Ok, so some of you know that I have been playing a bit with some 3D printed planes recently. Everytime I have done this in the past, the planes have been what I considered a waste of time. The planes were HEAVY and WEAK, not a good combination. Recently I gave a slope glider design a try and I was impressed (See my build thread for the Roughgen), but slope planes really do not care much about weight, so the pressure was off, that design could add extra layers and plenty of carbon to make the plane a little more durable. (Don't get me wrong, they are not durable at all compared to other build methods, but this one was acceptable and easy enough to print.)
The designer of the Roughgen found a brand new light weight PLA from Polymaker and twisted my arm to give it a try. Got some in and I agreed with him, neat stuff, much nicer than the other lightweight plastics others are using. Sure, the other brand can be printed lighter, but it is also very weak. This Polymaker seems to be right in the sweet spot of easy to print with, light enough weight and still have good enough strength. Neat stuff. (We are working with the manufacturer to get more of it made, ad we will be stocking it here at Aloft.)
So with this new material, let's check out this brand new design for a 2 meter thermal ship called the Rise by PlanePrint. I'm a sucker for a wing with curves like this one.. I had to give it a try. It was designed around the other brand of filament, so my plane will be a little heavier, but will it be OK? After some fine tuning and a LOT of hours of printing we had her done. The designer has put in a lot of hours on this design, and goes together very nicely. I went with the electric version and we used a great little Dualsky motor,32mm spinner and an 8x4 Aeronaut prop, Gens Ace 3S 850 battery and some Corona 843 servos. I passed on the spoiler option to avoid weight and complexity and really doubt I'll need one with a 3D printed plane.. They aren't light!
Really not expecting this to be very good. As far as I can tell, the designer has never attempted a thermal glider before, not a great starting point, but she sure looks good.. Let's give it a try.
The plane is almost completely made of the lightweight PLA, and a small amount of normal PLA and you print up some hinges for the V-tail out of TPU. This all worked very well. For glue I mostly used Quick Grip from Beacon adhesives and some thin and or medium CA. I like using Quick Grip when possible, it gives me a little working time and way less mess! If you use CA, I highly recommend using the extender tips, they really cut down on the mess.
I was getting excited about this plane as the AUW felt good in my hands. This might just work. I'm unsure of the wing strength, the 3 peice wing has NO carbon in the outer panels, and only a single tube in the center panel.. Is this really going to work? Seems OK.. time will tell.
With about 50% throttle my buddy tossed out the plane for me and she simply flew out as sweet as can be. I kept the power down as she climbed. (I've had motors get too hot in 3D printed planes and simply melt the motor mount before.) After a bit of altitude I cut the power and she was a dream, just floated along like she was designed to do. Please keep in mind that I am a horrible thermal pilot, but this plane was making my shabby skills look pretty good, even on this very cloudy and cold morning. The Rise indicates lift well and goes up and down show the sink. She really shows you what she is flying through. She was very comfortable on her V-tail with plenty of authority. While I did not try a roll, she was plenty happy to loop, and she also has a nice speed range, she slows down pretty darn well, and put the nose down and she is brisk to cut across the sky with a nice hssh sound when buzzing past at full speed.
The two other pilots in attendance also flew her and they also were very impressed, one started asking questions about the printing right away, so pretty sure we will have another at the field soon.
I flew 3 packs through her before it was time to head home. The Dualsky motor provides plenty of power, nearly enough power for unlimited vertical. I wasn't sure about the highish KV and the smaller 8x4 prop, but yeah, really like it. I tended to use 50% throttle with gradual climbs. Conditions were terrible for thermals, but could see tiny pockets of lift to sustain flight a bit. We threw up a very light little thermal hunter and flew the planes together and the Rise did not disappoint by outperforming the smaller and lighter balsa built glider.
When taking the plane apart for transport (2 screws mount the wing, and the outer panels "clip" into place. I noticed a small crack in the fuselage near the rear wing bolt. I think this was from our first landing in some lush grass... and a rock. Yep, first landing found a rock. A drop or three of CA should take care of the crack.
(That is a rubberband on the left wing used for lateral balance, not needed.)
I ended up removing some lead from the nose after the first 2 flights, so the lead load is about half of what I started with. I'm maybe 4mm behind the suggested CG and she feels just right. If I hold the nose a little to high for slow flight a tip stall can occasionally hit that drops the wing pretty well, but it recovers with very little altitude loss.
Launches are very easy, apply 50% power and let it go. Hardly need to toss her or anything. Could not be more gentle.
I am VERY impressed with the design and performance of this plane. I really didn't think a plane this size could be 3D printed and have anything close to a traditional level of performance. I was wrong. Will this dominate in a contest? No, probably not, but I think it could easily be flown at a contest, but no spot landings.
I'll be chatting with the designer about this new filament and see if he can do some testing with it as I think he will like it and maybe tweak the design a bit to get a perfect CG with this material.
