Slime Recovery of Foam Airplane

Last evening was about the most perfect weather possible, temperature in low 70’s, sun, and little wind. I got a later start in model flying so I grabbed 2 rubber powered foam planes and 2 fishing poles to enjoy a couple of my favorite activities.   After breaking the rubber motor on one plane I switched to the other plane that was built with the wing panels curved by heat supplied to me by Neil Dennis. 

Wing Rearward for Better Glide

At this time in the evening there probably wasn’t much thermal lift but I still managed to get flights close to one minute long and still stay on the tiny field.  The best flight was 5 seconds over a minute using 1100 turns on the 1/8” rubber motor. This plane in initial flights had a bad stall in the glide but my Internet friends suggested I needed to move the CG ahead. They were correct and now it had a good glide for a plane like this.  At just over 30 seconds the rubber winds were used up but it took another 30 seconds to reach the ground.

Climb 

I was going to stop flying after the longest flight and try some fishing but decided to give it just one more chance for a longer flight.  Before launching I should have noticed that what little wind there was had changed direction by 180 degrees. Just after launch I noticed it as the airplane was headed towards a row of trees with a pond on the other side.  Instead of getting a really good line on where it was going I tried to take a picture of it flying away.  

Last Seen Over These Trees

First I checked in the trees around the pond but then I spotted it where I thought it was, in the pond with the slimiest weeds imaginable. After getting my fishing poles I figured out where was the closet spot on land I could cast from to try to reel the plane to shore. That was from a tiny island created by a small stream of water only a few inches deep that had a narrow plank spanning between. I walked the plank without getting wet but that would soon change.  The closest spot on shore had small trees surrounding the bank making casting almost impossible, I had to get into the water to have a chance of casting out to my plane.

Spotted in the Slime

After walking into the water that was warm at least but so slimy, I made many casts with the rod that had the plastic frog lure. Every time I retrieved the lure it was covered with slimy weeds that had to be removed. After enough tries I managed to pull the airplane a few feet closer.  Next I tried my other rod with the minnow lure, I snagged onto it again with this one, I pulled it further but still it was 30 feet away.  

Walking the Plank

By this time it was starting to get a little dark, I considered maybe I should have gone home and brought my kayak back. That would have taken a lot of time which I really didn’t have before it was really dark. A few more casts and I managed to hook into the rubber motor and pulled the airplane to shore minus the vertical fin.  

Airplane Retrieved Minus Vertical Fin

All that effort for an airplane that cost less than a dollar for the materials. This airplane was special to me in that Neil the wombat had given me his heat formed wing panels.  It had me thinking too about the charm of free flight airplanes in doing the difficult retrieve.

More Charm of Free Flight

I had this all-balsa plane stuck in a tree today but managed to get it down with a rock. One must be careful not to get hit by whatever you throw upwards when it comes down. A wingtip broke off but that was the only damage.


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

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Scout CLG Drowns

My Two Cats

Out of necessity I have two cats living with me. They were my mother’s cats but it was getting hard for her to take care of them, I made some effort to find another home for them but accepted that they were probably stuck with me. Given a choice I would probably not have a cat but they have not been too much trouble.  It seems like many people either really dislike cats or like them, I am pretty neutral.

Calico

Tabby

My mother most likely would not have a cat if it were not that I had brought one home that was wandering around a restaurant one bitter cold night and my dinner date convinced me I needed to save it from the cold.  When I brought it to my parents house my mother offered to take in which really made me happy, now I could visit the cat and not have to take care of it.


Missy, the name my mother gave the cat lived for 20 years but I had to have her put to sleep because she was in such pain at the end. Before this four more cats showed up at the house looking for something to eat. My mother couldn’t watch them starve and as far as animal control is concerned once you feed them they are yours. A home was found for two of the cats but that left two; one a tabby cat the other a calico and that is what my mother named them.



These cats would probably be considered feral cats and are afraid of anyone they do not know real well. Calico was always the friendlier cat and Tabby would sometimes hiss at me.  When the time came to take them to my house 50 miles away I managed to get each in a cat carrier for the trip. Once released in my house they immediately went into hiding.  It is amazing what a small spot a cat will crawl into and not come out of.



