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Building Tips and technical articles. => 1/2 A building. => Topic started by: Dennis Toth on June 13, 2021, 11:43:04 AM
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Has anyone tried replacing the small wheel landing gear on 1/2A's with wire shaped skids? I am thinking that the wire would look like the standard gear but the ends would simple be bent in a smooth curve to allow the small ship to slide over the grass rather then have the wheels that just dings in and flips the model over. Do you think this will work?
Best, DennisT
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For grass flying a 1/2 A get rid of the gear entirely.
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I agree with eliminating the landing gear entirely. When we were designing the TuffBaby for use at the KidVenture circles at Oshkosh, we put everything on tope of the flying surfaces, bell crank, push rod and control horn. The bottom of the model is pretty smooth, and with making sure the prop stops in a horizontal position, it slides right in on landing, and nothing can catch on or get caught up in the controls.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
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I did that on a couple of planes when I was a kid. It works better than wheels -- but it'll still flip when landing on grass.
These days I either run wheels for show and accept that the plane will flip on landing, or I do what Dan McEntee suggests.
For taking off with or without wheels, use the sleeve method (cardboard sleeve clamped to a chair, pull the plane to launch). Or with wheels lay down a sheet of cardboard or plywood (or fly off of pavement).