earthsciteach's STOL Build for the "Contest"

earthsciteach

Moderator
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Have you ever made fire starters from parafin wax and dryer lint? It works great! I make 1/2"x1/2" or so cubes. Just take a wad of lint, dip it into wax and shape with your hand.

I'll try to get my hands on one of those lenses. I'm out on medical leave at the moment, so it may not be until August or so. But, check out this video if you want to REALLY burn some stuff with a fresnel lens!

In action:

How to:

I love this guy's channel. I show stuff from it in my classroom from time to time. Nothing like application for learning. Fire helps, too. :applause:
 

Liemavick

Member
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That is awesome! When you mentioned the fresnel lens the first thing I thought about was the big screen TV lens I aquired last year. Unfortunatly I used it for a screen to keep the pets outside when we had the slider open. Its since been trashed, oh well probably for the better since I cant burn down the neighborhood now. If this is a distraction by you to keep my mind off my STOL build it's working ;)
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
Hey, its my thread and I'll go off topic if I want to!

I'm cutting the tail feathers at this moment and working out how to mount them. The horiz stab is mounted through the vert stab above the fuselage on the Kitfox which is not a big deal, but haven't decided how I'm going to do it, yet.
 

Liemavick

Member
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I noticed you did not cut any slots in the fuselage for the rear stab and fin. I was wondering what your plan was for them. I'm stuck on landing gear at this point . I'm trying to get the look of a Alaskan puddle jumper's, but haven't figured it out yet so it will be sturdy.
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
Here's what I'm thinking for landing gear. Please excuse the crudeness of the drawing and horrible handwriting. The meds I'm on are making me very shaky!
 

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Liemavick

Member
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Thats very close to what I was invisioning, TY. I thought of usuing shrink wrap at the joints where needed. I'm trying to build from what i have in stock at the house. .050 wire is the thickest i have and after messing with it a bit last night I decided it wasn't going to be rigid enough for actual use. I even started messing around with skewers, but joining them together with hot glue was just unsightly. My brains still spinning on it, hopefully I'll be able to get the look and have it usable too, static models are for museums lol.
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
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The firewall will be cut out to accommodate the battery/esc and wiring. I'm just going to push the control rods through the bulkheads. Its crazy light, as is. I've peeled all of the paper off. My plan is to cover the entire plane in monokote or similar. I'm thinking a black on red paint scheme.

Liemavick - I haven't even dug around to see what wire I have on hand. I hope I have something I can use since I just returned from Home Depot with my foam for the wings and a bunch of new exacto blades. Should have thought of that a little while ago. Doh!
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
I've cut out my tail surfaces and just set them in place for this pic. I upsized the tail surfaces so that I have PUHLENTY of control at those low, low speeds she will need to fly in order to land in those tight spots!

Now, I'm trying to figure out how to easily export the airfoil coordinates from XFLR5 (airfoil design freeware) and plot out full size templates. Looks like another nightmare adventure with Excel's "I know how to do it better than any human" chart functions. Ug.
 

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earthsciteach

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Well, I got Excel to read the data AND scale the X and Y axes so that the shape is correct. Now, I just have to figure out how to print it to scale. ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!! Excel is ALMOST so useful.
 

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earthsciteach

Moderator
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GOT IT! I had to print out the graph of the airfoil, measure it to determine a scale factor (had to shrink to 80%). But, Excel would not scale the plot, so I had to open a print preview as a .pdf in acrobat and scale it there then print the template. Good grief!
 

CrashRecovery

I'm a care bear...Really?
Mentor
Way too much work for me..... Ill modify an ol' fogey to do what I want, if I decide to play in this game.
 

CrashRecovery

I'm a care bear...Really?
Mentor
Oh I just might have to try something tomorrow. I still have my wing from my first ol fogey. Though its not $tree board it's a little thicker but I don't see why it won't work. Ill keep it a "three channel" but add flaps? I would love to have brakes on the wheels so you could lift the rear and just go up up and away!
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
I actually was thinking about the brake thing. It would be easy to use a servo to actuate a band brake attached to the axle. The hard part would be operating it. A slider or knob would be a must so you can feather the brake. But, I don't think my fingers are that talented!
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
Easy, I've got this one. Mix it to the throttle channel. Over ten percent throttle (or whatever your tuning discovers) and the brake releases, under and it applies.
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
I'd think you'd want to be able to deactivate the brake when landing so as to not nose over. This is getting into that programming stuff that makes my head hurt!