Slope Soaring homage to 'thenated0g'

bracesport

Legendary member
@thenated0g - yes, the ups and downs of this hobby can wear at you - I have been quite sick with the end of winter bugs and it has certainly knocked a bit of the enthusiasm back - I am looking forward to your progress when it suits you - I certainly am looking forward to seeing your next flight video (I replay them often and in my dreams I can already slope) - I have my v1 DLG ready to slope if the damn weather would give me a break - I am thinking I should try it in higher winds than I expect I should! :D
 
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thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
Mentor
@Jackson T
VAS banshee is the fpv plane, built it a few years ago, guardians of the galaxy colors.

The Balsa plane is a Spririt 2m. My first balsa build, i seemed to skip that skill in the hobby somehow. Going to build it as a pure slope soarer with some servoless spoilers. Just going simple with CA glue and will probably cover it all in iron on laminate like you use on fpv wings.
 

Jackson T

Elite member
@Jackson T
VAS banshee is the fpv plane, built it a few years ago, guardians of the galaxy colors.

The Balsa plane is a Spririt 2m. My first balsa build, i seemed to skip that skill in the hobby somehow. Going to build it as a pure slope soarer with some servoless spoilers. Just going simple with CA glue and will probably cover it all in iron on laminate like you use on fpv wings.
Nice! What's the iron-on laminate like for weight? I can't wait to see it fly!
 

bracesport

Legendary member
@thenated0g - well this is interesting you mention the cover for your 2m spirit - I just did a quick test with some clear adhesive book cover material and wow is it easy to apply compared to the Monocoat - when I first put it on I tried to keep it taught and let the self-adhesive hold it in place - worked well - then I thought I would try the hot air gun - immediately the surface ballooned when heated, but then shrunk back to tight - compared to the Monocoat on the bottom the book covering material is a tad softer when tapped!

I wonder if anyone else has an opinion about the flight performance of the book covering material, because man it is easy to apply! :D

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bracesport

Legendary member
next, the hinges in the tail feathers - I used my technique for micro cable ties with a 'V' knocked into them with a cold chisel for creating the flex point - I use a 2mm drill to make the holes - the cable ties are PP so will hinge forever - sadly I did not take a picture with the five pieces CA glued into one side - once glued on one side I slide the other side onto the cable ties leaving 10mm exposed to drop CA onto the serrated side - then push them home with the desired clearance for flexing! :D

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bracesport

Legendary member
Now a dry fit of the complete plane - it looks pretty good I must say! :D

Looking at the CG it required a knife to balance the nose - there is no way the electronics and battery will sort that unless I use a bigger battery and a BEC (I was planning on a small battery) - so I guess there will be a bit of lead to add up the front (but not heaps) - I will also recheck the tail length as that will also affect the balance!

Raw frame weight 495g

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buzzbomb

I know nothing!
Now a dry fit of the complete plane - it looks pretty good I must say! :D

Looking at the CG it required a knife to balance the nose - there is no way the electronics and battery will sort that unless I use a bigger battery and a BEC (I was planning on a small battery) - so I guess there will be a bit of lead to add up the front (but not heaps) - I will also recheck the tail length as that will also affect the balance!

Raw frame weight 495g

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Sleek and beautiful, @bracesport! I'm loving it! :love:
 

Piotrsko

Master member
TLAR. Should fly great. Cg between front spar and front sheeting? Can't tell.

Most complaints about low temp covering are for how low the tensile strength appears to be. Seems to attract holes more often than moneycoat. Many people also hate sticky glues on their covering. Works fine for flying.
 

bracesport

Legendary member
I have been looking at the wing loading for my powered hybrid sailplane (1.5m and 850g) and it came in at a 6 for the wing cubic loading, which got me thinking about the Ridge Rat.

What do I have so far - a raw weight of 500g plus nose weight for CG (say 150g for the knife), at a total of 650g - the wing is 150x1250mm (187,500 sq mm) or 18.75 sq dm (decimeters) - WL=11.3 WCL=8 - by all accounts, this should be able to fly quite slowly and be reasonably floaty!? :D

If we added ballast say 100g, in theory, the WCL will increase to a 9.2 which is into the aerobatic territory - another 100g will increase the WCL to 10.4 possibly pushing it out of its design spec!?

