Re: Re: Help requested by beginning A6 fliers

From: <Warthodson_at_aol.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:01:03 -0500 (EST)

Props with the blade on one side of the spar are intended to flair (increase pitch & slow the prop down) during the high torque portion of the flight thus limiting the climb & extending the length of the flight. Like a variable pitch prop mechanism. Especially useful in, but not limited to, lower ceiling sites.
You said your plane "dethermalized" about 20' up at Lakehurst. I assume you mean it simply ran out of enough energy to continue to climb. You apparently need a larger cross section &/or longer motor. Are you winding up close to the maximum torque for that motor when flying in Lakehurst? Based upon the times you are already getting & your description of the bending motor stick, I would suggest that you need to build an A6 motor stick that can handle the torque better.
You never answered the question "How much does your A6 weigh?"
I use plastic straws for the tubes on my motors. They are available in many diameters & I pick them up everywhere I go. I cut them about 1/4"-3/8" long. I also use a hard plastic "O" ring on the front of the motor. Weather the "O" ring is metal or plastic should have nothing to do with whether or not it is included in the plane weight.
Gary Hodson


-----Original Message-----
From: michaelguth <michaelguth_at_verizon.net>
To: Indoor_Construction <Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tue, Feb 14, 2012 7:34 am
Subject: [Indoor_Construction] Re: Help requested by beginning A6 fliers


 


Many thanks to everyone who answered. There are actually some photos of our A6 at the National Building Museum under Fuller's photos NBM 2012. I'd appreciate anyone who might take a look particularly at our prop which is very conventional in design. We've had a chance to fly with a member of the US national team in F1. On his Penny Planes he uses props with the blade all on one side of the spar. Can anyone direct us to a reference on the benefits of this prop design? The photos of Bill Gowen's A6 show a similar arrangement.

My son and I understand the controversy over A6 design. But we are really only competing against ourselves. We flew 5 minutes and 30 seconds at the windswept National Building Museum, and ditto at dusty Lakehurst where we dethermalized about 20 feet up. We'd like to go to 6 minutes.... So, its nice to know that we should head towards longer motors. Our most recent A6 built out of an IMS kit suffered from too flexible a motor stick, wound to higher torque the plane would circle right before left and wound up getting stuck in some embarrasing places.

Is plastic tubing for the motor better than rubber heat shrink tubing for preventing motor climbing/knotting? Can anyone cite a source for us for plastic tubing for the motor ends? (And we won't even get into the controversy over whether the o rings should count as plane weight, or whether only metallic o rings count as plane weight....).
Received on Tue Feb 14 2012 - 07:01:18 CET