zerosunrise

Hi guys

I eventually finished my scratch build piper seneca II.It has a 7ft wingspan with craft electric retracts running 2 magnum .46 two strokes.It also features flaps and a scale elevator meaning the whole elevator moves with trim tabs.I modelled it after a Piper Seneca I saw at one of our airports.I think it is quite scale.I will put up some pics tomorrow.

I would like to know what the flying qualities are on these planes(twins).Do they fly like any other plane.I know when you have a dead stick on one motor you pull back the throttle and land!I can fly almost any plane and mostly enjoy my warbirds

Robby

My Feedback: (18)

ZERO,,

There may be another isue other than how does it fly...

How much does this plane actually weight..?

Robby

Toolman-RCU

My Feedback: (10)

Zero, I have built two Senecas from the RCM plans. Same wingspan (84in), with two Surpass 70's. When trimmed and engines synched, it flies like single engine Cherokee. Mine weighs about 14 pounds and is adequately powered. Make sure the elevator is set to zero incidence to the wing. I had two much up elevator on maiden, and trying to keep the nose down while trying to fly a new bird keeps you very busy. Also make sure you have a pretty sturdy nose gear retract, as it takes a beating on rough fields. If you lose an engine, throttle down the good one and fly it like it's dead stick. Good luck, and post some pics.

zerosunrise

Okay here I go and some pics

The Plane weighs about 5Kg with all equipment installed and with 1 full tank in each wing.I think it looks neat.

zerosunrise

and some more pics
Oh yeah I would like to mention it also has got strobe lights installed functioning from its own batterypack and flashes when the gear is down.I am going to maiden it Sunday afternoon.

IFlySlowPlanes

Wow! Very impressive! And this is scratch built?! I've flown real Senecas and this one is very realistic-looking, panel lines and rivets and all. Very nice job!

bigstew60

My Feedback: (35)

that plane looks great. I just recently purchased the rcm piper seneca II plans too. Where did you get the engine cowlings from and how did frame the fuselage. did you have to build a jig of some sort. that is the only thing that is stopping me from building this project because i am not sure how i want to set it up and make sure it is straight. Any suggestions?

zerosunrise

Hey Bigstew

The cowlings was hand made with fibreglass and epoxy.I did not like the cowls that I have seen from the RCm plans so I made some mods on it.Secondly the Fuse I build a hell of alot of formers.I wish there was an easier way but this takes up most of the time.I personly do think that there is better ways to do it but at that time I could not think of anything else.I did use a jig but it is very old I wish I could think where I got it.I will check and see if there is any better ways to go about buillding the fuse and I will keep you posted.

bigstew60

My Feedback: (35)

Thanks for the info zero. I had put this project on the back burner but now I may move it up a little on my to built list. This will be my first twin. I am currently finishing a space shuttle, and I have a top flight p-51 and plans to a large scale crop duster that I plan on building.

Toolman-RCU

My Feedback: (10)

I sent a cowl plug to Stan at Stan's Fiber Tech http://64.143.128.248/index.html a few years back. The cowls came out great but ended up just a bit small in diameter compared to the nacelles. I cut them in halves and spliced them back together so as to make them a little larger. I plan on contacting Stan soon as I need to order another set of cowls. I will ask him if he can enlarge the mold a bit.

zerosunrise

Right Time to test fly!!

I flew it on sunday and all I could say was WOW!This is really the best plane I have build.She taxied on to the runway,checked alll control surfaces opened the throttle and she started rolling!she used about half the runway and I gently touched the elevator stick and up she went .Only two clicks on the rudder and two clicks on the elevator and that was it!I did a few passes and my word it sounds beautifull when the engines are syncronized!I flew for ten minutes and then landing time.I did the downwind leg switched to half flaps and turned onto finals selecting full flaps and slowly cut the throttle and landed.This plane is very docile and flies scale like speeds.It is not a rocket though but it flies scale.

steve2972

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Zero,
I`ve just purchased a Piper Seneca from the market place so did a search for info and this thread came up.I see your first filght went good.Whats the stall like ? Any trim change required on elevator with full flaps?

The one I `ve bought is 89" span with 2 saito 65`s plus spring air-retracts.

This will be my first twin so any advice or info you have on flying this bird would be much appreciated.

cheers

steve

TomCrump

Beautiful airplane Zero. Glad the maiden went well.

You guys in South Africa sure build some great stuff. I have a friend who lives there. He sends me pics of some of the nicest scale models on the planet!!!

Mike James

Congratulations. Always great to hear of successful first flights. Now you can stop sweating and have fun!