Wid's Cessna 150 FF

[WIDDOG]

I wanted to see if I could build/fly a model using kit wood. Even though these are only trim flights I think it will fly. I think it would fly better with a better noseblock. I used the basic Guillow's nose cowling method. Seems that I have better luck with the Walnut Scale models. I think I will stick to the 500 and 900 series kits. Looking forward to Laser Cut 500 series kits.

http://youtu.be/cwDT0KQWVqE

[Wildpig]

Hey WID,
Not bad really. Your 150 did climb for some altitude. My 150 with the old die cut wood barely could get above it's initial launch altitude.

Critiquing your flights, it appears that the center of gravity is too far back. Looks like you need more nose weight. Check the balance point on the wing as indicated on the plans.

The model must glide well. A nice stable glide. Gently launched from chest height, it ought to glide straight and steady and land about 15 feet in front of you. (or farther). If it will do that , then it's ready for powered flight.

[WIDDOG]

Hi Wildpig Great post I think you are correct.

A couple of things that I am doing wrong here and is no way the kits fault. This is the first time I built a kit over 18 inches. I think I would like to have been able to try a larger propeller. The largest propeller I had was 7 inches. It worked ok but I would like to have at least tried a larger propeller. I was in such a hurry that my noseblock is admittedly inadequate. Basically it is just the plastic cowling. It was just fitted on there so it could be removed for winding. The kit is very durable and I could still work with it. However, I broke the 7 inch propeller and will have to wait till I get some larger propellers. I would like to try and rebuild this model as a Walnut sized model. However, I at the moment am too busy with other kits. Hopefully for me the Laser Cut 500 Series kits will be coming out.

[WIDDOG]

For those of you eagle eyes out there yes that is a Guillow's canopy I'm using on the model. Anyway I am getting better at trimming models. http://youtu.be/0V1WKuThe9s

I decided to revisit the Cessna 150. Yes it has gotten very beat up and has been Hot Glued back together a few times. However, I think it should be ok for flight opps. I built a quick noseblock for the Cessna. I will hopefully get some useable video of it flying.

[WIDDOG]

I ended up totaling out the Cessna 150. IMHO I think the rubber motor should be 3/16 x two loops or four strands. I think the length should be 1.5 times the peg to propeller distance. The largest propeller I had was 7 inches so I don't really have any recommendations on that subject.

I did an experiment with my model by putting in a motor x 2 the peg to propeller distance. IMHO the 1.5 motor works better than the x 2 motor. http://youtu.be/9vcq8YpGs2w

[Wildpig]

Ooops. Sorry to hear about the 150. The 4 strands of 3/16 at 1.5 hook to peg length sounds reasonable to me.
On the plans for the 150 there is a recommendation for a rubber motor of similar size. I would be curious to know how your 150 would have done with an 8 inch propeller, which I think is what the Fairchild 24 kit comes with.

That Zero flies fairly well. But, it also appears to me to need more nose weight.

[WIDDOG]

I found my Cessna 150 to be a very nice kit. This "Kit" has got me re interested in "Kit" building. The kit was a bit larger than what I am used to building. I think that if someone with more experience with this size model would have had much better results. I noticed that the Forum board was not moving very fast so I decided to go ahead and post my Cessna 150. Sometime in the future I would like to try and build a reduced version of this model.

The Zero experiment kind of was more rubber motor weight more balance weight. The extra weight kind of did not seem worth it. The longer the motor the less efficient the motor works. If I had an opinion about the experiment it would be that I would like to try a CO2 motor. The draw back to a CO2 motor is that if it flies away or gets stuck in tree the modeler is out a CO2 motor.

[Wildpig]

Apparently there is an optimum rubber motor size relative to the size and weight of a particular model. To keep the efficiency up of a rubber motor you will need to stretch wind it and add more turns.

The 150 you had, would climb and then do a tail slide and flip-flop to the ground. That appears to be because the center of balance for the model is too far back, more weight is needed in the nose. An airplane model should glide very much like this guy's before going to powered flights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J0gFKYd2Pc

Really interesting stuff you are doing. I enjoy the videos, too.

[WIDDOG]

Thanks Wildpig,

I of course am not an advanced modeler. So naturally I don't post or make videos on that skill level. I am however an intermediate skill level modeler. I post both videos of my successes and failures. I learn quite a bit by reading the comments about my failures. I don't personally feel my Cessna 150 was a failure though.


Although this is a All Sheet Balsa kit I learned a lot from it. Especially my launch technique. http://youtu.be/Uu56PB6V1lY

[Wildpig]

That's a really decent flier.

[davidchoate]

They Got smaler Cessna Kits. I made a Bird Dog that is the only good FF model I have next to the Stremliner. LOL. It's true. I got another Cwssna kit, a900 series I think, I'm Gonna build it after My PT-17.

[WIDDOG]

I agree the Bird Dog is my favorite kit. I'm kind of interested in if anyone has reduced the planes of the Cessna 150 and built a model from it.

[Bill Gaylord]

Apparently there is an optimum rubber motor size relative to the size and weight of a particular model. To keep the efficiency up of a rubber motor you will need to stretch wind it and add more turns.

The 150 you had, would climb and then do a tail slide and flip-flop to the ground. That appears to be because the center of balance for the model is too far back, more weight is needed in the nose. An airplane model should glide very much like this guy's before going to powered flights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J0gFKYd2Pc

Really interesting stuff you are doing. I enjoy the videos, too.

The tail heavy condition is pretty easy to end up with on a rubber flyer, but there may be more to it. My 150 initially performed like what you're describing, due to having slightly mismatched incidences and rudder setting, where the rudder was off in the direction that compounded the problem. These kits with individual wing panels are a bit tricky to match wing incidences when attaching the wings. If you could have seen the flights, it appeared that it was tail heavy and behaved just like the condition you described, but it wasn't tail heavy. The mismatched incidence caused the right wing to lift up and the rudder misalignment caused the tail to move to the left. It would go into a climbing tail slide. With simple observation one would only see the climbing tail slide, but after careful examination of the model and several flights, it became more obvious what exactly it was doing. After re-aligning the surfaces it's now one of the easiest models I have to fly.

[WIDDOG]

After I finish my current project, a Dumas Twin Mustang, I am going to revisit the Cessna 150. I will reduce the plans to about a 18 inch wing span.

[Billy Mc]

After I finish my current project, a Dumas Twin Mustang, I am going to revisit the Cessna 150. I will reduce the plans to about a 18 inch wing span.

I have one of those in the closet to build one of these days. Have not had time to finish the 905 Mustang I started months ago. What little time I have off I generally have a 4 year old grandson that want to help with every thing I do.