RE: Re: Coconut mass launch?

From: <dweigt47_at_gmail.com>
Date: 30 Jul 2016 09:37:55 -0700

Thanks, Mike. Three ounces for a 54 inch model is quite light in my book. I'm impressed that it looks so solid and real, with realistic cross sections, and is not transparent or translucent. There must be some pigment on the covering, and we all know that adds weight.

I used to build models with light truss structures and colored Japanese tissue covering. Most of their area was finished with a thin layer of clear dope. I only used a bit of colored dope to dress them up a little. One was a 72 inch span with only a reed valve .049 for power. I never flew it RC, as planned, as I didn't have a reliable radio yet. I don't know what it weighed, but it was light. I flew it a few times as a control line plane, on maybe 20 foot Dacron 1/2A lines. Hmm. That was more than 50 years ago, about 1961....

I like light models. Sometimes I think I should build more. The materials I used back then are getting hard to obtain. I'm not really a fan of plastic film covering, carbon fiber structures, and styrofoam models, which might be other ways to build large and light.

Don
Received on Sat Jul 30 2016 - 09:37:55 CEST