singular small changes at a time. All of the planes fly with a slight left rudder adjust- ment.
When you are happy with these adjust- ments, go to a 9-second engine run, launch- ing the plane near vertical. It should climb straight away, sometimes climbing to the right, sometimes to the left, depending how you launched it and the direction of the wind. If towards the end of a near vertical climb it levels out and starts to fly in circles reduce the incidence by ¼ turn on the ad- justing screw.
Keep adjustments small. You may have to repeat this several times. Santa Cruz is suited for the AMA Classic Power event which allows a 12-second en- gine run. This suits the Holland Hornets and TDs with tanks and suction feed fuel systems (non-pressure) so dig up those old motors and get back into the game. You’ll love it!
The author displaying the uncovered Santa Cruz. Note the warren truss anti-flutter wing and stab structure and engine up-thrust.
in place. Pin and place weighted objects on the whole assembly until dry. I often use a slower drying carpenter’s glue like Titebond for this operation. CyA can be used also. The orientation of the pylon is extremely important as the angle the wing mount makes with the stabilizer is the flying inci- dence. It’s 1.5 degrees. Eyeball the surface of the pylon that supports the wing platform and make sure it’s exactly as shown on the plans. The wing platform, shown for the ra- dial engine mount configuration, is attached to this surface and is supported by ¼-inch triangular strips on each side of the pylon. They also are the wing rubber hold down points.
If you are starting with the longer Hornet or Cox fuel tank configuration, extend the length of the pylon forward, as shown on the plans, by 3⁄4 inch and locate the wing on the platform so the c.g. is 75–78% back from the leading edge. The distance from the wing’s leading edge and the centerline of the glow plug should be 2–21
⁄4 inches. Trim the trail-
ing edge of the platform/pylon accordingly. Engine nacelle: Five basic pieces: two sides, a center filler piece, a firewall and a fuel cutoff timer mount. Use 3–48 blind mounting nuts and as short a bolt as you can find for weight savings.
The firewall is attached with CyA and, when dry, the front end covered with epoxy. When starting with a TD and red tank/ motor mount, make a rectangular firewall to fit tank rear outline.
Flying adjustments Preflight inspection: The flying sur- faces should be keyed. Check for any warps or irregularities. If too extreme don’t fly un- til they are removed. Note any natural wash-in or wash-outs of the wing tips. A lit- tle washout is okay on the wing tips as it provides a measure of stability in move- ments about the yaw axis. Glide Testing: The wing platform is ex- tra-long so the wing can be positioned where
FLYING MODELS
the plane c.g. is at 75–78% back from the leading edge. This is a good starting point for the glide tests. Test glide on a calm day over a grassy surface if possible. If the plane exhibits a stall, move the wing back on the wing platform until the stall is gone. Mark that point. If the plane dives, slide the wing forward until it’s gliding properly. Glide di- rection is achieved by tilting the stab accord- ingly, the plane gliding to the high side when viewed from the rear. Power testing: This adjustment is pri- marily made by control of incidence with the 2–56 nylon adjustment screw under the stab’s trailing edge and to a lesser degree with rudder tab deflection. The dethermaliz- er should be activated for every flight. If you are using a fuse, be sure and light it. Don’t get lazy. Initial tests should be at full power for 5–6 seconds at a moderate launch angle. If the plane does not want to climb, add inci- dence by raising the screw at the trailing edge of the stab. That is equivalent to giving the plane “up elevator”. Re-adjust glide. If the plane exhibits a hard right or left turn, adjust the rudder tab accordingly, making
Final step: If at all possible, hook up with a local group of fliers. They are key to a good progression and help overcome that shyness in flying with accomplished fliers. All local clubs are making an active effort of recog- nize folks who are starting or getting back into flying and are eager to help keep the hobby going. Check out “Editors Work- bench”, Sept-Oct 2012, National Free Flight Digest, D. DeLoach, editor. Harrowing experience. Santa Cruz #7 got lost this summer at the MMM’s 20,000-acre flying site in the Great Plains to the east of Denver. This place is inhabited by all sorts of nature’s gifts, small herds of roving an- telopes being one of them. Being related to billy goats, they will eat anything, including the shirt off your clothes line. We found #7 three weeks later on the open prairie in good flying shape with nary a nibble. Special thanks to those MMM Club mem- bers who were so patient in helping get this project off the ground. They include, but are not limited to, Don DeLoach (design aspects), Jerry Murphy (care and feeding of TDs), Chuck Etherington (power trimming-retriev- ing), Bill Lovins (chase bike techniques and pressure systems), Marc Sisk (flying tech- niques-retrieving), Bill Gieskieng (trim tech- niques), Dave Wineland (power tips) and Rick Pangell (pressure systems-editing). Please forward any readers comments on the performance characteristics of Santa Cruz to me at
RamonBoyd@aol.com.
The Santa Cruzon a test flight. It will climb near vertical with a slight left or right roll. 45
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