Super Tail for Super Cub

[Dillzio]

Hey all,

I've tried beefing my tail, and like a good SCC member i've taken pictures to post up here so you can all benefit from my success or failure.

My tail was less than two weeks old, but I had a fairly minor crash and crumpled it up a bit so it was no longer flat and straight. I've used my personal favorite tape for the super cub, bright white cloth tape, to reinforce the tail and keep it straight. By running the tape longways along the horizontal stabilizer REALLY tight it makes it very straight and stiff.

First I did the sides, then I ran the tape longways to make it look a bit more neat. First you apply tape to one side, then cut it out so that it overhangs the edges by about 1cm. You then flip it over, and apply tape to the other side of the wing, working from the center towards the edges. Be careful not to let the sticky side of the tape touch the sticky side of the tape on the other side before it's in place, because once they stick they're very difficult to get apart.

You then pinch it all round the corners to bond the two sides of the tape together and pull it tight, then cut off the excess tape leaving about a 2mm over lap for each side to bond together.

To reinforce the elevator, I ran tape along the edge of it, and to stop it from flexing I put in a couple of popsicle sticks at the base for support. The popsicle sticks aren't glued in at all, they're held in by little screws and nuts. I took an old control horn, broke the base off it, sanded the bottom flat and then epoxied it to the popsicle stick for the push rods to connect to.

I haven't touched the vertical stabilizer or rudder (yet). I'll see how it goes as is for the moment. I checked the weight of the reinforced horizontal stabilizer/elevator, and it is admittedly more than I hoped. I weighed my old buggered up one that is just reinforced with one layer of clear packaging tape, and it weighed 29 grams, so the stock one probably weights about 25. My reinforced one tipped the scales at a hefty 55 grams :-(

I'll get it installed and check the center of gravity, last time I checked it was a tad nose heavy. If I'm lucky it will balance perfectly now, but somehow I doubt it :-( I'll keep you posted.

I've also got plans to get my hands on some 1.6mm aluminum and having a go at making a tail out of that.

[badlands]

Interesting mod, what remote is that from - the light coloured remote?
It looks like our UK Sky+ remote.

[Dillzio]

LOL

I post about my super cool new tail and you want to know about the remote control I used to prop up the elevator?

The remote is for Foxtel IQ. It's Australian cable pay-TV with sort of a hard disk recorder built into it for instant rewind, live pause and recording TV shows.

[Dillzio]

awww :-(

It turns out that my super tail isn't so super after all. After attaching the tail and checking the planes CG, i could immediately see that something was very wrong. My reinforced tail is about 25 grams heavier than my last tail, but it needs another 65 grams on the front of the nose to balance it out.

somehow I don't think my cub is gonna fly all that great with an extra 3 ounces on it, but i'll probably see how it goes anyway. In the meantime i'm going to look into making an aluminium tail. I'll cut a piece roughly to shape and weigh it, then I can tell if it can work or not.

[Dillzio]

I've stripped down the super tail because it was just too heavy to be practical. The big problem is the weight of that tape, two lengths of that cloth tape as long as the tail weighed 12 grams! I took off all of the cloth tape except for the stuff on the sides (either side of the elevator) and I just ran first-aid type paper tape along the wing tightly for bracing.

I find a good way to make it nice and tight and stiff is to get a length of tape, stick it to one side of the horizontal stabilizer firmly, then bend it a tiny bit to move the two ends a little closer together, then attach the tape to the other side. This will make the stabalizer a bit curved. You then do exactly the same thing to the other side to pull it straight again and it makes it really stiff!

Paper tape is almost weightless so it's fantastic for use on the tail. My tail now weighs about 32 grams, and I only had to add 10g to the nose to balance it out.

[Dillzio]

I've come up with another way to reinforce the tail without adding weight.

I've added a couple of toothpics to mine to straighten it up after a crash.

Just poke through the toothpics as shown in these pics and it they act as a brace to keep everything straight and stuff.





The horizontal stabalizer and elevator are braced with some paper tape and a couple of popsicle sticks.

[badlands]

Mmmmm...popcorn!

[Dillzio]

LOL!

[happydog500]

I never knew the tail was an problem. Mine is like new, after many, many flights and trees, and crashes.
Chris.

[coupe1942]

Just adding to an older thread. I really enjoy the creativity of these mods. Instead of using tooth pics, could this same mod be done with a larger paper clip? If you bent the paper clip into an L shape, then you could push it inside the foam with more ease than the end of a tooth pic to be pushed on. Once you inserted the length you wanted, you could them trim off the extra with a pair of nippers or snips. The paper clips come in various sizes in diameter and lengths and even come in white colors.

[jklong03]

I just cut out a replica of my stabilizer after it failed at the center joint of a single piece of basswood. A little heavier than stock, but has served me well.