Arcie II

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illini

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Maybe this shouldn't be in the coffee house, but couldn't decide where else to put it.

Has anyone bought and built one of these from Edmonds? I love Edmonds kits and just gotta believe this thing is a winner. I was going to buy an Ecee Thunder, but now that this is available...seems like a no-brainer. Anyone have any experience with it?
 
I don't personally have experince with it, but a few people who did commented on it in the rocketbostgliders yahoo forum and the remarks were favorable......there are also some flying pics there and construction pics if I remmber and I have a video or 2 of it launching and flying....Rob builds these gliders for the un-glider types.......
 
I saw the prototypes flying a few months back at a NARHAMS launch, one Rod Edmond's and one belonging to Kevin Johnson. Both flew REALLY nicely, with ~2 minute glide times on D12-3's.

I am <b>gettin'</b> me one of those!

I have videos of the flights linked from my web page, click my WWW icon below to see them.
 
Thanks, guys. I'm gonna look at those videos tonight, but suspect I'm going to be placing an order *real* soon. I've been telling my wife and kids its double present year 'cause I'm turning 40, over the hill, halfway dead. I think I just found what they're giving me!
 
BTW, illini - Thanks for the link! I asked Rob Edmonds if he had any Arcie-2 kits at last Saturday's NARHAMS launch, but he hadn't brought any - so I just placed my own order myself. I hadn't realized that he had his own online ordering set up.

I am probably a prime candidate for the Arcie's type of construction (one session), since I seem to have ADD or something when it comes to building kits (I have a wood HLG sailplane that I started nearly 4 years ago, but I can't seem to get past building the wing!).
 
Nice videos! Rob should link to those from his website. Anyone watching those would immediately push the BUY button. Get's good altitude on the D12. I ordered mine this AM. :D Looks like a perfect use for a 4-channel Futaba transmitter I kept around after I got into and quit RC planes a few years ago.
 
:D :D :D :D THATS SO COOL

does anyone know the person who made it? i know 2 or 3 years ago my instructor from camp who moved to cali (i think) was working on a rocket propelled glider with somone from a college for an intern thing or something... just wondering
 
Rob Edmonds is the man. He's a regular at NOVAAR launches and, from what I understand, at NARHAMS launches as well. You can see him and all his kits here. If you've never tried an Edmonds kit, they are highly, HIGHLY recommended. Between my son and I, we have the Deltie, CiCi2, and Ecee. All are great. I'm *really* looking forward to the Arcie II.
 
It's here!

My Arcie II kit arrived today, postmarked 7/19 from BMS. So it looks like orders via Rob Edmond's website are being fulfilled by BMS, where (I assume) he's having the kit laser-cut.

No time to peek and comment yet, but I'll post my impressions later tonight after the wife & kids are out and I can build without distraction.
 
Outstanding! That means mine is gonna be here in the next day or so. Can't wait.
 
Mine arrived from BMS today too!

What battery pack are you planning to use? I saw a 50mah Sanyo nicad pack available at Maxx for ~$10.
 
Originally posted by illini868891
Mine arrived from BMS today too!

What battery pack are you planning to use? I saw a 50mah Sanyo nicad pack available at Maxx for ~$10.

I have a couple of 50mAh nicad packs that I used in my HLG, which I'll be using with a Hitec 555 receiver (sans case) and HS-55 servo.

I just opened the boxes (there were two triangular P.O. shipping boxes taped together - but the kit only took up one. Dunno what that was about....). Everything looks sweet! Quality laser cutting, by the look of things.

Off to read the instructions, before I start building!
 
Originally posted by vjp
I just opened the boxes (there were two triangular P.O. shipping boxes taped together - but the kit only took up one. Dunno what that was about....).

Same here! I opened the wrong triangle first and found empty air...about to get ticked off.

It does look excellent. Shouldn't take more than an afternoon to build. Unfortunately, now have to wait a month due to this being a b'day gift.
 
Being a RC nut in the first degree I'm having a hard time resisting ordering one!! Now after watching some of those videos resisting is even harder.

I must resist!! I must!! I must!! :D :D

I must!!! I must resist!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:


CrashinJ
 
Suppose I get the R/C gear along with the kit. Will this gear be useful for any other glider or some RTF plane kit?
 
Originally posted by eugenefl
Suppose I get the R/C gear along with the kit. Will this gear be useful for any other glider or some RTF plane kit?
If you get a decent radio setup, you can use the Xmitter and receiver for any other planes you buy. I bought a Hitec 5-channel setup several years ago, that and an extra 555 receiver (plus extra receiver battery packs) are all I use for my gliders. Servos are installed more or less permanently, of course (although you could swap them between planes, but that would be a pain).

