Re: I need help with converting a control line plane to an rc one.
- From: The Natural Philosopher <a@xxx>
- Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:09:49 +0000
matt_trickey@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
I recently aquired a control line plane by Sterling Models, Stearing
PT-17. The wing span is 32 1/4 ", Length 24", for .19 to .35
engine. It is a Bi-plane with a monocoupe fuselage. I'd like to
convert it to an RC plane. I thought I could just hack the upper fuse,
which I did already, tear out the control line stuff, and put the fuel
tank back in the front w/ the flight pack and servos behind it.
However, I talked to a guy that said that "a .15 to .20 would be
plenty enough engine for a conversion." He said "I might run into
problems in with the wings. Since it is a c/l kit, the wings are FLAT
and you would need dihedral to make the plane more stable. Also you
would need to add down thrust and maybe change the incidence of the
tail. When the kit was designed, installing a radio in it was out of
the question as the radios were HUGE".
Well, I've removed the covering, chopped out the top for the servos
and now I'm stuck. I don't know if I have to lengthen the tail a
couple inches, change the engine mounts, or what. I've built several
planes but never anything like this. I dont know how to post pics here
to show what it looks like but I have a bunch to email if it would
help.
You wont need to change the dihedral, or the tail length.
You WILL need to come down in power,and get the CG right. And fit ailerons.
You MAY need a bit of down and right thrust. But I wouldn't bother to start with, until you have it trimmed out. In particular with zero dihedral teh side thresut may not actually do very much.
My 32" span biplane flies on the electrical equivalent of an 049, BTW:-)
Control liners were notoriously draggy due to having to drag the lines around.
So, the most important thing is ailerons and the CG. You will NOT be able to control it in rudder alone, and if the CG is wrong - it needs to be pretty far forward for a bipe - it will also be uncontrollable.
Any help is appreciated..
Matt Trickey
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