Supercub Updates

Last Friday I had the oppotunity to fly the supercub off of Kai's pontoon boat. Kai and his brother also flew- three nearly identical floatplanes in the air at once made for some good fun. However, one of the gearbox components in my plane failed. While it would still fly, it vibrated horribly and would undoubtably eventually cause some fatigue failures.

Photo Courtsey of Kai

Luckily, I had ordered a motor and motor mount several months ago for this eventuality. Last night I installed a Turnigy SK 3530 1400kv. Since the Supercub came with all-in-one receiver and brushed motor ESC, I had to add an external brushless ESC. I chose an old E-flite 30A that was left over from my first T-28, RIP. The only prop I had on hand that would be even close to approriate was a 9x6. With a 20c 2200 mAh battery it pulled 36.5A. A little high, but since I rarely fly full throttle for any amount of time I felt it would work until I puchase a more appropriate prop. I think a 10x5 or 10x4 might be a good choice.

As long as I had the airplane torn apart, I used the opportunity to add a water rudder. I had a very nice plastic water rudder left over from the set of coroplast floats I had purchased on E-bay for my old 0.40 gas trainer. While those floats and the gas aircraft are long gone (sold on craigslist), I held on to the water rudder since it looked like a nice piece of hardware. I cut a pocket into the left float for an old servo, used a left-over pushrod and clevis, and we're in business. I'm excited to see how it handles both in the water and in the air now.