Fox .15 fun platter !!

[ray copeland]

My new play toy!  20 x 30 corofoam and a fox .15 with a 2 oz. tank and an old top flite 8x4 nylon prop. A few old parts and about $10.00 in new parts.  What a hoot to fly,, of course with very little wind,, lots of wing area. Already have new ideas for next one when this one retires, like cutting some wing area off the rear end and adding a rudder / skid bar on the bottom. 3 flights so far and all were just plain fun flyin!! Floats like a butterfly when the engine stops.   

[Bootlegger]

  Sure looks like a fun project.  Keep us posted and DON'T have to much fun... LOL     

[Russell Shaffer]

I second the motion on the Platter.  Mine is Fox 19 powered and made from Corroplast, available from most any sign shop.  24 inch diameter, about as big as you can go without too much flex.  A single wheel is plenty cause it can't fall over.  The idea is shamelessly stolen from Aeromanics   http://www.aeromaniacs.com/    I just weighed it, 26 ounces but the wing area is 452 sq inches with a pretty thin airfoil.  A thought, a Stunt 35 actually weighs a little less than my 19 so a performance upgrade should be easy.  It flies just fine without the fin, but I couldn't see it at the end of the lines.  It isn't quite indestructable but it is very close and the hardware can be moved to another disk very quickly. 

[Dennis Adamisin]

E.T. flies control line?        

[FLOYD CARTER]

Butyterflys don't often "glide" much without a flap or two.  But the monarchs we have around here will glide 3 or 4 feet without flapping.  Their glide ratio is about 1:1.  Not very good, but their airfoil is rather thin and not NACA-approved.  Birds do somewhat better because they have a thicker airfoil with undercamber.

Floyd (Orville) Carter

[Russell Shaffer]

Yes, ET does.  My 19 has the same bolt pattern as a 35, so I had to go and try it out this afternoon.  Too windy to fly a real plane that is hard to fix.  With the 35 running in a rich 4 stroke it is about equal to the 19 in a 2.  Set to break it gets around pretty good and when it leans out at the end it is quite fast.  I think a 35 might make a good trainer engine - just adjust the speed to the skill level.  

[Bob Reeves]

I built one powered by an FP-15, donated it to the club for a trainer.. Didn't make it big enough, 18 inches was the size of the coreplast I had. Glides like a rock but is a great trainer, been pounded in the ground a bunch of times, just straighten out the sheet aluminum motor mount and go again..

[Russell Shaffer]

My motor mount is 1/4 aluminum with a bunch of 1/2 lightening holes, bolted and glued to the ply "backbone".  It's the original and has been thumped many times, all by me.  Mine really doesn't glide all that bad, maybe the CG has something to do with it?  Mine glides about 1/3 as good as my Flight Streaks, so it really isn't bad.  It will do a nice smooth landing if I don't mess it up. The way it is now though, it really wouldn't be a good trainer.  Too abrupt and "twitchy", but it is fun, especially when the 35 breaks into a 2 stroke.

[Clayton Berry]

We called 'em pizza planes.  1966 maybe?  Used silkspan to seal up the edges of pizza cardboard.  We must have had a surplus of orange and yellow dope.  Seems like everything was orange or yellow.  Very offset Cox .020 reed valves, and a stupid looking rudder.  Like, they had some effect?  But, we'd fly 'em after dinner (while cranking that damn ice cream maker contraption) in the back yard.  And a couple of them probably made a Bi Slob look boring.  Pee Wee .020s.  Dacron lines.  Missile Mist.  Little black props that would bend but wouldn't break.

Ah, to be a kid again.

[walter weatherford]

Ray what type of glue did you use to hold the  (1/4" Plywood) to the platter, and glue on the hinges??

 

[ray copeland]

Walter, my platter is foam board, it has paper covering unlike the coroplast. I used 1/8 ply top and bottom and for a filler glued with 5 min epoxy and the elevator is balsa with cloth hinges. On my 1/2a platters with coroplast i scratch up the surface real good and use gorrilla glue on the doublers and just cut out a top or bottom section for the elevator to hinge. The other way i do elevators on the coroplast is to put  a wooden dowel thru them.

[Elwyn Aud]

Bob Reeves' Platter got another retread back in the air today. Congratulations Phil!