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How have been people been going about the dime bonus? Who has found it more effective with what number of dimes?

I've had some success with the dime bonus, but I haven't spent too much time experimenting with different numbers of dimes etc. I'm currently using three.

DoctaDave,

Just out of curiosity, how are you attaching the dimes to your plane?

Edit: Since there doesn't seem to be very much activity on the forum, I'll open up the question to everyone: How have you all been attaching the dimes to your plane?

Hmm, just wondering, if we are using clay to bring our plane up to weight, could we have the clay sitting on top of the plane and stick the dime(s) on top of it?

watermydoing14 wrote:Hmm, just wondering, if we are using clay to bring our plane up to weight, could we have tHe clay sitting on top of tHe plane and stick tHe dime(s) on top of it?

You could, but might you risk the dimes falling off mid-flight if not entirely secure? Dime(s) falling off mid-flight would end your time early.

bernard wrote:

watermydoing14 wrote:Hmm, just wondering, if we are using clay to bring our plane up to weight, could we have tHe clay sitting on top of tHe plane and stick tHe dime(s) on top of it?

You could, but might you risk the dimes falling off mid-flight if not entirely secure? Dime(s) falling off mid-flight would end your time early.

I guess one way to make it more secure would be to just build a simple little balsa structure near the center of gravity to hold the dimes in place. A cage of sorts in which the dimes can slide into. And clay could be used to prevent the dimes from sliding out during either the ascent or descent, depending on how the cage is built. The clay we have is pretty sticky, so I'm guessing it would hold the dimes pretty securely (especially if the dimes are /not/ stacked but placed next to each other), but I'd have to test it out

watermydoing14 wrote:

bernard wrote:

watermydoing14 wrote:Hmm, just wondering, if we are using clay to bring our plane up to weight, could we have tHe clay sitting on top of tHe plane and stick tHe dime(s) on top of it?

You could, but might you risk the dimes falling off mid-flight if not entirely secure? Dime(s) falling off mid-flight would end your time early.

I guess one way to make it more secure would be to just build a simple little balsa structure near the center of gravity to hold the dimes in place. A cage of sorts in which the dimes can slide into. And clay could be used to prevent the dimes from sliding out during either the ascent or descent, depending on how the cage is built. The clay we have is pretty sticky, so I'm guessing it would hold the dimes pretty securely (especially if the dimes are /not/ stacked but placed next to each other), but I'd have to test it out

If clay is sticky, might you risk taking some clay out every time you remove a dime? If I were doing this event, I would cut, fold, assemble pieces from a index card so I have three separate pockets, and attach the setup to the plane at the CG. Separate pockets would be so that if I decide to use fewer than all dimes, they don't move around in the excess space.

If youve done your homework, you should know how many dimes you want to use for the bonus before you ever get to the competition.
In other words, there is a correct choice to maximize time vs bonus, figure it out, and then make a custom carrier for exactly that many dimes.
Deciding the number of dimes on the day of the competition is not the smart approach.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI