Hi Guys,
Before we had a smoother and mowed field I put a tarp on top of the grass,
staked it down in the corners and was flying off that. What I discovered was
that it was very low friction and then the plane was hard to steer when the
wind blew it sideways or I was slow to respond to P factor and torque. :)
Weight on the wheel pants would be pendulum like. I wonder how the plane
would respond with a low CG? I think modern parachute planes get stability
that way.
Hope to see many of you Wed. evening at indoor flying,
Richard P.
On Sep 17, 2019, at 11:26 AM, Tom Speer <me@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, larger diameter wheels would help. I'm thinking they could be housed in
Northrop Gamma style fairings. The wheels could be heavy and the fairings
hold ballast, too.
Based on the 4+ lb gross weight that's flown with the stock wing (from a
paved runway), I'm thinking we may be looking at a 10+ lb plane. I'm
starting to wonder where we can put all that weight.
Cheers,
Tom
On 9/17/19 11:14 AM, Jake Boyd wrote:
Perhaps very low drag but large diameter wheels would help 8” to 10”
diameter perhaps.
Any thoughts?
Jake
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On Sep 17, 2019, at 10:52, Tom Speer <me@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:me@xxxxxxxxxx>>
wrote:
In this case, I'm more concerned with takeoff than landing. I don't think
we can get a heavily loaded Mini-Apprentice to take off on our grass
runway. It is hard enough as it is to get the plane to roll at its light
weight. I'm also concerned that, even with the east alders removed, we
won't have a clear path to depart after takeoff. But rolling is the
biggest problem.
I see two solutions. One is to go to another venue to make the loaded
flights. I've not been to the Chimicum field, yet, but while I've heard it
is windy there, they may have a smoother runway and more open flying area.
There are probably other fields in the area that have paved
or geotextile surfaces.
The other solution is to put down a smoother surface on our runway. We
decided not to go with a geotextile surface because of the cost, but I am
going to look at Home Depot to see what they might have in way of a cheaper
alternative. We don't need something that will last, and we don't need it
to be wide enough to land on. It just needs to be something we can put
down for loaded takeoffs and then pack up at the end of the day.
Cheers,
Tom
On 9/16/19 4:41 PM, Thomas Condon wrote:
Tom,
Don't have runway envy. Tarmac runways do much more damage on a rough
landing than grass!
The Other Tom!
On Sep 16, 2019, at 12:40 PM, Tom Speer <me@xxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:me@xxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
I have runway envy!
It's clear we will need provision for a lot more weight than will fit
inside the wing. Probably a ballast box like they have, and maybe some
ballast boxes out on the wings, too. I'm thinking Northrop Gamma style
wheel pants that come down from where the tail booms mount.
Cheers,
Tom
On 9/16/19 12:18 PM, Paul Below (Redacted sender paulbelow for DMARC)
wrote:
https://www.facebook.com/564421820361041/posts/1622695037867042/?sfnsn=mo
<https://www.facebook.com/564421820361041/posts/1622695037867042/?sfnsn=mo>
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