F3A ShockFlyer with swept mid wing counterbalances
This is a very unique one or a kind modification that I came up with to help increase the roll rate on my F3A. I went thought and added two counterbalances on each wing a very large one on the inboard side and a small one on the outside. Most counterbalances are large and on the outer wingtip with no protection around them. (see Animal page) so I decided that I would have my counterbalances contained inside of the wing were they would not be as easily damaged. I also made them swept so that they would seam to go with the shape and smooth look and feel to the airplane. Also so that I could put very thin carbon fiber on the trailing edge of the wing and be able to make the curves. I did not want square ones because I thought they would grab too much and hurt the smooth flying characteristics of the plane. Another thing that I did to preserve the smooth flying characteristics of the plane was to make air dams in front of the counterbalances so that they would be ineffective around neutral. I did this for a few different reasons it is very hard to get foam counterbalances to all stay centered at all times. I also wanted them to not have any effect at neutral so that I would have as little authority at neutral as possible ( for smooth pattern flying). this seamed to work every well none of the smooth flight characteristics were hurt by adding the counterbalances. The one major improvement that I did not predict was how Axial it made the rolls. At high deflection the F3A used to "flop" during its roll and not be very axial. after the counterbalance mod I immediately noticed how great it was flying and how axial the rolls were. the counterbalances did not seam to speed up the roll rate much at all but this F3A was a great airplane the only down side to it was the little extra weight that was added from the extra carbon and glue. ( and the build time of 12 hours ! )
Components:
Kokam 3 cell 340 / PolyQuest 3cell 300
Futaba 3110 servos / Hs 55
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