Instructions for building plane without kit?

[Kyle_Guo]

I found an anonymous individual was more experienced and I moved the wing back until my stall was gone and tweak with the incidence. After an hour my plane was flying ~50 seconds.

[Kyle_Guo]

I have just done a regionals tournament and I was surprised by the results. Like I said before, the plane was only getting ~50-second flights but that seemed to be good enough for me. I saw other people's planes and they looked very abnormal (not to criticize). Some people had very small wing area and some even used foam plates for a plane that flew forward fast but didn't turn at all. I saw planes that were made from literally folded paper or really heavy wood sticks (hardwood or plywood) Others had planes that did not fly at all. I saw half of the teams in the competition get single digit times. I saw a couple of people with freedom flight kits and but almost all of their times were worse. I did not win the event though, because some anonymous group had a time above 1 minute. They clearly were well prepared.

[bjt4888]

Kyle,

Great job at your regional! Your results are a reward for very good effort. I have judged SO Invitational Events for a number of years and have seen similar variable quality from teams. I have found that many students that had lower quality aircraft were actually interested in doing better, but didn't know where to go to learn the event. I have always invited teams to return after the event is over to get instruction.

Good job and keep up the hard work (and fun) of SO,

Brian T.

[jander14indoor]

Judging invitationals like that is why I spend so much time coaching and mentoring students. Its depressing as an event supervisor who KNOWS what these planes AND students are capable of and so many come in with airplanes that will win the race to the ground against a ROCK. Others have capable planes, but don't know how to trim them or wind the rubber. Frustrating.

This event isn't really about aerodynamics or designing a plane, though some knowledge is helpful. What it is about is collecting and using data properly. An airplane is just a nice non-linear system with a reasonable number of variables to serve as a model with real world noise. Kinda fun too...

But, without a plane that FLIES, there is no meaningful data to exercise on!

So, I coach, mentor, supervise, etc. And encourage others who understand how to make a plane fly to do the same.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[calgoddard]

Let me tell you about the other extreme in terms of regional WS competition. I have been to almost every WS regional competition in my area since 2005. Typically there are at least 60 WS teams, and sometimes as many as 80 WS teams. Most teams fly over 1 minute. About a quarter of the teams fly over 2 minutes. Typically 3 - 6 teams fly over 2 1/2 minutes. You usually need to fly over 3 minutes to win. I don't think teams will be flying over 3 minutes in a high school gym under the 2017 WS rules. The tough WS competition in our region makes everyone better. HINT - the winner in the WS event at our SO regionals almost always winds with a torque meter. If you compete in the WS event at Nationals, you will probably come up against one of these types of skilled fliers.

[Kyle_Guo]

3min time in a 25 ft gym? At regionals? Your region must have the best fliers. I would expect this level at something like states

[bernard]

Kyle, congratulations on your flight and thank you for your excellent questions in the Wright Stuff B topics. I hope that even if your season is over you continue to trim your plane. As Jeff said, Wright Stuff is great practice for experimental design while having a lot of fun.

[calgoddard]

Kyle -

The level of competition at our State WS event can be even higher than at our regionals. At State we have to compete against Troy HS, ten (10) time National SO champions in Division C.

Check this flight out by Torrey Pines HS, that usually has one of the best WS teams:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmW6yvFQOIE

This was a 3:45 flight at our 2015 State WS competition. The max wing that year was only 50 cm x 8 cm. I personally saw this flight myself. A parent of one of the students on our team carefully measured the height to the bottom of the beams. It was 24 feet. However, in order to avoid hitting suspended speakers, you had to fly below 22 feet 6 inches. Moreover, fluorescent light fixtures were suspended from the ceiling below the beams but above the light fixtures. So you really had to fly below 22 feet in order to avoid a potentially disastrous collision. You might have been able to fly above and around the speakers, and below the light fixtures, but probably no higher than about 23 feet.

Congratulations on your achievement at your regionals. Keep up the hard work and you could eventually be flying 2 minutes or better. It is just a matter of acquiring the skills and experience. Don't worry about 3 minute flights. I seriously doubt anyone will be able to fly that long in a gym with only a 22 - 24 foot flying height under the 2017 WS rules, but I could be wrong. In general, ceiling height limits flight times.

[CMS AC]

Kyle -

The level of competition at our State WS event can be even higher than at our regionals. At State we have to compete against Troy HS, ten (10) time National SO champions in Division C.

Check this flight out by Torrey Pines HS, that usually has one of the best WS teams:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmW6yvFQOIE

This was a 3:45 flight at our 2015 State WS competition. The max wing that year was only 50 cm x 8 cm. I personally saw this flight myself. A parent of one of the students on our team carefully measured the height to the bottom of the beams. It was 24 feet. However, in order to avoid hitting suspended speakers, you had to fly below 22 feet 6 inches. Moreover, fluorescent light fixtures were suspended from the ceiling below the beams but above the light fixtures. So you really had to fly below 22 feet in order to avoid a potentially disastrous collision. You might have been able to fly above and around the speakers, and below the light fixtures, but probably no higher than about 23 feet.

Congratulations on your achievement at your regionals. Keep up the hard work and you could eventually be flying 2 minutes or better. It is just a matter of acquiring the skills and experience. Don't worry about 3 minute flights. I seriously doubt anyone will be able to fly that long in a gym with only a 22 - 24 foot flying height under the 2017 WS rules, but I could be wrong. In general, ceiling height limits flight times.

Do you happen to know what thickness rubber, maximum rubber weight, and maximum propeller length there was for the 2015 Div C WS?

[bernard]

Do you happen to know what thickness rubber, maximum rubber weight, and maximum propeller length there was for the 2015 Div C WS?

For Wright Stuff C in 2015 (not this year), no maximum rubber thickness, 2.0 g maximum rubber weight, and maximum propeller diameter 24.0 cm.