[Roger Winger]

Here's another of my designs that I've been working on. I put on the 3rd flight today and so far so good. This model is powered with a Mega 16/15/3 and 9 cp1300 scr cells. Performance is what this model was designed for and I'm quite happy with it. It sure looks like an F-18 ripping by at mach 2.0 It is constructed of balsa and plywood with fiberglass covering. I use a catapult for launching which is always a thrill ride. We tried to get some video today but all my "videographer" managed was a nice film of the lawn, arghh.

I really like this color scheme with the big maple leaf in the vertical stabs and more details are needed but I may change it to the 2003 airshow tiger scheme. It would be much easier to see especially on cloudy days like today.

[Roger Winger]

Here's one of the F-18 on the launcher. The very next chance I get we will try to get a video of this aircraft in flight.

[Morb]

Great job Roger..

Can hardly wait to see the video.

Geof.
www.smoothair.ca

[matteo]

Looks fast

Matteo

[oilman]

Looks great!

I wounder ..... whats the stall speed on this. I have limited fying space so stall speed is always an issue.

When are you going to intruduce a Foxbat or Flanker?




OK one more question. I'm a little nervous about trying to sand in an airfoil shape. Could would it fly on a flat plate wing?

Oily.

[Roger Winger]

This isn't really a model for a limited flying space. It has a fairly quick approach even power off because of the wingloading. Once in ground effect these kinds of models tend to fly out the length of the runway pretty fast. Approaches must be flown with a turn onto the base leg at say 100 yards out and the turn to final at about 50-75 feet. Basically very flat and low. If you come in with any kind of height you will overshoot the runway.

Sanding in the airfoil is actually pretty simple. I use a series of high point lines drawn onto the wood and then carve (with a razor plane) away from them while leaving the lines intact. Once this is done I use a small orbital sander to true it up and round the edges. Takes about 1 hour.

As for the next model to leave my bench, I've been thinking of finishing my Cutlass. I originally designed it for edf but the simplicity of these pusher jets is swaying me. Actually last night I ripped out the fan unit and am in the process of modding it for a pusher prop. Very easy to do and it will save a ton of weight. Performance will definately increase. Here's a pic of the Cutlass.

[Roger Winger]

Here's a pic of the full size Cutlass. Quite an interesting aircraft if you ask me. They were used by the U.S. Navy in the fifties for a couple of years. I read one interesting story of a pilot who used to fly the aircraft. The roll rate was so fast that if he did 3 rolls to the left his eyeballs would become "uncaged" and he could never stop the roll level. However if he followed the 3 left rolls with 3 right rolls he could stop it level everytime.

[Roger Winger]

Hi guys,

After learning a little something about video editing I now have video of the F-18 flying. The video starts with the model being launched with a catapult. If you've never seen this done before, don't blink or you'll miss it. Then I buzzed the field for several low passes and followed with a landing. I missed the field but landed in the soft mown hay, no damage.

You can go to my website and click on the F-18 link in the menu bar to download. File size is just under 4mb and is in the .wmv format.