Flight Trimming

[leetx]

Reading the Indoor Duration clip posted by leetx,

The spar is blended into the surrounding blade, and the hub area
is lightened.

I understand that I am going to be sanding down the gray spar and the center hub as well as the white blade.

I would focus primarily on the blade and secondarily on the spar. As I mentioned earlier, to my touch, the new blade is significantly thicker than the older one that I have used. I have some doubt that the blade will flare as it's supposed to.

[WrightStuffMonster]

Could someone explain to me the method of creating wing wash? Am I correct in assuming that the left wing (by left, looking at the plane head on) should be tipped so that the leading edge is about 1/8th and inch higher than the trailing edge . . . while the right side of the wing is level. Is that correct? I just don't know how to teach my students how to create it.

I think you have it backwards. If you are looking at the plane head on the right panel should be the one with wash. The reason is that it is the inboard wing in turns and is moving slower than the other panel of the wing so it creates less lift. Without wing wash your plane will not fly flat and not all of your lift goes to keeping your plane in the air. If you do wing wash correctly you should find your plane flies much flatter. The traditional way to create wingwash is by creating a diagonal cut in the center of your front spar, propping one corner of the wing up, weighing the rest of the wing down with coins, and gluing the angle in the spar. When you get more advanced there is a way to adjust the amount of wing wash that you have to suit a particular turn if you are using tissue tubes with your wing posts, but concentrating on trimming the other aspects (rubber wing tail ect) before worrying too much about adjusting wing wash for a particular radius of turn.

[SOCoach]

Thanks for the reply - our kids have never attempted wing wash, they have gotten turn by angling the tailboom to the right by looking head on . . . I have a feeling that is causing excess drag.

So I am clear then . . . looking the front of the plane it is the RIGHT side that needs wash. So the leading edge on the needs to be raised by 1/8 inch, keeping tailing edge flat. The left side needs to be flat (The left side of the wing should be a few cm longer correct?)

[jander14indoor]

I think you have the longer wing backwards too. The inside wing is longer and has wash in. Note as described above, the purpose of wash in and longer inside wing is to fly flat, NOT banked like a piloted plane.

Your left turn is NOT doe to wing lift inward like a piloted plane. Turn comes from differential drag, OUTWARD lift on the tilted tail, and prop offset.

Note, you still need the tail offset as you have described it, but not so much to induce turn, but to reduce drag. You want the tail fin to be on the circumference of the turn and the circle in most sites is small enough to make noticeable bend in the tail to implement this.

Because of the widely varying torque from a rubber band, you actually need a balanced combination of all these adjustments to keep the turn radius at minimum drag.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[SOCoach]

I am glad my kids have managed to get a plane to turn DESPITE my help . . . .

So what I said earlier . . . except the RIGHT wing should be a few cm longer . . Thanks!

[jander14indoor]

Nah, pretty easy to get the planes to turn, STRAIGHT is hard. Trick is, turning the way you want, radius you want, and doing it consistently and efficiently. Not real critical when all you are trying to do is get it to fly at all. As the times go up, these things become more important. You are just starting to get to that point is all.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[SOCoach]

Okay Jeff you jinxed us . . . . we now have a plane that flies straight!

My kids created a new tail boom and now the plane acts like it is fighting itself. It looks like the propeller is trying to turn the plane left (counter clock wise), but I believe the tail boom is fighting it . . .

So . . . the kids need to angle the tailboom . . . let me see if I can get this correct . . . . it should be offset to the right when looking at the plane head on. The haven't created a new wing with wing wash, so I am assuming it it strictly the new tailboom causing the problem right?

[Greg Doe]

SOCoach,
Jeff and others may respond with help, but let's all get on the same page. Right and left
on any airplane is referenced the same as a car or boat. If you are sitting in the airplane
(or car or boat) facing forward, the right side of the airplane is to the "drivers" right.
To answere your question, yes the fuselage should be offset slightly to the right if "looking
at the plane head on". SLIGHTLY can mean a lot of things! For a 12 inch tail boom, probably
no more that 3/16 inch from front to back. Remember there are several trim factors that all
work together to keep your airplane circling. Too much of any one adjustment adds excessive
drag. All of these adjustments have been discussed in this forum. The prop should be angled
slightely to the left. The tail boom should be off set slightely to the left. The wing should have
a very slight right turn twist. (washout of the right wing panel is prefered over washin of the
left wing panel). Washout means the trailing edge of the wing is twisted up at the tip when
compared to the root (center of the wing). Washin means the trailing edge of the wing is
drooping when compared to the root. You also want a slight off set of the wing to the left. That
means that if you measure from the fuselage the left wing should be about 1/4 longer than
the right wing. Here is the thing to keep in mind about the wing twist (washin and washout).
If your airplane had none of the left trim adjustments (thrust, tail boom, or wing off set) the
wing twist would make it turn to the right. The right wing twist is extra drag, but there is a
more important benefit in that the airplane won't screw into the ground from torque when the
rubber motor is fully wound, and your airplane will circle in a flat turn, instead of a banking turn,
which is more efficient.
Now all of this is great if you build a perfect airplane, but nobody does, so sometimes you
will have to use a little more or less of any or all of the trim adjustments. Good luck
Greg Doe
Smyrna, TN

[Greg Doe]

SOCoach
I failed to mention one other important adjustment which is stab tilt. When viewed from the
back of the airplane the right stab tip should be lower then the left tip. Hold the airplane with
the nose pointing away from you. Sight across the trailing edge of the stab and compare it to
the trailing edge of the wing. Instead of everying being SQUARED up, the stab should be
angled slightely. From tip to tip about 3/8 of an inch; or each side about 3/16 of an inch.
Greg Doe
Smyrna, TN

[leetx]

I would like to ask how the plane flies at cruise when it is efficient. I would like to focus on the lateral (up-down) characterisitcs of the flight.

Assuming that the static set up for the plane is as these:

Balance point should be at rear wing post for say a 10 cm chord wing to last years rules. 1-2 cm if front of rear post for a 12-15 cm wing. 2-4 cm behind wing for a 5 cm bonus wing.

Wing level with motor stick (I use top of motor stick for my consistent reference on angle of attack) fore and aft.

Prop should be pointing SLIGHTLY (2 degrees or so) left and down.

Leading edge of tail should be 2-4 mm lower than trailing edge with respect to wing level (or again, top of motor stick).

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

During level flight, I would expect the wing's angle of attack to be positive, the stab's angle of attack to be slightly positive. This means that this plane flies nose up at the same angle as the wing's angle of attack. I also assume that the prop's thrust points up, less than the nose but still up.

I ask because I see different static set up in the plans of different designs of indoor planes. Here are some that I see:

1 prop thrust level, wing incidence positive, stab incidence slightly positive (as in the Freedom Flight kit)
2 prop thrust negative, wing incidence level, stab incidence negative (as jander's above)
3 prop thrust level, wing incidence level, stab incidence negative

Do these different set ups basically lead to the same flight characteristics? One set up that confuses me is the down thrust of the prop. What is its significance?

In the planes we fly, #1 above is the static set up. During cruise, the nose is slightly up. One thing I notice is that during flight, the tail boom tends to bend a little up so that the stab is almost level during flight. The wing's angle of attack during flight is slightly higher than its static incidence.

Answers and comments welcome!