ALOFT: AH-100 Build (new title)

[G-man]

The Noise is gone. The Heat is off.

Following Wayne's advice twice:
1. The howling was cured by using TopFlite Super MonoKote all around.
2. The ESC and motor destructive overheating was cured by reducing prop diameter and battery cell count.

Yesterday, with:
MOTOR: Turnigy Gliderdrive 4.6 1120 Kv
PROP: AeroNaut 11x6 folding
BATTERY: Gens Ace 2200 3-cell
ESC: Hobbywing 60 amp
BENCH TEST: 39 amps, 430 watts

FLIGHT TEST: 1800 mAh 3-cell pack, four 10-12 second climbs on a warm, thermally day,
ESC before temperature: 84.3 degrees F
ESC after temperature: 93.4 degrees F
MOTOR before temperature: 83.9 degrees F
MOTOR after temperature: 91.6 degrees F

Flew a 20 minute thermal hunting flight and components did not get warmer than body temperature.
I an very happy with this outcome, as no cutting holes in glass fuselage needed for cooling air.

Gone is the 85 degree climb on the 4-cell pack, simulating a winch launch.
Now I have a more leisurely but still strong 60-degree climb.
I can be patient, and I'm happy have no new holes in the fuse.

// Dave

 

[Wayne]

Ok - Been dusting this one off as we have been getting a bunch of requests to get this one going.

I had a lapse of judgement and was going to add spoilers to it the design. We would let the builder decide if they wanted them or not, but 2 folks close to the design said, YUK! Ok one actually said "I hate pop up spoilers!" I had already started down the path before pulling the plug:

The problem with the spoilers on this wing is it will upset the airfoil, not as large an issue with a wing design that has a sheeted D-box. Placing the spoiler further back does help, in general no matter how careful you are, spoilers will always degrade the wings performance some.

If you should get into trouble with the AH-100, the wing is plenty strong to put her in a deep dive and scream out of the area. It should be able to carry a good lick of speed too despite the massive wing area.

So onto the BETA builds..

 

[G-man]

Simple generates its own joy.

I'm a big fan of simple gliders.
I can hold a thermal turn better with a bent-wing poly than with ailerons.
100-inch span is the sweet spot in size for me - big enough to see at a
distance, and with a two-piece wing fits in the car easily.

Those of a certain age may recall that I was your AMA Thermal Soaring columnist
for three years in the mid-1990s, and your AMA Slope Soaring columnist for 16 years
after the turn of the millennium. I've seen fire and I've seen rain.

I never did fly thermal well enough to get on the first page of the results listing at
the AMA NATS (possibly the ailerons and flaps of my Airtronics Peregrine held me back),
but I did finish fourth one year at the Southern California PSS Festival with my Su-25 Frogfoot.

These days my great joy is finding the most pleasing wing to build, mount and fly
on a beautiful PRELUDE fuselage. I have tried four of them so far, and I'm
almost holding my breath in anticipation of the Aloft AH-100, with modern airfoil,
and absolute cutting edge innovative construction components and methods.

Bring on the AH-100. Keep it simple.

// Dave Garwood

The Shaman David Sanders and Sensai Dennis Duncan have said:
"We used to think gliders were for people who couldn't fly power.
Now we know power planes are or people who can't fly gliders."

 

[Wayne]

Worked on a new wing joiner. Just a concept at this point, but like the overall direction of this. Only thing that has changed is the plastic part. This fixes a number of challenges with the old design.

 

[Wayne]

Further clean up and design. Converted to a single bolt similar to the Le Le we wing locking geometry. A single 1/4-20 nylon bolt and some front pins.

I also adjusted the dihedral for improved rudder authority.

Will do a final check of things and think we can makes some parts.

 

[Doc James Hammond]

Further clean up and design. Converted to a single bolt similar to the Le Le we wing locking geometry. A single 1/4-20 nylon bolt and some front pins.

View attachment 23941
View attachment 23942
View attachment 23944
I also adjusted the dihedral for improved rudder authority.
View attachment 23945
Will do a final check of things and think we can makes some parts.

I'm loving this kitting - it's putting in a new hybrid slant, but bringing back the old "USA" feeling when it was THE place to get the good glider kits like Bob D used to do.
Doc.

 

[Wayne]

I'm like a kid in the candy store for the very first time. Rafael printed out this new design and I am so pleased with it. Everything fits as I'd like.

I dare say this about my own design, it's light, its strong, its awesome. Lets build up a wing and beat the living tar out of it and see if we can break it.

 

[G-man]

Lets build up a wing and beat the living tar out of it and see if we can break it.

Looks great. Sounds great. Let's rock.

 

[Wayne]

Designed a jig for setting the polyhedral angles correctly.

Think we will be laser out a wing set tomorrow.

 

[Wayne]

Super rough concept of a possible fuselage. Got any feedback?

The tail shapes do not match the wing at all. But playing with different ideas for rudder to elevator placement.

Tail boom to thin? It is close to a inch tall at the leading edge of the rudder.

Just working on the tail and nose lengths and a side profile for the fuselage. Have not looked at the side tapering.

Think the tail boom is a bit on the long side.

 

[G-man]

Super rough concept of a possible fuselage. Got any feedback?

I like it a lot. Curved shapes are pleasing to the eye.

The tail shapes do not match the wing at all.

In this presentation, that does not bother me at all.
They do match the nose side view shape. That ties it together a bit.
Elliptical shapes are classic, historical, and pretty.

Tail boom to thin? It is close to a inch tall at the leading edge of the rudder.

