Columbia Cruiser II Progress

[ssmith]

Attached are pictures of the current state of things on my Manhattan build. I have built most indoor classes including F1D & 35 cm but this is my first Manhattan and it is proving to be very challenging. The fuselage and flying surfaces have all been built and covered with an all up weight so far of about 2.9 grams. Because of the extensive handling the fuselage will be subjected to I covered it and the wing with Penny-Plane film which should be more durable than most of the lighter films. The rudder and stab are covered with the lighter and more fragile Super-Ultrafilm.

The major challenge has been covering the fuselage with film on all four sides without breaking any of the delicate framework.

What is amazing is when you hold it and wrap your hand around the large fuselage (gently !) you expect it to feel so much heavier than it is and it almost seems like it will float out of your hand.

I still have the prop, nose-block, and landing gear to go, not to mention a winding stooge, blast tube, a winder mounted torque meter, and a transport box to go along with the airplane.

I have a feeling that this is going to be a very high-maintenance model but am anxious to see it in the air.

Steve

[dputt7]

A work of art Steve.

Regards Dave

[ssmith]

After some hurried activity I was able to to put together the various final bits and pieces so that I could test fly the Columbia Cruiser II at our regularly scheduled flying session today.

All in all it was a great success. For the first flight I left off the landing gear and put in 500 turns and hand launched the model. It flew right out of my hand climbed for a bit and flew in a nice circle. I was very pleased.

For the next flight I put the landing gear on and wound in about 750 turns. The model just scooted around the floor dragging the left wingtip and just couldn't manage to lift off. The third flight was much the same having made some slight incidence changes.

I figured that there just wasn't enough horsepower for it to lift off so I reduced the prop pitch a bit to increase the RPM's and added some wash-in to increase the lift a bit on the left wing. It worked like a champ and it lifted off nicely, climbed and flew in a nice pattern and ended with a gentle landing.

The final all-up weight is 3.85 grams so I have a bit of margin left so I may beef up the structure in a few locations. I also want to re-do the prop since there isn't enough room between the shaft and the start of the blades to comfortably grip the prop without touching or fouling the blades.

Attached are some pictures. The first is an overhead showing the Manhattan in comparison to a Peck Pup Bostonian. The second shows it in comparison to a B-1 Bomber and an F-111 located in the hanger where we fly - the Manhattan is considerably smaller  .

I actually had a Penny-Plane land on top of the cockpit area of the B-1. I had to climb onto the wing and then walk along the spine of the B-1 to retrieve the model. The top of the B-1 is about 25 ft above the ground and I felt a bit like like a tight-rope walker.

Steve

[dputt7]

Well done Steve. What a spectacular Indoor Venue, I checked it out on your website.

Regards Dave