Fly Off Grass or Asphalt?

[Kafin Noe’man]

Hi it’s me again, it’s a follow up question to my previous question, still about taking-off and stooge. So please don’t get bored 😆

I still don’t know if I’m going to take off of grass or asphalt since the grass at my flying club is often tall and not trimmed regularly. It makes staking the stooge on the ground is not always the best option I have.

So I was thinking to pin down my stooge into my tool box using bolt so it’s not pinned permanently. When in use, I’ll bolt it down, when not in use, I’ll unbolt it and use the space to carry the fuel jerry can.






However, I’m not sure if this approach will make the stooge to be sturdy enough, do you have any thoughts or tips for pinning the stooge without having to pin it permanently?


Best,
Kafin

[Ken Culbertson]

Been there, Done That.

It worked just fine for me.  I had a screw on attachment for the stooge.  This Pix in 1976 so things have changed a bit.  I used a 10lb barbell weight in the box when stooging.  Two cautions - Exhaust is going to get all over the box. (Gives it character).  Second and most important it is tall enough to do some real damage if you hit it.  I launched from the edge of the circle then backed up about 10' to the center after taking off.

Ken

[Kafin Noe’man]

Been there, Done That.

It worked just fine for me.  I had a screw on attachment for the stooge.  This Pix in 1976 so things have changed a bit.  I used a 10lb barbell weight in the box when stooging.  Two cautions - Exhaust is going to get all over the box. (Gives it character).  Second and most important it is tall enough to do some real damage if you hit it.  I launched from the edge of the circle then backed up about 10' to the center after taking off.

Ken

Hi Ken, thanks for your response.

Another thing that I’d like to know is the best screwing method that won’t crush the plywood in the long run because there will be a lot of tightening and loosening screws between the two (the stooge and the tool box).

It would be very helpful if you can provide us with some sketches as well.


Thanks!
Kafin

[Ken Culbertson]

Hi Ken, thanks for your response.

Another thing that I’d like to know is the best screwing method that won’t crush the plywood in the long run because there will be a lot of tightening and loosening screws between the two (the stooge and the tool box).

It would be very helpful if you can provide us with some sketches as well.


Thanks!
Kafin

I used a 1" Lath screw with a 1" fender washer.  OR, you could screw some inserts into the plywood then use a butterfly bolt with the fender washer.

Ken

[Perry Rose]

After a few flights the box will be quite messy. I gave that style up years ago. I now use a chalk line reel,  plastic tent peg a piece of aluminum channel and a fishing leader on the tail wheel. Cheap, simple and almost fool proof. Real difficult on pavement.

[Dave Hull]

I use a plate style stooge when the crew is short on launchers. It has the usual heavy plate and a pivoting retaining arm. The arm is made from UHMW PE. The base is a brass plate that I picked up as salvage. (It was for a satellite program.) It weighs right at 24 lb. It would "walk" a bit when launching a big plane from our asphalt circles. Originally, I had an 1/8" of polyethylene foam on the bottom but it got slick with oil after a bit of use. So I peeled that off and instead added three "traction" screws after discussing it with a club member. These are just short pieces of threaded stock with a shallow point ground into the ends. Now it will hold anything we've tried so far when set down on asphalt.

Because of the low profile of the stooge, and the fact that the arm will fall under it's own weight, if you inadvertently end up rolling over it during landing, you stand a decent chance of getting away with it without damage. Not so much with the toolbox anchor setup.

Dave

--The first image is the top view. The second is the bottom, and if you look closely, you can see the three protruding screw tips.

[Kafin Noe’man]

It seems that my initial plan won’t work well because the stab and the tail will hit the tool box.

So, I come up with a new idea:

“What if I move the stooge forward and connect it to the tool box by using either a cable ties or the same type of hinge on the 2 uprights?”


I will mostly fly off pavement or asphalt.
But I think I also need the flexibility to stake the stooge on the ground when the grass is in good height.

Any thoughts or comments about it?

[Dave Hull]

Throw a large towel over your toolbox so that it doesn't turn into a "sugar cookie."

[Ken Culbertson]

Throw a large towel over your toolbox so that it doesn't turn into a "sugar cookie."

Ken

Seriously, I think using the toolbox is a bad idea.  Just cut another piece of plywood about 18" longer than what you have.  Screw the existing stooge, which looks fine, to it.  Put a post near the end of say 3/4" dowel and pile as many barbell weights as it takes.  25lbs will hold most anything we fly.

[Kafin Noe’man]

Throw a large towel over your toolbox so that it doesn't turn into a "sugar cookie."

 

[GallopingGhostler]

I found tool boxes (or flight boxes) good landing obstructions. It removed the inner panel of my Ringmaster Junior's wing upon landing one time.  

[Joe Ed Pederson]

I first made a plywood stooge like you show in your pictures above, but mine was longer and to stake it down I bought some tubular tent pegs that I would drive into the ground.  I stopped using the vertical pieces that go in front of the stabilizer because it would sometimes hang up.  I went to attaching control line clips to the tailwheel wire.

Then I ran across this youtube video    that utilizes a flat piece of steel with the rubber feet that Fred shows in the video.   Fred's stooge works great on grass without any need for tent pegs and works great on asphalt/concrete as well.

    EDIT:   I hadn't watched the video in a while, so I watched it and noticed that Fred walked out to the control handle on the forward side of the stooge line and flying wires.  A couple of years ago, when I was asking about stooges. Someone (I think it was Brett), warned me to always walk out to the handle on the backside of the flying wires and stooge line just in case the model broke free from the stooge.   If you walk out  to the handle from the front of the model and the model breaks free from the stooge, the lines could wrap around your feet/legs and bring that spinning propeller right into you.

After a few flying sessions it occurred to me that I could have simply added rubber feet to my plywood stooge and laid a bar-bell weight of 10 or 15 pound  on the back of the plywood stooge when I wanted to fly off pavement/asphalt/concrete.  The bar-bell weights would have cost a lot less than the 13 pound steel plate.

I bought a circular kite string reel to be able to reel in the line to the stooge quickly when I'm done flying.

Even if a steel plate is too expensive or too hard to come by in your country, you'll get some good ideas from Fred's video.

Joe Ed Pederson
Cuba, MO

[Kafin Noe’man]

Hi, I’ve made my decision that I will go with staking my stooge in to the ground and fly off grass.

However, since the grass is not trimmed regularly that means there will be time that I have to face the tall grass, so I have been looking for portable runway options.

As of today, I have narrowed it down into two options available:
1. Runner Carpet. 100” x 30”




2.  Baby Play Mat (made of rubber and very light). 80” x 60” — I’m not sure if it will stand against the wind






Based on the information above, which one would be the better option? The longer and heavier one OR the wider and lighter one?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!


Best,
Kafin