Flying for Fun - 2004/02

F l y i n g f o r F u n
909 N. Maize Rd., Townhouse 734, Wichita KS 67212
MORE ABOUT the Wright Brothers: In
August when I wrote the text for the
January 2004 issue, I described Kitty
Hawk/Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina, as
poor spots to be during a hurricane. I
wasn’t being psychic or trying to be a
prophet. Things just turned out bad in
September for those living on Cape
Hatteras, as was seen in television
coverage.
Hopefully enough of the damage was
repaired by this December to
accommodate those who were planning to
travel to this historic site for the
centennial-of-flight activities.
Several television specials have been
shown of late on the History Channel,
A&E, and PBS covering the efforts of at
least three different groups to create
flyable replicas of the 1903 Wright Flyer.
No drawings of many of the original
aircraft’s parts exist, and the supposedly
original craft hanging in the Smithsonian
is actually made from pieces of several
This photo is worth some study. It illustrates all of the components in place and the
simplicity of a model made from Depron. Photo by Dick Massey.
These little bombs will hover and execute all of the 3-D
maneuvers with minimal noise. Massey photo.
Simple, straightforward design; ultra-simple construction; and
low materials cost equal cheap thrills. Massey photo.
later-crashed aircraft. The original was
damaged severely and not returned to
Dayton, Ohio.
As a consequence, accurate
measurements of the original parts have
been combined with estimates based on
photographs. In each instance the creators
have avoided the temptation to improve
any of the original’s aerodynamic and
mechanical shortcomings.
As one can readily determine from
observing that famous first-flight photo
and subsequent movies of the early Wright
aircraft, they are unstable in the pitch axis.
However, the Pat Tritle-designed kit from
Dare Design and Engineering has enlarged
horizontal and vertical tail surfaces, which
gives it flight stability.
Speaking of that first-flight photo, the
spectator from the lifeguard station who
volunteered to take a picture as the Flyer
rose off of the dolly was assigned the task
of squeezing the rubber bulb that opened
and closed the camera shutter.
After the flight, he was unsure whether
or not he had done so when the Flyer left
the launch rails. Therefore, the brothers
were unsure whether or not they had a
picture of that first flight until they saw it
in their darkroom in Dayton several weeks
later.
Notice in that picture that Orville and
Wilbur had physical contact with the
airplane until it lifted off. There is
something fitting in that, isn’t there?
02sig4.QXD 11/25/03 10:11 am Page 100
More Goofs: I hope I never top the
battleship-identification error, but I do
seem capable of messing up little things.
In case anyone believed for a minute that
the Flying Flea shown in the September
2003 column is a canard, don’t. Change
that to a tandem wing, similar to the
configuration that Samuel Langley
couldn’t get to fly.
Something must have been haywire
with the Flea’s aerodynamics since several
European governments banned the aircraft
from the air in the late 1930s. However,
the Radio Control (RC) models fly fine.
“The Future Lies Ahead”: This
nonsensical phrase was an unsuccessful
presidential candidate’s campaign slogan
in the late 1940s. Where else would the
future lie? However, since my last batch of
columns have centered on events that
occurred more than 100 years ago, this
month I’ll take a look at something
contemporary for contrast.
There has been an explosion of interest
in flying SPAD RC models. The
abbreviation stands for “Simple Plastic
Airplane Designs.” These 25- and 40-size
aircraft are built from Coroplast, which is
a corrugated, plastic cardboardlike
material.
What is way out about these designs is
their extreme simplicity. These models are
essentially flying planks with rudimentary
airfoils and light wing loadings combined
with extreme power-to-weight ratios to
produce 3-D-type performance.
Besides being inexpensive and easy to
assemble, the SPAD designs are incredible
in flight. They will loop and roll so fast
that they are a blur, hover, and do all of
those other 3-D things, yet they are
amazingly durable. If you have not seen
This attractive little Ultimate biplane from Foamy Factory Models was constructed from
Depron. It uses ultra-simple and light construction. Photo by Tim Hart.
