Simple Cub... With a TWIST
- Thread starter PoorManRC
- Start date
Steve Fox
Active member
On my cubs, the power pod is removable for battery changes as the nose isn't really long enough to do it any other way but that cessna has plenty of room to have a lift of panel.
Unfortunately, I built and painted it before I thought about it and so it was a surgery job and I had to modify the nose rather than building it that way from the start, I've attached pics of my cessna 180.
I've also got a ft racer which has the whole nose as a top hatch, that one I already knew I wanted to do that way and modified the construction of it rather than hacking it apart after building it, it does not even have a power pod, I built the Firewall into a box section which is only about one inch long.
Pics of that plane are also attached.
For my firewalls, I use 1 mm aluminium sheet, it's much stronger, does not weigh much different to ply and also acts as a heat sink for the motor.
To bond it to the foamboard, I score the aluminium that will make contact in a diamond pattern with a blade and also come in at an angle so that the blade cuts a lip in the surface of the metal instead of just scoring it for something better to bond too and I use epoxy resin to bond it.
You don't need much, epoxy bonds it very well to the foam.
My aluminium firewall is again, attached
I know all about being broke, I went through a period around 3 1/2 years ago where I didn't know if I would have enough money to even eat each day, my life was a mess after I split with my wife and being permanently signed off sick I was not getting much money.
Things are different now, I'm not rolling in it but I'm comfortable since I was granted disability (mental health not physical) money on top of the basic benefits.
I couldn't have this hobby if it wasn't for that help!
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PoorManRC
Master member
On my cubs, the power pod is removable for battery changes as the nose isn't really long enough to do it any other way but that cessna has plenty of room to have a lift of panel.
Unfortunately, I built and painted it before I thought about it and so it was a surgery job and I had to modify the nose rather than building it that way from the start, I've attached pics of my cessna 180.
I've also got a ft racer which has the whole nose as a top hatch, that one I already knew I wanted to do that way and modified the construction of it rather than hacking it apart after building it, it does not even have a power pod, I built the Firewall into a box section which is only about one inch long.
Pics of that plane are also attached.
For my firewalls, I use 1 mm aluminium sheet, it's much stronger, does not weigh much different to ply and also acts as a heat sink for the motor.
To bond it to the foamboard, I score the aluminium that will make contact in a diamond pattern with a blade and also come in at an angle so that the blade cuts a lip in the surface of the metal instead of just scoring it for something better to bond too and I use epoxy resin to bond it.
You don't need much, epoxy bonds it very well to the foam.
My aluminium firewall is again, attached
I know all about being broke, I went through a period around 3 1/2 years ago where I didn't know if I would have enough money to even eat each day, my life was a mess after I split with my wife and being permanently signed off sick I was not getting much money.
Things are different now, I'm not rolling in it but I'm comfortable since I was granted disability (mental health not physical) money on top of the basic benefits.
I couldn't have this hobby if it wasn't for that help!
REALLY like the Aluminium Firewall idea! I'm picturing in my mind a C Channel instead, giving a lot more "meat" to adhere to the Foam Board. That one I'm looking into. 😎
Ft Racer is high on my list too, love the look.
And I'm guessing that because of the outrageous Taxes you guys pay through your lifetimes, your Disability Pay is considerably higher than ours....
My neck is already out in this Forum, they only give me $1100 per month - and assume I'll have no problem living on that! 😖
Steve Fox
Active member
Honestly, if you score the aluminium a flat piece bonded with epoxy is enough, a u shape will just add more weight.
When I first started building planes I was going too far with everything in the belief that it needs to be stronger than the original design and my planes were coming out way heavier than they needed to be, I still build stronger than original ft designs but I've stopped doing a lot of the stuff I used to from realising it wasn't doing anything but make my planes super heavy
Money wise, I'm getting £1340 ($1629) a month and the rent on my house paid in full, I also have a fixed low monthly rate on my water instead of being on metered water which would cost me 4-5 times more a month.
All my money goes on hobbies, I don't drink or smoke and I dont go out to places much, I also cook proper dinners every day and never get take away or ready meals
By far, my biggest monthly cost is my car.
Being a 2.5L V6, not only is it thirsty on fuel, our road tax price is based on emissions and my car is in the top tax band and costs me £25.80 ($31.37) a month.
Here, if you get caught with a car on the road that isn't taxed, it gets siezed!
Things here are very expensive, everything we buy is loaded with high taxes, 20% on everything.
our petrol is 80% tax and is roughly the same price per liter as people in the states pay for a gallon lol
We are not quite the most expensive country to live in but be are very high up the list!
