A portable airplane that will fit on a motorcycle

[siezed]

Hi guys, two of my favorite summer activities are flying planes and riding motorcycles, and a motorcycle is my main transportation. Do you think its possible to design a plane that would either strap onto the back seat or fold up into a saddlebag or otherwise be transported by motorcycle? Last summer I used to always bungee my ultra micro parkzone warbirds to the back and head off to the field on my motorcycle, it was so much fun, but now Ive quite grown out of the 1s planes and am into flying wings and faster wind penetrating powerful planes, like the mini arrow (my favorite FT model so far!) but now that summers here and I dont really have a (non shared) car to transport my planes, id really like to bring them on the motorcycle =) Also, I would like it to be somewhat sizeable, something able to carry a 3s 1350mah and a 2208 motor, as this os what most my planes use. Thanks so much for reading.

Edit;
Or of course if anyone knows of any existing designs or ideas to make this happen, I did build a pun jet, but that thing is a complete handful to keep in the air with an a2208 and 1350mah 3s, and the folding design means multiple points of failure where the paper delaminates and is just really not an adequate plane to be my go to weekend flyer. I'd really like some type of folding flying wing, or maybe something similar to those huge jets that all fold up into a nice carrying case.

Because I suspect this thread might get hard to navigate judging by the 2600+ views within the first day, I'm going to just post the things I like and people have already done in this main post for others and myself to refer to =)

https://youtu.be/7dlnT--llgQ -foldable flying wing video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfqGrzCKauw -experimental airlines foldable powered glider (photon)
https://youtu.be/07A-mTHnyz8 -folding slope soaring wing made from pink insulation and carbon fiber spars

Edit;
I think my best bet right now is strapping the Ft mini arrow to the back of the motorcycle with some big rubber bands. I did this with my old arrow and it was doing ok but blew apart in a very long fast dive, so Ive decided to add reinforcements to allow it to be strapped without deforming. Heres a pic of the first reinforcement, I just used the cut off spar end and put it in front so theres more structure where the rubber bands were squishing the foam. After that I also added BBQ skewers stuck into the spars to act as pins against the center pod, added some recessed BBQ skewers to the middle bottom joint and added two vertical bbg skewers about where the rubber bands hit to further give the airfoil strength. I also glued the spar to the center pod which is something that isn't in the build video but I think adds major strength. Anyways, paints drying right now so updates later on

 

[CrashRecovery]

PunJet with folding wings!

 

[siezed]

PunJet with folding wings!

Nice fast reply! You must have posted that right as I edited. I did try the pun jet but I think I was just way overweight, I even designed a shaped box to put it into and everything, but I just can't get the thing to fly right, I think if I went with an 1804 and a 2s maybe it would be able to stay airborne? I'd, I haven't scrapped the pun jet idea but it just really got me disappointed, do you think if I went with a lighter setup it would be a decent go to plane? Unfortunately the 2208 is the smallest motor I have, I do have a 500 mah 2s battery on the way though, so maybe that's the answer? I still would like to see some type of modular plane capable of being strapped on or put in a saddlebag though=)

 

[MrClean]

plenty of room here. Don't use the cooler, put a flight box on it.

 

[Craftydan]

Have you seen Experimental Airlines Photon glider? Not particularly small, but can pack down to a ~30" long-skinny bundle -- 60" span, folded in half, with the fuse strapped on top. That could then be strapped to the back seat. The photon would probably be perfectly happy with a 2208 motor.

Alternatively, you could use some of the same tricks to make a removable spar channel + tape hinge on a Mini Arrow. A removable carbon arrowshaft spar would be in addition to the stock spar (stock spar helps define the airfoil), but should be more than enough to hold the Arrow flat, and the long tape hinge should keep the wings from twisting.

 

[crash bandicoot]

a 250 Race quad in a backpack will fly great!

 

[WHERESMYNAMEGO]

Maybe a mod to the Arrow where it hinged in the middle or the two halves bolted together...��

 

[Tench745]

I can't find it now, but there was an article on a folding Versa wing someone made.

 

[Snarls]

Here's a cool build from Daniel at RCTestflight. The wing breaks down into two halves and two winglets. His is a slope soarer, but you could certainly add a motor.

 

[siezed]

Nice! Thanks guys, I actually decided to try some rubber bands I had and secure the mini arrow flat against the back seat of my Vulcan 800, it worked pretty well but the wings were flapping up and down quite a bit, I made my arrow by removing the paper and laminating it with packing tape so its quite strong and flexible. It made it to my uncles 45 minutes away, was going about 60 mph at one point, I wouldn't trust it on the highway though. Going to take a look at the suggestions here and come back with any new ideas I happen to come up with =)

 

[siezed]

plenty of room here. Don't use the cooler, put a flight box on it.

That's crossed my mind, but unfortunately the way Vulcan 800s are made you can't just buy a trailer, there's no existing way to secure it, or so said my brother who has one as well. But yea that would be nice!

 

[siezed]

Have you seen Experimental Airlines Photon glider? Not particularly small, but can pack down to a ~30" long-skinny bundle -- 60" span, folded in half, with the fuse strapped on top. That could then be strapped to the back seat. The photon would probably be perfectly happy with a 2208 motor.

Alternatively, you could use some of the same tricks to make a removable spar channel + tape hinge on a Mini Arrow. A removable carbon arrowshaft spar would be in addition to the stock spar (stock spar helps define the airfoil), but should be more than enough to hold the Arrow flat, and the long tape hinge should keep the wings from twisting.

These are great ideas, I'm watching the video now and the photon intrigues me, I might even build a 75% version or something so I can strap it to the side, very nice thank you!

 

[DKchris]

A trailer might not attach......but I'm pretty sure a sidecar will.....

I've got one of these on a MZ301 Saxon 2-stroke that serves me well:

Now.....I'm no Kawa aficionado by any means.........but isn't that an older model Vulcan??
Pic is directly off the Velorex usa homepage http://www.velorexusa.com/products.shtml


The 700 is by far their ugliest sidecar, no discussion there.....but it's also the roomiest and easiest accesible(seat back unlocks and comes out in a snap, then it's just a big box), once opened up completely, and at the same time the one which is the easiest to close up for wind protection. And these light sidecars do detach fairly easily......cost is reasonable as well.