intro to building planes

[gh]

If you get the Ray Harlan aluminum thrust bearings, remember to ask for the Pennyplane one, not the SO bearing. It's a little lighter and has a slot cut in the rear that allows you to swap out propellers.

Anybody remember these bearings?

[andrewwski]

Yeah, I tried the ones that came with the narrow Ikara's one year. In order to attach it, it seemed the fuselage had to be inserted into the narrow slot on the attachment, which required either an extra piece to be glued on or the front to be shaved down.

This was so thin that after a few uses that area would snap from the tension of the rubber band.

Last year I used the fat-bladed Ikaras that Harlan sells with his thrust bearings (just the SO ones). Worked much better.

[carneyf1d]

http://www.indoorduration.com/williamschapter1.htm

heres a great link to a few chapters to Ron Williams's book. Explains a lot of building techniques. It's only a couple of chapters, but the book is fantastic! I got myself a copy and it literally covers all aspects of building a plane.

[WrightStuffMonster]

I remember those bearings. I have three of them myself. I love them and they are so much better than anything else that i have tried.

[Pleiades]

where exactly do the thrust bearings go? does anyone have a picture of them on a plane? sorry, i'm new to this

EDIT/ i think i figured it out.. basically it holds the music wire while it's turning. right?

[jander14indoor]

You got it, holds the prop shaft.

Note, good ones do a couple of things in this process. They have low friction so less loss of rubber energy. They attach easily and securely to the motor stick. They don't weigh much. They allow the prop to be removed or storage, modification, or replacement. They control the angle of the prop to the plane, this is one of your important trim settings in fact.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[carneyf1d]

I made quite a few of my own...basically just because i wanted to have everything on my plane hand made. i used .020 music wire. They work quite well, and you can easily customize them to what you want. If you make them right, they can be light weight, fairly adjustable when trimming, and wont cost you $2 per hook.

[MrTurtleF1D]

Is anyone thinking about trying out for the Junior F1D team for the 2010 world championships? The qualifiers are coming up in July and there are only 1 or 2 kids who are going to try out right now that I know of.

Brett Sanborn