J-Dub ready to leave the hanger

[drcuzo]

FINALLY

My JW60 is complete. My early posts on this plane can be found in the "the Planes We Fly" archive.










AUW = 52oz, 1480g
Wing and fuse covered in laminating film (new stuff)
Fuse attached by rubber bands. I have not seen this on a sloper but hopefully the fuse will move rather than break in a crash.
All of the hardware including the battery(5 x 900mah AAA Enoloops) is in the wing.
Ballast tubes fore and aft of the spar - less impact on CG

Will update after maiden

Steve

[windsock]

Great job Steve, looks to good to fly
Hope it goes well.

Gerard

[sean]

Nice work Steve, looking forward to seeing it go. Like the rubber band idea. South westerly season is approaching - perfect time to finish a heavy foamy.

Sean.

[thevon]

I saw Steve's JW partially built last weekend - wing done but fuse not attached. Very impressive. The film covering job was beautiful - very glassy and smooth. Great colour work with the foamie tape too.
Andrew

[drcuzo]

It is looking like a perfect JW maiden day on Sunday @ BK.

Help!!!!! Sean - will you be around Sunday

Steve

[sf2]

noice

[drcuzo]

Maidened the JW today at BK. I was very anxious about the first flight. The mystique around this plane from its huge following is undeniable.

It ended up pretty light for a JW (54oz) but our winds here are usually below 20 knots. I had the CG at the same point as EZZA, about 2mm in front of the recommended point.

I arrived at BK around midday. The wind was around 20 knots SE and not a sole there. I had been hoping for some moral support but remembered the old saying "no guts, no glory" I did not have a warm up with the DUCK. I just walked to the edge and tossed it off. It needed about 10 clicks of up trim but off it went. I flew it for 10 min and had a sweet landing. I adjusted the control arm and reset the trims to centre. Next flight was about 20 min. It felt smooth and solid - like on rails. I was stoked. The only disappointment was the roll rate which seemed a bit slow. I briefly tried high rates on the ailerons but it seemed to yaw about in the turns so I went back to low rates - 50%. I had a great flight and landed for a cuppa to settle the nerves.

I had a fly of the DUCK next and it was so slow by comparison that I couldn't wait to get back to the JW. The wind had dropped back to about 15 knots. I threw it off and it felt much more responsive and the roll rate was great!. It rolled axial to inverted and flew nice inverted. I then realised that the aileron rates switch was on high from the DUCK flight but no yaw problems and it was awesome. 180^o of rolling circle - no problems. Huge powerful loops. The really notable thing was not its speed or aerobatics but its ability to fly slow with no tendency to drop a wing or spin. I had a grin from ear to ear thinking this is so my favourite plane!!!

Pete from WOWINGS turned up and had a fly. He seemed just as impressed as I was.

Lots more flights and I am a huge JW fan. I cannot find a flaw. It deserves its stella reputation. Everyone should have one.

Next step DS

Steve

[sean]

Great to hear it Steve! I remember a couple of years back flying my 1KG Reaper against Eric's 1KG JW in light air, and the JW flew rings around the Reaper. It evened out in bigger air though. Shouldn't be long before you're DSing now.