had it tethered with the rubber band the in- structions called for. It flailed around and acted like a berserk control surface. Then it got into the prop arcs, got chewed
up and may have jammed one motor, be- cause suddenly the plane snapped while I tried to set up for a landing. Yup, it took a vertical nose dive right into the water and mangled the wing. The fuselage was com- pletely intact, a testament to its strength. Got a replacement wing kit and had the Widgeon back together in no time. There’s another reason to seal the hatch completely. On subsequent taxi tests I noticed that wa- ter would flow over the nose of the aircraft. Without a good seal some of that water could get into the hull and slosh around, if there’s enough, affecting the c.g. Easiest way to seal the hatch was with
some Scotch Blenderm tape. That’s the same stuff used for hinging flat foamy con- trol surfaces. It’s pretty tacky on the fiber- glass surface and conforms nicely to the curves. Yet it also removes easily and does- n’t leave any residue. My other tale of woe was my own brain
fade. On the second flight I forgot to put the rubber drain plug back in the step of the fuselage hull. I put it in the water and start- ed to taxi and couldn’t figure out why the nose was getting progressively lower. Duh! Yep, it started to sink nose down. I cut all
power so none of the components—ESC, bat- tery, and motors—would short out. And on the subject of getting wet, Laddie Mikulasko who’s done a fair share of electric seaplane flying, suggested spraying some Corrosion X on the motors and the speed control. It’s a water dispersant that can be used with elec- tronic components and found at True Value. The next flight turned out perfectly,
though I had to wait out persistent 15–25 mph winds. Even found the beautiful, spa- cious Fairview Lake YMCA camp to fly the Widgeon. Bob Kahle, the Director, was not only gracious, but excited about it. With the 3350 mAh 3-cell Li-Po I set a
pretty conservative time limit of 4.5 minutes for the flight just so I didn’t find myself well out in the lake with no power left to taxi back. Subsequent testing showed that at mostly half throttle the plane consumed a very modest 541 mAh. In the air the plane proved it can scoot,
even at half throttle. With the wing loading and a relatively thin airfoil the plane does-
n’t like to loaf. It grooves. You point it where you want and it stays there. Control re- sponse at high rate is quick and expo would help dampen that sensitivity but the Tactic radio I used only had low rates. Just a few clicks of right aileron trim, and
a few of down elevator were needed to get the Widgeon stabilized. Rolls are of the bar- rel variety and loops are pretty straightfor- ward. Going down hill, the plane picks up speed quickly so throttle management was necessary. When it was time to set up for landing the
first approach was high and the speed built up coming down hill so the plane almost
went whizzing by. Next time the approach was lower and the final was longer to get the descent rate stabilized. I also kept the speed up and let the plane settle gradually. It touched down, bounced and then settled in very nicely. With all the gremlins behind me and the dealine met it’s now time to get to know the Widgeon a lot better. It isn’t a plane for a novice, and experience with relatively fast planes will help with the plane. It is a qual- ity model, and could notch up your modeling experience to another level, a twin and a seaplane. If you want a great change of pace, consider the Widgeon.
Once the prop insert is carefully glued into the prop hub with some cyano, a #9 drill bit (above left) can be used to drill the insert so it fits snugly to the prop shaft. Two Futaba 3115 servos (above right) are used respectively for the elevator and the rudder. There will be a lot of cables passing through this area so care needs to be taken that they don’t interfere with the pushrods. In order that the ESC adapter (below left) and the cables from the two ESCs don’t interfere with the fit of the hatch, put the battery in with its power lead facing aft. That way, the connected leads can then be pushed aft past the hatch opening. Eliminate those “Duh!” moments by always checking that the rubber drain plug (below right) is in. It fits pretty snugly in the step and there’s no problem with leakage.
Right about at this point (above), up elevator can be released to let the plane get on step and accelerate to liftoff speed (at right). Horsing it off too soon will make you go for a swim.
FLYING MODELS 33
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