Zephalcon Z3 Copy Scratchbuild

iwan_canobi · October 15, 2014, 09:54:46 PM

So I had my Falcon laying around not doing much and a cunning plan came to mind. I like the look of the new Z3 and though that it can't be that much different from the Falcon wings.

THUS THE ZEPHALCON IS BORN:

Cut the Falcon in half and cut out some fins from foamboard to sit into the recess left where the battery was:

Cut a center section using the flite test style airfoil, with depron doublers to form the sides:

Closed over:

Added another carbon spar for strength:

And thats where it is currently. Will add some further foam spars to stiffen it all up, and also try and mount the plywood gopro mount that came with the Falcon. Then will need to fill in all the cutouts and holes that are there!

Plan is to run with 2x 2200 3S batteries with the 2200kv motor and 6x5 prop, or maybe even 2x 3000's with a beefier motor.

No idea how it will fly really, but should be fun finding out! :D

Brucey · October 15, 2014, 09:57:03 PM

Cool, poor mans z3!

Billy_boy_2010 · October 15, 2014, 11:19:33 PM

Looks great!

Coyote · October 15, 2014, 11:28:35 PM

10 / 10 for effort :)

iwan_canobi · October 16, 2014, 12:14:58 AM

Cheers guys! Looking forward to progressing it, as I said I've no idea hpw it will actually fly! Thinking the small prop and motor may not give it enough power, may put on the 1100kv plus 10x6 folding prop that is on my versa instead.

Although the center section should provide lift, so it may be ok with the smaller setup. Any thoughts? I havent really planned any of this, just got home from work and started hacking!

Billy_boy_2010 · October 16, 2014, 12:44:37 AM

Quote from: iwan_canobi on October 16, 2014, 12:14:58 AM
Cheers guys! Looking forward to progressing it, as I said I've no idea hpw it will actually fly! Thinking the small prop and motor may not give it enough power, may put on the 1100kv plus 10x6 folding prop that is on my versa instead.

Although the center section should provide lift, so it may be ok with the smaller setup. Any thoughts? I havent really planned any of this, just got home from work and started hacking!

The wing section doesn't look enormous......stall speed won't be tiny.

There was a really interesting thread recently on 3 cell vs 4 cell- lots of great posts from people far more knowledgeable than me.

While the conclusion was essentially- you go with whatever is most appropriate for the plane, having considered 100s of factors......

IMO there's little disadvantage to a 4 cell setup. Overpowered is better than under IMO. You can keep the weight fairly low to begin with despite a beefier motor by taking full advantage of the long nose and putting a sensibly sized 4s right in the front and get the C of G right.

Alternative would be to keep it dead light and floaty I suppose! I get the impression that such setups are a little less forgiving however- harder to get yourself out of trouble.

Although just reread your post- 1100kv is quite low. I'm sure it will fly- but IMO a 1400 would suit it better....I have a 1100 on my 900mm wing atm. It's ok. It needs a 1400 really but it does fly as it is- and it's on it's last legs anyway.

It's a homemade plane- if you spend too much £££ on it it ruins it IMO- botch it all together and see how it flies!

skyscraper · October 16, 2014, 08:21:51 AM

Love this. Cant wait to see how it flies!

I had thought of doing a Falcon with a stub fuselage so you could get a 2200 3S battery further forward, since I had to add a fair bit of nose weight on the last one.. But ading a centre section is a whole new dimension!

Re motor. I recently used a 1275 kV with a 8x6 prop on 3S on my Falcon and performance wasnt great. Found it works best with a 1500 kV and a 7x5. but on 4S maybe you are about right

Anyway waiting for the next stage :)

regards
Andy

iwan_canobi · October 16, 2014, 10:14:01 AM

Cheers guys. I had read the thread about 4S vs 3S and both my Skywalker and quad now run off of 4S anyway. I had a look and my 1100kv motor is fine with 4S but they recommend an 8x4 prop on it. Hmm. I've got a few 4S 3000's that would fit fine, maybe its time to just call it quits on 3S and offload all my batteries!

Will have a play and see what works best, might be an excuse to buy a wattmeter and work out what the most efficient setup is! :D

iwan_canobi · October 17, 2014, 07:20:20 PM

Some progress, added some foam spars and got it all glued together.

Motor and mount on, went with the 1100kv and going to go 4S:

Starting to lay things out, using the OrangeRX 3 axis stabiliser:

Next i need to properly run the cables and then fold the top over, and make some hatches for access. Then will need to work out Fpv setup and cog with the camera on the front!

iwan_canobi · October 19, 2014, 06:58:10 PM

Well I did some more work today on this, and its almost complete!

Glued over the canopy, and then cut out a full length hatch. I had some magnets so added them to keep it closed, should hopefully be tight enough!

I then made the cutout and glued in the gopro case to the front. I'll use this as FPV cam to begin with and if it flies well then I'll add a board cam as well. I put the gopro mount in off center for that reason.

Things were going well so I taped over the center section with white gaffer tape to make it waterproof and a bit more durable. I then decided to test out the motor and the 8x6 folding prop I'd put on. Spun it up and went to full power and a second later (somehow) the prop caught on one of the vertical fins and obliterated itself and took the motor clean off the foam mount in the process! :( It was a cheap prop so no sure if it broke and caught the fin on its way off, or it caught the fin first and thats what broke it. No idea where it went but the screw was still on the prop mount so it must have broken at the base of the prop!

Anyway, I cut back the fins a bit for more clearance, and will need to order some new blades. Weather here is rubbish anyway for at least the next week so maiden won't be happening anytime soon anyway!

Still, happy overall and think it actually looks pretty cool! :D

iwan_canobi · November 10, 2014, 10:11:26 PM

Well, I finished it, and IT LIVES! And more importantly, IT FLIES! Quite well actually!

Zephyr 3 Style Scratch Build Wing

Coyote · November 10, 2014, 10:32:09 PM

Flies great ! :)

BlueFlyer · November 11, 2014, 06:47:45 PM

nice one... I think the Z3 "style" has got it licked... the age old problem of getting a flying wing to balance properly without being too tail heavy has now been done away with due to the protruding blunt nose.

it's making me think about doing something very similar with my Go Discover... I hate the dome, and this looks relatively straight forward.

thanks :)

FPVSteve · November 12, 2014, 01:12:39 AM

Wow, nice job that flies really well.

Billy_boy_2010 · November 12, 2014, 04:00:21 AM

Quote from: BlueFlyer on November 11, 2014, 06:47:45 PM
nice one... I think the Z3 "style" has got it licked... the age old problem of getting a flying wing to balance properly without being too tail heavy has now been done away with due to the protruding blunt nose.

it's making me think about doing something very similar with my Go Discover... I hate the dome, and this looks relatively straight forward.

thanks :)

interestingly most of the genuine Z3 builds haven't needed the long nose and and the batteries are quite far back. But yeah it certainly gives you options.

A guy in YouTube, ant0nsmith, who flies a discover and seems pretty handy, smashed his fuselage up so glued the two wing half's together and made a small Z2 copy. It seemed to fly pretty well.

Whatever you do it will be interesting to see how it affects the stall speed as my friend has a discover and finds it pretty high.