Pictures of Debonaire

[bmwkadet]

Well, I finally got around to posting some pictures of my debonaire. I finished it at about the same time as Andrew's spad jet, but didn't get around to taking pictures (it's summer, too lazy...:D ).

The debonaire in the instructions had american insignia, so I decided to make one canadian! :rock:

I haven't tested it yet, but hopefully I can this week.

[bmwkadet]

a side view

[JimMoss]

Looks good Brandon. :TU:

I see you went taildragger, doing the same with my sons.

Got taken away from it for a bit working on some other planes, hopefully find some time and get it ready for next week sometime though.

Jim Moss :)

[Chris Cann]

looks good! All thats stoping mine from flying is 3 push rods and a servo :) Stupid hobbyshtore is so far :) and there is sooooooo much traffic and the Hobby store closes sooo ewarly :) Well I'm sone venting :)

[AJCoholic]

Hey Brandon sorry I didnt call today... too busy taking it easy :)

If the weather is good lets go to the meeting tomorrow night. call me at work tomorrow...

Andrew

[recon]

Ive seen quite a few debonaires fly. Good easy flying spads. Have fun with yours.

Hehe, chris i have this one hobby shop that is open till 9 in the evening. The problem is, they dont stock airplane stuff, just cars.

[Chris Cann]

Ya mine is like 45 min way no traffic nd like 1 1/2 hrs with traffic :? and they close at like 7 somedays 8 somedays and 9 :? there is a hobby shop like 15 min from me but last ime I went there they didn't have anything planes and they wanted like 200 more for all their car stuf :?

[scaleguy]

Ya mine is like 45 min way no traffic nd like 1 1/2 hrs with traffic :? and they close at like 7 somedays 8 somedays and 9 :? there is a hobby shop like 15 min from me but last ime I went there they didn't have anything planes and they wanted like 200 more for all their car stuf :?Chris,

You aren't in school!!! Why don't you try getting up before noon and maybe youwill make it there!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

What store are you trying to get to? Have you tried riding your bike there? It's probably faster then the TTC and Mississauga Chance It!

"Well when I was a kid I used to ride 30 miles, round trip, to go to a hobby store! But the young folks today won't believe you!" Soorry had to get a quasi Monty Python quote in there some how! :lol: :lol:

Some may remember the Cecil Tates great hobby store at Roncensvaile and Queen St. in TO! BEST HOBBY SHOP EVER! BAR NONE!

Anyways just had to jerk your chain a bit Chris! No hard feelins I am sure! :wink:

[Tattoo]

Very very good looking Debby bmwkadet!!! From the side view, you built a perfect wing with with a super sweet airfoil...that baby is really going to fly GOOD!!! 8)

[ronm]

Great looking plane Brandon! I'm sure it will fly perfect. :D
Tip: You will get less crud on the wing if you have the exhaust pointing more down. (if you can)

Ronm

[Chris Cann]

Ya mine is like 45 min way no traffic nd like 1 1/2 hrs with traffic :? and they close at like 7 somedays 8 somedays and 9 :? there is a hobby shop like 15 min from me but last ime I went there they didn't have anything planes and they wanted like 200 more for all their car stuf :?Chris,

You aren't in school!!! Why don't you try getting up before noon and maybe youwill make it there!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

What store are you trying to get to? Have you tried riding your bike there? It's probably faster then the TTC and Mississauga Chance It!

"Well when I was a kid I used to ride 30 miles, round trip, to go to a hobby store! But the young folks today won't believe you!" Soorry had to get a quasi Monty Python quote in there some how! :lol: :lol:

Some may remember the Cecil Tates great hobby store at Roncensvaile and Queen St. in TO! BEST HOBBY SHOP EVER! BAR NONE!

Anyways just had to jerk your chain a bit Chris! No hard feelins I am sure! :wink:

Great ideas but I have a huge idea that they w on't work :)

[recon]

"Well when I was a kid I used to ride 30 miles, round trip, to go to a hobby store! But the young folks today won't believe you!"
[/quote]

Ya ya, 30 miles, up hill both ways in 10 ft of snow... lol :lol:

[scaleguy]

"Well when I was a kid I used to ride 30 miles, round trip, to go to a hobby store! But the young folks today won't believe you!"


Ya ya, 30 miles, up hill both ways in 10 ft of snow... lol :lol:Snow,

NO you are the one in Medicine Hat not me!

