Wing Conversion

[Captglvr]

Hi All,

This is my first build experience beyond the cut kits….
I want to convert my (WWI painted) Baby Blender into an Eindecker. The short coupling on the ‘Blender is just too sensitive a flyer for me. I want to build a single wing from plans that is longer and a smooth flier.
I could just make a BB wing and make it longer, but I want the ailerons and the servos out on the end of the wings (2servos).

The wing for the Tutor is perfect, but I need to have it fit the BB fuse.

Problems I see:
The Tutor wing is wider.
It also is made to sit on top of the fuse, not under.
And it appears to be thicker.
With any dihedral, the bottom area for landing gear will be slanted.

I think can put the slots for the fuse into the top of the T wing to fit into

the fuse…

These are my obstacles. I’d appreciate any advice on this project. Thanks!

 

[Merv]

A lot can change when you make the wing larger. I have made some wings that were too big, it made landing difficult. With the standard size FT plane, a wing loading 10-15 Oz per SqFt makes a good flying plane.

 

[Captglvr]

Thanks for the warning, but I want to try some version of this. Without the top wing the oz/sq ft is halved. A single wing will need to be bigger just to maintain the OG oz/sq ft ratio. I’m just trying to see if scratch builder/designers here have thoughts between making a longer original bottom wing profile or a wing that is wider as well as longer.
Thanks for your help.

 

[SSgt Duramax]

Why don't you just build an Armin wing? They are easy to build and scalable to whatever size you want. The smooth airfoil will look good too.

 

[Captglvr]

Why don't you just build an Armin wing? They are easy to build and scalable to whatever size you want. The smooth airfoil will look good too.

I looked it up and that seems like a great choice. 👍🏼 That wing looks similar to the FT Blender wing shape. I take it the difference is the way the control surface edge comes together smoothly?

 

[Merv]

... I’m just trying to see if scratch builder/designers here have thoughts ....

Here are a few resources with basic design guidelines.
https://www.scribd.com/document/147847154/Basic-Rc-Model-Design-Parameters
http://www.airfieldmodels.com/infor...f_model_aircraft/rc_aircraft_design/index.htm

 

[Captglvr]

Merv, Thanks for the resources! These are just the places I need to start my journey of coloring outside the lines...

 

[SSgt Duramax]

I looked it up and that seems like a great choice. 👍🏼 That wing looks similar to the FT Blender wing shape. I take it the difference is the way the control surface edge comes together smoothly?

Yeah, you don't have to join them like that though. I still have a 60" span 7" chord one I'm not quite sure what to do with. It was on my explorer.

The main thing is that they are scalable (watch the video, follow the directions, and scale as you choose) so you can customize whatever size you want and they are easy to make. You only really have to worry about getting one bend right and the spar in place and the rest takes care of itself as long as you fold it right.

I was thinking you could make 2 little ones, or one big one and slice the middle out and fit it to your plane.

 

[FlamingRCAirplanes]

Hi All,

This is my first build experience beyond the cut kits….
I want to convert my (WWI painted) Baby Blender into an Eindecker. The short coupling on the ‘Blender is just too sensitive a flyer for me. I want to build a single wing from plans that is longer and a smooth flier.
I could just make a BB wing and make it longer, but I want the ailerons and the servos out on the end of the wings (2servos).

The wing for the Tutor is perfect, but I need to have it fit the BB fuse.

Problems I see:
The Tutor wing is wider.
It also is made to sit on top of the fuse, not under.
And it appears to be thicker.
With any dihedral, the bottom area for landing gear will be slanted.

I think can put the slots for the fuse into the top of the T wing to fit into View attachment 216254 the fuse…

These are my obstacles. I’d appreciate any advice on this project. Thanks!

That plane is beautiful 😍

 

[Captglvr]

Yeah, you don't have to join them like that though. I still have a 60" span 7" chord one I'm not quite sure what to do with. It was on my explorer.

The main thing is that they are scalable (watch the video, follow the directions, and scale as you choose) so you can customize whatever size you want and they are easy to make. You only really have to worry about getting one bend right and the spar in place and the rest takes care of itself as long as you fold it right.

I was thinking you could make 2 little ones, or one big one and slice the middle out and fit it to your plane.

Yeah, I think I'll make in two halves and try to build a little dihedral into it.

 

[Captglvr]

That plane is beautiful 😍

Thanks!

 

[Tench745]

Hi All,

This is my first build experience beyond the cut kits….
I want to convert my (WWI painted) Baby Blender into an Eindecker. The short coupling on the ‘Blender is just too sensitive a flyer for me. I want to build a single wing from plans that is longer and a smooth flier.
I could just make a BB wing and make it longer, but I want the ailerons and the servos out on the end of the wings (2servos).

