Schoolgirl biplane DT foam board maiden flight

[TooJung2Die]

Schoolgirl vintage biplane maiden flight

This Schoolgirl is the second balsa airplane I built as a boy that I recently converted to DT foam board construction. The balsa wood original was a Top Flite kit designed by Ken Willard in the 1960's. I couldn't afford the radio control back then so the airplane became a ceiling ornament for many years. It's a 3 channel design, rudder, elevator and throttle.

I didn't know if the maiden flight was going to be ten seconds or ten minutes. I almost didn't record it. Thankfully it flies very well. It didn't need any major adjustment to the flight trim after the first flight though I did reduce the elevator throw a bit. I was concerned because the vertical stabilizer and rudder looked too small to me. No problem, it tracks and turns just fine.

It was pretty windy today, breezier conditions than I like for a maiden flight and it handled the wind very well. Landing into the wind resulted in a feather light touch down. I can't wait for a calm day to see how slow she can go. It has a lot of wing area and a thick airfoil.

Now that it has proved to be a good flier it will get some decoration and color. The landing gear is heavy duty and the tires are oversize because of the rocky dirt flying field. I kinda like the look.

If the video gets boring jump ahead to 7:30 for a few loops and don't miss the landing.

Jon

 

[ClearSkiesCalmWinds]

Great Job!! Love to see it with color. Are you considering sharing plans if possible?

 

[kacknor]

X2 on plans. That flies very well!

 

[TooJung2Die]

Schoolgirl plans

I don't have really nice plans for this like SPONZ draws. Here are the plans I used to build the schoolgirl. More like templates than actual plans. It'll make sense if you've built a few airplanes from Flite Test plans. I like to print the parts individually rather than try to create one large plan.

The template for the top and bottom of the fuselage are identical. The length of the top and bottom sections are different so you'll have to figure out where the cuts belong. I drew in where I thought the cuts should go. I made the sections longer than needed then cut to correct length. Peel off the paper on the inside of the curved sections.

The top wing has double thick spars and bottom wing is a single spar. If you don't want to make it a biplane eliminate the bottom wing. It flies great as a top wing monoplane. Ken Willard called the monoplane the "Sophisticated Schoolgirl".

I use a fixed firewall but there's plenty of room in the nose for a mini power pod if that's your preference. I used a power pack 'A' equivalent 1806-2300kv motor with a 6x4 propeller. The motor has 4 degrees down and right thrust.

It balanced perfectly with a 850mAh 3s battery on a foam board shelf behind the motor. I made a hatch on the top of the nose for battery access. If you have a better idea please share it.

I mounted two 9 gr servos in a foam board shelf under the top wing. The receiver was mounted on the same shelf in front of the servos.

Here's a link to the original balsa plans to use as a guide:

http://outerzone.co.uk/download_this_plan.asp?ID=816

Plans:

View attachment Schoolgirl fuselage.pdf
View attachment Schoolgirl top wing.pdf
View attachment Schoolgirl low wing.pdf
View attachment Schoolgirl vert stab.pdf
View attachment Schoolgirl horiz stab.pdf

Take a look at kacknor's plans and skins for the Schoolgirl. Good Job!
Plans & Skins

Jon

 

[planebreaker2000]

looks good definately going to build this one
Thank you for plans

 

[clouddancer]

Thats a really great recreation of the origional!
I remember seeing this plane in an old Model Airplane News magazine.
Im happy for you that she flys so good!
Ill have to try this one,thanks for sharing.

 

[HilldaFlyer]

Great flight!

 

[kacknor]

Thanks for the download! I see what you mean about the rudder. It does look small. But the rake it has looks very cool. In the world of 3D block and square it stands out. Old School Schoolgirl!

I have one plane building and one in the cue. Something has to retire before I build another. Not to worry, it shouldn't take too long.

JD

 

[PsyBorg]

Nice job. that looks like it fly's sweet. Even with the wind as light as it probably is it looked very smooth. I'm not sure but there was a fly by across low and in front of you where it looked like you were working the elevators fighting tail heavy tendencies. Was that the wind or just the throws / expo settings were too big?

 

[TooJung2Die]

Was that the wind or just the throws / expo settings were too big?

It was me, the wind and having the elevator throw set a bit large. I reduced the elevator throw for the second flight and it wasn't twitchy anymore. The control surfaces looked a bit small compared to the large wing area so I had the throws set high. Not necessary as I found out. The elevator and rudder are just right for this airplane. It's one of those stress free airplanes you can kick back, relax and enjoy flying.
Jon

 

[GremlinRC]

Hey Jon, I love this. Actually I've been looking for something like this to build as a swappable, and I think I've found it Nice work man and what a landing, they really don't come smoother.

