Bob Cotsford Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 I've finally got around to putting together a Flair Sunrise soarer that I bought as a second-hand kit a couple of years ago. Must be the promise of some sunny evenings! Sooo, it's a 100" floater, with an undercambered built up wing. The destructions recommends covering in 'Micafilm', whatever that is. polymer films are specifically warned against. The last soarer I built was a SuperNova, many years ago, which I covered in tissue then Solarfilm. Before that it had been nylon and dope all the way. What're the members recommendations for finishing open structure highish aspect wings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 what, nobody building soarers these days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 hello bob-ten pound note's will be the cheapest ----not sure what micafilm is - i would think that litespan which is a lightweight synthetic replacement for tissue and dope-avalable from most hobby store's..will fit the bill...good luck.... ken anderson............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Bob I would stick to the tissue and solarfilm - Litespan is ok but it will drive you mad on those undercambered ribs. Bert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 tenners are out - I've only got twenties tissue and Solarfilm - I was hoping for something quick and easy, and I'm not sure how it would cope with teh undercamber. I've used litespan before, but it's not very puncture resistant, anyone used Fibafilm? Otherwise it might just end up with vintage style 'tex and lots of balsaloc under the ribs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Smalley Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 with the undercambered wing you are going to need balsa loc mate!! i have built a flair sunrise and it a great soarer i tissued the fus (quite quick really) and a i solarfilmed teh wings, i wish id used profilm !! but other than that no probs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Smalley Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 pps you dont wanna use tex as the weight on the wings will kill all the good work of finding lift Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 Thanks Lee -I've actually started covering the tail surfaces with Fibafilm, it seems to be going ok so far but I'm waiting on two more rolls for the wings. I was tempted by tex, if only because it's so puncture resistant, but opted for Fibafilm after experimenting with it. It does a good impression of doped and proofed tissue appearance wise, but is much, much stronger, closer to lightweight nylon. As there's no adhesive on it (to save weigh)t, it needs balsloc anyway. The plan is to cover the bottom of the wing, then paint on more balsaloc along where the covering touches the ribs and spar to strengthen the bond before covering the top. I'm also going to drill small vent holes in the ribs to (hopefully) prevent the ballooning effect when covering the top from forcing the film away from the undercamber on the bottom.. I've cut a couple of inches of the Sunrise's nose and slimmed it to match a 45mm spinner for a folding prop - this ones going electric. A potential 340 W into a nice big folder should have it going up quicker than a rat up a drainpipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Smalley Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 sounds interesting not sure about drilling holes in the ribs though keep em small i say !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted June 26, 2009 Author Share Posted June 26, 2009 2mm, I tried it on the rudder and it does seem to work, allowing pressure to bleed out of the covered panels so they don't inflate as you do the final taughtening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Binnie Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Hi Bob, I would have replied earlier but I've been on holiday. When I built my Sunrise originally I used Fibafilm but was never really happy with it, found it difficult to go round the wing tips and did not shrink very much. Balsaloc on the undercambered ribs worked ok and I don't remember the film coming unstuck from them. The glider was damaged after a bungee launch on a windy day and I eventually repaired it some years later. Despite the warning in the instructions I used Solarfilm all over (except the fuselage which is just sealed and painted) and it worked out fine. This summer heat is wreaking havoc on my film covered models in the loft, hope I can fix them with the iron. Cheers Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 how odd! I used Fibafilm in the end and was impressed how easily it went on, especially how much it would stretch to go round curves! My only worry is whether it will be sufficiently puncture resistant. I'll try to get a snap of it. The fuselage got filled and sprayed with car paints. I think I may have shortened the nose too much and will end up with a couple of ozs of lead in the front. I also seem to have killed the 30A Tornado 3530 340W motor that was destined to go in by daring to actually run it at 30A for less than 10 seconds. The magic smoke left the building, now the motor just trembles and gets hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Binnie Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Maybe I didn't have the iron hot enough but I did struggle to make a neat job but then again I always do with wing tips whatever the film! Difficult to pull it hard with the light structure. Fibafilm is quite tough, think I only got some minor holes and when I knocked the wingtip panels off the film kept all the bits together. Time for a new motor by the sound of it! GB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Finally, it's got a working