When I first started building planes I was going too far with everything in the belief that it needs to be stronger than the original design and my planes were coming out way heavier than they needed to be, I still build stronger than original ft designs but I've stopped doing a lot of the stuff I used to from realising it wasn't doing anything but make my planes super heavy
Money wise, I'm getting £1340 ($1629) a month and the rent on my house paid in full, I also have a fixed low monthly rate on my water instead of being on metered water which would cost me 4-5 times more a month.
All my money goes on hobbies, I don't drink or smoke and I dont go out to places much, I also cook proper dinners every day and never get take away or ready meals
By far, my biggest monthly cost is my car.
Being a 2.5L V6, not only is it thirsty on fuel, our road tax price is based on emissions and my car is in the top tax band and costs me £25.80 ($31.37) a month.
Here, if you get caught with a car on the road that isn't taxed, it gets siezed!
Things here are very expensive, everything we buy is loaded with high taxes, 20% on everything.
our petrol is 80% tax and is roughly the same price per liter as people in the states pay for a gallon lol
We are not quite the most expensive country to live in but be are very high up the list!
PoorManRC
Master member
WOW!!! 😲✈
HOW do you get an RC Aircraft THAT high up?? I couldn't even fathom such a thing without FPV anyway, but Holy Cow that's high!!
So, because we have a legitimate SLUMLORD, of the $1100 per month I get, 80% is Rent! And the State thinks I get too much money to be granted FOOD assistance!!!
So many People just don't and can't understand what this is like....
I wouldn't have understood, back when I was still doing okay.
I shouldn't get into this more, because some people will think I'm trying to scam them. 😞
HOW do you get an RC Aircraft THAT high up?? I couldn't even fathom such a thing without FPV anyway, but Holy Cow that's high!!
So, because we have a legitimate SLUMLORD, of the $1100 per month I get, 80% is Rent! And the State thinks I get too much money to be granted FOOD assistance!!!
So many People just don't and can't understand what this is like....
I wouldn't have understood, back when I was still doing okay.
I shouldn't get into this more, because some people will think I'm trying to scam them. 😞
PoorManRC
Master member
Well Steve, I've implemented your Nose Skid, adding an odd NACA Duct, to cool the ESC right under the Power Pod!! 👍👍
I had to come up with some creative bracing, because I didn't just want Hot Glue holding it down.
I did score up the underside of the Plastic Plate, and the Fuse.
Now to wait for everything to cure, sand, paint....
WAIT TO FLY!!!
I had to come up with some creative bracing, because I didn't just want Hot Glue holding it down.
I did score up the underside of the Plastic Plate, and the Fuse.
Now to wait for everything to cure, sand, paint....
WAIT TO FLY!!!
Steve Fox
Active member
Hot glue is plenty strong enough to hold it, it won't break free and just a slit is plenty to cool the esc anyway, you don't need to do proper ducting.
Heres the firefly micro I have strapped to the top of my very well used cub, as you can see, the drag that creates is not insignificant!
I normally paint my wings with care but that wing was a rushed replacement after I damaged one beyond being worth repairing and I wanted the plane flying the next day so I just threw paint at it.
The can was running out too and was mainly thinners and not paint so it ran like crazy, I've attached a pic of the wing I have ready for my GPS cub, the finish is somewhat better lol.
I paint the cub wing florescent orange so people can see it in the sky, I rarely fly line of sight but it is helpful for seeing the plane easier when I do, the photos don't do it justice, it is full on florescent and crazy bright lol.
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PoorManRC
Master member
I will never trust just Hot Glue at over 115F!!! That's the consensus of most of us in Arizona. Besides, Gorilla Glue weighs LESS.
I pulled some unnecessary bracing out of it, and will weigh again tonight...
I love the bright Wing idea! I did mine in an almost fluorescent Blue, with Dark Tips, to see her in bright and cloudy skies... hopefully!
Like the Camera idea. Small enough too.
I pulled some unnecessary bracing out of it, and will weigh again tonight...
I love the bright Wing idea! I did mine in an almost fluorescent Blue, with Dark Tips, to see her in bright and cloudy skies... hopefully!
Like the Camera idea. Small enough too.
Steve Fox
Active member
The cub is the only one which gets a full wing of orange, the paint is expensive compared to regular automotive paint of any other color but most of my planes get the tips done in orange for visibility (see pic).
all of my planes get at minimum a good coating in gloss white, I have done planes to look really fancy like my mini mustang but it gets really expensive when you put that much in and the time spent also makes you scared to fly it!
I have Gorilla Glue too and it's great stuff but it's very brittle and in a crash your plane falls apart but with hot glue it holds together
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PoorManRC
Master member
The Mustang looks GREAT! Classic Pacific colours.
I use Gorilla Glue AND Hot Glue! Margin of safety.
Weighed her, after removing some redundant Fuse Bracing. The results were shocking!
She's about FIGHTING weight!!! 😎👍👍
Then I came up with an idea all by my little self! 😋
I'll touch up the paint later tonight...