But really I did ride my bike for miles to get to a hobby shop.. why else would I ride? :lol: :lol:

[AJCoholic]

Well guys, BRandon and I went to the field tonight, and I had the "honour" of taing the deb up for its firstflight. AFter we sorted out an engine problem, I taxiid out, lifted off beautifully and started my climb out, but suddenly realised that I had little or no aileron or rudder control. The plane made a gradual righthand bank and went into the field. Broke the gutterpipe fuse but nothing much else. Brandon is going to repair it and we will try again, strengthening the tail as it was flexing quite a bit. Balance was right on the money and the controls were working fine, so I am not sure what happened...? Pilot error? Maybe! :)

I let him have a few flights on my Astrohog anyhow, and he liked that - a lot!!

Anyone try a Coro-hog yet? ;)

[Chris Cann]

Andrew how bout a flight report on that Jet of yours :) :wink:

[bmwkadet]

Well, I don't feel bad about the debonaire. It's not that hard to build, and the wings are in perfect condition. The astrohog made me feel REAL good afterwards :D !

Andrew made some suggestions that I will do on the debonaire #2. I will enlarge the control surfaces on the rudder and elevator, and use bracing on tail surfaces. Also, I will put bigger servo arms for the ailerons.

Hopefully the second debonaire will fly better than the first!

[JimMoss]

Could it have been a radio or battery problem? :?

Seems odd that there would be no or virtually no control what so ever, especially if it was a gradual bank before impact.

Figure it out so I can make sure it doesn't happen to my sons! :wink:

Jim Moss :)

[Gary Maker]

I was wondering if maybe it could be that Canadian drainpipe is thinner than the American pipe seeing that the tail was flexing somewhat. Articles I've read said that Canadian pipe can be substituted for the American pipe on plans that call for it but that the opening should only be cut large enough for the tail to fit and should be reinforced because it is more flimsey. I am building a couple of Das Plastics and am concerned as well because I am facing the same problem of swapping Can pipe where the plans call for the American stuff! Im not at all experience at building coroplast planes so its just a thought! I would appreciate your comments on this. Thanks!

[Chris Cann]

Hey Brandon what kind of fuel tank did you use ?

[AJCoholic]

Chris, I cant try the SPAjet untill I get the replacement ECU - might be here this week, I hope...

Jim, The radio (engine and elevator) were working fine. It was like it had a directional problem, and the fin and tail were very flexy. I think on the next one I will get BRandon to beef up the rear end a bit with some light ply.

It did take off very, very nice, and had a healthy climb out. I also thought, perhaps I let it climb too fast, and semi stalled the wing? You never know.

Good thing is, its a spad and it will be back in the air soon and without any real cost! :)

[Tattoo]

Yes...Canadian pipe is MUCH MUCH more flexable than american pipe. The positive side of this is that it is much lighter, so you can get away with cutting out much less for the tail. I've would definately recommended to only cut out just enough for the verticle to fit. Even better would be to simply not cut out anything and leave the pipe whole (except for the radio hole), and mount the tail on top (like the SNS, dogfighter and Dagger tail) for absolutely no flex at all. It's also a very very good idea to back up the langing gear mounting area with ply if you havent already. BTW, a Debby fuselage with the rear cut-out per plans made from american pipe...is heavier...than a Canadian pipe fuselage with no rear cut-out at all.

[recon]

Good thing is, its a spad and it will be back in the air soon and without any real cost! :)

Gotta love em! I have had many rough nose dives... er.. landings with my spad dogfighter with nothing more than a broken prop. I have also seen spads stand up to midairs with a few scratches during combat... Then again I have seen spads loose tails in midairs during combat, hehe. Anyway, kit manufacturers must hate them eh?

[Gary Maker]

Thanks very much for your input Tatto: So far I'm just gathering up the parts and haven't actually started to assemble anything yet. Yes the plans for the Das Plastic does call for a plywood doubler for the landing gear on the sport model of which I am building one. There is however no landing gear on the Combat model of which I am building 6. I will definitely only cut enough for the tail fin if anything at all. Thanks again.

[bmwkadet]

Tattoo, I did use plywood on the landing gear mount. When I installed the tail, I also used plywood doublers (1" square pieces on fin, and 2"x1" on the stab.