To me, it borders on too thin. It's gotta be strong enough.

Just working on the tail and nose lengths and a side profile for the fuselage.

I like to have enough fuselage side view area to see the plane easily at a distance.
Have you sufficient interior space in front of leading edge for variety of motors and batteries?

Think the tail boom is a bit on the long side.

Perhaps. I'm thinking flight testing will help to refine that decision.
As a starting point, the Topmodel PRELUDE fuselage works well for me.

 

[u2builder]

FWIW. I like the side view. It doesn't look too thin. The top view does need to be tapered to the rear quite a bit in my opinion. Take a look at the 2.8 meter Introduction. It is very thing and uses some stiff balsa stringers in the corners. Some others use basswood. I think the nose needs to have just a little taper for looks, and should wind up square so it an transition to a round front to allow a motor and should be large enough to hold whatever common outrunner style is selected so builders can find one that is in stock in their box of spares or Aloft. If the motor is behind the firewall it needs room to run those wires without a struggle. Encased outrunners seem to never be in stock and are expensive. The Wanderer somehow gets away with a curvy fin rudder with a tapered tail that matches the wing. I didn't think I'd like it, but I do. It is such a classic. Peter Goldsmith does that on his Opal and Diamond gliders. They also have very thin rear fuselages,

 

[Tmcfarland]

FWIW. I like the side view. It doesn't look too thin. The top view does need to be tapered to the rear quite a bit in my opinion. Take a look at the 2.8 meter Introduction. It is very thing and uses some stiff balsa stringers in the corners. Some others use basswood. I think the nose needs to have just a little taper for looks, and should wind up square so it an transition to a round front to allow a motor and should be large enough to hold whatever common outrunner style is selected so builders can find one that is in stock in their box of spares or Aloft. If the motor is behind the firewall it needs room to run those wires without a struggle. Encased outrunners seem to never be in stock and are expensive. The Wanderer somehow gets away with a curvy fin rudder with a tapered tail that matches the wing. I didn't think I'd like it, but I do. It is such a classic. Peter Goldsmith does that on his Opal and Diamond gliders. They also have very thin rear fuselages,

I have an Introduction. Only problem with the thin fuselage by the tail is they can warp. When I built mine I made the horizontal and vertical stabs bolt on so I could add shims if needed. Turned out to be a good decision.

 

[Tmcfarland]

Sorry , somehow wrong photos got attached

 

[Wayne]

I have not yet attempted to do any of the side tapering.

This will be similar to the LeLe fuselage, the rear and bottom will be castellated with triangle stock in the corners and plastic bulkheads that key in. This makes for a straight and strong fuselage that is easy to build and can be sanded.

I debated some other construction methods, but the AH-100 is supposed to be an easy build, so will keep the fuselage and tail as easy builds.

Been thinking on better ways to make canopies and lock them into position. Will see if anything comes of that thought experiment.

Yes, the mock up fuselage has a ton of space in it. That long nose should be able to balance the plane with just an 850/3S pack if one wanted to keep the plane really light. I'm reluctant to make the fuselage too tall with the long nose. I do not like TIGHT wooden fuselages for non-competition models. The radio gear will have a lot of space in this model.

We usually design around an Emax outrunner motor as they are good motors for the money, and most any manufacturer has something the same dimensions and they use a normal 400 style bolt pattern. Maybe we will do something a little different for the front spinner ring to make things a little easier for the builder, just thought of a new method to try.

 

[u2builder]

I have an Introduction. Only problem with the thin fuselage by the tail is they can warp. When I built mine I made the horizontal and vertical stabs bolt on so I could add shims if needed. Turned out to be a good decision.

My Introduction fuselage didn't warp, but I made a removeable stabilizer and fin. And it came in handy because I did need to shim the stabilizer so the removeable. A removeable stabilizer is a good idea for a lot of reasons. The Introduction fuselage may be a bit on the too slim. The side view of the fuselage above looks very nice.

 

[Wayne]

As drawn the fuselage is about 18mm tall at the very rear. I'll probably make it a bit less spindly.

 

[Wayne]

OK - Played around with this some more. Fuselage is still rough, but getting closer. Horizontal is basically done, duplicating some geometry from the wing. Vertical is in shape and size only. Fuselage now has the side taper shown, not a lot as I want to keep the tail boom strong but light. Fuselage is about 40mm wide at the wing. I may change that.

She is now a plug in mid wing. Almost no changes needed to make her a plug in wing. Will lock the wing to the fuselage with magnets. So no need to bolt on the wing panels. (Don't worry the same wing will still work with the Prelude or other fiberglass fuselages.

Wing is low enough on the fuselage to allow the fuselage to be rounded on the top without getting into the wing. Want to keep the wing to fuselage joint simple and clean.

Trying to keep some curvature to the fuselage side profile, but also keep her clean.

All feedback is welcome.

Thanks!

 

[Chris]

I REALLY like the mid wing design... There's just something about it.

 

[Wayne]

Moving along.

Is this enough internal volume for you all?

The servos will probably end up under the wing as shown. This allows for a very wide range of battery sizes to move fore and aft to make CG. My best guess is we should be able to fly this very light with an 850/3S battery near the motor.

Current fuselage top profile.

This is all still very adaptable. Please let me know any and all feedback you have. I'm just shooting from the hip on this one. It is kind of classic, and kind of not. I'm tempted to thin everything up, but as drawn I think we have a good balance of lightweight and good durability without needing to resort to heavier materials.