Although I had food and water out for them, they really didn’t seem to eat much; it was beginning to worry me. Someone had suggested offering them soft cat food to coax them out.  I tried pushing a can of food towards Tabby and she slammed it back at me with her paws. Eventually they did come out of hiding and became friendly towards me, sometimes too much so.

Calico Favorite Spot

If there is a lesson to be learned from this I would say it is that building trust is not a quick process but is possible.  Tabby who was often on the edge of attacking me follows me around and sits on me often. Yet both cats are only comfortable being close to me when the situation is right for them.  

Lately it has been rather windy so the only model flying I have done to speak of is some RC slope soaring  but the forecast today is looking favorable to light wind. 

Bill Kuhl

http://www.ideas-inspire.com

Thought Process in My Hobbies

Forecast on Wednesday of this week was for wind of 2 mph in the afternoon so I took vacation time to enjoy two of my hobbies, model aviation and bass fishing. Actual wind turned out to be stronger but still comfortable for flying. First I made more flights on Pearl E202 electric free flight and then RC thermal soaring with my Allegro Lite using a short hi-start.

Pearl E202 FF and Allegro Lite RC Sailplane

With many launches of the Allegro Lite I was not finding very good lift, the one time I did was when I flew farther downwind from the field behind a small hill covered with small trees.  After flying for so long I was worrying about my receiver battery so I went home which isn’t very far away. I got to thinking about my lack of thermal success, I wonder if the wind wasn’t blowing across the pond in front of where I was flying. Behind the hill and trees air there is very still was probably heating up and creating better lift.

New Spinner on Radian Pro Electric Sailplane

Area Behind Hill and Trees

Putting most of the models away I brought out my Radian Pro RC electric sailplane, I wanted to test the new aluminum spinner and the larger capacity battery new to the airplane. I also grabbed my fishing pole.  Back at the field I launched the Radian Pro and flew behind the hill, it started going up soon after cutting the power. Circling in that general area it stayed up for a few minutes, better than I had done with the higher performance Allegro Lite. With the Radian I could easily get back to the field if suddenly it was in sinking air.

Typical Largemouth Bass Caught and Released

Larger Bass

Tiny Bass Caught Last Year

By now it was getting later into the afternoon and I put the glider away and got out the fishing rod to fish in the pond next to the field. The evening before at this normally good fishing spot I had caught nothing. So far this season I had gotten skunked twice and only caught three fish in five times out fishing, the fish were fairly large however. The year before I had caught really tiny fish at the beginning of the season. Someone had suggested using a plastic frog to be able to fish the really weedy areas, I had good luck with that and started using that right away this season.

Really Heavy Weeds

On this particular day my fishing success was better and I caught a bass after not many casts, it was smaller but not real small.  After some unproductive casts I tried casting over the really thick weeds, to my surprise a fish snapped at my lure but missed it.  I casted over the thick weeds and darn if I didn’t catch another fish but it was really hard dragging it through the weeds to shore. 

Weed Covered Fish

For the rest of my fishing efforts I concentrated on fishing the edge of the really thick weeds and caught another fish and had bites from a couple more. From what I do know from watching fishing videos, fishing success often depends on finding patterns such as locations. I noticed small frogs were jumping into the water so I think my lure choice was good.  What I do not understand is why it seems like at different times it seems to be the size of the fish caught can be so consistent.  No doubt there are reasons for that.

Bill Kuhl

http://www.ideas-inspire.com

Related Links

Much to Learn About E36

Allegro Lite Finished and Flying

Low Investment Bass Fishing

Sunday Drive to Check Solar Panels and Lake Zumbro

Last Sunday I decided I would get a little closer look at the solar panels along Highway 52 near Oronoco Minnesota. This solar farm generates 517 kilowatts which should be able to power 60 homes. The project is the result of three electric cooperatives working together. After getting some pictures from well back from the fenced in area I decided I would drive out to Lake Zumbro which I had not seen in over 40 years.   

Lake Zumbro is located about 12 miles from Rochester Minnesota, you pass over the Zumbro River and drive through the tiny town of Oronoco. Oronoco’s claim to fame is that a small amount of gold was actually found there in 1857 but mining equipment there was washed away in two floods and there really wasn’t enough gold there to try again.  The road to Fishermen’s Inn where there is a private boat landing and a restaurant has changed. The famous White Bridge which was in this area is missing after a car struck the bridge in 1972 doing considerable damage to the bridge. There is a public access shore fishing area there which is really nice. In the short time I was there I witnessed a white bass being caught.

