Re: Thanks a lot! - And the bad news: I got bored... again...

Looks like I'll never live down my *male* vs. *make* error <VBG>. *You* know
what I meant - didn't you Jenni? :-)

"Ken Day" <kd1942@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:mv3s92d9ojmcr0iuknlsqvbh75rtfqi7n3@xxxxxxxxxx
On Sat, 24 Jun 2006 14:59:06 -0600, Jennifer Smith
<jennifer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi Ed

No engineering background at all I'm afraid :) I helped my dad on
occasion, he likes to work with wood and that's also where my limited
mechanical knowledge comes from.
Believe it or not... I prefer flying to building (or repairing), it's
just that if what I want to fly doesn't seem to exist that I try and
build it myself.

You're right, the surface was quite smooth. I've modified the floats a
little bit to give them a very slight V-shaped underside in hopes that
this will help a bit. Someone suggested tilting the floats a bit so they
gradually lift out of the water - I'll try that last, if nothing else
helps.
I'll also try the ripple approach (hoping it'll be a nice flying
afternoon later today - at the moment it's a tad too windy).

Hubby does fly. Sort-of. So far he has problems judging where the ground
is and generally tries to land about 6 feet below ground level. The sad
part is that he bought one of those electric ornithopter bird thingies,
and that one was so much fun to fly... a very different kind of flying
anyway. Now it's beyond repair. :(

Jenni

Hey Jenni

Been float flying for a long time now amd I love to see the
different things that other modelers come up with.
Try as I may , I can't quite get a mental image of what you
built. Would really enjoy seeing it.

What Ed told you about the water is on the money. They all want to
stick when the water is glassy.

Just rough it up a but with some 'male' and 'female' ripples , much
better than just 'male' ripples. When they get together they can
make....well....you know :-)

How many floats are on it ? I'm picturing three in a V configuration.
Probably wrong...I usually am lol

Ken
Ed Forsythe wrote:
Hi Jenni,
Congratulations - you've come a looong way. Do you have an engineering
background? I assume the "stick to the water" experience occurred on a
calm
day when the surface was glassy (no ripples). You can make T.O.s much
easier by taxiing in a circle (male ripples) then take off across the
ripples. Helps break the suction.) That's a technique full scale
seaplane
pilots use. Wish you continued success and fun - hope you can get your
husband involved. It will make it easier to get stuff you want if both
of
you want it! ;-))

"Jennifer Smith" <jennifer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:V6idnYxpa9Wg7QXZnZ2dnUVZ_oudnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
First and foremost, thanks a lot for your guys help with retracts, and
for
clarifying the downwind issue.

The retracts work perfectly now, and the answer to the tail "breaking
out"
on downwind laps was indeed to hit the throttle - the plane then gets a
bit twitchy when a gust hits it, but nothing too serious. I'm thinking
of
putting a gyro in as a stabilizer, that ought to take care of it I
guess.

Well... and since I love my plane so much I decided to build another
one,
fixing the various bad design ideas I had when building the first 200%
Stryker. Also, I wanted to have it land on water... (yeh, I do get
weird
ideas at times)

Things fixed:
- Wing attachment is now done with three hollow CF tubes in the center
body part, into which I insert the wings CF rods. More difficult to
align
during construction, but sturdier. Fixing the wings in place is still
done
with collars that get screwed onto the CF rods inside the main body. I
might experiment with rubber bands, but so far I don't trust them.
- Rear end considerably strengthened by putting a couple more CF rods
lengthwise from the motor mounts almost all the way to the front.
- Leading wing edge reinforced with a CF rod to prevent transport
damage
(dents - my car is a little on the small-ish side for that hobby).
- Vertical fins cut down in half and slightly reshaped to allow for a
little more prop clearance.
- Air intake inlets redesigned to guide the air over the batteries and
ESC, then out right past the twin engines.