I didn't have a chance to do any building last night, but I did take everything out of the box and went through the instructions thoroughly. The instructions are well written. The plane's CG (balance point) is indicated on the wings by two laser-drawn diamond-shapes - EVERYTHING about this kit smacks of quality and well-thought-out design. Parts count is as minimal as practical and design follows the KISS philosophy - for example, there are no pushrods to fabricate or connect! Laser-cut cams (which are aligned perfectly on the wings via laser-cut tabs and holes) are actuated directly by the servo arms. This is a one-channel setup (steering only); when the CG is just right, the glide is more or less optimal. Steering is by aileron only, which is something RC flyers might question - but I've seen the plane fly, and trust me, it seems to turn nicely without the need for an elevator (turns on standard aileron planes are done with a combination of aileron and elevator input). Wingtip plates seem to be the secret to the plane's aileron-only steering technique.

I'll report back when I start doing some actual building.
 
Originally posted by eugenefl
Suppose I get the R/C gear along with the kit. Will this gear be useful for any other glider or some RTF plane kit?

What Vince said. I have a 4-channel Futaba transmitter sitting around from my last failed attempt to get into R/C planes a few years ago. I just need to buy a flight pack like this and a battery pack and I'm good to go. You might shop around a bit for the R/C gear. The setup BMS is selling includes a 3-channel transmitter, suitable for ailerons, elevator, and rudder. Arcie II uses only one of those channels - ailerons. If you think you might ever get into R/C planes, you'll want to look for at least a 4-channel transmitter (throttle plus the other 3 channels).

Looking around a bit, I notice that you can get a setup very similar to what BMS is selling here, but for significantly less. BMS is charging $149. Look at the Focus 3 FM Feather on this page for $69.99. Get a $10 rx battery pack from the same guys and you've got what you need for about $80.

After looking over the instructions, I'm already imagining mods for a second kit that would add an elevator. Basically, remove the flap "droop" but add an elevator to control speed and add maneuverability. A bit premature since I haven't even built or flown the stock version yet, but I'm thinking...
 
O.k., no build report yet, here's why - this a.m. I began to sand the pre-airfoiled wings, and noticed that one wing was much denser and heavier than the other. So I weighed them, and the discrepancy was remarkable - 8 grams for one, 16 grams for the other. This is pretty significant (about 0.3 oz. in a small piece of wood!) and caused the lateral CG to shift over 1.25" from the CL of the assembled wing.

Apparently, BMS was cutting left and right wing pieces from wing stock of vastly different density. I contacted Rob Edmonds, who replied quickly and let me know he took immediate steps with BMS to ensure no more kits go out like this. He's emailing everyone who ordered kits via his website, to find out how many others there are like this. I assume BMS is doing likewise for those who ordered via the BMS site.

So, if you've already got (or have enroute) a kit, you might want to see how your wings compare. It should be easy to add some weight to one wing to bring them into balance, but I'm going to hold off until I find out if they're going to set up some sort of wing swap program first.
 
Dang, hit submit too soon....

I just wanted to wrap up by saying that if you're thinking about ordering a kit, don't hesitate over this issue - now that they're aware of the problem they'll be checking any further kits for the problem before they ship.
 
Originally posted by vjp
I just wanted to wrap up by saying that if you're thinking about ordering a kit, don't hesitate over this issue - now that they're aware of the problem they'll be checking any further kits for the problem before they ship.

I agree. Vince gave me the heads up on this yesterday afternoon. Less than an hour later I got the e-mail from Rob Edmonds asking everybody to check their wings, let him know if there's a problem, and that they would take care of it. Clearly this is a "first run" problem that will be corrected ASAP.

I weighed my wings last night. One panel was 13.3 g and the other was 14.7. Only 1.5 g difference. No big deal there.
 
Originally posted by illini868891
I weighed my wings last night. One panel was 13.3 g and the other was 14.7. Only 1.5 g difference. No big deal there.

Whew! That's good. My "light" wing panel is only 8 grams and seems to be made from soft, almost contest-grade balsa. I'm wondering if a sheet of lighter stuff got fed into the batch by mistake, by the supplier company (the wings are laser-cut from the pre-airfoiled balsa that you can buy in hobby shops which cater to R/C and F/F folks).
 
Originally posted by vjp
Whew! That's good. My "light" wing panel is only 8 grams and seems to be made from soft, almost contest-grade balsa.

Actually, other than strength (a 'soft' wing might break off), there really isn't much reason to worry about one piece of raw wing stock being a few grams heavier than the other side. By the time you complete the rocket the overall weight asymmetry will be much, much less. And after all, I like to trim my gliders to circle (in case the electronics fail) and 'one wing (slightly) heavy' would help your glider turn.
 
Originally posted by shockwaveriderz
Hey u guys how about some PICTURES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be happy to oblige once I actually get to build the thing. Birthday is a month away and wife is a bit of a stickler about early presents.
 
If someone wants to buy me one, I'd gladly take pictures of the build!!!!!! :D :D :D :D

CrashinJ
 
Here are some pics of my Arcie II....all built less the electronics. My RC buddy is helping me to outfit the electronics. The RC plane guys question the design, no elevator...aileron turning, but I tell them that Edmonds should know what he is doing! I guess we shall see!:(
 
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