Lawrie, thanks for the reply.
I tried a few things and found roughly what you said. The tow position is extreme forward and leads to very little climb but that's ok. Getting the towhook to release is harder than it looks, and a very smooth hook that easily detaches is safer than the alternative, i.e plane suddenly pulled backwards by the nose!
I have about 30' of rubber and 20' of line, with a few washers tied to the line just aft of the towhook to encourage disengagement when it goes slack. This is sufficient to pull up the 3 lb plane to speed and about 5' off the ground. However, due to balance and trim problems (and an elevator the size of a trim tab), it subsequently crashed. So for this model, now that I fixed the wing, it will only fly off snow from now on. Waiting for Coote's to freeze.
At least the bungee concept worked.
Bungee launch for electric models
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Ted M
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 9:21 pm
Bungee launch for electric models
Ok, has anyone advice on how to set up a bungee launch system?
The aircraft is a Dornier Wal, 3 lbs, 55" WS, high drag, slow flying flat bottom wing.
I have about 80' of black 5/16" surgical tubing and lots of monofilament.
The point is just to get it to about 50' altitude in a slow, safe climb and just fly it away.
The plane will not take off on water (it's a long story) and hand launching has been damaging half the time. It flies off snow beautifully.
So how much tube, how much mono, and suggestions for attachment point?
The aircraft is a Dornier Wal, 3 lbs, 55" WS, high drag, slow flying flat bottom wing.
I have about 80' of black 5/16" surgical tubing and lots of monofilament.
The point is just to get it to about 50' altitude in a slow, safe climb and just fly it away.
The plane will not take off on water (it's a long story) and hand launching has been damaging half the time. It flies off snow beautifully.
So how much tube, how much mono, and suggestions for attachment point?
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