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Building Tips and technical articles. => 1/2 A building. => Topic started by: minnesotamodeler on June 05, 2007, 04:02:33 PM
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Had a couple kids coming over wanting to fly, and only had one airplane suitable for backyard...so I threw this one together from a coroplast campaign sign I had laying around. Took me about an hour. Turns out I didn't need it, only one kid had any interest. So it hasn't yet flown.
Nothing glued except the rudders and leadout guide were "gooped" on...everything else slotted/pegged together. That's a TeeDee .020 on it. Floppy balloon tank will go in the motor mount/canister behind the engine.
span 16", weight about 3.5 oz. A little heavy I'm afraid.
--Ray
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I really enjoy projects like this that use "found" materials. I especially like the fact you used coro for the belcrank and ele. horn.
So what did you use to mount the Tee Dee to? My first guess is an empty 35mm film cannister but I really am unsure.
Robert
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Got it in one, Robert. Doubles as a fuel tank container.
The wing is slotted halfway up for the sides of the fuel canister, which are in turn slotted halfway for the wing...then pegged in place with the vertical dowel. Sounds twinky, I know but it really is solid. My thought was, I could change engine/tank/landing gear from one plane to another as a unit, in a matter of seconds. Makes it even easier to try different designs/sizes.
One other part is glued ("gooped") on, that I forgot...the elevator horn.
--Ray
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Nice and patriotic Ray..............is that enuff engine offset?
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I wanted to get the whole flag on there, but it was running across grain so I couldn't.
I just eyeballed the engine offset, what's the acronym, TLAR? You're saying I need a little more?
--Ray
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Ray-----next fall there will be lots of modeling cora-plast on front lawns everywhere!!
I do think that's enuff engine offset.
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This one was left over from '04. Yet another proof that good can come from bad...
I'm hoping the extreme engine offset will slow the thing down a little. I clipped another tree branch (actually a Lilac bush) because I got sorta dizzy flying flat trying to time laps and stepped off my concrete center. No damage, kept flying, but still...
--Ray
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Finally got a good day of weather; flew the ShedDoor and the Quickie (above), many flights each. Couple of interesting things:
The Quickie has the hotter engine (figured it would need it), a TeeDee .020; ShedDoor sports a PeeWee. BUT, the Quickie is much slower than the other--same prop, more rpms (judged by ear), but significantly slower. It's a tad heavier, so I guess it requires a little more AoA; and the coroplast is about 3/16" thick while the ShedDoor wing is 3/32", so twice the frontal area...sure makes a difference.
Also, the Quickie came out sorta tailheavy; I can just about do a BiSlob thing with it when I use full control movement.
Finally, the film canister mount began splitting, engine developed a serious upthrust such that I had tight stalling loops or almost-level-but-gradually-climbing with full down. Kinda fun for a minute or two, then I remembered that canister is also the fuel container; if the engine leaves the plane it's taking its fuel supply with it; I don't want to be chasing a loose .020 through the neighborhood...so I looped it into the grass.
Then, last flight with the ShedDoor, which will do consecutive lazy eights forever or until fuel runs out, whichever comes first, I inadvertently backed about one step off my concrete center marker--then leveled out for a lap and hit the garage eave with the outboard wing. Bummer. Not really a lot of damage (not much there to break), I actually flew it once more with the big gouge out of the wing just to see if it would (it did). Cut out the splintered wood, glued in the new, another coat of paint, ready to go again!
Can you see the patch in the pics? Also note I covered the engine this time to keep sanding dust and overspray out of it. Clever of me, huh?
--Ray
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OK here's another, simpler, quicker "Quickie" from coroplast. That's a TeeDee .020 on it. 18" span, weighs 3 1/2 oz. RTF. I cut away half of the coroplast skin to make the hinge, then note how much of the other side I had to cut out to make it flexible enough! I'll be watching it for stress cracks.
Also a detail of the film canister motor mount/fuel pod. Tank is a "balloon" type from a finger of a latex glove.
And, Frank, a little more reasonable engine offset.
--Ray
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Ray
Home Depot owes you for advertising for them. LOL
Mayby they will supply you with more coroplast.
Clancy
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Yeah, this is from a sign they stuck in my yard while replacing some windows for me.
They didn't ask if they could stick it in my yard; I didn't ask if I could make a plane out of it. I figure it's even.
--Ray
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Ray, as far as the quickie coroplast, i make brass prop nuts to help out on the tail heavy part, works wonders, and to support the leadouts you can just cut little holes in the wing near the edge and run the lines out of there, never had one split yet. Also, can jamb some little bamboo skewers in beside the motor mount for support, kinda hard to push in sometimes, but helps in nose crashes. You've seen pics of my "trooper", well it has finally had one too many bumps, will build a new one this week. Would include a picture of the trooper but can't figure out the pic thing here, do you use the insert image icon?
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It's under "additional options", if you use the "reply" box at the bottom, then you have to hit "preview" and it goes to a full screen with the "add'l options" at the lower left. Click on that and you get the little box with "browse" beside it. Click that and you get the upload screen where you can go through your computer's screens to find the pic. then if you want to do another one, you click on "more attachments" just to the right of "browse". Whew! Takes a lot more energy to describe it than to do it...
Thanks for the tip on the leadout guides, made me think of even a few more ways to integrate them into the wing without glueing on a separate piece.
--Ray