Creative RC

A club-mate, Hugh, is building the SCEN Puma III for me and thought I would post some photos in this thread. We plan to have it completed for a maiden flight in the spring of 2024. It will be powered electric with the option of using a Power 32 or Power 46 motor as the X mount is the same size for either motor. We will likely try it out with each motor before settling on a power setup. The battery bay will accommodate battery sizes from 3300 3s to 5000 5s depending on the motor used. It will have fixed gear. The low wing will be built stock but with the lowest recommended dihedral, maybe less. The top access hatch was made longer for ease of installing batteries. A removable battery floor with support rails was built as with it being as close to the wing as possible. Some additional reinforcing is being added where we think it is needed. Of note for the fuselage the doubler along the wing saddle of the fuselage (to which the wing mounting blocks are glued on) was lazer cut out of plywood as we thought balsa was too weak. These are visible in several of the photos below. The cowl will be 3D printed as the one in the kit is flimsy and a better canopy from SIG will be used. The wing construction is next. His work is art and each time I visit his shop, I feel that I am attending RC plane building school, the only school I have ever found to be fun.

Hi Nigel, Thanks for having posted this build. I have the same SCEN Puma 3 Kit with the low mounted wing as well which I bought from a fellow in Florida as far back as 2016, maybe earlier. I will be referring to this thread when I do get to building it. I will be converting the build to electric power and may very well put in electric retracts seeing that you were able to put in mechanical ones. I see from the photos that you changed the appearance of the vertical stabilizer, will have to read further to see why you did so. Did you try flaperons to assist with slowing up the landings? That helps with some of my planes. Did you add a spacer at the rear mount to deal with the negative incidence? What positive incidence is needed on the plane? Did I read correctly in your last that you lost the Puma due to a mishap? Thanks for your reply.