ALOFT: AH-100 Build (new title)

[Tmcfarland]

We have been refining some very small details, and coming up with a much better wing brace for the polyhedral. It took us a few revisions, but we are now about half the weight, stronger and much easier to build. You know, our mantra. Not much to see, but here you go:
View attachment 24282

Funny how much time can go into a very simple part. Often times the balancing of manufacturing and builder ease can oppose one another, but we are getting better and better at uniting the two. Thank you very much to Rafael for his suggestions to improve this little guy.

The fuselage is going through its refinement steps. Once the next round of bulkheads are printed, we should be able to build the first example.

Really enjoy watching the progress. As far as I know there are no other kits on the market making such use of 3D printing.
I know have decided against spoilers and your points are valid. But virtually all kits of 2 meter and larger have spoilers or flaps. Spoilers can be finicky to get them to close properly and can warp over time. I was wondering about a 3D printed spoiler and tray. A system designed around a particular servo. Basically would just drop right into the precut ribs. Kit could be sold with two sets of ribs giving the builder the option to go either way. Just some thoughts. I look forward to building one.

 

[Wayne]

Not a bad idea.

Wing under construction:

Prototype kits should ship out next week.

 

[u2builder]

Do you think this will be available for a winter building project? It would be at the top of my list if it is. I have a great Planes Spirit 100 kit but I think the AH100 will be about half the weight and incorporates 3 decades of advances.

 

[Wayne]

Well, it was suggested to me today that we release about 10 early kits. I'll think on this and we might go that route. Alpha builds are currently in progress with a few hickups we need to fix and send out new parts for. This is why I like Alpha builds.

 

[G-man]

>Do you think this will be available for a winter building project?
>It would be at the top of my list if it is. I have a great Planes Spirit 100 kit
>but I think the AH100 will be about half the weight and incorporates 3 decades of advances.

u2builder:​

I think the Great Planes Spirit 100 is a great choice to mate with the Topmodel Prelude fuselage,
I base my assessment on the proven stellar performance of the 78-inch SPIRIT and the motorized version SPECTRA.
Those two are truly excellent flyers, superior to Gentle Lady, Sophisticated Lady, TH Vista, HH Sensoar in our experience here.
Do ya think the Triple Taper leading edge could make the difference?

The Spirit 100 could be the next wing I build if there is slack time on my workbench this winter.
I do want to see if the lovely flight performance scales up from 2-meter, and I have a PRELUDE fuselage at the ready.

My kit has two wing choices. Are you thinking of building the floater wing with spoilers,
or the advanced wing with ailerons and flaps?

// Dave
.

 

[u2builder]

Thanks Dave

My kit is the same. If I build it I'll build the Poly wing with the Selig 3010 airfoil. I have come to like the R/E floater style of flying, the look of the more pronounced polyhedral, the lower flying workload for gliders and it builds lighter. But I have also been thinking about building a 3m Paragon because it just gets such great reviews from all the old time glider guys and it builds light and apparently plenty strong for electric launch. And then there is the AH-100 waiting in the wings so to speak. I have run of of space to store gliders so I need to choose carefully.

The plus for the Spirit 100 is I have it, and could start building now whereas I'd need to get materials and plans printed for the Paragon or wait for the AH 100 to become available. It is good to see your assessment of the Spirit 78. I built a Gentle Lady a couple years ago and I actually like flying it better than my modern YJ/Medina/Purito motor gliders so it speaks well for the Spirit.

 

[G-man]

> I have come to like the R/E floater style of flying,

Yeah man, same here.

Here is my recommended accessory for R/E laid back flying:
Five lean back positions. Pillow flips in or out of the way.
When I ordered mine, orders over $50 were shipped free.

Bass Pro Shops High Seat Beach Chair $54.99

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-high-seat-beach-chair?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Cabelas%7CShopping%7CPMax%7CProprietary%7CGeneral%7CNCO%7CGoogle%7CNMT&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21733732293&gclid=Cj0KCQiAuvTJBhCwARIsAL6DemjRmZWocchq1HS7lTaB-nevLRFQjjIf9C0Rv83cgzD8wDKJxWPtaakaAp7CEALw_wcB

.

 

[G-man]

The plus for the Spirit 100 is I have it, and could start building now whereas I'd need to get materials and plans printed for the Paragon or wait for the AH 100 to become available.

I am here to complicate your decision, my brother.
First two flights on AH-100P (P for prototype) accomplished in an upstate NY January thaw earlier this week.
Lovely flight performance. Just lovely.
// Dave

 

[u2builder]

Ah Dave, I am jealous! It is really lovely and it is great to hear such as positive flight report. And to hear that you've been flying during this cold winter in the NE though it has been warmer for the last week. I've been following the AH-100 since the almost the beginning of this thread waiting for the AH-100 to come to fruition and it is great to see the nearly final wing in the air.

But alas, I am old, closing in on the "extreme elderly" category and in the middle of a long NH winter so I am just building what I can while I still can. I am into the 100 inches lately have built most of the vintage 2m, and built the Wanderer 99 last summer after your report on that wing, and Peter Goldsmith's Diamond in the fall (just lovely) as well as a Sinbad 98 (which I have nick named the "Plywood Pirate", and may be too heavy for me to hold to launch!). After our last on-line meeting in this forum I went ahead built the Spirit 100 Sport Wing with the wood fuselage (surprisingly pretty) and am planning on doing the Advanced Wing (because why not even if I have no real need for ailerons and flaps) as soon as I finish the plans built Paragon 3m I am working on. It is interesting to see all the different techniques and work out various mods and electrify these old birds as I am sure you well know. All these gliders except the Diamond are coming in at about 50 oz, as did my Oly II and BOT I built 6 years ago and all have wing areas in the (900 ish sq in) except the Diamond (lighter, 38 oz, 790 sq) and the Paragon (1080 sq and I think I'll will also be around 50 oz).

