Honker Bipe with "easy" ailerons

[KevinC]

Not having sufficient confidence in my skill to do integral ailerons like Ed Larsen did, I opted for the easier route - full length trailing edge ailerons. I put fixed trailing edges on the upper wing to match. Per Ed's experience, I added some area to the horizontal stab and kind of wish I hadn't. Like my earlier experiment with the Littlest Stik Bipe project, I find it to be VERY pitch sensitive. Not as much as the Frankenstik but still overly so. Hopefully a bit more expo and/or travel limits will solve that. As with the FrankenStik, I went with a black and gold New Orleans Saints color scheme. Testors rattle can paint and MinWax WBPU top coat. EMax 1407 motor, 12A ESC, APC 6x3.1SF prop and 2s/500mah power.

[KevinC]

As hoped, upping elevator expo from 25% to 35% made a world of difference and its a lot more comfortable to fly. Aileron response is somewhat lackluster but increased throw should resolve. Looking like this will be another good one for my squadron. Now, if I can take what I learned from this one and successfully apply to the FrankenStik, I'll have two well-flying WillyNillies.com biplanes.

[KevinC]

Well it turns out that, even at 100% throw, 1/2 inch ailerons weren't enough. The roll rate is very slow so I added another 1/4 inch to each. Picture for comparison.

I'll get the add-ons painted and test fly ASAP.

[KevinC]

The additional 1/4" on the ailerons helps quite a bit. It also turns out that part of my aileron problem is a VERY slow moving servo. If I wiggle the stick back and forth rapidly, the servo loosens up and moves more quickly. I suppose the grease inside has thickened up. I'll replace that servo ASAP and it should then be a great little fun-flier.

[KevinC]

Hmm... Even after adding another 1/4 inch (3/4 inch total) to the ailerons AND replacing a slow moving ES9251 servo with a known good ES9051, I am still disappointed in the roll response of my Honker Bipe. I totally realize it's not a Pitts Special or other highly aerobatic plane BUT I thought I should be able to complete a 360 degree roll without finishing nose completely down... Ailerons are moving briskly with the new servo but roll rate remains painfully slow and I'm not sure why. Perhaps I should have used linked ailerons on the upper wing as well, like my foamie Waco biplane. The main reason I didn't was because of how that would complicate the periodic removal of either wing. It's still a fun little plane but I had hoped for more roll rate with which to do moderate aerobatics. Thoughts or comments?

EDIT: after posting this, I remembered that after replacing the servo I DID back off the aileron throw somewhat to avoid having TOO MUCH aileron. I had forgotten about that when test flying yesterday. Will try one more time with throws set back to 100%. If that doesn't do it, I might try a longer servo arm to get a bit more throw. If THAT doesn't give me enough roll rate, then I'm out of ideas.

[KevinC]

Well darn. Putting the servo throw back to 100% STILL didn't give me the response I wanted. Definitely better, but still less than ideal. If the longer servo arm doesn't do it, then I'll be officially out of ideas apart from adding even more aileron surface area.

Will definitely consult with Doug at S.M.A.L.L. in late May

[KevinC]

The longer servo arm DID make a big difference. It still won't snap roll very well but that's not what I was aiming for. The roll rate is definitely improved and where I'd like it to be. Therefore, the final solution for "easy" ailerons turned out to be a 1/2" fixed trailing edge on the upper wing and 3/4" full length trailing edge ailerons on the lower wing with the longest servo arm that comes with an Emax ES9051 servo. That combination delivers what I consider excellent performance for the plane type and makes the Honker Bipe much more fun to fly.