power system so here it is in all it's glory. it only needed about 20 gms in the nose, now I just need the blustery wind to drop for a maiden flight. I might add a bit of colour trim to the tailplane, but now Garry has posted a pic of his, I don't want to be accused of cribbing his trim scheme. I'd already covered the wings when he posted it, honest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Binnie Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Nice job with the Fibafilm Bob, mine used to have all yellow wings with red bands around the tip panels. I nicked the black and yellow scheme from the DH71 Tiger Moth monoplane racer. Be interested to hear how the test flight goes, mine is not very responsive to rudder and can slip toward the low wing so I keep the final turns on the high side for safety. I have sloped it in fairly strong breezes but it was pushing it really. Cheers Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted July 16, 2009 Author Share Posted July 16, 2009 first flight (last week) was aborted as someone sent me mismatched prop blades posing as a set - nearly shook the model apart on full throttle! The replacement blades arrived yesterday, this time I checked them before leaving home. So, today I took the Sunrise out for it's real maiden. With some nicely matched 11*4 blades and a shiny aluminium spinner fitted to the BL2815 in the nose, it gave a current draw of 25A on a 3S lipo pack. It'll happily climb away at 30 degrees, chugging steadily uphill at a good rate. The first flight was curtailed at 15 or so minutes as it started raining and I ain't got wipers on my glasses. After clearing the hedge at about 20', I got a complete circuit of the strip before finally getting it to touch down - no problems with control line type circuits. In the air, it was a bit pitch sensitive - maybe needs more lead in the nose? The stall was a bit abrupt, and once it gained speed, it seemed to want to head downhill fast. Thermal turns, though , were great, locking in with just a hint of rudder to keep the turn tight. Over the years I've forgotten a lot about thermal soarers and how to set them up, but I'm sure it will all come back - if we get a few calm summer evenings! edit - recharge was 580mAh, that's a couple of short test runs with the meter hooked up, two climbs and 15 minutes flying. Not too shabby Edited By Bob Cotsford on 16/07/2009 19:04:24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Eggerton Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Hi all, I had a Flair Sunrise back in 1989 and it was a brilliant glider, a real floater thanks to that undercambered wing . Mine was covered in soarfilm and there were no problems with this covering. Does anyone have any plans of the sunrise as I would like to see the wing section used. My plan dissapeared Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 I'm pretty sure I've still got the plan along with some spare ribs. PM me an email address and I'll try to get a photocopy of the wing section, root and tip ribs sent over the next couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Bob I also have a Flair Sunrise, of some 20 years or so vintage. I (coloured) tissue covered the body and Solar filmed the wing. I have toyed with converting it to electric. But have always shied away from the exercise as a waste of time. My Sunrise was built for "Evening Competitions", where the wind was often low. When flown in moderate winds, it would come down as if in an elevator, due to the undercamber and low wing loading. It will be interesting to see how yours goes. I take it yours has the built in mechanical elevator dethermalizer. It was useful in getting it down in lift, as my models wings were not overly strong, at least by the standards of the day. I do remember one club member pushing his Sunrise model to join some lift that other models were in, which was accompanied by a horrendous noise as the wings fluttered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Check the dates on the earlier posts Erfolg, the model was maidened in 2009! Built in mechanical elevator dethermaliser????? Please explain, mine had the usual sort of all moving tail that's been common on soarers for the last twenty years. that's what came in the kit. It did suffer from flutter if the speed got too high under power or when trying to get out of lift, so it needed to be climbed steeply to keep the airspeed down. It finally succumbed while spiralling down out of lift when it got too fast and stripped the rudder servo gears, resulting in one wing being written off. I've enough in the second 'spare parts' kit that came with it to resurrect it sometime. Maybe I'll build it some wings without the undercamber, or at least stiffen them a lot. Part of the problem with it was that it flew so slowly that the rudder was a little unresponsive and the model needed to be dived to gain speed before it would turn sharply, a little too much and you could see and hear the wings fluttering. On a flat calm summer evening it was in it's element though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Bob I am sure this is it. The wings and tailplane will be in the garage, not as easy to find. It is an old design. The keys are for scale. The mechanical dethermalizer, is a mechanism, where full up is given (from memory) moves the tailplane through a very large angle and thereby stalling the wing, Perhaps double clicking on the image will show the range? As I have said, good in still air, useless for competion work in the lightest breeze, almost anything would out perform it. Good for lazy evenings etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Ah, I understand now. Apologise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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