Zerosen404 RC conversion

[davidchoate]

This Zero was my 2nd build. It came out very nice I think. I planned on converting it to Rc from the start, but if I had it to do over I woulda added ailerons, but anyway. I'm waitin on a couple of parts to finish my P-51, and so I'm using the time to put a motor, Rx, and linkage in the Zero. I went with a 370 brushed motor, as they are heavier, and It's hard to balance a Zero. I am using 2 eflite 7.5g servos mounted in the cowl for balance. With the batt in its balance is perfect. And the brushed motor was only $6.00, and the gear was $4.00. It has plaenty of power. I'm using a 3 bladed prop, and when I programmed the ESC I ran it up to full power, and it was pulling my arm away. I'm 90% sure this is gonna fly.I dont think I posted on here yet when I built it.

[davidchoate]

Sorry for the horrible pictures. I need a new camera phone. It's all beat up from work.

[davidchoate]

my Zero weighs 325g's with battery. I took the motor from a plane that had a weight of 455g's, and a 34" WS, So it should work in my Zero fairly well. This plane is one of my favorites. I just like the way the Zero looks. It has a beautiful wing. I dont know how anyone could fly it Free Flight though considering the amount of weight needed to achieve balance. I am going to do RC on more 400 series. they have the room, and size just right, and I dont need to use those unreliable, and weak servo/esc/receiver units. And they're also light enough to be a park flyer.But heavy enough to fly in a light wind.I have a Spitfire and aFW 190 kits to do next.

[davidchoate]

She's ready for flight. I just gotta find a nice spinner for the prop. I'm nervous about the maiden. This was my second build, and the first that came out very nice loking. I'd hate to crash it.

[comanche163]

Wonderful build. Looks like it will fly great!

Rob

[davidchoate]

The 400 1/16 scale are the easiest to convert. The plans even come with how to make moveable tail surfaces, but not ailerons like on the 1000 series.

[Bill Gaylord]

Looks great! The Zero is a good flyer, probably the best of the bunch I've done, with only a slight amount of Phillips entry modification to the airfoil LE. Someday I'll make a little tweak on the aileron cable geometry at the servo on mine, since it has a slight hysteresis issue which could easily be cured. Other than that, it's a lovely flyer.

[davidchoate]

Yes Bill, I think it has to do with the shape of the wing; It seems to have alot of area which means less wing load, I'm learning, but dont know how to figure wing load ing. But airage store has a book on electric flight set up thats about $15.00 I should get it. Oh, And as I said, I built this 2 yrs ago, and the silk has split in several spots. I hate that stuff, and never will use it again. My P-51 I'm workin on too, looked awesome for about a week. Perfectly smooth. Now it has the "Starved Horse Look". Every rib is defined.Never again silkspan . Goodbye .

[Mitch]

To All,

Wing loading is the weight (per square inch) that the wing has to support in flight. I wish the model makers would tell you the calculated wing area. I have seen it on one (yes, just ONE) set of plans (not Guillows)

To calculate, you need to find out the total square inches of the wing. I start with looking at one side. Use the entire wing, even the part that is under the fuselage. I look at the wing as a Rectangle and calculate. The Zero is 6 " x 13" = 78. Then I approximate the triangle removed to get the wing shape. I am using a triangle with a base of 2 inches... so 1/2 b x h or 1/2 (2) x 13= 13. Then take away from the rectangle 78-13=65. That is one side, so x2 = 130.

I calculate that the Zero has a wing area of 130 square inches. My model weighs 98 grams (built 2 years ago) So my model's wing loading is .75 grams per square inch. My Edge is about 1 gram per sq in. My arrow is about .4 grams per sq in. I am striving for .6 grams per square inch for my warbirds now.

That is what I do... hope that helps. Mitch

[dirk gently]

What I typically do to calculate the wing area of a scale model is
- take the wing area of the full scale aircraft (easily found on wikipedia)
- divide by the scale factor (16 in this case)
- divide by the scale factor again.

[Mitch]

Thanks, I like that... Took me a bit to figure it out but as you say divide by the scale (twice)

As per Wikipedia... wing area = 241.5 square feet. 144 inches per square foot so that's... 34,776 square inches. divide by 16 twice... That's 135.8 square inches. That seems good if you know the scale of the model. Also some models are changed to be able to fly as a small plane.

I will use your method to check against mine... Especially for the Spitfire!

Here is another method...Good for unusual wing shapes. Copy the plan of the wing. Cut out a rectangle around the wing. In this case it would be 6x28 and be a total of 168 sq inches. Now weigh this piece of paper or cardstock on you scale. Now cut out the wing shape and weigh it again...Let's say the wing shape weighed 80 percent of the rectangle. 168 x .8 = 134.4. I know some guys at FAC do this. My scale is not accurate enough to weigh the difference. If your scale will weigh the difference I am told this will be VERY accurate.

Mitch

[davidchoate]

Thanx guys. now i know how to figure it out

[Bill Gaylord]

If you end up under 10oz the plane will be beautiful. I've flown this series of models at 12-14oz with no problem, although landings get faster. Don't be afraid to add ballast, rather than having a tail heavy job. All my gear is packed into the front of this model, and there's still a decent bit of lead added if I remember correctly. The Spitfire you plan to build is a really good one, since it has the most wing area, with 1 square foot. Flies well at 14+oz. Different from some reports of being a tough subject, it flies really well with some washout added.

[davidchoate]

Thanks Bill. I like your videos,and threads. You've helped me alot. My ZeroSen404 weighs in at 380g's. Thats about 14 oz. I think.I made it over 2 yrs. ago, and it was only my second build. I did'nt add ailerons cause I lacked the know how then,but I've been flying trainers without them so I can manage. I have a master airscrew 3 blade 5.5" prop. and a 370 brushed motor. I chose it because it's heavier,and only cost $6.00. It was for a foamy trainer weighing 500 or so g's so it should provide the right amount of power; also I got a 3s 11.1v batt. again cause its heavy. And im sure it will provide some good wattage. without knowing the amp draw of the motor I dont know the exact watts,but I am using a 20amp ESC. with arming switch, but I found out my Spektrum Tx has a safety feature that acts like a arming sw. I am learning alot, but still have a ways to go. I recently upgraded my foamy trainer to a clipped wing,and 2300kv brushless motor to get used to flying my built planes. I can't believe it took 2 yrs. to learn to take off, fly around, and land in one piece. And I taught myself at great expense. I wrecked alot of trainers,and lost 2 to trees and 1 to a flyaway. Once I lose sight I tend to panick. Once I lost track of time,and the batt. got low, and the motor cut, but I had controls;I landed it nicely dead stick in the street next to the field, but then a car ran it over. Very sad moment.I took some better pics with a camera.

[davidchoate]

pictures too big to post