Kyosho CAP 232 crashes

[David Ashby - Moderator]

They've always had a certain reputation (bit prone to the tip-stall) Gazza, agree they look good though.

[Gazza]

I have heard that David and the first time I flew her it became very apparent! Once landed I needed a ciggy to steady my rudder hand and I haven't smoked for twenty years!! I must say though, inverted she was stable as a Sunday morning fry up, but then it would be wouldn't it!

 Thanks for the offer Peter but I have a 62" Giles that fills the gap the 232 has left and the Giles just refuses to stall which is nice.

I am tempted to remove some of the covering to reveal the formers and see once and for all whats what. After all I have nothing to loose and I certainly would not sell it or even give it away.

Happy Landing Chaps.

Gazza.  

[Peter Miller]

Interesting that it is stable when inverted. I would not have thought that that would have made much difference as my models fly much the same upright or inverted.

It would seem that the sharp taper combined with the inverted wing section is the problem

It would be very interesting to take the wing and separate it and rejoin it the other way up and trim the fuselage to fit. and see how it flew then. The servos would bo top of the wing but that isn't a problem.

[Gazza]

I can here what your saying Pete and with work I am sure this problem could be resolved. Oddly I do sort of quite like flying it as it is, it kinda keeps you on your toes!

You have got me thinking now though Pete, surely the fuz wing seat cross section cant be wrong also! Maybe like you say it is just the wing tips? If that's the case then is it just a case of modding the tips? How about a clipped wing version!?! 

As for Servos on top the wing, I don't think I could take the stick from the rest of the guys in our club!! their a funny lot like that but thinking about it I would probably do the same!!!

Gazza.

[Peter Miller]

I am pretty sure that the section will be the same all the way. That should be quite easy to check witht he aid of a straight edge and comparing the amount of curve or even just offering the wing up to the fuselage upside down.

If the section is the right way up at the root, when inverted it will only touch at the LE and TE, If the section is the same as the tip, then it will contact the fuselage at the highest point and rock.

. If the whole wing was made this way this would mean that it was engineered incorrectly then they would have made the wing seat to match the wing.

I doubt if the original designer made the mistake.

One could move the servos to the  other side of the wing but for initial tests I wouldn't bother. They might be taking the micky but you would be proving something that would be useful to a lot of people. there are still quite a few of the models out there. I saw one on Ebay a day ago.

[Essjay]

Hi All,

Just noticed this thread and thought I'd pitch in with my 2p's worth.

I've had one of these Kyosho Cap 232's now for around 8 or 9 years, it's the one in my avatar on the right, and in it's life it's had a variety of engines up front, SC52, OS46FX and now a TT54 F/S. I must say, and it's only my findings, that hand on heart I have never suffered any of the tip-stalling episodes that others seem to have.

I've just had a look at the wing section, and got my ruler out and having checked several times, I'm quite confident that the section is symmetrical.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you've all measured wrong, I wouldn't dare, but could it be that as my model is so old, that the older ones did have a symmetrical section and they've somehow changed the design in recent models (for the worse if that is the case).

Steve

[Peter Miller]

Hi Steve.

 Yes, it is possible that they modified it at some stage for some reason. From the photos above you can see that the sections are semi-symmetrical

Our club member tells me that he is stripping the top of the wing and adding extra wood on top to make it fully symetrical.

[Gazza]

Hi Steve.

Curiouser and Curiouser! I brought mine about three years ago and from the onset, tip stalling was evident, a bit like flying a war bird (Harvard springs to mind) I just make allowances for this condition but for an aerobatic ship found it somewhat restricting. Maybe Kyosho modified later models but I haven't heard of any changes or upgrades? In-fact not even sure if they make it anymore. Thanks for posting Steve and thank goodness yours behaves itself!!

Pete, I have established that the wing is consistent in manufacturer (Sections the same from root to tip and to my surprise dihedral is present be it only slight (Half Inch) Looking at the wing seat cutaway on the fuz gives me cause for suspicion as it appears to be quite shallow from LE to TE? 

The wing on mine Steve is most certainly semi symmetrical.

I will post more photos and report on my progress with this curious issue. Thanks for posting guys, great hobby is it not!!

Cheers Gazza. 

  

[Peter Miller]

Yes, the wing seat on the fuselage will match the wing and the underside has less curve.

Alasdair Sutherland in his aerodymanics column was saying that sharp leading edges  will cause tipstalling and the CAP leading edge is sharp at the tip.