Airwolf Turbine - My Build

[ssmith512]

Originally Posted by Ah Clem

ssmith512,

I am terribly sorry that I will not be able to meet you and see your magnificent machine in person this week at IRCHA.

I also wanted to get a photo taken of you and I and the AirWolf.

As you may know, I was rear-ended last week, and can hardly walk, let alone travel.


Good luck to you at IRCHA sir!

Well that sucks! I did not know about your accident. Your health and well being are far far more important.

Watch this thread for pics and vids.

I'll see if I can get the Production Team to send you an autographed pic and t-shirt!

Take care of yourself!

[Ah Clem]

Thank you, sir!

[ssmith512]

IRCHA was an absolute blast. Didnt get to fly Wolfie as much as I would have liked, but I cant complain.

No major issues and she came home in one piece.

I am fighting a weak tail now. After the flights in Dalton last year, I changed main and tail blades. This was the first flights with those blades. The new main blades are 17mm wider in chord (now 93mm up from 76mm) and the tail blades are 20mm SHORTER, but 5mm wider in chord (now 160mm x 47mm down from 180mm x 42mm). I am pretty sure the shorter tail blades are on the absolute limit of size, especially dealing with the added torque the new wider main blades. I need to measure to see how much longer on the tail blades I can safely go without getting past the limits of the tail stinger and main blades. I am also researching semi-symmetrical tail blades to see if they may help increase tail rotor effectiveness.

At 1:07 in the video, the heli starts rotating to the right, at this point I am giving a LOT of left rudder and the heli would not respond. There was a decent breeze in my face (but wouldnt call the day "windy" (which is trying to weather vane the tail - so the tail was trying to work against rotor torque AND the prevailing wind at the same time)...I was very close to bailing on the flight, but at 1:12 you can see the heli snap back to the left. I think maybe the gust of wind calmed a bit at that moment and was no longer pushing on the tail. I did a slow left hand circuit, was happy with the tail control and decided that once in forward flight, the tail would weather vane and as long as I was easy on the collective, we would not encounter any major loss of control.

It has been 11 months since I last flew this wolf in sheep's clothing, so I am a little shaky on the sticks, and didnt do any real yank and bank flying, just some simple circuits. I think she needs a little more nose weight and a tiny bit of tuning on the elevator, bit other than that and the minor tail contol issue, pretty happy with the handling. Just need some stick time with her to get used to it.

Sorry for the video quality, my phone is pretty basic and doesnt do video very well.

Cant WAIT for Dalton in a month!! I plan on burning a bunch of jet fuel (kerosene) there.

IRCHA 2017 Flight (4 min 51 sec)

[Raptorapture]

Great to see it in the air!

[Mercuriell]

NIce flight Steve - thanks for posting - seems to be similar in handling to my 429 - I think all big Vario mechanics are undergeared for the tail. I like to keep to right hand circuits and just pretend I'm doing a piro if the tail blows out

[sandersnn2]

Looks excellent. Thank you for showing us.

[ahummingbird]

Yep I'm smiling, but probably not as much as you are!
Congrats

[99100]

Looks good on the ground and in the air. Very impressive.

:notew orthy: clappp:c lappp

[FillUK]

Very Very Nice

[Scanman]

A beautiful thing to watch after following your meticulous build. You'll soon have all the little things worked out.....no doubt in my mind

Look forward to seeing more of her, be well.

[Ramflames]

AWESOME!

[nightflyr]

Appears someone else caught one of your flights ...

Steve Smith's Airwolf Flight #1 at IRCHA 2017 (6 min 44 sec)

[ssmith512]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

Appears someone else caught one of your flights ...

Yes, that was my "first flight after painting". A fellow scale modeler videod that flight with his camera. You can clearly see how shaky I was on the sticks (1 from being nervous as all heck, and 2 from having not flown it in 11 months). Also, you can see the front gear had issues during the retract sequence (that was subsequently fixed for the second flight - was just a simple adjustment to the mechanism).

Looking forward to "getting used to it" again at the Dalton show in about a month. Dalton's field is much more open as well. IRCHA is kinda tight with the trees and power lines in front and to the left.

[nightflyr]

I think you did just fine
I'd be a tad shaky myself putting that machine in the air after all the work.

[Ramflames]

I'm sad. Nothing has been posted in 10 days.

[ssmith512]

Originally Posted by Ramflames

I'm sad. Nothing has been posted in 10 days.

No sobbing allowed in the Airwolf thread!!!!

She is basically finished. Just have some seatbelts to install.

I worked all morning on this just for you....................

Vario Turbine Airwolf walkaround (6 min 51 sec)

In two weeks I will be at the best scale show in the Nation in Dalton Georgia and will have lots of flight vids to share after I get back!

[Ramflames]

Steve, Your Airwolf is a master piece! A work of art! Absolutely Amazing! I would be afraid to touch it, besides fly it. My hat is off to you.

[Raptorapture]

Very nice! Thanks for taking the time to give us a tour

[junglegym]

Very Well Done Steve!

I did make it down to the scale tent at IRCHA and was able to take a good look at it. I wish I would have seen it fly! I was surprised at how big it actually is.

[ssmith512]

Flights from Dalton. Need to work on my takeoffs and landings and being more precise in hovering. This big 'ole bird requires a different approach to piloting. Enjoy!

Raw unedited video.....

Airwolf Dalton 2017 Flight 1 (8 min 21 sec)

Wolf morning fligth Dalton9 8 17 (6 min 26 sec)

Wolf afternoon flight Dalton9 8 17 (7 min 45 sec)

The Lady Dalton9 9 17 (7 min 26 sec)