FlyZone Beaver – Update #2

Spent a little time looking at the water rudder connections and decided to just eliminate one rudder… never needed more than one on any other float plane… then do a standard pull-pull connection to the other.  It’s all rigged now.  Looks like this:

 

Re-rigged water rudder on the FlyZone Beaver.
Re-rigged water rudder on the FlyZone Beaver.

 

Kept the eyelets on the end for adjust-ability and used Kevlar thread for the runs just because I had a small amount on hand that was probably not enough for anything much larger.  I haven’t tested it yet so will have to get back with update #3 with a report after a field test… or is that pond test?

FlyZone Beaver – Update #1

Just a quick update with thoughts after float flying the FlyZone Beaver.

The plane does fly well off of water and looks great in the air with the floats attached.  But I continue to find shortcomings that make me wish for a bit more refinement from FlyZone.

In this case its the water rudders that have me irritated.  No two ways about it, the linkage mechanism with the rubber bands to return them to center is just a bad design from square one.  They are impossible to get to center well and especially to do so repeatedly.   The rudders will turn sideways and drag in the water (of course only one at a time) causing uneven drag and unexpected turns.  I usually say a water rudder is a necessity for float planes but I’m tempted to disconnect these permanently.  Maybe I can rig a pull-pull cable system for one and remove the other….  its worth a try because the system as is… is just crap.

The plane is not particularly overpowered either so taking off does require some time using the water rudders.  It’s not terribly underpowered either, unless your dragging a sideways rudder through the water on takeoff!

In case you are wondering, while at the Nall recently I was camped next to two guys who both had them and they had the same issue with the water rudders… it isn’t just me!

I will continue to fight this problem so if I come up with an acceptable solution I will post again.  With the money invested and the space it takes to haul this plane around with the wings attached permanently (for all intents) I have to at least make it into a good float flyer so it won’t become a total hangar queen!

 

 

Changes to the 50cc Slick… Gas tanks and propellors

My WildHare Slick with DLE-55 power has always been a great airplane to fly.  This is my second one and I have learned a lot since I flew one first about 5 years ago.  As I learn more about mixes, balancing, setup, etc… I continue to make minor changes both for performance and to suit my own preferences.   The most recent changes are a new Falcon 23×9 CF propeller and a new fuel tank.  First I’ll talk about the tank and the reasoning behind it.

I had noticed that with all the other setup at least in the ballpark, I could not set my elevator to have enough throw to get a clean break in my spin entries AND at the same time keep it from snapping out if I pulled a tight loop.  A friend of mine pointed out that this could be because the plane was to nose heavy.  That seemed plausible as I have a tendency to setup my aircraft that way.  I’m leery of getting into a tail heavy setup as that makes the plane to sensitive and jerky on the sticks.  Doing some quick flying checks it did appear I was even more nose heavy than I normally fly so I started looking to remove some nose weight or shift it back.

I’ve never been fond of the standard tank setup in these gas birds as the tubing hardens or softens over time (depending on what type you use) so I had gone to a RotoFlow tank which has internal brass tubing with a heavy clunk that rotates in the back of the tank.  A couple years of use has proven they are really very nice systems.  The problem in this case is the tank is in front of the balance point and therefore contributing to the nose heavy issues.  The one problem with these tanks is that they are heavier than about any other setup.  I have a 24oz tank in my Slick which is really far more than needed if  you have a reliable pickup system… which it does.  That means I could stand to use a smaller tank as well… more weight savings from the tank material as well as carrying less fuel would lighten the plane and shift the balance.  Just what the doctor ordered.

I looked around and saw that many folks (especially the 3D crowd) had gone to what I call the “water bottle” tanks.  They are made of extremely thin (and therefore light) plastic like most water bottles are now.  Though I would be going back to the tubing that will likely harden and necessitate replacement every so often, this is less of an issue since the tank is so easy to get to in this airplane.  I found a nice 20 oz bottle from the good folks at B & E Graphix which is preassembled with a nice felt covered clunk and installed it with a savings of about 4 ounces in weight plus carrying 4 liquid ounces less fuel for a nice overall weight savings.  This is just in front of the wing tube so won’t be a big balance change but every little bit helps and overall weight savings is good as well.  For around $17 it seemed like a pretty good deal.

http://bandegraphix.com/products/product_images/tank%2020oz.jpg

 

The second change I made at that same time was to swap my Xoar 23×8 Laminate for a Falcon 23×9 Carbon Fiber.  I broke one of my Xoar props recently when a taxi with tailwind turned into a “nose stand” maneuver :-(.