So, back to the AH-100, I am curious what the AUW will be for this bird. I see that it may be 1/3 lighter than your version on the Prelude fuselage, so I bet if you gave me the weight of yours I can do the math. I am guessing around 36 oz is possible with a light motor and battery given that all my lead sleds are coming in at 50 or so with 1500 - 1800 mah 3S and somewhat oversized motors for balance.

It would be good to see the "specs" on the AH-100.

 

[Sandman]

Hey Dave
I'm curious, how does the AH100 wing compare to the OLY, Wanderer, or Riser 100 wing as far as weight.
I had a Prelude fuselage, which was really light for its length, can the balsa AH100 fuselage possily be lighter?
I'm interested in a winter build, hope the kits are available soon.
Don

 

[G-man]

Hi Don,
My PROTOTYPE wing is 4.5 ounces lighter than my lightest 100-inch wood wing.
That is with a metal wing rod. Future kits will have a carbon rod and will be even lighter.
The fuselage kit is not out yet, so I can't speak to that. But for sure they are working on keeping it light.
// Dave

 

[G-man]

> I am curious what the AUW will be for this bird.

My all up weight as flown last Tuesday with 135 gram motor and
170 gram 3-cell 2200 battery pack was 1022 grams, 36.25 ounces.

Remember, mine is an early prototype that has a metal wing rod.
Future kits will be supplied with carbon wing rods. Even lighter.
Mo lighter, Mo better.

 

[Wayne]

Excellent!

The goals for the AH-100 wing were to use a very good airfoil that allows for both faster and slower flying speeds, great thermal performance and don't let the structures of the wing mess up the airfoil. Dave wanted a lot of wing area, for reduced wing loading. We have nothing that will trip up the airflow over the airfoil. The other goals were strong flutter control, a robust but light spar, and keeping it easy to build. As a side benefit it is also a rather pretty wing IMHO.

When we flew the prototype I was not in love with the rudder authority, so we made some very small dihedral adjustments, and it sounds like that has worked out very well. That was one of the biggest questions I had for Dave, so very happy he likes it.

 

[u2builder]

Very Impressive. Pretty sure the wood fuselage with longer nose AH-100 will require a lot less motor and battery to balance. Sounds like it could wind up at 30 - 32 oz which would be amazing.

 

[Wayne]

Yes, that is exactly my goal with the long fuselage. I'm not sure of the moments yet, I suspect the nose is too long right now, but we shall see.

 

[Wayne]

Been going back and forth on the wood fuselage and here is a rough mockup with a new tail too:

Went from a big boxy thing to a very minimal fuselage, and now to something sort of in the middle. Enough area under the wing to hold onto when launching, and drops the motor and battery a little lower down for better roll stability. Servos are inverted, and will have a small access hatch from the bottom. The battery will have a traditional top canopy hatch.

Side profile:

Battery shown is a 3S 850. So lots of room for different battery and motor combos. I'd like her to CG with this small motor and battery shown. Should be plenty of performance, but others can put in larger setups if they like.

The fuselage still has lots of room for triangle stock and plywood doublers to keep her light but strong.

 

[u2builder]

Very pretty but the fuselage aft of the wing "looks" fragile for such a big wing. It may just be the perspective of the illustration. The plywood doubler might protect the nose but might protect the tail. I know the knock on the original Riser 100 was that the fuselage, which was lite ply, was prone to snapping of right behind the wing, perhaps due to the lightening holes. I am not sure balsa tri stock would provide much extra strength.. I know that Peter Goldsmith's Diamond and the well known German engineered Introduction, which both have skinny rear fuselages, have basswood doublers in the corners. Alternatively, the vintage gliders had the big boxes often with lite ply extending to just behind the wing, and 1/8 balsa sides with doublers near the tail. And often rubber banded wings to take some of the stress from a not too perfect landing. But they do weigh a fair amount more, and require bigger motors and batteries or lead to balance the extra tail weight.

 

[Wayne]

A valid concern.

With castellated construction and the triangle stock, I have been impressed how how robust a structure we have. We have a few other tricks we use to keep our booms strong.

Here is a different view of the fuselage, with a 1" square block to help understand the scale.

The rounding on the rear of the fuselage in the previous post is wild overkill, and not practical in reality. The fuselage will be fully rounding at the spinner and taper down to very little rounding at the wing leading edge. After the trailing edge, the boom can be rounded as the builder likes. The bottom can be rounded as the builder likes.

Keep in mind this fuselages is fully decked from the tail to the canopy. There is no opening on the top for the wing. We have a sample of the last fuselage design in wood here. It is held together with some masking tape and is very strong. No triangle stock, no glue, and just 3/32" balsa sheeting. I like to hit people with it.

We can add strips of carbon inside the tail boom should more strength be desired. It would solve some concerns I have with putting plywood doublers there. The Carbon would be very easy to do, and add an overkill factor. (.5 x 10mm should be more than enough.)

 

[u2builder]

I think the CF is a great idea, weighs nothing, costs almost nothing, would help with the tail whiplash forces in a crash. As you of course know the Blejyzk Mefisto and its sister gliders have a strip of CF tow running down each side of the The fully decked top would also seem to be a big plus. fuselage as a lot of the fuselage breaks seem to happen right behind the wing.

 

[Wayne]

OK - Going to do a quicker prototype this time around. If all looks good will polish off and move towards production. Spinner is now a 36mm. She gets a little tight back in the tail, lets see how well it builds.

Rough print of the motor mount is looking really good. Nice fit all around.

Off to the laser!