There are some good articles here, including one by Ray Harlan on making and
using a pitch gauge:
http://www.soinc.org/events/wrightstuff/index.htm
The pitch is supposed to be about right as is. Get the right motor size
before adjusting the pitch. The kit is supposed to have three different widths
of rubber. The thicker motor will climb faster. In case you do not have a
ruler in 0.01" divisions, the equivalents of the standard rubber sizes are:
1/16" = 0.0625"
3/32" = 0.09375"
1/8" = 0.125"
3/32" is probably best. The length is also important. A longer motor will
take more turns and will run longer. There is also a 2 gram weight limit on
the motor which limits its length. A 1/8" motor will be made from 24" of
strip and will be a bit less that 12" long when knotted. The 1/16" strip can be
4' long and will make a 2' long motor. The 3/32" strip will be 32" long and
will make a motor a bit less than 16" long. These numbers are approximate,
based on typical rubber density, measure and weigh to be sure. The 1/8"
motor will take about 1,100 turns, the 1/16" will take about 3,200 turns and the
3/32" motor will take about 1,800 turns. Your mileage will vary, depending
on your rubber and winding technique.
If you got up to 1,800 turns on the 3/32" motor, you are doing really well.
If you didn't feel the motor tightening up a lot and if your winding
technique is not really good, you probably have 1/16" strip. You will need to put a
lot more turns into it to get it to climb.
Weigh your airplane to make sure it weighs close to the 7 gram minimum. If
it is much heavier than that, it will not climb. Ask your science teacher if
you can use the lab balance if you don't have a way to weigh in grams,
actually centigrams, 0.01 gram.
Read everything in the instructions carefully.
Read the article by Bob Clemens and follow other links to learn more of the
terminology.
One thing I have seen is the prop shaft points down. Some times the front
of the stick gets worn and the socket of the prop hanger becomes loose, then
the motor pulls the socket back so the propeller points down. If the stick is
worn, glue balsa shims on as necessary and sand it back down to correct
cross section. Check the plan and make sure the prop shaft points the correct
direction. If it points down too much, that will hold the plane down.
These props don't turn very fast. Have you seen any others flying?
Based on what you have said, my first guess is the motor is too thin.
Don't use scotch tape to repair rips in the wing. You won't be able to keep
it straight. Sometimes a bead of slightly diluted glue drawn along the rip
will pull it together by capillary and hold. You can use narrow strips of
the film and dilute glue. Best would be to recover the wing. If the rip
doesn't open up during flight, it might not be necessary to fix it.
Gary Hinze
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Received on Tue Feb 20 2007 - 23:01:53 CET