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Dragonfly


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Hi Again,
Maidened it today. A sweet flier with slow speed handling better than expected. Does most manoeuvres easily except for knife edge, just not enough power. The elevator loses a lot of authority at the stall and she flies nose high at idle descending gently with the stick fully back if applied progressively. The ailerons and rudder are still very effective at such low speed. It can flick roll rapidly in either direction upright or inverted with quick recovery on releasing the controls. All in all very satisfying.
 
Regards
 
Adrian
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Put a bit more time on the machine and have now decided to build another. The thick wing section gives good low speed handling at the expence of extra drag, so the next one will have a thinner wing, and probably go from 15% at the root and 10% at the wing tip. I'll draw it up first to see how things look.
 
Adrian
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
Hi Folks,
The second model is in build. It is on hold for the moment whilst I'm working in Taiwan for a couple of weeks. I've decided to go electric and will be fitting an E-Power 2826 950KV 45A outrunner with a Hobby WIng Guard 60A ESC. Power will be from 3s Lipo. So far the wing is framed up and ready for the centre section sheeting. I'll be trying to get this one a bit lighter as the OS FS40 seemed a little underpowered for the original one at 4 lbs dry weight. I'll post pics of the build soon.
 
Regards
 
Adrian
 
 
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi again, Above, the original Dragonfly. Pre crunch.
Some more pics of the 2nd built machine. The fuselage is typical structure and straight forwards to build.
I had  the misfortune to have locked the elevator behind the rudder horn and removed the nose from the leading edge forwards. I took the opportunity during the repairs to fit the engine sidewinder and shorten the nose by 1.5" (ish) to bring the c/g rearwards a little. The revised configuration flies much better although the stall is still a non event with the aircraft mushing if the elevator is fed in progressively.
 

 





Edited By Adrian Hayward on 13/11/2009 16:45:12

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Edited By Adrian Hayward on 13/11/2009 16:47:40

Edited By Adrian Hayward on 13/11/2009 16:48:47

Edited By Adrian Hayward on 13/11/2009 16:49:38

Edited By Adrian Hayward on 13/11/2009 16:50:17

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  • 1 month later...
Yay!!
Did the maiden yesterday. The plane weight 1970grammes ready to fly with a 2200 3s LiPo.
The battery was way under the needed output for the motor, but the Dragonfly flew steady as anything and was well behaved. I later put a 4s pack in and the plane was transformed. It can sustain a 45 degree climb and is much better than  the FS40 powered prototype and flies as though on rails, yet can flick roll and spin with ease with instant recovery on releasing the sticks. All in all...Well pleased

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Hi,
Had a couple more flights with the plane, now with the c/g at 25% mac and with a Turnigy 4s 35c 3000MAh Lipo and a 12x6 prop. It will hold a vertical climb until uncomfortably far away, still has the ability to fly under full elevator if applied slowly as speed bleeds off with out showing any nasty wing drops. Even stalled and descending nose high I have good aileron control and if in a spin, then application of out spin aileron control will stop the spin. Square loops are good with tight corners and no rolling out, yet can be flown around a wide loop or bunt easily. There's still scope for a more rearwards c/g which will be the next series of flights. All in all I'm well pleased with the design.

Adrian
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Three more flights today. The c/g could only go back a few mm but has made a difference, as did the altered thrustlines. The plane will just hold a knife edge on both sides, and still retains the benign stall behaviour and comes out of a flick roll or spin instantly on releasing the controls. There were no issues found with the handling when practicing the "B" test schedule and the complete schedule was finshed with @ 25-30% of battery capacity remaining. A mid air contact with another plane on the last flight resulted in the right aileron servo stripping a gear which caused only a little difference in trim. Fortunately both models were relatively unscathed and were landed safely under good control. The other plane (Hotliner type) suffered some torn covering and  the tip of the tailplane lost where it joined to the main tailplane. Very lucky on both parts.
Next task is some decent pics of it in flight and some video over the next few weeks weather permitting.
 
Adrian
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