Since I wanted it to land (and takeoff) from water, I put a "drain"
approximately two inches from the air intake, and routed the air flow
so
that water should never get into the main compartment. Out of paranoia
I
did however put spacers below the electronics so that even if water
gets
there, it _should_ run under the electronics, not through them :)

Well, floats... I had read up on all kinds of floats, but since the
plane
is still comparatively lightweigt despite all the added CF, I decided
to
build my own... Yes, yes... I am crazy. :)

I used thin 2mm depron, and glued it together with a CF rod in it. The
rod
sticks out on top and on bottom. I made three pieces this way, all
vaguely
shaped like this: |___/ - these are holding the floats. One piece
additionally has a hollow CF rod in it, meant for steering later, and
the
CF rod does not extend through to the bottom.

The leading edge got sharpened, the rear edge just mildly blunted, in
hopes to reduce drag. On the bottom of these things I glued
flat-bottomed,
hollow ski-shaped boxes, again hand made from depron. The lower end of
the
CF rod goes into each of these boxes. The rear, wing mounted ones are
attached off-center, so that the CF rod glues to the inside walls of
the
boxes.

Steering was simple... I put a thin plastic sheet under the front
support,
and on top of the float. Glides perfectly. In this case I glued a bit
of
depron to the inside of the float, right in center, and glued a thinner
CF
rod to it. Pushing it through the hollow tube in the front support,
securing it with washer and collar and attaching a servo provided a
steerable front float.

Last but not least I coated the floats with a thin coat of latex
paint -
which is a bit heavy. I've got no idea what else to use to waterproof
them
though. Someday I need to test if depron even suffers from being
immersed
in water, maybe it doesn't need sealing? :)

Test flight was today, just an hour ago. I'm happy with the results,
it's
even just fun speeding over the lake with that thing :) Props are a bit
close to the water, and takeoffs are a bit challenging yet. I am not
quite
sure why, I attribute it to the floats. They seem to "stick" to the
surface a bit.

Landing was easy. Just come in low, keep it a few inches off the water
(pull up while it slows down) and when it stalls it plops down nicely.
Higher speed landings work too though - I nosed one in briefly, but the
shape of the floats pushed it right out and the air intakes were still
bone dry. The tube of the front float seems to suck water up, but it
wasn't more than a drip - I'll ignore it for the time being.

You know the best part? It was all dirt cheap to build (if you ignore
the
electronics - and the only things I bought new was servos, ESC and
reciever).


What a fun hobby.

Jenni





.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Thanks a lot! - And the bad news: I got bored... again...
    ... Someone suggested tilting the floats a bit so they gradually lift out of the water - I'll try that last, ... Since I wanted it to land from water, I put a "drain" approximately two inches from the air intake, and routed the air flow so that water should never get into the main compartment. ... and glued it together with a CF rod in it. ...
    (rec.models.rc.air)
  • Re: Thanks a lot! - And the bad news: I got bored... again...
    ... Someone suggested tilting the floats a bit so they ... What Ed told you about the water is on the money. ... Just rough it up a but with some 'male' and 'female' ripples, ... and glued it together with a CF rod in it. ...
    (rec.models.rc.air)
  • Re: Thanks a lot! - And the bad news: I got bored... again...
    ... Since I wanted it to land from water, I put a "drain" approximately two inches from the air intake, and routed the air flow so that water should never get into the main compartment. ... I had read up on all kinds of floats, but since the plane is still comparatively lightweigt despite all the added CF, I decided to build my own... ... and glued it together with a CF rod in it. ...
    (rec.models.rc.air)
  • Thanks a lot! - And the bad news: I got bored... again...
    ... Since I wanted it to land from water, I put a "drain" approximately two inches from the air intake, and routed the air flow so that water should never get into the main compartment. ... I had read up on all kinds of floats, but since the plane is still comparatively lightweigt despite all the added CF, I decided to build my own... ... and glued it together with a CF rod in it. ...
    (rec.models.rc.air)
  • Re: Thanks a lot! - And the bad news: I got bored... again...
    ... I wanted to have it land on water... ... approximately two inches from the air intake, and routed the air flow so ... I had read up on all kinds of floats, ... and glued it together with a CF rod in it. ...
    (rec.models.rc.air)