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Staggerwing previews...

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Guest R_Driscoll

OK, that's looking awesome. The blue around the cowling looks a bit odd, but overall its definitely awesome. Possibly you could repaint it from light blue to blue as in Staggerwing's drafts! Anyway, that'd be the cutest plane to take under the golden gate bridge!Oops, that's not Tom's picture at all, but one of yours. But it looks shinier - maybe that's what's missing.Congrats again,Robert.

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Nice aircraft Jon :-) In terms of flight model, what should we expect? I assume it's supposed to be high drag and lift and fairly sluggish in turns. But then, these biplanes are pretty good at aerobatic maneuvers, despite their bulky appearance. Since FU uses a flow dynamics kind of flight model it might be possible to create double wings in the flight model as well as for the visual one. We've got the Red Baron -- is that the one you use as a starting point? That one yaws terribly but I assume the short fuselage and the rather small rudder account for its limited turns. Hans Petter

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Guest fu3

H-P,What should we expect? Good power off the mark with a short takeoff run, climb out at ~1300-1500fpm @ about 120kts. Level flight at 34.5" manifold gives about 212MPH (~185kts). Slows down quite quickly to ~100MPH but runs-on below that. Approach at 80MPH (70kts), finally dropping to ~60MPH for touchdown. DON'T hit the brakes, stow the flaps and use full up-elevator first.The lazier the approach, the shorter the roll. Having only flown it a few times so far, I'm having trouble getting slow enough (bounce down the runway and hit the fence at the end - whatever posessed me to put fences at the ends of runways?) but I've had a few good ones. The bumpier, the harder - I need to adjust the oleos (can be done in the flight model OK).If you bank too hard at low power, it just flops over - but recovers really quickly. You can pull it into a level stall and hit the power to recover without losing much altitude. It certainly has no shortage of lift ;-) It is modelled as a staggered biplane, with all the right numbers loaded into the flight model (based on a P51 with a GeeBee R985 engine but de-tuned slightly). Yaw isn't an issue (looooong tail) but it definitely has it's own feel. Reminds me a bit of a floatplane (how it goes all wonky in steeply-banked turns), but if you have speed (anything > 120MPH), it's as stable as a rock.BTW, all my references to MPH vs. kts relate to aircraft's age ;-) MPH was still commonly used until well after WW2, and vintage collectors always make a point of their T6 (or Beech 17) flying in 'miles per hour', as opposed to 'knots'. Sounds rather silly really, but I like it 'coz it's kinda romantic :-lolI need to get everyone's email addresses again (many have changed) so I can get some testing happening. It still has the P51 cockpit and voices but I can work on those while people are testing it. Interested folk should email to:jonathanpointgmailcomso I get your current address. If you have Gmail, I can send you a link for download.:-waveRegards,Jon PointGlide Distance: About 50% of the runway length when you hit a 20kt headgust on flare...

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Guest CaptRolo

Looks really good ,Will send email addressCaptRolo

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Guest fu3

Good point, Tom!Bearing in mind that the transition isn't as smooth on a 'D' (and the G has that cute little door at the front which makes the whole shebang a lot cleaner when closed) but I actually had a devil of a time with BSP there (some problem with the flaps).I'll try cutting out that section (part of wing, part of fuse) to see if it works as a separate part. We may get some obvious 'joins' though :-(PS Crashed it yet? :-lolRegards,Jon PointGlide Distance: About 50% of the runway length when you hit a 20kt headgust on flare...

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Guest fu3

Tom,Yeah, there are soooo many variations. This became obvious when I put the original model together and it looked too short - then I found out that there were 2 main fuse lengths :-rollModel Differences:Aileron Location - Lower wing on all B17 and C17 models, upper wing on all remaining production models.Flap Location - Split type flap on under surface of upper wing on Models B17B, B17L, C17B, and C17L, upper wing trailing edge on Models B17E, B17R, C17E, and C17R, lower wing trailing edge on all other production modelsFuselage Length - Short type - Length 216 5/16 inches on models B17 and C17, long type - Length 229 5/8 inches on all other production modelsLanding Gear - Long type on Models B17B, B17L, and C17B, short type on all other production models. Retraction was by pneumatic on first 30 Model B17L airplanes, and on first Model B17B. Nearly all were modified to electrically retracted gear when the systems became availableWing Stagger - Negative stagger of 23 inches on Models B17 and C17, negative stagger of 25 19/32 inches on all other production models.Tail Surfaces - Braced both sides with brace from vertical fin to horizontal stabilizer and two braces from stabilizer to fuselage on Models B17, C17, E17, and F17, cantilever type with no struts or braces on Models D17 and G17. (Taken from "The Staggerwing Story", by Edward H. Phillips,

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Guest Staggerwing

>Tom,How about THIS much?? I cleaned-up the wing fillet a bit too ;-)Lots better ! Lost that Grumman "Duck" look :-lol

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Guest R_Driscoll

I'm out of my class here. They all look great, and Jon very kindly sent me one to test fly, (even though he knows that my flying skills are the PgUp and PgDn controls), and so on the weekend I unpacked it and set it up for a flight. I have to say from the start that visually this is so impressive. The detail level is higher than I expected, with little pop-down landing lights, wire bracing, twin exhausts, superb undercarriage detail with even the springs rendered in 3D, flaring on the crosswire bracing joins and many others. Great to look at, impressive on any ramp. But time to fly, so I trundled out to a long east west runway and increased prop pitch and then gently throttle. It nosed down quickly and with some encouragement lifted off and climbed like you wouldn't believe - the first time I had realised how powerful this little craft is.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/158716.jpgNow generally I'm staid and conservative in my flying. I like to fly with my head on the ground, so to speak - gentle level flight while I look out the window and enjoy the scenery.I have to warn you all that this is not the plane for gentle level flying. It is a wild crazy plane that wants to tear around the sky.Two lengths of the runway after liftoff and I was doing barrel rolls.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/158714.jpgLess than a minute later I was upside down wondering how close to the ground I could go. After that things started to get busy. http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/158715.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/158719.jpgOn my first flight I did an outside loop. Then I did a double one.Eventually time to come back to earth. So with some trepidation I lined up. Its a three wheel tail dragger - I find them difficult because they want to nose over, but I read the instructions and talked with Jon first about how to land it.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/158717.jpgFirst time was successful, second was good too, although I hit the park brake too early and it nosed over. Third time, I landed with the brake on ...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/158718.jpgWhich gives you all a chance to see the wonderful detail on the U/C !!Congrats again Jon, this one was a lot of fun and so easy to fly.Robert.

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