Free Flight Fun Projects & Repairs

After the outdoor free flight contest season has finished I have been busy repairing planes and trying some quick new planes. In a previous post I had mentioned working with the STRIX electric timer and flying on a direct drive 7 mm motor. Last weekend I had some good flights using this setup in an AMA Maxi Jr rubber model converted to electric. As I got the turn circle dialed in the flights became higher lasting about 35 seconds on the 10 second power run. The last flight ended when a dog grabbed the plane by the wing and started to carry it back. Only the tissue was ripped. I have to believe with a lighter plane a minute flight is possible, which would be about perfect for a small flying site.

NJAPF Fuselage Repaired 

Only Damage After Carried by Dog

AMA Maxi Jr Electric

At the last outdoor Minnesota contest I flew my NJAPF p30 and the DT line broke, after the contest I decided it was time to recover the fuselage that had numerous patches. What surprised me a little was there were broken glue joints that the covering had hidden. After repairing the structure and twisting it to check for more questionable joints, I did find more. My plan is to replace the viscous stab DT system with a wing pop off using a fuse.

Eureka E36 Test Flight after Repairs

After a crash at the Nats I finished repairs on my Eureka e36 NOS. The wing was recovered with Polyspan Lite because I did not like the sagging tissue in humid conditions. My repair in one spar in the wing was not adequate as it broke again on the first low level DT landing. This has been repaired and more short flights went well. 

FAC Tic Catapult Gliders

G12 Catapult Glider

A couple of simple catapult gliders were finished the first being the FAC Tic from Easybuilt which comes in a 2-pack. The first one I messed up in that I did not get the dihedral blocked up well when using Testors glue, trying to fix this I did not do the best job either. The second one I used CA and got everything aligned. This glider flies really well for only having a 6” wingspan. I also finished up a second G12 Catapult glider with the flapped trailing edge. Richard Bertrand uses this glider in his Free Flight Rescue program for kids. The glider is stable and can handle a full stretch launch with ¼” rubber.

Aleda R Boost Glider

Switchblade S Wing Forward

Wing Back

  For something different I have built two rocket glider kits purchased from J&H Aerospace. One is a boost glider where the motor tube and nose cone separate from a glider. The other is a swing wing glider that has the wing halves move forward when the ejection charge releases the tension on two lines holding the wing halves swept back 90 degrees. This should be fun to see go up.

I have a new fuselage to build for a New Gollywock and then plan to start building some new models.

Bill Kuhl
http://www.ideas-inspire.com

Related Links

https://jhaerospace.com/product/aleda-r-boost-glider/  Aleda R Boost Glider
https://jhaerospace.com/product/switchblade-s-rocket-glider-kit/  Switchblade S Rocket Glider
https://easybuiltmodels.com/g09.htm Easy Built FAC Tic catapult glider