In reading about the fishing on Lake Zumbro I thought it interesting that musky had been planted in the lake and some of them were tagged and most of those were found to be below the Power Dam which is the dam that created the 5 mile long lake. The Power Dam still is producing some electrical power. Ahead of the dam is the deepest area of the lake at 42 feet but many areas of the lake are much shallower because of the sediment filling it in.  There is a restoration project in the works  which will most likely require dredging in the lake.

In the short time I was there I observed watercraft of all types and sizes. From kayaks and jet skis to large pontoon boats and fast good size V-hulled boats. When I was young my family had a pontoon boat that was docked at the lake. My father had used wing tip tanks from jet aircraft for the pontoons. He wanted to make sure it couldn’t sink so put Styrofoam inside of the tanks and fiberglass under the bottom for reinforcement.

It was fun to revisit the past and check out what is new.

  

Bill Kuhl

http://www.ideas-inspire.com

Related Links

Minnesota Three LLC

Oronoco Area History 

White Bridge was a Lake Zumbro Landmark

Bridge Collapse was Memorable Article

Oronoco Goldrush

Lake Zumbro Facts

Flight Club UK After School Program

The following synopsis goes along with the theme for my new website domain name when I updated my website from Scienceguy.org to Ideas-inspire.com.  From a construction article on my website for a rubber powered model airplane constructed mainly from thin foam sheet I named the “Fantastic Foam Flyer” I gave someone in another part of the world the inspiration to start a model airplane club known as Flight Club.  Check out the website here: http://flightclubrc.net/index.php/category/school-club/

Flight Club Member building foam gliders

First Gliders

In the beginning they would build a glider version influenced by my rubber powered design and then later add rubber power through propellers to their foam airplanes.

Glider Flying

Jon Kemm teaches STEM and computing in the ancient town of Rye, East Sussex in the UK. Like me Jon also flies RC slope gliders and RC electric model airplanes. The free flight aspect is somewhat new to Jon but he is catching on fast and so are his students.  He has documented much of the club activities on a website that contains a series of flight reports which include pictures and video. Jon often contributes to the Facebook page I had started known as “Simple Foam Free Flight Airplane” https://www.facebook.com/groups/425811714235246/






In watching the videos it appeared that when the progression to rubber powered models occurred, some of the models were stalling after launch or did not have enough power climb. Ronnie Espolt from the Victor Valley RC Flyers Club in the USA has built the foam planes with student groups also and provided suggestions over the Internet too.  As the weeks progressed the improvement in the flights did too.   Ronnie had come up with the idea for a postal contest for the rubber powered foam planes, contest rules appear on my website at http://ideas-inspire.com/postal-contests/. Jon’s club intends to enter the contest that is running this month, a postal contest you record flight times at your location and send them in.



It is interesting to note finding the supplies differs throughout the world. In the USA most people are building these airplanes using the common foam plates found at every grocery store while these are hard to find elsewhere and the foam known as “depron” is ordered to build the airplanes.


  The best news came in a message from Jon today:
“The head of STEM wants us to build foam plate flyers with the year 6 students arriving in sept. I've been asked to order materials for 60 models.
Spreading the joy of model flying!”

Update 5/31/2016 from Jon Kemm

Jon Kemm created another report in the form of End of the Easter Term Email

One highlight is they have been invited to write an article for a national model magazine called Aeromodeller. 




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

Much to Learn About E36 Free Flight

I do like a challenge but this one is getting to be a bit much.  Advancing from small rubber powered and glider free flight models to tip launch gliders and electric E36 models has been trying at times for me. Before I had the Maxima and now Dynomite tip launched gliders adjusted and learned the launching technique I stuck them into the ground on multiple occasions. Maybe only once with the Dynomite as I am learning from previous mistakes.

To venture into performance electric free flight I decided to purchase the Pearl E202 and all the electrical components from Texas Timers. I started building the Pearl but I was really building slow, so thought I would put the electric in an old glow free flight someone had given me, a Starduster 350. That worked pretty well but this model had been flown before. On one occasion it had too much right turn and crashed into the ground, other times it dt-ed rather hard and did minor damage. 