I had heard good things about running one of these with a DLE-55 (which is what I run) and was assured by the vendor that even with my canister (Proflow… it has been excellent so far) it would not drag my motor down any more than the Xoar does.  I get about 6200 with the 23×8 but the Falcon looks to be a bit thinner blade so the pitch may not cause as much of an issue.  Checking the weight resulted in good news.  The Falcon is 1-1.25 ounces lighter than my laminate Xoar.  This should help the nose heavy issue quite a bit being as it is weight that is about as far forward of balance as is possible.

After both these changes were accomplished I have done half a dozen flights and noticed my balance is much closer to neutral than before.  Still just a touch on the nose heavy side but by only a small margin which makes me very happy.  The Falcon gives me a bit more speed on the up lines and seems to still brake enough to keep the down lines from gaining much speed so all in all, an excellent choice of prop for my needs.  $70 is not what I’d call cheap but CF props never are!  I haven’t tach’d it with the new prop yet but performance seems fine in long pulls so I expect to see about the same RPMs as before.  Nicely in the lower power band of this motor and ideal for what I do with the airplane.

Overall both changes seem to have accomplished what I wanted.  I encourage anyone with similar desires to try these products out.  They seem to be winners.

 

Favorite Picture from Joe Nall 2013

This is a photo I took at the 2013 Joe Nall.  To me, it expresses pretty well what the whole event is about.

IMG_4554

Its about 7 AM as the sun is up over the tress.  Dew is heavy on the grass and an early morning fog is trying to burn off.  It’s a hazy but cool early morning in rural South Carolina.  Maybe 60 degrees now, but the air is heavy with moisture and it is definitely on its way to 85 and sunny later on.  Things are relatively quiet with just a few RC planes cruising in the haze.  Most folks are sitting around their camp sites planning the day and having some breakfast.  Looking out from my campsite situated just north of the Electric flight line… this is what the morning looks like.  A young man about to get his first flight of the day is almost silhouetted against the bright morning sky.  From the main flight line to my North a large gas powered biplane passes overhead.  The start of another beautiful day at “The Nall”.

 

 

Just Returned from Joe Nall 2013

Just got back from 4 days at Joe Nall 2013.  Was a good time as always.  I have about 1000 pictures to sort through and will try to come up with a slide show… maybe next weekend.  Quick list of gut reaction and hits and misses at the Nall.

Hits – Float flyers: They were out in force with even bigger and better Cubs (40 and 50% Cubs as well as what looked like a 60% or so monster) as well as lots of Icon A5s, Beavers, etc…, Facilities: Bathhouse expansion back at 3D, power at the Electric flight line, bypass lane at entrance.

Misses – Loss of Trees: I know this will be controversial but taking out the trees at the main flight line took some of the natural beauty away from the Triple Tree site.  It’s not like the runway and overflight area weren’t already very wide.  Many sites have much less…   Main line aircraft: I’ve been 4 of the last 5 years and this year it seemed like the main flight line had fewer and smaller of the big scale birds than in the past.  It seems like the growth is down at 3D and Electric along with the new CL circles while the main line diminished.  That seemed understood and accounted for at the 3D area but Electric was beyond capacity pretty much all afternoon with 5 flight stations (and some others joining in) active and 4 or 5 folks waiting at each.

I’ll do some posts on my particular Nall experiences over the next few days.

Tuning the DLE 55 Part II – Problem solved

Finally got back to the field tonight and adjusted the carb.  Took between 1/8th and 1/4 turn richer on the low end to cure the hesitation to throttle up.  In retrospect it seems obvious the engine was starving at the low end and having trouble transitioning.  Once on the high needle it ran well.  After the low end adjustment I had to go back and “un-do” my previous maladjustment of the high end.  Taking it back a bit leaner to allow it to peak out the way it should made the motor behave quite nicely with plenty of high end power in the humid and 82 degree weather.

I did, also add a bit more Amsoil to my gas before leaving home to bring it up to around 50:1 and help the engine survive my misguided adjustments… just in case.  So far it appears my adjustments didn’t result in any lasting issues and the engine is now running fine at the new settings and new mixture.