Versa Wing air foil

Swanno

New member
I am about to try some hot wire cutting and I have always liked wings. I was trying to find out what air foil the versa wing was similar to as I really like its size and characteristics. Does anybody know what air foil it is? Did Josh create a new one? I could build a section of the wing and copy the air foil onto paper in order to build my templates for hot wire cutting if needed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Another option would be the Clark Y air foil but there are so many possibilities I'm lost.
 

RAM

Posted a thousand or more times
This will probably make the decision harder but you should take a look through this thread at rcgroups.
http://www.rcgroups.com/nurfl-gel-762/?sort=views

This is the closest thing I could find showing the versa wing profile. If you are going to hotwire your own wing you can eliminate the need for the wing tips. The Versawing is flat bottomed, you can add some twist if you hot wire.
versa-build-4.jpg
 

Swanno

New member
Yeah, I guess there is no similar air foil to the versa wing and I will probably have to make one out of foam board in order to get a wing that I can make template copies of.

Thank you for taking the time to try and help me out. I will practice on a wing for the new arrow and test it to see if using this method will produce a plane that is similar in flight characteristics. I will post how it turns out. I'm sure a few others would be interested in templates to hot wire the versa wing or arrow as it is hard to get lightweight foam board over here but easy to get insulation board.
 

Swanno

New member
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Swanno

New member
Well, I have since made the template sketches for the air foil which involved building half a wing. My friend was with me and we built it within 15 minutes so we went ahead and made the other side. The foam board alone came out to around 318 grams. Maybe we were a bit more conservative on the glue this time around. I will have a better Idea after we add the electronics because the problem stemmed from the trying to get the CG. We might end up mounting the motor further forward and see how this helps with the heavy foam board.

Just have to mount the templates now. If they turn out nicely I will post the picture of the two different versa wings.

Here is the arrow for an idea of the CG problems we will probably face with the Versa Wing.

Arrow.PNG
 

kacknor

Build another!
The cut out panel appeals to me for more then just the practical weight savings. I think it looks good too. Saw a nutball-like wing profile flyer last week at the Dome that had the look of stained glass using colored foil on the cutouts! Very nice effect.

Hope to see a flight vid soon!

JD
 

Swanno

New member
Still working on this project, just my versa copter replacement parts came... I will post an update after I have flown the hot wire cut versa wing.
 

Halcyon2k6

Junior Member
Are you expecting there to be any issues with the cutouts in regards to an earlier boundary layer separation or more turbulent air flow? Do you think the wing will fly any differently? Sorry I know super nerdy....
 

Basic

New member
Have you considered a symmetrical airfoil? The flat bottom wing will need quite a bit more reflex of the elevons.
 

Swanno

New member
Are you expecting there to be any issues with the cutouts in regards to an earlier boundary layer separation or more turbulent air flow? Do you think the wing will fly any differently? Sorry I know super nerdy....

I had to look up that term, haven't been doing this sort of thing that long. If I understood correctly from the quick search I did, I don't expect the air flow to separate early off the hot wire cut wing. I did round the corners where the folds are made on the foam version and I intend to cover it with tape or some sort of contact to smooth out the surface to get the best air flow I can over the wings. It is still possible that the boundary layer separation will occur at one of those fold rib locations and if so it will affect the overall lift of the aircraft by reducing the potential pressure differential over the top of the wing compared to the bottom. (Can someone tell me if this is correct?)

I expect that this version of the wing will fly better than my versa wing out of foam as it should come out lighter. I have not used a versa wing made from Flite Test Foam board though so I can’t compare it to that. I can however say that I will be using Power Pack C with a 2200 mah battery. If you are interested I can post a version of the sketches I did of the versa wing air-foil at the middle of the versa wing and on the edge. It will include the ailerons tapering off to a point though.

To answer the rest of the questions I think the wing will end up being a bit more 'floaty' due to the more curved air foil, hopefully the air flow will be a bit less turbulent but It’s usually pretty windy here so I will only be able to investigate that on one of those 'unicorn' days. The symmetrical air-foil sounds interesting. If this wing turns out well completed I could always try that out next.
 
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Swanno

New member
Got some free time this week, so I'm going to make some head way on this project which for a while was put on hold. I recently came across an article in which JimmyP39 does a similar process to make a 120% blunt nose versa called "Hot wire build of the blunt nose versa wing" which is a great resource if anyone is interested in making a hot wire cut versa wing.

The main influence over this project was a fellow Australian, Andrew Newton who due to the lack of comparable foam board to Adams Readi Board in Australia uses a hot wire to cut and model insulation foam board which is readily available in varying sizes from Bunnings Warehouse into some very nice looking planes. Check out his videos on youtube listed under his name.

I'm probably going to be a bit stingy on my first build, using light wood spars and packing tape to seal the wings. In Andrews more recent builds he used a slightly modified clark z airfoil for his FT mini Arrow build which looks like it reacts really well. Although I finished tracing the Versa Wings airfoil a while ago and other than the flat bottom it appears to be very similar to the modified Clark Z airfoil with a slightly more aggressive curve on the front edge.

