Wright Stuff B

[carneyf1d]

WSM, i have to say that your canard at nats was hands down the coolest plane ive seen fly. i know things didnt go as you planned, but if there was any plane that people remembered it was probably yours. Heck, i even tried to go to the hotel the night before competition and build a canard from my spare parts...didnt have much luck though I wish they still kept wright stuff in div. c, and i really wish i had another year of Olympiad, but unfortunately it isnt the case. although, i'm planning to coach some middle schoolers this year.

[carneyf1d]

the last few days ive been rolling a bunch of balsa tubes...for SO planes, f1ds, pennyplanes, and EZBs. total pain in the arse. Took me quite a while for each tube, finding the density of each sheet, grain consistency, width consistency, and sanding and sanding and sanding. unless you have a lot of time on your hands, are willing to spend 8 bucks for specific balsa sheets online, or are going for gold at nats, go with a solid piece for the motor stick. It saves a lot of time, trust me

[WrightStuffMonster]

Rolling motor sticks is not that bad once you get the hang of it and develop a technique of you own. Its not necessary though for wright stuff. They dont inherently bring any benefits in flight time and you can definitively win nationals without one (i have). Soild motor sticks can be made to have desirable flexing characteristics there other benefit is that they are really light and I think they were necessary if you were trying to build a 40in canard and have 2.3 grams of clay on the nose for example. I have an almost complete unlimited penny plane with a nice rolled motor stick. The only thing it needs (everything is even in weight limits ) is a nice prop and my first two attempts before the school year started last year failed... Perhaps i'll have to get it flying this year. Wood selection is really critical if you want to roll a motor stick. I was fortunate enough to find some one who sold good quality indoor wood to me for between $2 and $5 a sheet. So I have plenty of good wood for rolling. In fact I have all the components nessisary to build a nice f1d.... the boron tungsten all the parts for a vp prop y2k film and about 30 sheets of wood that are in the right size range. I am just waiting until I am able to build a nice prop before I touch that stuff.I would be interested to see anyone elses F1d, EZB, or penny attempts.

[carneyf1d]

this is technically an open pennyplane. I might just switch the rolled tubes for solid sticks to make it LPP.
specs: 18 inch wing, 5 inch chord 4% simplex rib
13 inch stab, 4 inch chord 3 % simplex ribs
10 inch motor stick and boom
.020 rolled tube for the motorstick...i think .015 for the boom
covered in poly-micro film and weighs 3.1 grams
17" prop diameter, made from .020 c grain i think made on a cylindrical surface (wish it was helical though)
havent had time to test it yet. hope ill be able to do that tomorrow.
im gonna have an f1d flying within the next month. i just bought the boron/tungsten/balsa stripper/tailboom form. the last two are on their way in the mail. gotta buy some ambroid for my tubes, acetone, and some wood. plus i have to make some jigs and a prop block...ugh. WSM, where exactly did you get the balsa sheet for 2-5 bucks? I know goldstein and gitlow sell some, but i think i might start buying for jeff hood.
let me know how your OPP goes. I think thats my next project, until i get everything for the f1d ready. im gonna have boron top/bottom laced wings, and a massive prop...not sure about the wing chord as of yet, nor the exact prop size. what wing chord are you going to fly?

[carneyf1d]

after the f1d this is what im going to tackle

by the way, its only 1.300 grams

[Pleiades]

That's a very nice plane that you made!! What do you recommend as a wing chord for science olympiad? i was thinking 12 or 13 cm since thats twice as much as the stabilizer chord but i dont want it to weigh to much and have trouble climbing. or does the weight of the wing not affect climbing? Also, how do you bend the ribs?

[carneyf1d]

i dont bend my ribs. i actually cut them from a sheet. you can find a simplex foil maker at indoornews.com and download it. just type in the simplex number and it gives you a nice curve, print out that curve, and find someway to make a template out of a harder material. then move it to the balsa sheet and cut along that curve with a blade and youll have yourself some nice ribs.
i wouldnt worry about weight. if you have good balsa selection, the wing wont weigh that much. i would start off with around a 10-12 cm chord. Having a stab half wing size is pretty good. PM me, and ill give you some more help if you need it. Wouldnt wanna give away my best tips to everybody now, would i.

[andrewwski]

Get a section of thick poster board, print out the template for the ribs, trace the top curve onto a section of the board, and cut it carefully. You only need one curve if the same curve is used on the top and bottom cuts for the rib.

The get some sheet balsa (I use 1/32" but it breaks very easily, so be careful), pin the template to it, and run an X-acto knife along the curve. Unpin the template, slide it down the desired thickness, pin it, and repeat. Make the template and the sheet for the ribs wider than needed to accommodate the pins.

[carneyf1d]

goodness, 1/32! are you making f1d ribs? for SO planes i'd use around 3/32, but just be sure to get some light balsa. I make ribs out of the lightest material i can find. usually around 4 - 4.5#. Everything about the template was right, just find something hard like poster board and cut it out. I have a bunch of templates made from extremely hard balsa that i bought way back when i thought all balsa was the same just hold it down against a sheet really hard, make a nice smooth slice in the wood, and move down about 3/32 " and make another cut. I would go with cambered ribs, even though if i had another year in the event i woulda made some sweet looking compression ribs. The better it looks, the better it flies.

[andrewwski]

No...they were WS ribs. I suppose they are a bit thin...I did use 1/16" on some of my planes last year and they were much more manageable. 3/32" seems pretty thick. 1/32" was a pain to work with, but I used a lot of thin ribs in the wing/stab. I think 1/16" would probably be the best...but it's all up to how you decide to make it.