Stephen Jones Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Hi , wood worms Iam considering building a cucumber2 which is a unusual plane by doug McHard for free flight , which featured in model flyers mag in 2003 . Well i think that it would make for a nice electric rc conversion the only thing is , has any one built one before ? as i have know idea as to where the cog is , or which would be the best way of controlling it in flight . Can anyone shed any light on the subject ? . I think i will build one out of polystyrene first so i can test glide it to find its cog . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Hi , Wood Worms, here is a picture of the model i will be building .Unfortunately the great man`s untimely demise occurred before the final version of the plan had been cleared and a build instruction article had been written . So this will be a challenge that i`am up for . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flytilbroke Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 How can one tell which is it's "A" from it's "E" when the elbow looks like its in the middle Where's a head scratch smiley I look forward to the progress of this one Stephen. Not knowing anything I would take a wild guess at the centre of the top wing. I wonder how wrong I am,, or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 A good starting point for a canard is to find the points one third back from the leading edge of the front and rear wings, measure the distance between them and it's two thirds of that distance (from the front) Obviously, because the main wings are staggered biplane, allowance must be made, so I would take an average for the two thirds main wing position. Bert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 Thanks for the tip bert i will give that a go on the polystyrene one first . I don't mind cutting more polystyrene if i get it wrong .Have you any idea as to where ailerons and elevators should go on a canard , or should i use elervons like on a delta ? . Oh the back of the plane is where the rudder is flytilbroke . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Usually on a canard the ailerons go on the main wing and the elevator goes on the rear of the front wing. Bert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hi fellow wood worms, The build has been slow due to the fact i have had to scrap the rear fuselage that i made , due to the formers being lob sided . I have had to re do all formers as although they look right on the plan , there not .Along with other problems , by the time its finished i will have had to re draw much of the plan . arr well i know it would be a challenge so the build will go on . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flytilbroke Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 I can see how you are getting it together from the pics, nice. An interesting project for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted March 13, 2009 Author Share Posted March 13, 2009 Hi fellow wood worms, Well my loft/shed have been to cold to work in as of late so progress has been slow yet ,again more errors in the un-finished plan by doug McHard so i will have to re draw all of the plan. Any how here are some more pictures , i do hope it flys when it is finally finished i know it should as i belive he did fly it at one of the natinals and won a award for it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted March 13, 2009 Author Share Posted March 13, 2009 Hi again, here is the construction of the rear boom which is my 3rd build now , i wish i could of taken a video of that rudder working . It looks so cool with no visible controls . As you can see i gave up on the designers way of building it an chose my own way although doug didn't have a working rudder . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 Hi wood worms Here are some more pictures of the progress so far not too sure how i am going to power it yet as it is a twin i had thought about two electric motors and speed controllers , but then i thought about one motor with a longer drive shaft with a axle joint so i could drive two props from the one motor as it is a push me pull me . Edited By Stephen Jones on 23/04/2009 23:46:18Edited By Stephen Jones on 23/04/2009 23:50:41 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby159 Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Cracking build Stephen, thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Harris Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 It really does have an oddly graceful look about it! Your build pics give a better impression than the pic of the article. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby159 Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Any update/progress Stephen Nobby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 Hi Nobby, There has been a little progress but not enough to bother posting , i have put things on hold for the moment . As i do not know where the balance point is , i have decided to build a polystyrene chuck glider of the cucumber so i can find where the balance point is and where to put servo for the fore plane and weather there is to much dihedral on the fore plane . I had to build a foam cutter fist and now built the weather is to windy or raining to use out side due to to fumes . But rest assured i`ll keep you posted . cheers steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Grigg Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 An unusual a?c and interesting build,very challenging and you have a wonderful christian name as well congratulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby159 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Thanks for the update Steve, I have seen the plans on one of the model plans sites, and thought it would be fun Reading your thread though, I think its a bit beyond my rusty skills at present Must be frustrating to come so far and be stumped by the CoG, would have thought with the experience on this site someone would have built it and had the answer. You could have put a pound to a pinch of, that the weather would be against you. Cracking build though Nobby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted May 26, 2009 Author Share Posted May 26, 2009 Hi again, Well we had a couple of good days here in Manchester so i have been able to go flying and cut some foam parts for the chuck glider / test cucumber here are some pictures just to let you see i have not yet given up on the project. some of the wing panels are finished and covered in brown paper . when i weighed them they are lighter and seem stronger than the traditional built up balsa ones ! The foam parts placed over my plan A close up , Hope fully this shouldn't take to long to get finished although i don't have a great deal of time to put in , due to work and home Life` Edited By Stephen Jones on 26/05/2009 22:25:18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby159 Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Steve, Lot of effort just to get the CG, almost as much as you put into the model itself !! Needs is as needs be. What part of Manchester are you from and where do you fly, me I was brought up in a little village outside Manchester called Salford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted May 26, 2009 Author Share Posted May 26, 2009 Are that be the bad side of town then Well yes it may seem like a lot of effort but it has only taken me 4 days to get to this stage of the foam build as i could not cut the foam indoors. and i dont mind mind pranging the foam one and if i do it is very quick to cut a new wing weather permiting of coarse . iam from chadderton myself and i fly from bury or Rochdale site i have just noticed that we have something in common ! Edited By Stephen Jones on 26/05/2009 23:09:33Edited By Stephen Jones on 26/05/2009 23:19:26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby159 Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Aye it probably is, I´ve been gone from them parts over 39 years, though I did return to Irlam in the early 80s for a few years, suppose I would have been still flying from Barton Aerodrome if I had of stayed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 Hi again wood worms , Just thought id let you know that the foam test model is now complete and although my garden is the size of a postage stamp i have managed a small test fly and it seems to fly . Unfortunately i had to go in work so as yet i haven't had the chance to take it onto a hill i`am hoping i wont get called out tomorrow and will be able to give it a chuck of some hill . In the mean time here are some pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bandit Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Stephen, Fascinating build, the model looks familiar from the dim and distant past, but I can't find any references in my old year books. When you cover foam with brown paper, what glue do you use, I'd be interested to try it out. Cheers, Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted June 14, 2009 Author Share Posted June 14, 2009 Hi Big Bandit, This is also my first time building a test model using foam and brown paper. I heard about it from a free plan build . I must say it turned out better than i had thought, the free plan that i got this idea from was for a .15 sports scale fighter . And to make a model this way you cut the foam wings with hot wire as normal adding a leading edge and a trailing edge. Although i found i did not need to add a trailing edge on mine. The fuselage was cut to basic shape and then sanded to final shape . The brown paper is soaked in diluted PVA glue (i used general purpose PVA in a 5 litres tub) which i had left over from a building project. I diluted this PVA glue which worked fine .When fully soaked lay onto the foam, then use an old credit card or something similiar to smooth out and get rid of excess glue and then hang to dry. I only use one layer but several can be used to build up thickness and strength. On compound curves use smaller pieces . I have test glided the test model and it has proved to be robust and i will now be adding a motor to test it again before I add a motor to the balsa scale 1 i have built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby159 Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Oldest reference I can find is in the Aero Modeller mag for 1953 August and October (number 12 0n the last picture) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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