I use Gorilla Glue AND Hot Glue! Margin of safety.
Weighed her, after removing some redundant Fuse Bracing. The results were shocking!
She's about FIGHTING weight!!! 😎👍👍
Then I came up with an idea all by my little self! 😋
I'll touch up the paint later tonight...
Steve Fox
Active member
That weight is much better, is that without the battery? Mine weighs 729g with no battery in, that's with all my electronics - 2 cams, cam switcher, voltage osd, 800mw vtx, iA6B receiver, 30a esc, 2212 motor, mg90s 12g metal gear servos (yeah, the mg90s are not 9g servos!) and my firefly micro cam that is on top of the wing.
One place where you can save a little weight is the rudder servo, a cheap plastic gear servo is good enough, the rudder does not tend to get much grief in a crash and I don't know about you but I only use my rudder as a trim tool, I never fly with a rudder and the servo does not get worked hard.
If you can get the weight down to mine then you will be able to carry substantial battery capacity.
Personally, id scrap the landing gear completely, put milk jug plastic on the belly part that makes contact with the ground and belly land it, you will save a tonne of weight and you can land just about anywhere, something you can't do with landing gear and why I don't use it on 90% of my planes.
Gut your plane of absolutely anything that is not crucial, those 'quick alignment stips' are extra weight and extra drag, loose all of those sorts of things and you will shed so much excess!
On your next build scrap the reinforced vertical stab and the struts you have between the vertical and horizontal too, they are not necessary on the cub and the tail survives crashes very well.
Most of the extra things you have done for added strength are not needed and have added weight, the only places extra strength really help are the nose, the milk jug plastic I use limits hoe far back damage can reach in a crash and the other is a carbon rod in the wing which makes it almost indestructible
I had wings break at the dihedral slits before I used carbon rods but no matter how hard I crash it now, the wing will maintain its core strength and I just cut out the localised damage and patch in new foam
My GPS cub is heavier than my daily flyer, it's got almost all of the same electronics but with a flight controller and GPS, the motor is also a bigger and heavier one but can swing a bigger prop and is a more efficient motor but not as fast as the one on my daily flyer.
One place where you can save a little weight is the rudder servo, a cheap plastic gear servo is good enough, the rudder does not tend to get much grief in a crash and I don't know about you but I only use my rudder as a trim tool, I never fly with a rudder and the servo does not get worked hard.
If you can get the weight down to mine then you will be able to carry substantial battery capacity.
Personally, id scrap the landing gear completely, put milk jug plastic on the belly part that makes contact with the ground and belly land it, you will save a tonne of weight and you can land just about anywhere, something you can't do with landing gear and why I don't use it on 90% of my planes.
Gut your plane of absolutely anything that is not crucial, those 'quick alignment stips' are extra weight and extra drag, loose all of those sorts of things and you will shed so much excess!
On your next build scrap the reinforced vertical stab and the struts you have between the vertical and horizontal too, they are not necessary on the cub and the tail survives crashes very well.
Most of the extra things you have done for added strength are not needed and have added weight, the only places extra strength really help are the nose, the milk jug plastic I use limits hoe far back damage can reach in a crash and the other is a carbon rod in the wing which makes it almost indestructible
I had wings break at the dihedral slits before I used carbon rods but no matter how hard I crash it now, the wing will maintain its core strength and I just cut out the localised damage and patch in new foam
My GPS cub is heavier than my daily flyer, it's got almost all of the same electronics but with a flight controller and GPS, the motor is also a bigger and heavier one but can swing a bigger prop and is a more efficient motor but not as fast as the one on my daily flyer.
PoorManRC
Master member
That weight is 740g WITH an 1800 MAh 3S Batry!!
We have different parameters and needs...
I NEED Landing Gear! There is no grass, weeds or brush around me. I live in a Desert! I'm Landing on HARD, rocky, packed dirt.
I made the Gear removable, like the plans. The only other choice I have for a landing surface is - Sand. There I will Belly Land, and only when I've got someone with me who can retrieve it for me.
I've got the weight down enough, I've got plenty of Thrust. She's FLYING!!! It's just a matter of when - at some point THIS week. 🍻
..... And the Wing Alignment Strips - didn't even register on the Scale!
We have different parameters and needs...
I NEED Landing Gear! There is no grass, weeds or brush around me. I live in a Desert! I'm Landing on HARD, rocky, packed dirt.
I made the Gear removable, like the plans. The only other choice I have for a landing surface is - Sand. There I will Belly Land, and only when I've got someone with me who can retrieve it for me.
I've got the weight down enough, I've got plenty of Thrust. She's FLYING!!! It's just a matter of when - at some point THIS week. 🍻
..... And the Wing Alignment Strips - didn't even register on the Scale!
