Author Topic: Straton from Staufenbiel  (Read 11656 times)

selleri

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Straton from Staufenbiel
« on: July 30, 2015, 16:27:24 PM »
Being part of a small community of modellers and even smaller one gliding wise I've spent some time thinking how I can best satisfy the need for some large scale gliding/thermaling from the ground up so when I saw Staufenbiel introduce the Straton earler this year my interest was peeked.

Granted there wasn't much information available at first, no inflight video and only the unboxing video from Staufenbiel at first. Then they announced 10% discount off it during a modelling show in Germany early in March so here was the chance to get a 5 meter powered glider with everything bar the ESC and Rx for €719 delivered free to Denmark where I could pick it up and bring it home as an extra suitcase next time I flew over. Did I mention that the fuselage is in two parts and the wing breaks down to four parts, making the box much more maneuverable and cost effective in shipping!

Just under a week later the first flying video appeared on YouTube and I knew I had not made a bad call. Guess I wasn't the only one that got excited at that video as the PNP version sold out in few days after the release of it. When the Straton got back in stock the price had gone up by €60 but still a great value for what you get. You can also get an ARF version for €599 vs the €859 for the PNP version.

Wingspan: 500 cm
Length: 225 cm
Weight: 8,4 kg
Engine: 310 kV
Wingarea: 165 dm2
Profile: HQ/W-2,5/12 + HQ/W-2,5/11 + HQ/W-3/10,5

The Straton comes double boxed and had survived the transport Germany - Denmark - Iceland without damage. Only thing wrong was a small patch of paint had chipped off one of the wing tips but it was glued back in and is hardly noticeable. The wings are Styrofoam core skinned with abachi and covered with Oracover. MPX multilocks keep the wing secured during flight and a MPX connector gets the wires from the wing to the fuselage, the ailerons use a locking servo plug. The six included Dymond D7550 metal geared servos seem up to the job and feel pretty solid. A solid steel joiner runs through the fuselage with solid carbon tubes connecting the outer halfs. The fuselage molding is clean and neatly done and with sanding of the gelcoat the fuselage halfs join up neatly. Check the tail-boom/tail for stiffness and make some arrangements if you feel it is too soft. There was some flex around my servo box so I added some spacers around it to box up the inside if the vertical tail and adding some strength to it.

Well packaged and boxed.






Dolly for the assembly of the fuselage.


Add some glue to the joint.


And make sure it's straight!


The first kits were supplied with a Aeronaut Cam prop that isn't up to the RPM's and were replaced by Staufenbiels own product.


Impressive size for an electric motor when you are used to the 13" and 14" sizes.


22x10 prop.


The wing comes in four parts, divided at the aileron/flaps and flaps/fuselage.


The flaps could have a nice career as barn doors!


Here the fuselage is seen with 33% DG800 and Ka3.


Staufenbiel wants you to use Z bends with the included linkage but I found some of the to be too brittle and besides I like my links to be solid above certain sizes.


So I replaced the included rods for 3mm threaded rods with clevis on both ends adding a carbon tube over the elevator linkage due to its length.


I made a small shelf for the Rx mostly to get it above the carbon strengthening that is around the mid of the fuselage.


No work needed on the motor besides securing the wires.


I'll be using separate batteries for the Rx as I like to have a bit of redundancy in my larger planes. Two LiFe packs will power the Rx through a Powerbox switch and the 85A Dymond ESC with XT90 connector can be seen under the cockpit floor.


As the battery I'm using(6S 5800 mah) is lighter than the recommended 7000 mah one I needed to make a ballast for the nose. Film put in the bottom of the nose with some steel sand and epoxy pored in and left to dry. Later fastened with silicone so it can be removed if I acquire a heavier battery at a later date.


I needed to make a dolly for the takeoff so IKEA came to the rescue with the EKORRE children walking aid supplying the majority of components. Staufenbiel later introduced their own dolly.


Due to the large size of the prop we need some serious ground clearance.


Sverrir - Icelandic Volcano Yeti

selleri

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Straton from Staufenbiel
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2015, 16:31:07 PM »
Now came the big day or should I say evening as the maiden was around 2100 GMT/local time.

The dolly was placed on the center line of the paved runway, with a wingspan of 5 meters we had a clearance of just over 2,5 meters on either side. With about 10° flaps I slowly advanced the throttle and down the runway the Straton went. I was able to controle the heading with rudder and soon I started to feed in up elevator shortly there after the Straton rose up from the craddle climbing authoritively up in the sky.

I had not enabled the brake on the ESC for the first flight so the freewheeling prop provided some drag but nontheless it was apparent that the HQ/W profile is working as expected. It did a roll and loop without problem after a diving for speed and overall the handling was very predictable and nice.

Climbing for height I tried out the crow braking and it really slows the plane down and as expected some down elevator is needed but the climb isn't excessive if you don't program it in for the first flight. In it's current configuration I've got the motor activated on the throttle stick and the flaps/crow set up on a three position switch, giving me takeoff flaps and then full crow braking. For full proportional control I've also got the crow programmed on the slider but I'll probably switch them over to the throttle stick and put the motor on the slider for more precise application during the landing faze.

















Sverrir - Icelandic Volcano Yeti

selleri

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Straton from Staufenbiel
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2015, 16:32:48 PM »
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/v/7cLtNjqTzb4[/youtube]
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andrew wallace

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Straton from Staufenbiel
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2015, 17:50:13 PM »
:D nice model
i\'m an ordinary man nothing special nothing grand

Happy Days

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Straton from Staufenbiel
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2015, 21:11:28 PM »
My goodness, that looks very sweet. (Bit like a “T” tailed  Alpina). And a good colour scheme too. Pity it didn't have a superimposed vertical and horizontal cross with it but never mind! No, seriously, that is a very good looking model.


Have to say that's one very tidy workshop as well,.......I'd be afraid to use a workshop like that. (I'm far too untidy!) :oops:

I agree with you  re. putting the throttle on a slider and the crow brakes on the main control stick. I need all the pitch, roll & yaw controls at my finger tips when landing. Oh, I also need a bit of luck as well.  :roll:

Conditions during the first flight seemed very calm, have you had a chance to test her actual gliding abilities yet?

All in all it was a very impressive report Sverriv, thanks for posting it. (Your English is very fluent. Could you give Fred some lessons please?)  :lol:

(Oh and just one more thing,.......could you cancel the sound of wind over the microphone please. (On the video) I'm sure you have an audio editing suite, but just in case you haven't you might like to try this one. It's free......which is why I use it Ha!!!)

http://audacityteam.org/download/

Little Keith
Try not to run out of airspeed, altitude and ideas....... all at the same time.

selleri

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Straton from Staufenbiel
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2015, 22:51:52 PM »
Didn't need much input from me for that Andrew!   :D

Bahh, just lucky that we are outside of the main building season else it would be more messy.  
No, as the motor brake wasn't active but I've got a good feeling from the airtime so far.
Cheers Keith, my old English teacher would be proud, I'll see if she can tutor Fred.  ;)
Sorry mate, I decided to keep the wind for this one.
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Fred

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Straton from Staufenbiel
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2015, 20:10:44 PM »
Most certainly the best review about the Straton we can find on the Internet!

Again, very nice work Sverrir!  :clap:  :clap:
Education is important, but flying RC planes and gliders is importanter!

selleri

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Straton from Staufenbiel
« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2015, 20:42:29 PM »
Thanks mate!

Also appearing in the September issue of RCSD.
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