RC Aircraft

Rutan Long EZ

Completed Model

Printed in Lightweight PLA from plans from here. Designed some pinstripes in Silhouette Studio, cut out and added adhesive vinyl, painted the canopy to match.

Some tips if you're going to try and build and fly this: Elevons need like 8mm of uptrim in order to fly level. The motor is a bit underpowered, so launch it at near full throttle. Torque roll is a thing considering the larger propeller, so be aware.

Parts Before Assembly

Here's a successful flight after about ten crashes. I'm pretty sure my issue was trying to launch it under-powered. You pretty much have to be at close to full throttle when launching, the motor is probably a bit under-powered for this plane. The prop is larger, so is very prone to torque roll, which I think was also my issue. I was launching mid-throttle, would see it wasn't enough so would go full throttle, which then just made it violently roll left and crash. Also because the motor is a bit weak, throttle needs to be above 60% to keep it in the air. I'm amazed it glued back together so easily after so many catastrophic crashes.

After about a half dozen more crashes, I just about was ready to throw in the towel on this one. However, that stubborn part of me refused to let something beat me. So, I printed some new fuselage parts, glued the rest back together, and this time decided to try using a gyro. As much as I had PTSD from using it on the last few planes where it seemed to make things worse, I decided it might be helpful for the launches. The larger propeller really was making it roll violently to the left on takeoff, and when by the time my hands got on the controller, I'd usually over-correct and then by then it would have just either crashed outright or lost too much altitude from being sideways so much, and then crash anyhow. I figured at the very least I could have the gyro on auto-level on launch, and then turn it off afterwards. I also added a slightly bigger motor, as I felt the one that was recommended was just a bit underpowered for the job.

Parts List