Post by sean on Apr 4, 2007 10:32:50 GMT 10
I flew my Weasel for the first time on Saturday, and I'm pretty impressed...
It took about 2 1/2 evenings to build, which is the quickest build I've ever done... I considered a few mods but decided to leave it completely standard, for example I thought about removing the small amount of dihedral specified, I like planes that are completely neutral in handling and dihedral tends to spoil that for me. The only thing I did that was unusal was cover it in Profilm rather than tape. This requires a lot of care though, the wings are very thin and made of very light EPP with very little strapping tape, so it's easy to warp the wings with iron on covering. The advantage is that Profilm gives a lot of torsional strength when stuck down completely.
She flies like nothing I've flown before. Since I got back into RC planes a year or two ago all my planes have been heavy planks. The Weasel is by far the lightest slope soarer I've built and it feels it in the air. With a good throw you can get about 15 metres height on a flat field. With a 'discus throw' you can get even more. This means you can fly this thing almost anywhere in any conditions. If you're not sure about the lift, just launch it with a strong throw and if you can't maintain height land before you're below the cliff line.
Aerobatics with it are hilarious. At speed the roll rate's greater than 360 degrees/second and pretty good at low speed too. Inverted flight can be flown hands off with about 2 clicks of down trim (I setup my throttle stick to control elevator trim which helps here). Loops are as tight as you want.
The other thing about it that impresses me is the speed range. You can fly fairly fast or really slow, depending on how you trim. Put the nose down and she'll penetrate nicely, even in very strong wind, but put the nose up and she'll slow right down for effortless landings. This is very different to my Bat, which has one speed -- fast. On the slope, in lights winds catching it on landing should be quite possible -- it's easy to do when launching off a flat.
The downsides? The Weasel doesn't provide the sense of occasion that flying a fast plank provides. Not surprisingly it doesn't have that smooth, rock-solid feel that you expect from a heavyish plank either. When I throw the Bat out it's much more exciting, partly because I know how big a headache it is to land going flat-out in a tight spot like Shorncliffe. But I knew this when I built the Weasel... as a light lift aerobat, and a plane that you can fly off any slope without fear, it's unbeatable!
It took about 2 1/2 evenings to build, which is the quickest build I've ever done... I considered a few mods but decided to leave it completely standard, for example I thought about removing the small amount of dihedral specified, I like planes that are completely neutral in handling and dihedral tends to spoil that for me. The only thing I did that was unusal was cover it in Profilm rather than tape. This requires a lot of care though, the wings are very thin and made of very light EPP with very little strapping tape, so it's easy to warp the wings with iron on covering. The advantage is that Profilm gives a lot of torsional strength when stuck down completely.
She flies like nothing I've flown before. Since I got back into RC planes a year or two ago all my planes have been heavy planks. The Weasel is by far the lightest slope soarer I've built and it feels it in the air. With a good throw you can get about 15 metres height on a flat field. With a 'discus throw' you can get even more. This means you can fly this thing almost anywhere in any conditions. If you're not sure about the lift, just launch it with a strong throw and if you can't maintain height land before you're below the cliff line.
Aerobatics with it are hilarious. At speed the roll rate's greater than 360 degrees/second and pretty good at low speed too. Inverted flight can be flown hands off with about 2 clicks of down trim (I setup my throttle stick to control elevator trim which helps here). Loops are as tight as you want.
The other thing about it that impresses me is the speed range. You can fly fairly fast or really slow, depending on how you trim. Put the nose down and she'll penetrate nicely, even in very strong wind, but put the nose up and she'll slow right down for effortless landings. This is very different to my Bat, which has one speed -- fast. On the slope, in lights winds catching it on landing should be quite possible -- it's easy to do when launching off a flat.
The downsides? The Weasel doesn't provide the sense of occasion that flying a fast plank provides. Not surprisingly it doesn't have that smooth, rock-solid feel that you expect from a heavyish plank either. When I throw the Bat out it's much more exciting, partly because I know how big a headache it is to land going flat-out in a tight spot like Shorncliffe. But I knew this when I built the Weasel... as a light lift aerobat, and a plane that you can fly off any slope without fear, it's unbeatable!