Carbon Traveler
Convertible TM
4 channel profile CF
& ripstop portable Ultra-Light 3D/sport
bipe.
KIT
INFO AT BOTTOM OF PAGE or skip there HERE
Ace Sim RC proudly presents
the Carbon Traveler Convertible.
This one plane just may be the most versatile, durable, and transportable
RC plane available anywhere.
It was designed to offer the maximum crash resistance without the expense of flex in flight
to learn advanced maneuvers.
Built entirely from nearly 50 feet of carbon rod and covered with 1/2
oz coated poly ripstop this fully 3D capable biplane weights
right at 3 oz empty of any gear and can be flown in the smallest
of yards (see videos below) with inexpensive
off-the-shelf CDRom brushless gear.

(fluoresent yellow wings and fluoresent
orange fuse)
SPECS:
Span 26 inch, Length 28 inches, 2.6 sq
ft area, AUW (min tested) = 7.25 oz, W/L 2.8
oz/sq
ft
Motors currently tested:
Westport 20 turn CD-ROM w/APC 8x3.8 - ET 2S 700 LiPo -
GOOD
LensRC 22.7 25T w /8x4 DD - ET 3S 700 LiPo -
GOOD
LensRC 22.7mm 20T w/ 8x4 - ET 3S 700 LiPo -
BETTER
LensRC GBX single 20turn - slightly heavier
- BETTER
CustomCDR "cool" wind single "Billet Bullet" -
BEST
Komodo 2204-15 turn - Current recommended and in
stock
2) GWS Picos, BMS-306bb, WD-60s or HS-55s for
R/E
1) GWS Naro HP, BMS-371 or equal for dual WINGERON
control
Currently using Spektrum Dual Link radio system -
no channels to worry about and no GLITCHES,
period!

(all
flying control surfaces & wings offer max control at slowest
speeds)
Everything just plugs together for ease
of adjustments and flat disassembly for transport.
Even the servos just rubber band onto the
frame!
Disassembles flat for
transport in about 2 minutes without
tools!

(Yellow
wings with orange
fuse)
(Silver
wings with slate blue fuse)

