Astronomyguy wrote: ↑September 8th, 2023, 8:17 pm
ykm849 wrote: ↑September 8th, 2023, 12:53 pm
Yup I got to see the new FreedomFlightModels Div C plane which Mr. Zeigler sent me a pic of it in an email response to me, and it looks awesome! I did flight last year but I built one out of scratch from some spare balsa sticks I found in a thrown cardboard box. I curved them by wetting them and pressing them against a hot glass and built the structure of a typical flight model wing ribs. Even though I spent a lot of time trying to build my first plane it only flew for 11 seconds because it weighed almost 14 grams since I built a propellor out of some hardened construction paper and thin cardboard without knowing how to pitch the propellor
, so thats why im ordering a kit this year in hopes it can perform better results, which im sure it will C:
11 seconds is pretty impressive considering that many homemade planes don't fly at all. Nearly everyone in Science Olympiad will find better success with a kit than with a homemade plane. The only exception is with experienced flyers who have squeezed nearly every ounce of optimization from kit planes and could fly over around 3:15 last year, or the top few flight teams in the country. Even so, designing and building a plane requires an entirely different skillset then the one polished by Scioly flyers.
We need not worry about wing shape/size, aspect ratios, cambering, and other things that the kit makers set for us. Designing a new plane also requires CAD skills and access to a laser cutter for the balsa ribs. I'd imagine that most people with well-built homemade designs get help from others (probably coaches) and could probably fly well in F1D. The best flyer at my school besides me actually does homemade design, but even with years of experience (her brother had self-designed planes before her) the plane she built only went around 90 seconds last year (didn't take full advantage of the box diagonal, no cambering, and was too fast and climbed too high). And the planes developed by kit makers like J&H and FreedomFlight are so good that there's no chance your homemade designs are better unless you have years of experience and understand flight mechanics beyond what is required for success in Scioly. In short, use a kit, do not make the mistake of designing your own plane as the vast majority of people lack the skillset required to make one, as opposed to the kit makers, who do.
If you ever want to put your own twist on your plane, stick to basic modifications to kit planes. Optimizing small things one at a time from a well-built plane is much better than building an entire one from scratch. For example, one thing I didn't like last year about the FF plane was that you had to take off the horizontal stabilizer and reglue it every time you wanted to adjust it. Putting it on a post with adjustable height on each side would have been more convenient to set circle size.
I can tell that you have a particular knack for planes, being able to scrap a decent one by homemade standards (the way you made the ribs is impressive given the lack of a laser cutter). Translate that to a knack for adjusting/trimming your planes and you'll be competitive in no time
Coaches - please correct me if anything I said was misleading or wrong. This is my general perception on making your own plane and I want to change it if it isn't accurate.
Astro
I have been gone pylon racing and have not kept up.
A few points on building without a kit:
1. You do NOT need CAD skills or a laser cutter. We have used neither. We lay out our design with graph paper or any online drawing program (we use Microsoft Publisher, actually!) Cutting ribs we use a template from hardware store aluminum flashing (draw a template in Publisher, print and glue (3M77) to the metal, cut metal with scissors) or 1/8" plastic. Alternatively we have cut a form from 2x4 with bandsaw, and wet-formed a sheet of 1/16" wood to shape, then slice ribs from that curved sheet with Master Airscrew balsa stripper. While FFM has a different airfoil, most indoor planes including F1D have simple circular airfoil (circular arc).
2. A basic understanding of plane layout and shape is needed, but there are plenty of plans online that you can copy and update. We started with Bill Gowen's Carbon Penny and/or Finney for ideas, and adapted to current rules
3. We started with Ikara props, but quickly graduated to making your own. But you can scratch build and use a commercial prop.
4. Coach Brian has put together a video build of a "super simple" SO plane, built to Div B rules this year, which can do 2 minutes with a flat airfoil (no curved ribs), based on Chuck Markos design. This can be easily adapted to Div C, and gets you in the air fast (1 hour build easily). You can get that video from the NFFS web site,
https://www.freeflight.org/science-olympiad/. Be sure to read the description (downloadable file or view from YouTube)
5. While there is science involved with design, if you copy the general layouts, scaled to the rules, of past planes in plans, you will do just fine without any diabolical knowledge.
I agree that kits are an easy starting point. We never did a kit, but the first year we flew we built 12 planes as we learned new things. Coach Brian on these forums was an incredible help, and in the end we went from 20 seconds to 2:50 and came in 7th at Nationals. It is more of a challenge, but very rewarding.
The super simple plane is a great way to get your feet wet self-building, and will fly very well with minimal investment and time.
Coach Chuck