Finding large open areas without trees is not easy where I
live but one local lake provides a very large extremely flat area to fly from
during the winter. Now if there was only an ice fishing shack available to wind
the rubber motors when flying in the cold, it might be even more enjoyable. Yesterday
the wind was light and I was off from work so I took the opportunity to fly
from a frozen Lake Winona with two different rubber powered free flight model
airplanes.
The larger of the airplanes is known as the Air Hare, this
was a kit developed by two students over ten years ago as part of a program at
the Eli Whitney Museum, and unfortunately I doubt it is available any longer.
In 2002 I had a contest on my website to design an ideal beginner’s rubber
powered model airplane. There were not many entries but all were very good
designs. I built all of the airplanes and flew them both indoors and outdoors.
Neil Dennis designed the first “Denny Dart” which has been a really popular
beginners airplane that he sells kits for and gives away many.
Another airplane I flew is similar to the Blue Ridge Special
that has been unavailable but might be available again. This small plane
features a construction that makes the wing very rigid, whether that is needed
in a small rubber model is questionable, the plane does seem to stay in trim
better than most models this size however. Faster high-powered free flight needs
this type of wing constructions to minimize flutter in the fast climb.
I walked out on the
ice that is solid enough to hold up trucks and wound the rubber motors in
temperature that was just below freezing. The airplanes flew very well and the
duration seemed comparable to what I saw in warmer weather but without actually
having several timed flights from the different temperatures it is hard to know
if the performance is less in cold weather. My comfort level was less with cold
hands and after several flights on each plane I called it enough.
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Bill Kuhl
I learned from a competition flyer in Finland that the rubber motor loses 10-20% of the energy when near freezing compared to summer temperatures.
ReplyDeleteSet up a little tent with clear plastic? Maybe with a folded dark tarp or something on the ice inside to absorb sun for heat?
ReplyDeleteI've flown RCDLG on ice, and caught thermals, but it's very easy to slip and fall down! Maybe drag out a piece of plywood to stand on?
Or build a crude rowboat and some foam models and fly there in 4 months.