At first I intended this model to be more of a LOS plane but after a month or so and some more LOS flying on a 4 Channel plane I wouldn't mind trying out FPV which I already have gear for as I intended to try out FPV in December... So I want this plane to have a wide battery placement envelope on 2200s for LOS with no FPV gear and with FPV gear.

If this project works out well I have no doubt I will use this plane frequently.
 
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Swanno

New member
Well, it has been a while since I made an update on how this background project has been going.

I have made a hot wire bow and templates for cutting the foam into the shape of the versa wings airfoil but I found that the elastic I was using to keep tension on the wire was not strong enough and when the wire heats up and expands I don't get the tension I need to make a nice clean cut. I ended up with a few ripples in the foam but the biggest problem is the leading edge of the airfoil. Instead of ending up with a straight leading edge like the versa wing mine was curved inwards (concave) producing what looks like a large Radjet wing. I was hoping I could get away with doing it by myself but it looks like I am going to have to get someone else to help me cut in order to get the tension and accuracy required to make the large versa wing sections.

Hopefully I can figure it out and get this wing flying soon.
 
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Swanno

New member
At last an update with some substance. Well it was raining most of the week and raining on and off and windy the rest so I decided to make some much needed progress on the Versa Wing. Yes it has taken me a while I know...

Clamping and Gluing BN Versa Wing.JPG

Templates for the airfoil.JPG

Versa Wing BN parts.JPG

Versa Wing BN.JPG

All the photos seem to be out of order, but you can tell what is in each picture.

I used too much Gorilla glue so I am going to have to do a little bit of sanding now but that doesn't matter because I still need to get some 9 gram metal gear servos, some plywood to make the battery bay nice and solid and improve the strength of the blunt nose section for landing because I fly in a field with rocks and lumpy grass.
 
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Swanno

New member
Well it has taken me a long time but my Blunt Nose Versa Wing is almost ready for its maiden.

Wingspan: 1200 mm
AUW (Flight Weight): 970 grams
Motor: Emax 2215-09 (Power Pack C)
ESC: 30 amp BLheli
Prop: 10x4.5 or 9x6
Center of Gravity: 7 inches back from leading edge
Receiver: X8R (it came with my taranis x9d so I thought I would give it a go)
Servos: 9 gram hexatronic metal gear servos from Hobbyking
Doubled servo horns for strength
Battery choice: 2200 3 cell 20C, or 45-90C which I usually use on a quad.

I ended up giving it a thrust test before I added the vertical stabilizers and skid plates. At full throttle it pushes up my arm vertical so I believe the motor will have enough thrust (the motor specs recommend a model weight of 300-1100 grams so I should be fine). I am hopeful that the plane will cruise at 60% throttle.

Finished wing.JPG

I may also need to cut some relief on the elevons. They may bind with the coreflute (coroplast) vertical stabilizers.

Any suggestions on a stronger power setup are welcome this is the biggest motor, prop and battery combo I have.
 
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Swanno

New member
Well I took some time today and went for a maiden.

I had a guy come over before I launched and told him it was it's maiden and I didn't know how it would go. I shattered his hopes with a nose dart on take off. I tried editing the trims, adding forward weight to the cg but couldn't manage to get it to work. It either wanted to go straight up or nose dark. My first thought was that the motor was mounted incorrectly but it appears to be almost perfectly parallel with the base of the wing. There was a bit of wind but I just couldn't keep it under control.

I ended up losing a servo stopper nut and the two forward skid plates I installed as an after thought took 20 or so attempts at a flight and snapped off. I just carefully pulled them off the body. The two forward skid plates saved the nose of the plane. The only other damage was some compressed foam which now shows minor crinkles nothing too serious.

I made a few modifications to the plane. I changed the servo stoppers for Z bends, I switched receiver and radio back to the one I usually use on planes (the Taranis settings are confusing and after the crash I would rather just get it working with something I know) the Taranis is good on multirotors though.

I dialed in low and high rates as well as 30% expo on low rates and 60% on high (I set high at throws I won't need so the expo is just to manage it for the maiden until I can work out what it needs.) I also put 5 degrees of up in the elevators at the neutral point and switched the prop from the slow fly 10x4.5 to a more aggressive 9x6.

I think I wasn't giving it enough speed on launch, I had one short flight (10 seconds) where it was going well but then stalled. My controls were limited even with throws that were sufficient on a similar model (standard Versa Wing). I believe I was under airspeed for the plane, resulting in the airfoil stalling and limited controls due to little air over the control surfaces. I hope the change in prop will allow me to get sufficient speed on take off to prevent the airfoil stalling.

Just have to replace the forward skid plates which will only take 10 minutes or so then its time for another go hopefully a successful flight. I took too long on this project I'm not going to give up on it until I am forced to cut the wings smaller and make it into a mini BN Versa Wing.