The wing for the Tutor is perfect, but I need to have it fit the BB fuse.

Problems I see:
The Tutor wing is wider.
It also is made to sit on top of the fuse, not under.
And it appears to be thicker.
With any dihedral, the bottom area for landing gear will be slanted.

I think can put the slots for the fuse into the top of the T wing to fit into the fuse…

These are my obstacles. I’d appreciate any advice on this project. Thanks!

I have a couple of questions and observations.
What is the main goal here? Are you primarily looking for a plane that is less twitchy than the Baby Blender or do you just want to build and Eindecker? I ask because these are not necessarily the same thing.

If you just want to tame down the baby blender, you can stretch the fuselage a few inches to eliminate some of the short-coupled tendencies and you can turn down aileron rates or make the ailerons only partial span to reduce roll rates. A longer single wing will do nothing to help pitch sensitivity, but will make yaw and roll more sluggish.

If you're more interested in making an Eindecker it should be pretty simple, though I don't think the BB is the best design to start modifying. The Eindecker is basically a box that tapers to one end with a wing shoved through the middle. Landing gear mounts to the fuselage so I don't understand what you were saying about dihedral on the wing.

Almost all FT wings are the same set of three folds. Sure some are a little longer in chord or have the wingtips cut off differently, but they're pretty much all made with the same relative proportions. The Otter, Tutor, Tiny Trainer, etc etc all share a wing construction.
The Baby Blender is different, however. It was a very early design, might even have been the first plane they released with a cambered wing. Does it work? Sure, but there's probably a reason they moved away from that design.
As for the wing not fitting the Baby Blender fuselage, who cares? Just build a fuselage without the wing cutouts, then trace the wing shape onto the fuselage and cut it to fit.

 

[Captglvr]

I have a couple of questions and observations.
What is the main goal here? Are you primarily looking for a plane that is less twitchy than the Baby Blender or do you just want to build and Eindecker? I ask because these are not necessarily the same thing.

If you just want to tame down the baby blender, you can stretch the fuselage a few inches to eliminate some of the short-coupled tendencies and you can turn down aileron rates or make the ailerons only partial span to reduce roll rates. A longer single wing will do nothing to help pitch sensitivity, but will make yaw and roll more sluggish.

If you're more interested in making an Eindecker it should be pretty simple, though I don't think the BB is the best design to start modifying. The Eindecker is basically a box that tapers to one end with a wing shoved through the middle. Landing gear mounts to the fuselage so I don't understand what you were saying about dihedral on the wing.

Almost all FT wings are the same set of three folds. Sure some are a little longer in chord or have the wingtips cut off differently, but they're pretty much all made with the same relative proportions. The Otter, Tutor, Tiny Trainer, etc etc all share a wing construction.
The Baby Blender is different, however. It was a very early design, might even have been the first plane they released with a cambered wing. Does it work? Sure, but there's probably a reason they moved away from that design.
As for the wing not fitting the Baby Blender fuselage, who cares? Just build a fuselage without the wing cutouts, then trace the wing shape onto the fuselage and cut it to fit.

Tench, thanks for the detailed response, much appreciated.
I had the ailerons rates way down, but it still had crazy roll rates. I even put stick-on weights on the wing tips (a trick learned from listening to the NASA Modeler talk about fixing his Prindal Wing). But is still was twitchy.
The Pitch rate was fine.
I figure any sluggishness to the ailerons might be a good thing. The Simple Scout has longer wings (with under-chamfer on the tips) It flew much more controlled. Which is what I’m after.
I think you’re right, the BB is not the right choice for a cruiser. It IS a very short-coupled plane. I forget it was an old design…

This is my first attempt to design a wing (and make it fit into a specific plane). I have redrawn plans for a 38” wing to fit. The bottom wing on the BB is rubber banded into the fuse at the bottom, the landing gear attach to the bottom of the wing. Putting dihedral into the single wing will give me an uneven surface to attach gear. But I think I can figure that out.
I think I want to try a scratch build an actual eindecker down the road, looks like a design you could do in foam board.
Thanks for the help!
M

 

[Captglvr]

Hi All,
So I adapted the FT Baby Blender bottom wing plans and built a longer, single wing. I added some chamfer to the bottom wing tips and used two servos - mounted similar to the swappable Spitfire. I maidened it today, it took 5 attempts to get her airborne, with adjustments in between…
And then she jumped into the air! After trimming and changing the CG, she flies beautifully! 😃
In all it took 23 hours from design concept, to being in the air and cruising (and painting). Worth it!
Thanks for everyone’s help. 😃👍🏼

 

[Tench745]

Very nice, glad you got it flying!