be another hop and may have some testing to adjust out the climbing behavior. Flight after that will probably be another "tweaking" flight. I think it will depend on how well tuned she is by the end of FF (and assuming no setbacks). I would want to do a "gentle" aerobatic flight and then check her over for any signs of stress.

She won't be putting on any shows worthy of Sean D. Tucker at FF, but hopefully she'll get up there several times

 

[saiga556]

Looks much better in the air. Looks like she is a bit heavier than she wants to be. I must admit I was hoping to at least see a roll or two, you are far more cautious than I'm capable of. Nice work.

That MAS prop looks good on there, nice and black.

keep the vids coming as you get her tuned in.

 

[AkimboGlueGuns]

Will you start pushing the envelope after flite fest? I'd kill to see the challenger in a tumble.

 

[wilmracer]

Looks much better in the air. Looks like she is a bit heavier than she wants to be. I must admit I was hoping to at least see a roll or two, you are far more cautious than I'm capable of. Nice work.

That MAS prop looks good on there, nice and black.

keep the vids coming as you get her tuned in.

Thanks! If it hadn't been for the scare on that one approach (that has now been identified as a faulty Y connector) I might have had the nerve to do a roll or two. But I want to get her dialed in right before attempting anything exciting. At this weight I also want to be certain everything is strong enough before I start pulling Gs

Will you start pushing the envelope after flite fest? I'd kill to see the challenger in a tumble.

Slowly

a big part of it is the pilot, TBH. My aerobatic skills are somewhat basic as I tend to do mostly scale flying. This is one of a handful of aircraft where extreme aerobatics and 3D ARE scale, so I'll need to up my game

 

[wilmracer]

Painting started.

I have some seams on the fuse to clean up but will do what I can to get as much painting done today as possible.

 

[PsyBorg]

Wow I Just caught up on this one again. Awesome job on the first maiden riding a bucking bronco down as gently as you did. I had that same exact experience when I did the maiden for my Dynam Pitts. Luckily for you that you did not have to battle reversed ailerons as well.

The next flight was much better. Is it still a touch tail heavy or was the residual bucking due to the inner ailerons not functioning? You have amazing skills both as a builder and a pilot as calm as you were during those flights so I am sure you will fully resolve any issues left in time for FF to do what you want it to do.

Good luck and congratz for brining it home twice in one piece.

 

[AkimboGlueGuns]

That looks to be about the right color. I'll be watching for it @ FF.

 

[wilmracer]

That looks to be about the right color. I'll be watching for it @ FF.

It is close but actually a bit too orange. The red I selected apparently is VERY sensitive to the primer and the darker grey primer I used threw off the color a bit. I've been rushing to make some test panels and this morning I think I found that a light top coat with another red I have on hand will get me to where I want the red to be.

I had a bit of a heart attack yesterday when my wife walked in to the shop and said "I thought it was supposed to be red... that is too orange"

If I can get the paint all laid on by tomorrow night I think I'll be in good shape to have the vinyl applied and the clear on with time to cure before packing for FF. Canopy will be trimmed but probably just attached with some screws so I can pull it off easily to clean up the cockpit after FF.

 

[wilmracer]

Wow I Just caught up on this one again. Awesome job on the first maiden riding a bucking bronco down as gently as you did. I had that same exact experience when I did the maiden for my Dynam Pitts. Luckily for you that you did not have to battle reversed ailerons as well.

The next flight was much better. Is it still a touch tail heavy or was the residual bucking due to the inner ailerons not functioning? You have amazing skills both as a builder and a pilot as calm as you were during those flights so I am sure you will fully resolve any issues left in time for FF to do what you want it to do.

Good luck and congratz for brining it home twice in one piece.

Thanks!

I think that the scary bucking over the end of the field was the aileron issue. At least I know I'll have an army of experts to watch the next few flights and help with the tuning.

 

[wilmracer]

Sharing this one here as well. She is as done as she will be before FF. Looking forward to tune-up flights there

 

[saiga556]

Sharing this one here as well. She is as done as she will be before FF. Looking forward to tune-up flights there

Looks really good. Well done. How much did your paint end up weighing?

Let's see some video now that it's all painyed