Prop Rogue Bipe Issue, Need Opinions

[Tony]

I took the Bipe out to the field the other day to do a maiden on it just like I did with the Edge Mini. However, I'm so tail heavy that I decided to not fly it thanks to Randy talking me out of it. I had told him that I would need at least 4oz of weight. Well I was wrong.

I decided to take today and work on the planes. I thought I only had one Rx left but I had two. So I decided to get the OrangeRx out of the Bipe and Edge mini and replace them with Spektrum ones. so I did my big edge, little edge and teh extra then started on the Bipe because I knew I would have a lot more work on that one.

I took the wings off so I could get the Rx out, yes, PITA lol. Once that was done, and I was done shrinking some of the coating to smooth it out, I put the wing back on and started to try and get the CoG correct. I couldn't find anything heavy enough to balance it out. So I grabbed a pair of pliers and put them on the top of the motor cage, it was still heavy but close enough to work once I put the cowl on. so I grabbed my scale, and the pliers weighed 10.3oz. Yes, it's that tail heavy.

I have no clue how to balance this thing out and I'm looking for ideas. I'm using the largest battery I can in it and I can't put a bigger motor in it. But I really don't want to put 10oz of weight on the nose of this thing. One rough landing (that I'm known for lol) and it could break off the motor cage with all that weight.

So what are your ideas?

 

[breeze400]

Are you sure this plane wasn't ment for A glow engine and A heave fuel tank in it?

 

[RCD]

Are you measuring the CG with the correct wing?

 

[Tony]

Are you sure this plane wasn't ment for A glow engine and A heave fuel tank in it?

This plane was designed to use an inrunner, outrunner (what I'm using) and nitro. But, I don't know if it would make enough difference. I do have a .19 here that I could put in it and I may if I can't get this centered out.

Are you measuring the CG with the correct wing?

Yup, 15-30mm back from the leading edge of the top wing. It's right where the tip of the wing to fuse brace meets the wing in the front. I'm over an inch behind that right now. I'm out of ideas other than ordering everything for nitro.

 

[RandyDSok]

This airframe is definately made for electric as well as nitro... Louis' was setup and achieved the proper CG and it was electric

I should have looked at it closer on Thurs.... but really probably wouldn't have helped since I'd probably need to see inside to see if something stood out or not. I'll try to look around for some possible clues that I can pass on... just don't hold your breath, its just a last ditch thought or two....

 

[Tony]

I'm really thinking about just putting the .19 in it. The fuel and the engine should add the weight I need plus the added torque. Just need to see if the .19 will actually fit lol.

 

[RandyDSok]

Luck may have it....

The CG in the manual is not correct. On Fliton's website there is a notice that states the CG should be 15-30 mm further back that what is stated in the manual.

Using this information and speaking with other Rogue owners, I settled for my CG to be at 3.5" from the leading edge of the center wing.

Reference Fliton Rogue 3D Bipe

Note in that article.... they used the Hacker A30-16M which weighs 4oz ( 113g )... now to me that sounds heavy and I would have thought something in the 70-80 ish gram range would have been more like it

 

[Tony]

Wow, I have actually read that one before and forgot all about it. If you read further he states that he moved it back another 1/2" to 4" from the leading edge and the wing rock stopped. I think I will set it at 3.5 and see how it goes if this wind will ever stop lmao. Teh worst that can happen is it crashes and I get to recover it and get that pink crap off of it hahaha.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and this motor weighs 60g but he was running an 1800 pack and I'm running a 2200 which should take up the extra weight he was dealing with. I do have an 1800 just incase though, but I dont' think the amps are enough on it. We will see if it comes down to that though.

 

[RandyDSok]

Not to second guess that guy in the article.... but IMO... I suspect that Hacker he chose was a pig in that size of an airframe... everyone seems to try to go overpowered on the motor forgetting about what that does ( mass-wise ) to the flight characteristics... If I'm correct about it being to big of a motor, that was most of the cause of the wing rock. Once you get a lot of mass moving, it makes it harder to correct for.

 

[Tony]

That is true. I'm about to go out and check to see how far back my CoG is right now. If I'm at about 3" then I will just toss it in the air and see what happens. First time inverted I will be able to tell if it's nose or tail heavy and I can land it and move the battery and try again. I still need to cut those screws I'm using though lol.

- - - Updated - - -

Just checked the CoG and I'm sitting at 3.75" back from the tip of the center of the top wing. So I'm right in between where he had it. Only one way to find out if it will work... And that's to just fly it. GAME ON!

 

[Tony]

I wanted to update this for those that wondered what happened to this plane. The motor that I had in it, the 60g one, was WAY underpowered! The hacker above that Randy mentioned is the correct power plant for this thing. The plane punches such a LARGE hole in the air that it needs the extra power to do it. The CoG that I ended up doing the flights with was between the 3.5"-4" range. At this time, the plane is sitting without motor or ESC just waiting for me to order the right equipment and to put it back in the air. I have fixed the landing gear from the "perfect" landing (that is not an exaggeration either, it was a good landing) that folded the gear. Watch the maiden flight for a picture of the gear at the end of the video. Again, just though i would put an update to this plane for those that were wondering.