Something a 'little' different

[Hagar]

I promised some pics of the indoor model aircraft meeting at Crawley today. These little things are more difficult to photgraph in the air than I expected so here's a few static shots.



Now, from the sublime



to the ridiculous.

[Craig.]

great photos Doug:) love that first one.

[bob576]

good stuff, check out my thread too!

[chomp_rock]

Great stuff! I think I recognise that Gigant from here: http://www.aeronutz.flyer.co.uk/ . I'd love to build a very tiny RC plane, they look like mounds of fun! Those little things are a bugger to photograph without proper equipment.

[beaky]

Aha, a wee Gigant!!  :D  I love that!! It's very "scale"-looking, too. What's it made out of? The dragonfly is excellent, too. Never tried this kind of model flying...

[Hagar]

Hehe. Thought you'd like that Gigant. The same crew flew a beautiful Lockheed Electra too but I messed up the shot.

What's it made out of?

Various types of blue & white (polyeurythane) foam are becoming very popular these days. It has the advantage of being very light & relatively easy to work with. One of my old friends makes complete models out of ordinary foam packaging like egg boxes. It doesn't come any cheaper than that. This obviously requires different techniques from the traditional forms of aeromodelling. That beautiful dragonfly is a remarkable example of traditional modelling skills & quite wonderful to see in the air with the wings flapping lazily.

There's a good article on modern building materials on the site from Chomp's link. http://www.aeronutz.flyer.co.uk/materials.htm

PS. I have seen R/C indoor models but everything here today was free flight. Rubber, CO2 or electric powered like the Gigant.

[beaky]

Got a question (not to veer off-topic too much, I hope): I have an old Guillow's P38L kit (40" span) that I haven't started yet. I've only built these types with the stock tissue paper and flown them free-flight with rubber power, but I'm thinking of maybe trying to power this one (with electrics, maybe) and go R/C with it . I 'll obviously get some sturdy foam trainer to learn the ropes first, but I'd like to cover the Lightning with something more durable than paper (every paper-covered model I've ever flown needed patching too often). Would any of the modern shrink coverings work with this kit for R/C flight?

[Hagar]

Hi Rotty. I'm not familiar with this particular kit & probably not the best person to give advice. I haven't done any modelling for several years so I'm out of touch with the latest materials. Also - the coverings available in the US most likely have different names to the ones I use. I would say that one of the modern heat-shrink coverings would be ideal providing the structure is strong enough to take it. Ordinary heat-shrink film is strong, waterproof & clean to work with as it doesn't need doping. Some types are probably as light or lighter than heavyweight tissue. You would need a proper sealing iron & heat gun to make a decent job of it. Some of the modern paint stripping guns used for home decorating are apparently suitable but I would be very wary of using one myself. Despite what the instructions say on the packaging I wouldn't recommend shrinking the film with an iron.

[beaky]

Thanx. I've done some cursory research, but never could find a straight answer on the weight issue. And oh yeah, the doping is something I'm trying to avoid, definitely. And it seems the plastic film would take a little more abuse than tissue. I think I could handle the job- I use heat guns all the time for shrinking tubing on cable at work; I'm a real whiz at it. Even done a few windows with that film, for weatherproofing.  Still haven't made up my mind, though... I could easily make a very nice display model with this, but then again, if I rig it to fly, I can do both: fly it and display it. Until I crash it, that is... Either way, I'd really like to try to 'convert' it to a P38J and do it up as the "Yippee" demonstrator. Nothing against the combat versions, but there's something about a P38 made just for showing off what that design could do in the air...

[Hagar]

I think I could handle the job- I use heat guns all the time for shrinking tubing on cable at work; I'm a real whiz at it. Even done a few windows with that film, for weatherproofing.

No problem there then. Commercial heat guns are more powerful but I used my modelling heat gun for a similar job when I set up our hose manufacturing shop at work many years ago. The covering was the same type used for electric harnesses but it was the first time we had used it & the job had to be done quickly. We obviously bought the special tools afterwards.

[beaky]

Cool. Of course, I'll have to break a leg or something before I'll have time to even start building the frame (and my workbench- oh boy, what a mess!)... we'll see. I'll definitely post some pics if and when I get started on that one!

[bob576]

[quote]Thanx. I've done some cursory research, but never could find a straight answer on the weight issue. And oh yeah, the doping is something I'm trying to avoid, definitely. And it seems the plastic film would take a little more abuse than tissue. I think I could handle the job- I use heat guns all the time for shrinking tubing on cable at work; I'm a real whiz at it. Even done a few windows with that film, for weatherproofing.

[beaky]

No kidding, bob... even a lightweight film would do that? This is a pretty big model too (40"), with fairly beefy stock used throughout. Maybe I should experiment with some scraps first... I guess I could go with the paper, but on previous smaller models I found I was creating a weight penalty w/the coats of dope necessary to make it a llittle smoother and less vulnerable. Whatever; it'll take a while to build the frame, then I'll decide. Thanx, tho'.

[Rifleman]

If you are talking of building the stock Guillows kit, from all my experience with this type of kit, most freeflight specialists would recommend substituting almost all of the wood in the interest of building a flyable model....generally they are very heavy(highly loaded) and short on areas on the back end......even with using the absolute best balsa, (4-6 lb/cu ft) it will take quite an accomplished modeller to get some satisfaction flying one of the Guillows line.........
I can post some shots of some of my older stuff if it will help.......
I have a 22" J-4 Cub which weighs in the order of 13-14 gms before rubber and although its almost 15 yrs old now, its still a winner any time I bring it out........tissue covered of course, it was build fram a Canadian kit manufacturer called Easy Built. Flies almost two mins ( 1:45-1:50) with a plastic prop.......not strictly indoor, but does its best there........

[beaky]

Thanks for the info... I'm actually thinking of making this an R/C model... bad idea?  If I get myself a mini scroll-saw, it might actually be a fun project to replicate the parts... hmmm... At any rate, I've ruled out free-flight for this one; I'm sure I'll destroy it.