Chris Snyder hovers his 3DX from Foamy Factory Models on the deck, exhibiting the
incredible agility of these electric-powered aircraft. Hart photo.
these designs fly, you owe it to yourself to
seek them out and watch them. A useful
Web site is www.spadworld.net.
The SPAD concept’s virtues and appeal
have recently been adapted to fit electricpowered
park flyers. These little aircraft
bring wild aerobatics, inexpensiveness,
simple construction, high durability, etc. to
these models. Here in Wichita, where the
concept seems to have been originated,
this idea is running wild, with seemingly a
25% increase in the number of fliers
weekly.
The aerobatic park flyers deliver the
thrills of much larger models in a small,
lightweight package. The novel use of
Depron or fan-fold foam creates an aircraft
that will do it all. One can practice and
perfect those maneuvers in the front yard
without much concern about crash repairs.
Depron and fan-fold foam are blue
polyurethane foam-core materials covered
with a thin layer of blue semitransparent
plastic. They are building materials used as
insulation and moisture barriers between
concrete basement walls and the fill dirt.
You can purchase them at a building-supply
store or order them via the Internet. This is
also true for the carbon-fiber kite spars.
Dick Massey constructed the 3DX
shown this month in approximately six
hours from plans downloaded from
www.foamyfactory.com/airplanes.htm.
This site has several other designs with free
downloadable plans. Tim Holt of Wichita
hosts the Web site and designs the models.
As of this writing I have not had the
pleasure of seeing the others fly, but they
reportedly all fly as well as the 3DX.
The 3DX spans 37 inches, has a wing
area of 360 square inches, weighs 12
ounces, and has a wing loading of 4.8
ounces per square foot. At such light
weight, no landing gear is used and
landings are sort of skip and stop.
Amazingly, to me at least, these designs fly
well in 10-15 mph winds because of the
large area and excess power!
Power can be a brushed GWS EPS 350C
DS (6.6:1 gearing), or a brushless Razor
RZ350 for ballistic flying. The propeller
can be a GWS 12 x 6 or an APC 12 x 6SF.
Batteries can be any of the common three
(Ni-Cd, NiMH, or Lithium-Polymer), with
a preference for the eight 700 mAh NiMH
pack or lithium/resin cells. Speed controls
are dependent on battery packs, but the
Web site gives specifics.
The wing is one piece (no dihedral), with
no doubled-over leading edge as with the
SPAD concept. The wing is a pure flat plate,
as are the tail surfaces. The fuselage is flat
profile style with the servos installed with a
glue gun, the batteries installed with Velcro,
and the motor slid over a hardwood stick
that is epoxied into the fuselage side.
Carbon rods from kite spars are used to
strengthen the fuselage lengthwise and the
wing spanwise. These rods are epoxied into
cutout tunnels.
Hinges are 1-inch sections of 3M clear
packaging tape adhered lengthwise to one
side of the joint. Pushrods are .030-inch
wire lengths, and control horns are short
sections of tie-wrap drilled for holes and
epoxied into slots in the elevator and
ailerons.
Decoration and coloring are drawn onto
the blue plastic outer coating using
specified brands of markers. One must be
careful here because some brands of
markers contain a solvent that will eat
through the material.
Apparently the secret to this concept’s
success, if there is one, is light weight. As a
result, the model is remarkably flexible; in
flight one can easily see the wings flex up
and down and the stabilizer twist on the
fuselage in violent maneuvers. This
flexibility is also the reason why the model
can hit the ground and bounce right back.
Almost without exception the worst
damage sustained in a crash will be a
broken propeller, and Dick Massey even
epoxies those back together. (I’m not
recommending this—just reporting.) After
watching these electric-powered 3-D foam
models fly, I think this is the most fun for
the buck ever! MA