Hobbyking Lancaster Build and Mods

[F106DeltaDart]

I thought I would share the build of my Hobbyking Lancaster and a few mods. The stock airplane can be seen here: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__66863__HobbyKing_Avro_Lancaster_V2_Thumper_MKIII _4_Engine_Bomber_EPO_1320mm_PNF_US_Warehouse_.html . I I modded my Lancaster with washout, scale split flaps, and rudders. The stock airplane had a rather poor reputation for nasty tip stalls and needing to carry a lot of speed, so these mods were done to allow it to fly slower and more like a bomber.

The first mod I did was to add around 2 degrees of washout to each wingtip, and smoothed out the leading edge seam. This should help the stall tendencies for the airplane by delaying stall at the wingtips. For the washout I made two cuts and bent the LE downward. Also sanded off the mold lines and added filler to blend the transitions. Then, the wing was repainted back into the stock colors using matched paint from Lowes. The paint was thinned and applied with an airbrush.

[F106DeltaDart]

The next part of the build was adding split flaps. People over on RCGroups had great success slowing down the model using small fixed flaps, but I opted for a more scale actuated version. I used 0.03 in thick styrene for the base of the flap, and a 3mm square carbon tube to limit twist. The "ribs" are plastruct styrene 1/8 in "T"s sanded with a taper. The flap sections are joined together by a small metal rod that runs between the square CF tubes of the inner and outer sections. It is glued on one side and free to slide in the other. Two 9 gram metal gear servos were used to drive the flaps.

[Flygirl]

Wow!! That was quite a job!

[F106DeltaDart]

Next mod was a crew. Can't have an empty Lancaster! I added two of the smallest pilots carried by park flyer plastics, and they were the perfect size. I am happy with how they turned out, despite my paint jobs.

[F106DeltaDart]

The rudder mod was next. I wanted the Lancaster to make nice flat turns instead of the fighter-like turns many of the flight videos showed. I did this by embedding 2 HXT 500s into the horizontal stabilizer to actuate the rudders. In addition, I added a small piece of balsa in at the hinge line to slightly enlarge the rudders to ensure their effectiveness. Final paint was also applied. In addition, the prop adaptors had to be turned down on the lathe to reduce the gap between the prop spinners and cowlings.

[F106DeltaDart]

Wow!! That was quite a job!

Thanks! I was just glad it paid off. The final plane flew great!

The maiden flight was conducted off of short grass with takeoff and flybys at half flaps. At this setting, the plane could really slow down to a crawl and looked very scale. Turns were almost entirely rudder. Landing was also done at half flaps and just over 1/4 throttle. The plane really settles in nicely at this setting, and had a clean rollout. All in all, it is a great airplane if you are willing to put in the time! I just wish some of these features had already been in the stock version. I will be looking at adding some lightweight gear doors in the future, and hopefully many more successful flights with this bird!

[Flygirl]

Beautiful job!!

[Prowler901]

That's some fine work there, Delta. I really appreciate the work you put in to the split flaps. Those look really nice.