AA / Xtwin Platz Pelican

[Sci_fighter]

Hi. Thought I post this new AA ( Xtwin ) powered plane that I came up with recently. If you still have your old Silverlit Xtwin ( twin motors ) plane, get the gears out and you can try to make one too .

I guess you can try substituting the depron and EPP materials ( materials are from US ) with balsa (for fuselage) or local foam sheets (3mm? ) from artfriend ?

Just hope to share the fun which I had with this plane with all of you here . Cheers !!

Short vid here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH0DYwZdP4w

and the plans & some photos :

[$h@d0w]

C'mon doc, show more of your stuffs using the Silverlit Xtwin motors!!

[Sci_fighter]

The rest of the small AA powered planes that I have made in the past were not as unique as this new one which I thought is also more fun to fly and simpler to make. You can catch a glimpse of the other AA planes at my DH gallery. Unfortunately I did not document all their builds as much as I did for the Platz Pelican . This is probably my first attempt on a new plane design . Am very glad it flies. Now awaiting someone else to make one too and see if the plan posted needs revision.

[Crafter]

Fantastic!

Hi Sci Fighter and Shadow,

Sigh, long time since I saw you guys there. How's the gang?

Scifighter, did you design that yourself? It looks very stable. Great job as usual! I'll must take a closer look at those plans you attached. Interesting.

Hmm, from the video, looks like you guys are still confining yourselves to that corner of the field. :> Good to know you can still fly there.

OK, thanks for sharing your uncommon stuff. :>

Pete

[Sci_fighter]

Hi Crafter. It's been a while. Nice to hear from you. I dont fly as frequent as $hadow now at JW. Got hooked on footy sailing for the time being .

[$h@d0w]

Yeah, once a while we switched to sailing.

[Crafter]

Actual size?

Hi Sci_Fighter, Shadow,

So you all bitten by the 'boat-bug' :>

Sci_Fighter, I printed out your plans (so it was designed by you). I printed it 'as is', no reduction, and it spans almost 21". Is that the actual size? It doesn't look that big in the video. At 21" span I think it's a good candidate for a single 2211-2000kv 10g motor, or maybe the smaller one will do. Looking at the picture of the original Platz, flight control was achieved by manipulating the upper wings, something like 'wing-warping' (Wright Flyer)?

Pete

[Crafter]

...and the CG position?

Yes, where should the CG position be? He he :>

[Sci_fighter]

Hi Crafter. Yes. It's about 21 inches wing span. It is actually a canard plane.

I have to down trim the alierons on the upper wing a lot to generate lift and up trim a little for the alierons on the lower larger wing. The alierons on the lower wing actually controls left and right directions while those on the front upper wing controls lift / dive. For this AA version, the trims are done as shown in the plan and fixed in position without further adjustment. So the plane is set to auto-lift and I just let the AA motors do the work - directional control and thrust.

If the 10g motor is to be used, I guess the plane may have to be scale-up some more but not sure how much bigger ( 80cm wing span ?? ). Then mount the motor on the back of the pelican's head like a pusher ? Also some space is needed to install the servos.

CG ? I am not very sure but I have to mount the AA battery up very front under the pelican's beak for proper flight. So I guess it is located somewhere near the eye of the pelican ?

[Crafter]

Yep, I gathered that much studying your drawing. If I'm not wrong, all the trimming produces a +ve incidence that enables flight to be sustained? Yes, putting a single motor at the back of the 'head' looks like the best position. I wonder if the head(and beak), if pivoted vertically, could serve effectively as a rudder? Hehe. Just musing.

I guess the CG position can be experimented with. Can try it someday, but for now I've swung back to another hobby of mine, making electronic projects. Lately though, my electronic projects are R/C-oriented as well. Hope to finish them soon then get back to building again.

[Sci_fighter]

Thanks to RacerX208 (RCgroups), the Platz Pelikan has been listed on

https://www.aatoolbox.no-ip.org

in the Aeroace "Beyond Art and Imagination" section too . Over there, you will see many more designs by others too using AA gears. Cheers !!

[Crafter]

micro gear

Hi Sci_fighter,

Speaking of micro-gear, you've probably heard about the Spektrum AR6400 6-ch Rx brick (with 2 servos and ESCs onboard) and the 2100 servo? It's getting us all excited, but not cheap though.

Pete

[Sci_fighter]

Yes. Read about it. It is nice to have . But having burnt myself once with the RFFS100 system (from DWE which went bust) I learnt to take it easy. So just play with the cheaper Xtwin gears.

[Crafter]

Yes, I read about the DWE thing. Well, the AR6400 is by Spektrum, so I think they should be able to last. Right now I believe it's in quite hot demand. One web outlet I checked is sold out on both the Rx and its additional servo. Don't know whether they are sold locally yet...

Oh, are you still buying X-Twins to 'cannibalize' for their electronics? Last I saw, but don't know the current situation, was that Carrefour Suntec was selling them at $19.90

[Sci_fighter]

I have stopped buying now as I ended up with too many of the Xtwin transmitters . So just swoping the electronics from one plane to another .