PoorManRC
Master member
I'm going with the suggestion of @Hai-Lee and adding incidence to the Wing. Starting small, about 9 degrees.
Now, I'll probably get to hear more about how it's not going to Fly! 😖
Thursday's STILL looking good for a Maiden. Naysayers are actually making me nervous....
But it's happening no matter WHAT! 👍👍
Now, I'll probably get to hear more about how it's not going to Fly! 😖
Thursday's STILL looking good for a Maiden. Naysayers are actually making me nervous....
But it's happening no matter WHAT! 👍👍
OliverW
Legendary member
It looks great! Just send it!!!
PoorManRC
Master member
THAT'S the idea!! I'm hoping and praying that the Weather Guy didn't do too many drugs this week, and actually got it RIGHT.
Thursday morning - 7:00am, 82 degrees, 4% Humidity, NO wind!!
Keep your fingers crossed!
Hai-Lee
Old and Bold RC PILOT
Just a note! The increase in incidence angle should be minor around 1 to 2 degrees. The wing drag and lift increase greatly beyond this and with too much lift you will need MASSIVE downthrust angles on the motor. In addition at around 15 degrees the lift falls off rapidly and at the same time the drag increases again massively.
If you try it at 9 degrees you may find that it wants to push its nose up under power and will want to glide nose down for level flight!. Take a few shims with you for the wing TE in case you find it impossible to control with the motor at any more than 50% throttle.
Have fun!
PoorManRC
Master member
Thank you! I take all constructive criticism! 😊
The Wedge up front is uncovered Foam Board. I can easily sand more off...
Bring it down to about 3 degrees?
Even after shaving the weight down to 740g - with nothing else I can really lose...
NOT LOSING THE LANDING GEAR! (Not addressed towards you😉), but still she's a bit chunky.
I've got ample Thrust with the 10x4.7, but I'm now second guessing EVERYTHING.
I can't WAIT till she gets off the ground!!
If it goes up, spins and lawn darts into a rock, you all will see it...
And I've got 3 more Planes on the drawing board.
A Scout arriving any day now, my Son is trying to resurrect the Storch, and another friend is cutting me an Edge 540 - WITHOUT the Control Surfaces cut, so I can experiment with making a more docile flyer...
Then the same guy is cutting me a P-40!
He'd do a P-47, but we can't find the plans......
It'll be fun no matter WHAT!
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Hai-Lee
Old and Bold RC PILOT
My version weighs a little less than your version and I added huge tundra like tyres, (rather heavy). I normally just wedge up the LE of the wing with paddle pop stick.
3 degrees should work but carry a few paddle pop sticks in case you need to increase or decrease it!
With the setup you have accelerate smoothly and rather slowly to keep it pointed straight. If you take off too soon then it will roll to one side and crash. You need some airspeed to be safe before lifting off!.
have fun!
Steve Fox
Active member
Wahoo! At that weight with an 1800 you can easily carry a 2700 which is my regular pack size or even a 4000 like I do sometimes.
The plane flys very well at 890g with a 2700 in normal weather and much better than with a 4000 but in high winds the 4000 and the all up weight of just over 1kg flys better.
I can't imagine how susceptible to the wind these must be for people who build to flight test specs and are in the 470g region, that seems way too light to me!
You say that you need landing gear because of the ground you land on, a good 1/2 of the year I'm landing on bare hard mud with mine, the crops are being harvested now and it will be hard ground again.
my milk jug underside where the landing gear would be takes it very well and why I put it on my planes, it was just a side effect that it makes the area stronger and was never put there for that and is specifically for landing on.
Looking forward to the crops being gone, it makes landing so much easier, it just skids along to a stop rather than as soon as it makes contact with the crops getting yanked out the air.
With the crops there it is impossible to have a controlled landing and they literally just stop the plane dead lol.
I might have missed it in your posts but are you going fpv? I've tried many different vtx units and my regular choice now and most of my planes get a Eachine tx5258 800mw, they are OK for the money and what I'm flying on in my videos although your seeing action cam footage in the actual video and not my fpv feed.
My GPS cub has a 1200mw vtx fitted but since trialing a new directional antenna I'm thinking of swapping it over for a 1000mw from another plane and putting the 1200 on that one, the difference in range is very small but I will never even reach the maximum range of the 1000mw with the cub before I need to start coming down because of battery limitations and the 1200mw pulls more power too with would further shorten the flight time where is the other plane I'd swap it with is a ft storch with a 58" wingspan and much longer flight times plus able to carry a 6500mah without any trouble
I have a volantex phoenix I'm getting ready which has a huge wingspan of 2.4m/7.9ft/94" and can carry 8000mah with ease, it's going to be running ether my 1.5w or 3.4w vtx units and also have telemetry to the ground to drive an antenna tracker, expect some crazy high flights when that hits the sky's, I'm gonna be aiming for around 2 miles up
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