Who knows if I am doing this right, but I suspect it is on-trend!

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Piotrsko

Master member
WCL in a slope ship primarily determines how much lift you'll need, but it is not open ended. Too light, it won't fly fast enough to stay up, too heavy and the speed increases until it becomes uncontrollable. I have seen official Rats up into the 15's WCL, but they flew in cyclones and weren't much fun. Like surfing a 50 meter wave in Hawaii. You can ALWAYS add CG ballast.

The chart is for typicals and has all sorts of assumptions built in which may or may not be relevant to a specific aircraft design. Consider it a rule of thumb.
 

bracesport

Legendary member
for the insignificant weight added I 3D printed some 1mm wall section inserts to accommodate the aileron servos - their shape is designed to nest between the CF flats and cover the top surface between the wing formers which should allow the covering film to integrate easily - the ends of the servo trays are open which will allow the servo wires to exit the wing! :D

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bracesport

Legendary member
@Piotrsko - yes I remember seeing the ACE foam wings somewhere - if this wing hangs together and skins well with the clear book covering I will know if I can further reduce the rib structure for a future version - I do like the modular approach.

I am thinking I will still make foam ailerons, and with the recent success of my DLG wing, I will glue on the newsprint.
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
nice and simple sloping - something to aspire to! :D

OH MY GOSH! That was exhilarating! He had me at the first snap-roll. I keep pushing you to fly your other builds, because, well. You've really just got to fly them. Otherwise, it's just wall art. Your planes deserve to at least be crashed in earnest. Lord knows, I've done my share of crashing in earnest.

It is one thing to build a beautiful RC aircraft. If it's not flown? Paint a rock, and make a door stopper. It's just as pretty. ;)

I keep on keeping on busting on you for not flying. I saw your wind forecast. It's absolutely horrible to try to fly. Unless you're slope soaring....

I'm daydreaming about me, doing that, and I've got to say. Wow. You are in the right place. You've got to fly the birds you've built, or we'll never let you live it down. But you are definitely onto the way that you are going to be flying, in the environment that you have.

No more group builds for you, unless you think you can it make it soar! (Isn't that exciting?!)

I say you've got to fly what you've committed yourself to. After that? My heart is soaring with you. I get it. You've a separate road to travel, and I've got to admit to a little jealousy. I'm not going to get to do that. I could REALLY get into slope soaring. Yep. Ok. I'm jealous. :)
 

bracesport

Legendary member
hehe - when the weather is right I will be at the park with the props twirling too!

I can not deny I am liking the slope scene, but my heart pounds every time I am at the park ready to launch something - it is obvious that unless you put in the flying time its a long road ahead - luckily I have a sweet of planes to work through this coming season!

I need to pull finger this weekend to get my #2 Spit airworthy for next week!!

this was my post from the 2019 resolutions thread in July

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bracesport

Legendary member
it is raining today, so my plan to get the Spitfire in the air is on hold - nevertheless, at lunchtime, I skinned the first wing with the covering film - no deformation of the PLA to speak of - It went on pretty easily and there are a few imperfections that I may tickle up with the iron but overall it is not too bad - if the second one turns out better I may reskin this one (we will see) - I was a bit dubious of the strength as it is less rigid in the surface than the Monocoat tests, but when I tried to cut it for the servo holes, it was remarkably resilient - For now I think I will run with this film and if it proves to be less than adequate I will have a crack with the Monocoat again!

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Wildthing

Legendary member
it is raining today, so my plan to get the Spitfire in the air is on hold - nevertheless, at lunchtime, I skinned the first wing with the covering film - no deformation of the PLA to speak of - It went on pretty easily and there are a few imperfections that I may tickle up with the iron but overall it is not too bad - if the second one turns out better I may reskin this one (we will see) - I was a bit dubious of the strength as it is less rigid in the surface than the Monocoat tests, but when I tried to cut it for the servo holes, it was remarkably resilient - For now I think I will run with this film and if it proves to be less than adequate I will have a crack with the Monocoat again!

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Looks really good, I don't see any wrinkles.