At the Venice RC meeting last week, a guy came in toting something wrapped in garbage bags.
At the conclusion of the business meeting, there is a "Show and Tell"....usually someone displaying the latest and greatest foamy or drone.....
The "garbage bag guy" revealed something that I thought was nifty.....
Growing up you could buy balsa gliders that had folding wings and that you launched with a rubber band catapult.....
Under the garbage bags was a plane that had folding wings .....and this water launching system! There was a gantry to get it pointed skyward, and a clever retaining / release system, an air valve and a solenoid.
The plane was a long clear plastic tube that had the folding wings, a stab/elevator and a rudder. Very little water was used in the tube, and he pumped about 50# of pressure into it....pressed a button and off it went....he estimated that it went to about 300', where the wings unfolded and it glided back to the ground!
He said that some use carbon tubes and up to 300# of pressure and that those went as high as 2000' !
He's flown it twice.....
I wager Brett can add some info here....but I'll get a picture when he flies it again....it was cool!
Topic: OT, but I thought it way cool! (Read 832 times)