 

[PsyBorg]

I really need to get my Dynam pitts back to flight ready. I had gotten it over winter. Did the build and set up. Put it away till good weather for the maiden. In the mean time I did TONS of practice on a sim.. I was sooo happy when good weather came. Took it out side.. did a range check.. walked around it and wiggled all the control surfaces.. made sure they were all centered. Did a short run up the road I was on for an air strip.. did a bunny hop to get an idea of what power and distance was needed to get air born.... Took a huge breath and changed my mind since I wasn't really gonna try it with a cross wind on my air strip and decided to just go for it.

Drove it back up the flight line for best possible into the wind take off... paused then hit the throttle. The tail popped up nicely. a little yaw adjustment to keep it centered on runway.. then applied elevator to lift off. PERFECT!!!!! I was soo excited to see it take off so nicely right up until the time came to make my first turn. This is where I found out and instantly remembered that I had reversed the throws on my radio to use the sim instead of changing them on the sim... Panic mode ON!!!

After correcting and getting it back to level flight I took a second to catch my breath and worked on a slow curve back around to land it. With the cross wind and having to think backwards I decided not to land on the road but in the much softer open field which has recently been harvested of the feed corn in it. Worked the plane out a ways and turned it into the wind to attempt a landing. I did fine in my own opinion just getting to this point and was semi relaxed and confident I could get it down in one piece.

I did really well with the approach keeping as level as I could and managed to walk to where I could look down the row and see a decent area to set her down. It all worked out nicely it touched down as I bled off lift and the second it touched I cut throttle. Sadly it found a deep tire track I did not see and instantly slammed her nose into the ground and flipped over hard.

Shattered the prop and nose cone. pushed the lower wing forward enough to split the foam on either side and added a bunch od holes in various surfaces that contacted short cut corn stalks. I managed to repair the foam with RTV and packing tape and got to remaiden her once the ne prop holder / cone arrived. Found out it was a tad on the tail heavy side as well as long throws like I saw in your flight which is why I had asked and am now wondering why I typed all this out..

Anyway new lower wing, metal gear servos and some nose weight has been applied and I am waiting for the weather and the nerve to put her up once again. Oh yeah and I dremeled out the wheel pants and got bigger rubber tires on it to get rid of the tiny foam type tires to make it more grass friendly. Ill try n get video if and when it goes back into the air.

 

[TooJung2Die]

Added some color

I read an article about airplane color schemes that enhance visibility. It recommended a stripe pattern for the top and solid colors for the bottom. I decided to try felt tip markers. Meh, it's impossible to apply an even color. The paper absorbs ink while tape doesn't. It looks pretty good in the air and I have to confirm the color pattern makes the airplane's orientation in the air much easier to see. I used aluminum duct tape to simulate glass.

Jon

 

[davereap]

very nice job....

 

[TooJung2Die]

Found out it was a tad on the tail heavy side as well as long throws like I saw in your flight which is why I had asked and am now wondering why I typed all this out...

You had me wondering what that was all about too! Hope you get your airplane flying again soon.

 

[TooJung2Die]

Hey Jon, I love this. Actually I've been looking for something like this to build as a swappable, and I think I've found it Nice work man and what a landing, they really don't come smoother.

I thought about using the power pod but since I have enough motors I decided on a fixed firewall for simplicity. There's plenty of room up front for a power pod. I'd love to see your interpretation of this old balsa design.

I recommend downloading the original plans for reference and construction pointers. They really over-engineered these airplanes back then. Foam board construction is so much simpler.

I had a nice calm flying day yesterday and got to dial in the trim for hands free flight. With all that wing area she is capable of nice slow flight. Not indoor slow, but slower than my other airplanes.

Jon

 

[BobK]

I built a few of these from balsa over the years, all of them were great flyers..along with the single wing Schoolboy. The last one I built was an upscaled version with a few mods, I just never totally liked the looks of the smaller wing so I made it a bit larger, also enlarged the vert. fin..not because it needed it but only it always just looked out of proportion.

Seeing your build has me thinking about rebuilding my larger version in foamboard, can't beat the old classics like these.

 

[PsyBorg]

Nice work on the color scheme. You cant see the bleed thru from the pics and that's a good idea for the windows. May have to buy a buncha sharpies next time Im at wally world and redo the dynam when its air worthy again.

 

[kacknor]

I read an article about airplane color schemes that enhance visibility. It recommended a stripe pattern for the top and solid colors for the bottom. I decided to try felt tip markers. Meh, it's impossible to apply an even color. The paper absorbs ink while tape doesn't. It looks pretty good in the air and I have to confirm the color pattern makes the airplane's orientation in the air much easier to see. I used aluminum duct tape to simulate glass.

Jon

That is very nice work with sharpies! I've used them also for quick stuff and full aircraft. They fill in leftover white areas real nice on rattle can jobs and repairs, but I'm no artist. There have been some examples posted that are just amazing.

JD

 

[earthsciteach]

Great choice for a DTFB build, man! So nice!