Some people think they can just throw some parts together and instantly make a fantastic flying airplane. I no longer think this. At least not in the SP world. This is the second airplane I have built from scratch (after the demo plane) and it is the first I was able to controllably fly. It is the ...oh 25th revision that I could fly straight for more than a few kilometers and then land. Still not very easy to fly, but would like to get some feedback on what is wrong. May still post my first plane that OMG is horrible to fly. It was soo bad I gave up trying to modify it and just started over. Should I have not started with jets? Am I making my pane too short for stability?
Thanks for any feedback. And please tell me how to make this in more then one paragraph. <edit> figured out to edit.
Specifications
General Characteristics
- Created On Windows
- Wingspan 22.3ft (6.8m)
- Length 24.4ft (7.4m)
- Height 12.0ft (3.6m)
- Empty Weight 5,886lbs (2,670kg)
- Loaded Weight 11,412lbs (5,176kg)
Performance
- Power/Weight Ratio 0.984
- Wing Loading 59.7lbs/ft2 (291.4kg/m2)
- Wing Area 191.2ft2 (17.8m2)
- Drag Points 1983
Parts
- Number of Parts 16
- Control Surfaces 5
- Performance Cost 150
Thanks for checking out my plane @dovahdesigns and giving me some feedback. I started with longer thinner wings and symmetric tailplanes but those were some of the things I changed out of desperation to get this to fly straight. It kept pulling up hard and looping over so I kept trying ways to force the center of lift backwards. My CoM was only a little behind the CoL at first, so I thought it would be OK, but it was not. You are right I should change them back since I have made many other changes since then. I made the wings shorter out of desperation at one point, then made them wider towards the back to move CoL. Again, I should change them back too. I made the fuselage longer after that, so I'll try it one change at a time. I resisted a long time, but eventually had to put 1000lbs dead weight at the nose. I hated doing that. I'm of the Lotus design school - "as light as possible." Thanks again.
Hey! To make a plane fly well, make the wing span longer and slimmer, also NEVER make the horizontal stabilizers flat bottom/semi-symmetric, only make them symmetric.