Durability - It is still a 3D printed plane, it is not tough, and it is not going to do well in high heat days. For sure do not keep it in a hot car on a summer day and you will want to land in as nicely as you can. Do these things and I think you will get a lot of fun out of this for a small amount of money.
The designer of the Roughgen found a brand new light weight PLA from Polymaker and twisted my arm to give it a try. Got some in and I agreed with him, neat stuff, much nicer than the other lightweight plastics others are using. Sure, the other brand can be printed lighter, but it is also very weak. This Polymaker seems to be right in the sweet spot of easy to print with, light enough weight and still have good enough strength. Neat stuff. (We are working with the manufacturer to get more of it made, ad we will be stocking it here at Aloft.)
So with this new material, let's check out this brand new design for a 2 meter thermal ship called the Rise by PlanePrint. I'm a sucker for a wing with curves like this one.. I had to give it a try. It was designed around the other brand of filament, so my plane will be a little heavier, but will it be OK? After some fine tuning and a LOT of hours of printing we had her done. The designer has put in a lot of hours on this design, and goes together very nicely. I went with the electric version and we used a great little Dualsky motor,32mm spinner and an 8x4 Aeronaut prop, Gens Ace 3S 850 battery and some Corona 843 servos. I passed on the spoiler option to avoid weight and complexity and really doubt I'll need one with a 3D printed plane.. They aren't light!
Really not expecting this to be very good. As far as I can tell, the designer has never attempted a thermal glider before, not a great starting point, but she sure looks good.. Let's give it a try.
The plane is almost completely made of the lightweight PLA, and a small amount of normal PLA and you print up some hinges for the V-tail out of TPU. This all worked very well. For glue I mostly used Quick Grip from Beacon adhesives and some thin and or medium CA. I like using Quick Grip when possible, it gives me a little working time and way less mess! If you use CA, I highly recommend using the extender tips, they really cut down on the mess.
I was getting excited about this plane as the AUW felt good in my hands. This might just work. I'm unsure of the wing strength, the 3 peice wing has NO carbon in the outer panels, and only a single tube in the center panel.. Is this really going to work? Seems OK.. time will tell.
First Flight
I have the battery all the way forward so it almost touches the motor, and still needed some lead to make the suggested CG. (The plane is designed around the lighter weight PLA and it has a very long tail, so extra grams back there really hurt.) With everything double checked, time to toss her out and see just how bad this thing is going to be.With about 50% throttle my buddy tossed out the plane for me and she simply flew out as sweet as can be. I kept the power down as she climbed. (I've had motors get too hot in 3D printed planes and simply melt the motor mount before.) After a bit of altitude I cut the power and she was a dream, just floated along like she was designed to do. Please keep in mind that I am a horrible thermal pilot, but this plane was making my shabby skills look pretty good, even on this very cloudy and cold morning. The Rise indicates lift well and goes up and down show the sink. She really shows you what she is flying through. She was very comfortable on her V-tail with plenty of authority. While I did not try a roll, she was plenty happy to loop, and she also has a nice speed range, she slows down pretty darn well, and put the nose down and she is brisk to cut across the sky with a nice hssh sound when buzzing past at full speed.
The two other pilots in attendance also flew her and they also were very impressed, one started asking questions about the printing right away, so pretty sure we will have another at the field soon.
I flew 3 packs through her before it was time to head home. The Dualsky motor provides plenty of power, nearly enough power for unlimited vertical. I wasn't sure about the highish KV and the smaller 8x4 prop, but yeah, really like it. I tended to use 50% throttle with gradual climbs. Conditions were terrible for thermals, but could see tiny pockets of lift to sustain flight a bit. We threw up a very light little thermal hunter and flew the planes together and the Rise did not disappoint by outperforming the smaller and lighter balsa built glider.
When taking the plane apart for transport (2 screws mount the wing, and the outer panels "clip" into place. I noticed a small crack in the fuselage near the rear wing bolt. I think this was from our first landing in some lush grass... and a rock. Yep, first landing found a rock. A drop or three of CA should take care of the crack.
(That is a rubberband on the left wing used for lateral balance, not needed.)
I ended up removing some lead from the nose after the first 2 flights, so the lead load is about half of what I started with. I'm maybe 4mm behind the suggested CG and she feels just right. If I hold the nose a little to high for slow flight a tip stall can occasionally hit that drops the wing pretty well, but it recovers with very little altitude loss.
Launches are very easy, apply 50% power and let it go. Hardly need to toss her or anything. Could not be more gentle.
I am VERY impressed with the design and performance of this plane. I really didn't think a plane this size could be 3D printed and have anything close to a traditional level of performance. I was wrong. Will this dominate in a contest? No, probably not, but I think it could easily be flown at a contest, but no spot landings.
I'll be chatting with the designer about this new filament and see if he can do some testing with it as I think he will like it and maybe tweak the design a bit to get a perfect CG with this material.
Durability - It is still a 3D printed plane, it is not tough, and it is not going to do well in high heat days. For sure do not keep it in a hot car on a summer day and you will want to land in as nicely as you can. Do these things and I think you will get a lot of fun out of this for a small amount of money.
