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OK, I'll whisper, but I never hurt myself while flying, may have snapped a rubber band at my partners now in then, but no cuts.
Though you might have to wear kevlar finger cots while building...
Of course that would make it harder to uniquely identify your plane...

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

Seriously how can you hurt your self when you are flying an airplane man?

Well, a few years back I got a bit of a crick in my neck from timing airplanes at 80 ft in the Illinois Armory...

Yeah, safety glasses would have prevented that, wait, maybe not...

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

Sarcasm is lost on scientists. Or maybe not?

But back to the discussion. Things like glues and razor blades have inherent hazards but so does stepping out of the shower. We though still bathe, hopefully. I appreciate the little tips as I have been frustrated more than once at crushing a piece with an X-acto blade.

I did want to ask about something I read in Ron Williams book about using lighter pieces at the tips of the wing and on the stabilizer so that it is easier for the plane to self correct. i assume that is because the center of gravity is for lack of a better term "centered". My question is: how much lighter? I guess this is the next step in my education from weighing every piece.

StampingKid wrote:Sarcasm is lost on scientists. Or maybe not?

But back to the discussion. Things like glues and razor blades have inherent hazards but so does stepping out of the shower. We though still bathe, hopefully. I appreciate the little tips as I have been frustrated more than once at crushing a piece with an X-acto blade.

I did want to ask about something I read in Ron Williams book about using lighter pieces at the tips of the wing and on the stabilizer so that it is easier for the plane to self correct. i assume that is because the center of gravity is for lack of a better term "centered". My question is: how much lighter? I guess this is the next step in my education from weighing every piece.

Their is still sarcasm in a few scientist we may be sorta obsessed with science but we can still be funny and have fun.

But yes you have to way each piece for each requirement. I remember my team had to take a couple days just to weigh all the peices. Then you have t mast them then you get frustrated when you make mistakes and then you have to restart everything.

Go PA

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blue cobra wrote:For the foil, a higher simplex makes it harder to climb, right? But how much lift does it have relative to other simplexes? And why would you have a higher simplex then? Also on that program you linked to, it says to trim off of the trailing edge to desired chord, but going from almost a full page to 6cm is a big leap; this doesn't affect it?

If someone could answer these, it would be appreciated prodigiously.

ok. First of all, props to reading Ron Williams book, Building and Flying Indoor Models. I advise anybody who is interested in Indoor Flight to buy it and read it immediately.
Second of all, I wouldn't worry about the outside ribs being too much lighter. If you have a vertical fin on the stab you have yaw stability and tip plates or dihedral on the wing your plane can easily self-correct from a roll. If you have a higher decalage, then you can easily correct from pitch (stall) instability, such as when you hit a rafter. The book also mentions the "butterfly" tail, or much easier to build, a swept back leading edge on the stab can help increase recovery.
I dont know about the light weight rib thing...if you've heard of f1d's people put the heaviest ribs on the outside. Although, it does have a different purpose, but the plane still is fairly stable.

Blue cobra: higher simplex's have a little bit more trouble climbing. It's harder to tell how much more efficient the lift is relative to others, if it even is more efficient. After all I'm not an aeronautical engineer...oh wait. 2nd year though. Maybe I'll get back to you with a definite answer in a couple semesters. Higher simplex's are often used for gym height differences. On a 25 foot gym I'd go with a 6 % wing and 4.5% stab. For a 100 foot gym I'd go with a 3% wing and 2% stab. However, it's up to you to find the most efficient combination for your gym height. And second of all, just cut it to the size you need, regardless of how much you have to trim off, it should still work.

Very complex answer. very complex answer indeed
Even though Complex answers are always needed

if it's too complex just tell me what you guys need clarification on.

clarify please