Wight Crusader v Maricardo v Aerobat

[Piers Bowlan]

7 hours ago, Nigel Grant 1 said:

I found this thread when I was looking up info about the RM Aerobat. Only a couple of days earlier I had seen that the Wight Crusader plan and article had appeared on Outerzone, Wight Crusader , if any one is interested. Looks a similar build to the Ruhig Tigre that has been discussed on here in earlier times, which is also on Outerzone. Thick symmetrical wing and relatively light build.  

OK, so which one are you planning to build Nigel?

[Nigel Grant 1]

I built the RM Aerobat a few years ago but crashed it after only a few flights when I made the mistake of letting it get a bit far down wind and throttling back before I then turned back which resulted in dropping a wing and spinning in. Should of kept the power on. Still have the plan, ply rib template and a few bits so would like to do another one at some stage. Hoping to retire at some stage this year and get some time to do it.

[Piers Bowlan]

I retired six years ago and what with two house moves and  grandchildren, I still don’t have enough time!

Good luck with your RM Aerobat V2 build, will it be a lecky conversion this time?

[kc]

Nigel, your Aerobat ended up just like mine - it seems the design is prone to dropping a wing and spinning in!  Build the Wight Crusader instead.

 

The other day I had a suprise when I opened Outerzone - there was my plane in the Wight Crusader photo!  Somebody obviously 'nicked' my photo from the Plans Service website and reproduced it again without asking my permission.    Yes my photo but reproduced badly and hence the poor quality of the grass.   But the Wight Crusader is such a good model I wont complain if it helps someone choose that design.  Note that my version has rounded wingtips and slightly extra wingspan to allow for rounding it's ended up about 53 inch.

[Simon Burch 1]

4 hours ago, Nigel Grant 1 said:

I built the RM Aerobat a few years ago but crashed it after only a few flights when I made the mistake of letting it get a bit far down wind and throttling back before I then turned back which resulted in dropping a wing and spinning in. Should of kept the power on. Still have the plan, ply rib template and a few bits so would like to do another one at some stage. Hoping to retire at some stage this year and get some time to do it.

 

Nigel, if you do choose to rebuild the Aerobat, I'd recommend moving the tailplane from the bottom of the fuselage to the top.  It's an easy modification; it looks better, it brings the tailplane into closer alignment with the wing, and it gives better ground clearance (our 'patch' is quite rough).

 

In this configuration, I've been unable to spin my Aerobat without holding on full control deflection and, so far, I've not lost control (I built it 2 years ago).

 

Also, I'd recommend building it with individual servos for each aileron and a bolt-on wing.  

 

It took time to get the flying set-up right; in particular, I found that I needed to move the CG some way aft of the plan position to achieve decent aerobatic handling.  Maybe it's not as good in the air as a more modern design, but it does reward time and effort.

 

I'm sure I've seen a thread dedicated to an Aerobat build somewhere else on this forum.

[Nigel R]

8 hours ago, Simon Burch 1 said:

I found that I needed to move the CG some way aft of the plan position to achieve decent aerobatic handling

 

I found the same.

 

I think I concluded it was because the tailplane is relatively large compared to the wing.

 

The design is quite docile, in my experience, not prone to dropping a wing at all.

 

I also moved the tailplane up, and went with a bolt on wing and 2 micro servos on the ailerons. After 2 regular servos go in, there is not a lot of space in the fuselage for an aileron servo to waggle some torque rods about.