Trying something different

Last Monday I made the attempt once more.

The changes made to the model seemed to have promising results. The ailerons are made from balsa and the leading and trailing edge where from bamboo. The controls operated smoothly. The total weight was slightly heavier 22oz. with a ten cell battery pack.

This exercise was to determine launch procedures. I decided to begin by measuring the distance of stretching the bungee cord by 3 yards. My first launch took a beating. The launch was not enough of a pull. The left wing took some damage. The attempt of stiffening the wings was good enough because I also carved holes on the wings in the attempt to lighten them. This proved to weekend the wings also.

As in the past I decided not to stop there and made some repairs to continue my endeavors. I increased the distance to 5 yards. The sub sequential launch went better, but did not hold altitude long enough. The next I decided to add some up on the controls to see it would gain altitude. The attempt seem to be working, however the damaged wing had some influence in veering to the left where it collide with a tree near by. I tried once more, this time the plane went up and begun to turn into the damage wing’s direction once more. I tried to correct this, but the flight momentum decreased and the plane started to drop, not a glide, this gave me the impression that there was no stability or it was stalling. A design flaw….

I spent the last week rebuilding the wings, this time with a 5 degree forward sweep. Like the original concept from the SEAHAWK. Except the Seahawk had a grater angle of attack and it is a Canard design. This is still a possible retreat if these modifications do not work.

Well this weekend I will make another attempt.