Functional Aircraft Carrier for Takeoff and Landing @ FFO

Jordan3367

Member
Yup. I've always wanted to make a carrier to takeoff and land on, and this year for FliteFest Ohio we finally decided to do it. :)

The carrier is about 10 feet long and made of wood. It sits on wheels, and is divided in half for ease of transport. The bow section holds a catapult rail, with a bungee slingshot to launch planes. The stern contains an arrestor hook system to catch planes more easily. It will be open for people to try and takeoff or land on it at Flitefest Ohio. Success not guaranteed. :p

Done:
Main frame (wood) w/ wheels
Deck (wood)
Catapult rail
Catapult sled/trolley
Arrestor cables

To do:
Control tower w/ 360 camera
Lighting
Arrestor hook supressors (mostly done)
Aircraft hook design
Button-stand for launching catapult

To figure out:
Movement system- possibly RC car "tugboats"

WIP pictures:
Carrier4.jpg

Carrier3_Moment.jpg

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Bricks

Master member
Now that is really spot landings you will have to get some vids at Flight Fest, since many of us will not be there.
 

JGplanes

Active member
That's pretty neat! I made something similar when I was a kid for my rubber band planes, but not for RC. Can't wait to see it!

JG
 

ElectriSean

Eternal Student
Mentor
That thing is beefy... I feel sorry for any RC car you get to tug it around :p Put on a couple of tow ropes and recruit some kids. Can't wait to see some video of this in action.
 

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
Mentor
Pity the fool who launches off that thing with his elevator reversed. It'll make for good video though!

Have you tried tilting the launcher by about 30 degrees? I think you may have re-invented sporting clays there. :)
 

Jordan3367

Member
That thing is beefy... I feel sorry for any RC car you get to tug it around :p Put on a couple of tow ropes and recruit some kids. Can't wait to see some video of this in action.

haha I like the kids idea. It rolls pretty smooth, but it's still a lot of weight for an RC car. Anyone have a Crawler to try and use with it?

Pity the fool who launches off that thing with his elevator reversed. It'll make for good video though!

Have you tried tilting the launcher by about 30 degrees? I think you may have re-invented sporting clays there. :)

LOL that will probably be me... I shattered a massive B-17 build last year because the ailerons were reversed....

We considered tilting the launcher, but it would have been very difficult since the deck is flat. Might end up with a slight angle on the sled though.

Hopefully I'll get more pictures up this afternoon, and probably a catapult launch video.
 

Fidget

Active member
Just found this thread, but this thing was really cool, and we enjoyed watching you and your family work on it.