X-racer

[redlite]

After a half dozen flights or so, I'd say this was a way fun project and would recomend it to any one who has normal R/C flight skills.

Joe

[redlite]

OK, got it to upload...phew..

[ADW 123]

whats the pricing on this stuff

[redlite]

[redlite]

@ADW 123...$10 at my LHS, plus about $100 in micro R/C gear.

Joe

[ADW 123]

that has a fiar price tag, but quite a bit if you are 14. so you bought a foam plane or glider or somthing, and then modified it for r/c? thats what it looks like to me, correct me if im wrong.

[redlite]

You are correct, young man. This is Guillows kit #2660, or something like that. It's supposed to be a hand chuck glider for $5 to $10, depending on where you get it...might be discontinued, maybe someone here could tell us. It requires a 'computer' radio to fly due to the mixing of the elevons with a whale-tail. It was the only way we could tame it...docile as a hungry kitten...not a good first time R/C plane, it's definitely not a trainer. That said, it will fly nicely within it's envelope which we are expanding with each flight.

Joe

[ADW 123]

the important thing is that it looks indistructable. i personally like the slow fliers. somthing i can fly indoors and not depend on the weather with. ive always wanted to try an r/c conversion, however the price for the gear is just so much, i said screw it until im older. i dont think that the modifacations are so dificult, its just the price for good gear. if you can spend a lot of mony on the best and lightest equiptment, i can bet you will have better results.

[redlite]

It is very durable. The model only weighs 9 ounces. You could lower it some by hogging out some foam, but durability may suffer a bit. Micro gear is pretty cheap online these days. I went to my LHS and paid $70 for micro flight kit that had 3 servos, 6 gram motor, 2 props and a 6 amp ESC. You could get the same stuff online for about half that. BTW, the motor it's now using is a better 14 gramer and a 12 amp ESC. The weight gain is easily carried as the plane can take up way more than 9 ounces. For indoor, yeah, it'll be a bit heavy for that, but not by much.

Joe

[ADW 123]

that was the other thing. i find it most dificult to find things online, because its hard to tell how much power it really has. a lot of people go online, look at an rtf with similar features as their plane, and then buy just the electrical components off the spare parts page. then again, some 25% nitro content racing fuel, a new .049 cox engine or somthing of the sort, and posibly even a new kit would cost less than a lot of r/c stuff, plus its quite reliable, and i dont have to wory about the wind as much. i do always enjoy seeing people's r/c conversions here and elsewhere though. thanks for sharing.


Alex

[ADW 123]

and also, close up pictures of the motor mount and wireing/servo locations are appreciated. i like to get a good idea of how people put this stuff together.

[redlite]

Better shot of gear, without the heat tiles in the way.

Joe

[ADW 123]

so it looks like the motor has up and down control, which wil work as an elevator, plus two ailerons? whats the servo in the front do? retractable front wheel?

[redlite]

Fair questions...a delta wing platform (which the Guillows X-Racer is) is sensitive in roll (likes to wobble) and is also pitch poor (doesn't like to climb or dive) so elevons and an extra whale-tail are needed to tame the beast. Elevons need to be small so they won't over power the roll axis when they are being used as ailerons, but this creates a problem in pitch. Since elevons are also elevators, they need to be big to overcome the 'pitch poor' characteristics of the delta wing. By employing an extra whale-tail that will only move on elevator command thru your mixing function on your radio you get alot of elevator and a little aileron...just what the X-Racer needs to fly! The motor doesn't move, the middle servo operates the whale-tail. The front servo is used to steer the model while taxiing on the ground. No retracts, but that's a great idea and the X-Racer can carry more weight than she has right now.

Joe

[ADW 123]

should i be taking whale tale literally