(Red wings with silver
fuse) (Yellow
wings with slate blue
fuse)
This plane was designed for learning 3D without spending all
your time repairing or rebuilding and to be able to fly on
a whim in a small yard with lots of
obstacles.
The low wing loading keeps it slow enough to figure out what
it's doing and keeping it light reduces the potential for impact
damage.
Using a biplane layout not only reduces the span for a
given wing area but achieves great rigidity from the box strut structure.
This is a true case for "form follows
function".
07/06 - I've learned
more from this plane in the year now I've been flying it than in the
previous couple years with other planes.
Let's face
it. We practice, we make mistakes, and we inevitability
screw-up.
"I crash therefore I learn"
One customer states; "The few flights I had can attest to the
absolute bullet-proof design.
This is definitely the plane I wanted ..... the durability is
unbelievable."
Here's an independent review on a pre-production
ARF:
CTC Review
by Osamu Sakazaki
Be
sure to also see his flight pics link at the bottom of the
page.
MSgtrob on RCgroups has this to
say: Thanks
again for an AWESOME set of plans. I've built quite a few other designs in my
quest for a plane that can survive long enough to teach me to fly--your CTC has
FAR exceeded any reasonable expectation. I'ts my number one plane and still
amazes anyone that sees it. Wow, Months of flying and this bird just keeps
taking it!
Ran
through a dozen batteries today--one line drive into the neighbors garage door and one
screaming nose dive from about 50 feet straight
into the concrete! Pieces of plane everywhere--new prop and two minutes snapping
it back together and she was good to go! Much to the crowds
disbelief.
Hardlock--the CTC is
the undisputed champion of this neighborhood-(confirmed by all the children and
parents drawn to the "free" airshow.)
Jlundberg on RCgroups
writes: This CTC is FANTASTIC!! We had some great weather Monday and was
able to do a lot of flying. Man, talk about tight loops and rolls. WOW
It
was funny on my second flight. I was going vertical after a takeoff and a band
broke on my prop, all I could do is shut it down. With just a bit of elevator it
did an "elevator" to the grass. It was soooo slow I could have caught it if I
would have ran to it.
This is a blast. I love doing prop hanging
etc.
Thanks Ken for such a fun plane. Keep up the great work. I would
recommend this to anyone!
John
P.S You can quote me if you like... I'm
one satisfied Customer!!!!
All fittings in this plane
will just pop back together even from the worst impacts.
The plane as been crash tested so hard into hard-pack
earth and indoor floors I just knew something must be broken.
In the hundreds of hours
and probably as many "mishaps" I've yet to break anything except props and one
LG strut from a concrete wall that got in the way!
Here's some videos
to give you the idea of its durability:
3/06 - Watch the
back of the hall when the clip starts.
I fly out of frame to the left
but you can hear that I crash HARD!:
indoor1-fix.wmv
about 8mb
Except for a broken prop, she was almost fixed
by the time I got back to the flightline.
Remainder of clip is me getting some much
needed 3D practice. :)
3/06 - MUST
SEE! I let "DJ", one of our local experienced 3D pilots, try the
CTC. He wasn't content
to just fly it around, but took it for a walk down the hall, up the stairs,
walked the walls, fell off the wall, crashed down the stairs, all kinds of fun
stuff!
BTW, This is all one continuous flight (less crashes) and only
edited for time:
indoor-DJ-stairs.wmv about 6 mb
Again, NO damage to
plane!
1/06 - Indoor dogfight between #1,2, and 3
prototype CTCs. Ends with a cool midair!
3-CTC
dogfight
10/05 - Am I 3D
yet? Staying in the box - relaxing mix
of maneuvers in the yard. The dance of
the CTC!
Mostly
high rates using 3S 700 w/ LensRC 22.7 20T and 8x4 HD
prop:
When foam and CF collide. Foam loses! I was hovering at the time and didn't see him
coming.
Scratch
one foamie, mine came out uneffected except needing to flip the elevator back
from overcentered on the linkage wires.
I was back in the air in
seconds. This is one tough bird!
8/05 - After much testing and
changes from the original prototype, I hit the field for a maiden with the
pre-production version.
3S 700 pack w/LensRC 25T on low
rates:
CTC-V2-3S-field-dub-title.wmv
7/06 - BTW, this same #2 prototype gets flown (and crashed...)
almost daily and is still going strong after over a year of hard
use!
What makes it a "convertible" you
ask?
Well if you want to fly in some wind, just unplug the lower wing in
a couple moments and have a high-wing sport model.
Or secure the wings from
moving, add longer wing struts to get some dihedral and you have a nice and
slow R/E plane. With the travel set low enough and the dihedral left in, it can be
used as an aileron trainer as well. A
mid-mount single
wing configuration for use as a higher loaded 3D version has been developed by a
builder on RCgroups and performance reports are good (see pics on RCgroups
thread at bottom of page starting at post 535).
A built-up ripstop wing for it also envisioned
at some point.
Makes for a great testing platform as
well.
KITS ARE
HERE!
Here's the
directory location of the final Construction Manual
you
can download.
Note - it's
a big file with lots of pictures so best to download it
first.
(right
click link, choice save-as file, etc.)
There is also a video there showing the setup
for travel.
The kit includes
everything needed to construct the plane less servos and power gear
(available separately).
All the panels are
completed with all fittings and rods cut to length (all 50 ft of
rod!).
Two colors of ripstop coated poly
material is supplied with all needed hardware.
Only the highest quality materials are used in
the kits. Note that other "similar" constructed import models use
inferior grade rods that have almost no carbon fibre in them. We use
only Avia Sport brand rods. Our fabric is 1/2 oz poly that is coated
for zero porosity instead of the typical 3/4 oz nylon usually seen on other
models. It costs us twice the price but every gram saved helps
performance. Even though we have to pay retail for it as it is only
available from one source, we feel it's worth it to offer the best quality
product available.

The construction is considered intermediate due to the power
gear and servo linkage installation. Except for covering the
pre-constructed panels using contact cement, the remainder of the
construction is just lashing fittings to the frame for plug-in assembly of
all components and support rods.
Build time is estimated at about
3 hours a day for 4 or 5 evenings of relaxing
work.
Nearly 200 pre-made parts are
included!
Complete kits are now available for $149.95
Proudly made in the USA
The kitting has been fully test built and flight
tested.
To keep the
cost down it does not include a printed manual or fancy box.
If you can't download the PDF manual, a
CD will be included on request if needed.
If you want to scratch build your own, here's the RCgroups
construction thread with development and build details:
RC
groups
thread
If you have Real Flight, here's a
link to a CTC modeled for it:
Real Flight
CTC model
and some discussion about setting it up
here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=766533
E-mail kit testimony from one builder:
"Hi
Ken,
I
want to tell you how impressed I am with the quality of your Carbon
Traveler Convertible kit. I was blown away with your attention to
detail when you manufactured this kit! The instruction manual was
the most detailed that I have ever seen and the language was precise yet
understandable. The large color photographs were greatly
appreciated. Sorting all the fittings, bushings and other parts out
into separate bags and then clearly labeling the bags was also very
helpful.
My
CTC assembled exactly as the instructions called for ...Also, thanks for the
rapid shipping.
Your material
selection for the fittings and bushings was perfect. The bushing
material was straight and rigid without an excessive amount of wall
thickness, and the fittings are flexible yet very strong....
My CTC's maiden
flight will probably occur this Saturday down in Hanger 1 in Lakehurst, NJ
(home of the Hindenburg) - I hope that my piloting skills will do justice to
the quality of the CTC kit. Thanks again for your obsessive attention
to detail.
Roger Williamson"
Copyright © 2001 - 2007 Ace Sim RC - Medford Oregon
USA