Thanks for the imput! :TU:. I'm sure that the second debonaire will fly better. Just like Andrew was saying, I also noticed flutter on the entire tail surfaces. It won't be hard to build the second fuselage, and it will be up in the air soon.

[Chris Cann]

What fuel tank did you use?

[bmwkadet]

Chris, it was a great planes 8 ounce tank. I left it in Andrew truck that night, and when I went to get it, he told me that fuel was coming out. I haven't looked at it yet, but there might be a leak.

The 8 ounce tank fits perfectly in the fuse (with foam of course!)

[Chris Cann]

Oh I was just wonderign because my 10 ounce i had lying around went in but no room for foam so I was just wondering if you went and used a slim line...but now instead of using a slim line I just put it on top :)

[bmwkadet]

Well, I spent a good part of today building the new fuselage. The first thing I did was enlarged the control surfaces from 2" to 3". I made support brackets to ensure that there is no movement. I left the tail end of the pipe intact ( ie- I didn't make the cutout), and only made a small cutout to get to the elevator servo.

When balanced, it came out slightly tail heavy ( very very little). I just got finished, and I'm pretty tired so I didn't take pictures yet. Tommorow I'll get some flight photos.

By the way- the fuel tank wasn't cracked, the fuel line was!

[bmwkadet]

Well, here are some pictures of the new debonaire.

[bmwkadet]

the makeshift rigging 8)
The rigging is a little bit hard to see.

[bmwkadet]

The only cut-out in the rear of the pipe. Now the fuselage should be strong enough and not warp.

[Vulcan1]

Brandon,
Set it ons its tail and a couple of 6 in wings and call it a bomarc. You know the one that replaced the Arrow. Costs are about the same and yours will fly. :lol:
John

[bmwkadet]

Andrew and I went out to the field today and tested the debonaire. It flew very well, except that the ailerons were a little sluggish. I think I will move the servo to the center of the wing, and strengthen the control horn.

Perhaps what happened to the first debonaire was that the ailerons were reversed (We saw that they were reversed before this flight). But if they were, there would still be control with the rudder :? .

I really like flying the debonaire, and it is a good first trainer/sport plane with ailerons! :D

[Gary Maker]

Brandon, I was so happy to hear that you got things sorted out with your plane and that you had a great flight! I flew my Pla Stick yesterday also and what an awsome flyer and fast!

I found my ailerons pretty stiff to operate to I did a quick fix on them that made them a 100% better. I also used aluminum for the control horns which shouldn't break on me again.

I included a Picture of the fix for stiff control surfaces!

[AJCoholic]

Gary,
I test flew the Deb for him, and then Brandon had two more solo flights. His first time with a taildragger too! He is a natural.

I really like your color and decal scheme. Just so sweeet! 8)

[Gary Maker]

I'm happy that hes doing so well...Must have a great instructor and test pilot!

I just posted a question about making a tail dragger and remembered that the Deb is a taildragger....How did you do the tail wheel? I could probably figure it out by trial and error but why not talk to the pros on the matter?

[Vulcan1]

Gary,
The last one I did I just bent a 90 deg. at the top and wiggled it up about an 1" on the rudder. If you bend the rudder you can either drill or heat a wire to insert. Then just bend the wire for the wheel. Another thing what I like to do is solder a washer on the wheel ass. inside and out. For a spacer so they are not to tight use a piece of thin cardboard and remove after. It is lighter than using wheel collars.
I t was probably the only part I didn't damage when I wrecked it. :oops:
Hope this helps.
John

[Gary Maker]

Excellent method John. Thanks for the help. Did you lengthen the fuse at all for the sport model or is it stable enough to leave as is ( compared to a combat model? ) Was just a thought I had to make it a bit more docile for someone closer to a bigginer! I was thinking it wouldn't be quite so touchy on the elevator?

[JimMoss]

Got my son's Debonair up today! This is what he looked like " :D "

Worked great flew right off only needed a little up trim, put Cody on the Buddy Box and he did 3 circuits and started getting board (he's only 7) so had to let him do his loops and rolls.

He flew for about 10 minutes then I wrang it out, this plane is unbelievable!

I was doing inverted passes about 4 feet off the ground with almost no down elevator.

Only changes I made was Stall tips on the wing and I used Pink Styrofoam laminated with Light ply for the Spar.

It was also set up as a taildragger, I used a nosegear block mounted between the rudder servo and the rudder. The control arm for the tailwheel has a wire coming from the servo and a wire going to the Rudder.

