Well...I powered out and finished the Sherpa II. The real goal here was to test the weight differences between the foam I found and EPP. The foam Im using Im guessing is less than half the weight of EPP...Well worth the effort. Ive determined that the new foam is some sort of styrine as in polystyrine. It is extremely light, but dense enough to maintain some rigidity. The downside is that it is obviously more brittle than EPP. Much depends on the amount of petroleum used in the process. My thinking (and I know that I am probably not the first to try this) is that the 1.7 Laminating Film will help hold the wing together. The AUW for the Sherpa II is 5.25 ounces (on a 42 inch wingspan). Wing Area = 266.50 CG @ 25% MAC = 1.60 (from LE) Wing Loading = 2.83 This is by far the lowest wing loading number that I have achieved. Ive included some of the last pics of the build (mostly the fuse) and some final shots. I hope to hand-chuck it at the park this morning and if it survives, take it to the slope. Of course, I would have to catch the wind just right. I dont exactly live in the most ideal ultrabatic environment. I will report later...
Posted on: Sat, 24 May 2014 18:29:44 +0000