Free Flight Side

Flying the Pearl E202 which I knew would go up really fast had me scared and most of my flying sites are so small. I decided to add a single function RC to the model so I could at least keep it over the field and hopefully save it if going into a spiral dive. The RC portion was on the outside of the pylon and could easily be removed when I had the chance to fly from a larger field.

RC Side

Yesterday was a perfect day so I had to try it, just glide tests to start.  The glide was not great but I thought the extra weight from the RC was the cause, it was pretty straight so no major warps. I gathered my nerve and decided to try a short power flight.  It went up like a rocket from what I was used to, some turn to the left which I corrected and then it comes down. No indication it was going to recover and the grass wasn’t tall enough to save it from damage. The pylon ripped apart and the wing had minor damage.  I thought I had lost the battery after I picked it up and started to panic about that but after 10 minutes of looking found it by the wing and transmitter.  Put out the hi-start for my Allegro Lite RC glider and 
realized it had to be bound to the transmitter so went home.

Battery in Bottom Right of Image

Last Crash

Repairs to the Pearl were pretty easy so decided I would add more incidence and try it again before lunch. I had a small shim under the stab and a good sized shim under the front of the wing. In glide tests the glide had more of a float to it.  OK time to try another power test, up it went, I turned it more to the right and it went into a glide; brought it down in one piece.  Thought I had it adjusted now but next flight it went into a dive again and no sign of it pulling out. This time the pylon ripped apart even more, think I will use light fiberglass on it instead the tissue.

Repairs are pretty much complete now, the pylon was epoxied back on with more positive incidence. I have not recovered the pylon with fiberglass but I think it needs it. I have thought of adding elevator control also until I can get the trim sorted out, I hate to break the model again.  My fear is with too much climb the model might go into a loop, it climbs very steep now.  The Dynomite TLG needed a lot of up too but finally I had enough.

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

Related Links

Pearl E202 Website

Texas Timers

Electric Free Flight Test Model

Dynomite Tip Launch Free Flight Glider

Hot Curve on Foam Plate Model Plane

No one I know has more passion for promoting the simple rubber power and glider free flight models to anyone that might show interest than Neil Dennis aka wombat. It seems wherever he goes he is trying to give a model to someone that might have children in their lives that might like a model airplane. In 2013 I had written about Neil but recently he had sent me some foam wing panels that he wanted me to try in a model.

What makes the panels unique is a curve was permanently put into a section of foam plate by heating the foam that was in a jig. The resulting foam section has a perfect curve to it without the bend marks and it feels more rigid than panels shaped by bending. In the following text, Neil describes the process:  

“For the warped foam, I cut two of the airfoil shape I want in pieces of 1 x 4 pine on the band saw, that gives me the top and bottom of the jig.  Then I cut a piece of aluminum flashing about 1" wider than the blocks, bend a right angle lip on each side (that stiffens the sheets so they hold the shape) and staple them to the form blocks. This makes a light metal jig with the "foil shape.  I use hooks and eyes on each side to clamp them together, two tiny screw eyes on each side with a 1/32 music hook to clamp the jig together.  The foam blanks will bend with no trouble. 


I "cook" the loaded form in the oven for about 10 min at around 200 f or a little less, let the jig cool and Voila, a warped wing section!!😉”    Neil Dennis

From the foam sections Neil sent me I built another Fantastic Foam Flyer but rounded the corners of the flying surfaces some.  I have flown this airplane many times and it flies great, but as of yet I have not done flight time testing to compare the stock FFF airplane. My observation is the new plane flies slightly slower. When the airplane goes into the glide phase it begins to stall right away and the entire glide down is a series of small stalls with recovery. I am thinking slightly less bend in wing would be better in the glide.

It is great to see innovation in small foam model airplanes, great job Neil.

Update 5/19/2016

The advice I was given to move the wing back which moved CG ahead was correct. I also had to shim up the front of the wing slightly. There is no stall in the glide at all now.

Bill Kuhl

http://www.ideas-inspire.com

Related Links

Neil Dennis - wombat

Fantastic Foam Flyer

Slime Recovery of Foam Airplane  - my tale of retrieving from swampy pond