Jim Moss :)

[AJCoholic]

Jim, your are one fine Dad!! :TU: :TU:

[JimMoss]

Gotta keep the flying in the family blood!! :wink:

Jim Moss :)

[bmwkadet]

Nice job!!! :D Did you paint those words on the wings, or are they vinyl. Whatever it is, it looks excellent! :TU:

Would you be able to post a picture of the underside. I would like to see how you mounted the bracket for the tailwheel, and the steering arm. I would really appreciate it.

[JimMoss]

Thanks Brandon, they're vinyl.

I'll get some pics of the stearing mechanism and tailwheel tomorrow.

Jim Moss :)

[Gary Maker]

What a great looking plane Jim. Is that a standard size Debonair? It sure looks big with your son holding it!

BTW I want you to know that your responsibe for me building these things. I saw that little plastic thingy that you flew in Otterville for the barn storming and was amazed that a piece of plastic can fly and started looking into it when I got back. Now I'm thouroughly hooked! Also I had never heard of RCCanada until you mentioned it to me at the same event!

Who knew that one could have this much fun so cheeply!! Great job Jim! And thanks for the tip on mounting the tail wheel, think thats the method I will use on the sport model Pla Stick!

[JimMoss]

Glad I could help Gary. :wink:

As I said to Brandon I'll get some pics up tomorrow of that tailwheel assembly.

And the Debonair has a little bigger chord as I made the ailerons a little larger, but the rest of the plane is to the suggestions on the www.spadtothebone.com site.

Jim Moss :)

[Gary Maker]

You just gave me another great idea Jim. Instead of building a sport Das Pla Stick, I will build the Debonair. From your picture it looks nicer than the Stick and the way you built it, It should be even more stable as a sport plane than the Stick. The main reason I built the stick is I wanted them for combat anyway! Decisions, decisions ...lol

Hmmm see what I mean about getting hooked ...

[JimMoss]

It happens! :twisted:

I have 4 plastic planes now. Counting my sons of course! :wink:

Jim Moss :)

[Gary Maker]

Jim, just a quick question on the wing: Did you make the whole wing of 4mm coroplast or did you use the 4mm bottom and 2mm top method, The plans i downloaded use 4mm for the whole wing.

[JimMoss]

Gary I used 4 mil throughout except for the 4" wing joiner which is some 2 mil I had.

Added the Invasion stripes to the bottom to help with visibility (not that it was hard to see, but I always thought invasion stripes looked neat as well. :wink: )

Here is a pic of the bottom of the wing, and honest the Beeeeeer bottle is only for holding the wing up. :lol:

Jim Moss :)

[JimMoss]

Brandon I posted the pics in another thread but I will post them here as well in case you missed them.

Jim Moss :)

[Gary Maker]

Those pictures are awsome Jim! What a great shot of how you did the tail wheel too, simple strong and it works! lol I see what you mean about the larger than usual control horns. That rudder horn is a piece of work! Jim as always, thanks so much for taking the time to help out, Much appreciated!

[bmwkadet]

Sorry that I asked you to post the pictures, and now I'm not going to use the steering mechanism :oops:. I din't realize how well it could steer. Later on, if I decide to use it, this will definetly be the setup I use.

I really like the look of invasion stripes on a plane too! :D

[JimMoss]

Had Cody up again today and the invasion stripes really show up well!

Jim Moss :)

[Gary Maker]

The strips look awsome Jim. I've found that most new pilots have a very nice trainer type airplane but some of them are so hard to orient even for an experienced pilot. They seldom want to change the looks of their nice new plane by adding colourful stripes that would help them to see the plane so much better even though they can take the stripes off once they have the hang of the basics of flying. Perhaps this is another great advantage of SPADS. There usually colourful to start with and after all its an inexpensive plastic airplane so who cares about a few extra strips AND the advantages are obvious. I think thats a terriffic idea Jim to help your young lad!

Was just wondering about the cutout for the tail feathers for your Debonair! How much of a cut out did you make and do you find that the tail is totally stable, I was afraid to cut out too much from what I heard others talking about. Actually I had the whole fuse cut out at 9" from the rear but put it aside and made another one with just enough cutout to fit the fin at 5".

I was just wondering because the longer cutout looks so much better but I didn't want the tail to be too wobbly or was I just worried about nothing?
Would appreciate your input......again! Thanks.