After two days of flying, it's official. The "Green Goblin" is a keeper!     <pictures coming soon>

 

 (My son, the Spider Man afficianado, named it in case you were wondering)

  Originally designed to be lit up from the inside to fly at the Catalina RC club's night fly, I kept the frame very light and open. Due to several other projects in work at the time, I was unable to finish in time for the night fly, so I changed course on the design and it became a small field/rough runway flier without the planned lights. Some of the features I built in are large, sturdy landing gear, plenty of prop clearance, large flaps for steep approaches (I'm still working on that), and a robust power-to-weight ratio. It's got the power to zoom out of a tight spot, while still being light enough to "float". 

  <pictures coming soon>

   So, here's the details:

 Construction: All balsa and lite ply, carbon fiber mat reinforced firewall. Covering is transparent green monokote, with yellow trim. Hardware is mostly Du-Bro and Greatplanes.

 Wingspan: 52 inches, Area: approx 494 sq. inches, 3 degrees dihedral

 Length: 47 inches

 Weight: approx 46 ounces(2.88 pounds) w/ Max Amps 11.1v 2100mah LiPo battery  (weight varies depending on battery used)

 Power: E-Flite Power 10 motor, Castle Creations 35A speed control, APC 11x5.5 E-Prop (not sloflyer prop this time)

 Control: Hitec Electron 6 reciever, Hitec HS-225MG servos on rudder&elevator, Hitec HS-81 servos on ailerons&flaps

 Numbers: 11.1 Volts, 15.64 Amps (WOT),  173.6 input Watts.  This ends up being about 60.28 Watts per pound, which is somewhere between sedate and sporty. (generally a good number for a trainer). Wing loading came out to 10.74 ounces/sq. inch  (gliders often have more than this!). 

 Flight report: At full power, it tends to climb like a homesick angel, while still being manageable. Straight and level flight is extremely smooth, with no tendency to "wander" even on high rates. It will (barely) hang on the prop for a short time, but will not climb or hover (not designed to anyway). Ailerons could be more sensitive, but are more than adequate. Rolls are nice, if not axial. The elevator is very sensitive on high rates, and it tends to "porpoise" a bit, especially when the flaps are down. On low rates and with about 15% expo, the elevator is smooth enough for low passes to be comfortable, and "high speed" flight is enjoyable. Low speed flight characteristics are good, even without flaps deployed. With full flaps (approx 40 degrees), it will fly at about the spped of a brisk walk, even with the nose slightly down. I could get it to fly inverted with a bit of down elevator, but it's not very happy in that attitude due to the high wing design. Knife edge flight is possible, but difficult to maintain for any length of time. Landings so far have been rather bouncy due in part to the pilot, and the very stiff landing gear setup... I may change that to a Cub style arrangement to absorb some of the bounces at some point in the future.

  After 8 flights this weekend, I'm convinced this is going to be one of my "regular" fliers, and will be a good skill-builder/practice plane.  I'm happy.