Angle of Horizontal Stab for Self Designed RC Airplane?

by Jerri

Hi I have become hooked on rc via building planes out of foam board,
being a noob and crashing a $5 airplane doesn't hurt the wallet so bad!

But I have found myself in a delima because now I am designing my own planes
and I have always wondered about the horizontal stabilizer and the cut of that
and the elevator.

Some plans call for this to be cut equally and some not at all, and I was
woundering if it should be cut in the same angle as the forward wings span to
create lift on its own.

With foam board I am just torn on what to do. My last plane flew fine but would
not glide, at low idle it would kind of hang nose up and move along. I hit full
idle and level some but not perfect, it did loopty loops fine though well till
i hit a tree at 60 mph LOL best $5 I ever spent!

Well let me know whatyou think about the shape of the horizontal stabilizer on
the tail fin.

Thanks

Jerri

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Angle of Horizontal Stab for Self Designed RC Airplane?

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Here's my take...
by: Matt

Hi Jerri,

I posted your question here hoping that someone else may offer more insight than I can. But here are my thoughts...

As you know, the purpose of the horizontal stab is to keep the plane flying straight and level.

The moment or sum of the torques around the CG must equal zero. So the lift of the stab X the distance to the CG must be equal to the lift of the wing X the distance to the CG in order for the plane to fly straight and level.

I guess it gets complicated because as you increase in speed, the lift of them main wing and the stab must increase in proportion to the distances from the CG in order for fly straight and level. From that perspective it would almost be impossible to have a plane that would fly straight and level at all speeds...

The airflow around the stab is also affected by how the air leaves the main wing. So there are a bunch of variables at work here.

My only suggestion would be to design the stab in way that can be easily adjusted and go by trial and error until you get something that flies the way you like it...

Does this help at all? lol