Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chuck Markos
Balance Point
(center of gravity):
MASS
(GRAVITY)
4.5
30
Efficiency decreases as the CG is moved forward be able to perform meaningful test flights as you try
because greater angular difference between wing to optimize performance. An added advantage of
and stabilizer will be required, increasing induced the socket and dowel connection is that you may
drag. In addition, a rubber-powered airplane move the dowels up or down in the sockets to adjust
may become difficult to adjust because the avail- flying attitude. This
able torque from the motor is much greater at ability is critical to
the beginning of a flight than in the middle of the finding the proper
flight. That is, at high torque early in the flight, relationship between
the propeller rotates much faster than at lower the wing and stabilizer
torque during the remaider of the flight. Because angular difference.
of this RPM differential, the airplane flies faster at Once that relationship
the beginning than at the end. The faster air- has been established,
speed combined with greater angular difference it is vital to mark the
between the wing and stabilizer (required for a wing posts so that
forward CG) makes the airplane tend to loop (at each time the airplane
worst) or stall (at best) while at lower speeds it is is re-assembled, the same relationship results. A
well behaved. Remember that these airplanes second, equally important, outcome of using the
have all their adjustments fixed at launch. There socket and dowel connection is that the proper
is no pilot or control to change the adjustments warps can be established for flying the airplane in a
while in flight. circular pattern. The word “warp” may sound like a
bad thing for a wing and excessive warps are bad.
Parts that move The warps are actually given names like “Washin”
and “Washout” because they help the airplane stay
when they are not level in circular flight. See the section to about asym-
metric construction and circular flight later.
supposed to:
The next moving parts to avoid are things that flex
A typical Indoor Freeflight competition model has under the stress of flying. One cause of flex is hav-
two to four removable parts. The main purpose ing a weak piece of balsa wood where a strong one
of having removable parts is that it makes trans- is necessary. There are five places where strong
portation of the airplane possible. For example, (heavier) balsa wood should be used: The motor
every two years there is a World Championship stick, the wing spars (leading edge and trailing edge)
competition and models must be packed up and and the wing posts to the wing. If the wing is con-
flown to distant locations as several countries structed with a three-panel configuration, the center
send competition teams. A few of our younger spars should be strong, but those for the tips can be
USA Indoor Team representatives got started in much weaker and lighter.
the Science Olympiad Wright Stuff event. For
Wright Stuff competition, the simplest arrange- If the motor stick flexes under tension from the
ment is to have a removable wing and keep rubber motor, changes in propeller thrust angles
everything else fixed. There is only one good will occur as the motor unwinds giving rise to incon-
way to remove a wing for transport and replace sistent flights. A second cause of propeller thrust
it for flying. That way is to have sockets or tubes angle changes due to movement is in the propeller
in the fuselage and balsa dowels on the wings hanger. If the hanger flexes under load, bad things
that fit snugly into those sockets. These dowels can happen. Some hangers are one-piece plastic
are called “wing posts.” A loose fit between the units that push onto the front of the motor stick. It is
dowel and socket will not hold adjustments to the important that this unit does not wiggle. Use shims
precision required. Using rubber bands or wire of scrap balsa wood to keep it steady. Some hang-
clips or other methods in place of a snug dowel ers are made of aluminum or plastic that can bend
and socket connection will result in a wing that is under load. This bending can result in thrustline
prone to change every flight. You will not
changes as the motor unwinds. That is, if you I have seen some models where parts are glued
push on the front of the propeller hanger at the together in such a way that the slightest bump while
location where the thrust hook wire goes through, flying or handling cause the parts to separate.
you may see some movement. In such cases, It is not known if the person constructing the
it is best to add a brace between the fuselage airplane did not follow directions either due to
motorstick and the propeller hanger. inattention or to accomplish some other mis-
sion. A glaring example is the attachment of the
Some models have a soft wire connector be- wing posts to the wing leading and trailing edges
tween the motorstick and the tailboom. The idea to make a “T” joint. Gluing the top of the wing
behind the connector may be that the angle of post to the bottom of the wing edge is asking for
the tailboom can be adjusted by bending the wire. trouble if no reinforcing members are added. It
The adjustment can change the incidence angle is much better to glue the side of the wing post to
of the stabilizer as well as the offset of the rud- the front of the wing edge as glue is more effec-
der depending on which axis is chosen. There tive with the grain of the wood than with the end
may have been good intentions in that design, of the wood. The joint is not considered part of
but overall it is an undesirable complication for the wing chord and will not make the airplane out
two reasons: The first is that the desired adjust- of specification. The attachment of the wing post
ments are usually so fine that bending the wire to the wing edges is critical to setting the wing
can easily cause over-adjustment. The second washin and washout. If that attachment is bro-
is that the wire may be bent accidentally to lose ken and re-glued, you are back to square one for
the flying trim that the student has been working adjusting the flight of the airplane.
to establish. Other models have the tailboom
connected to the motorstick by means of a small Some models have paper tabs glued on the fin
rubber band. All the arguments above about the or stabilizer to provide flight adjustments. A bad
soft wire connector also apply to the rubber band practice. It is too easy to bend the paper acci-
connection. If you happen to have either kind dentally and change the flight adjustments unin-
of airplane, once you find acceptable flying trim tentionally. Better to glue lightweight balsa wood
glue the tailboom and motorstick together using a tabs that will hold their adjustment setting during
balsa wood splint if need be. handling and shipping of the airplane.
Note:
Long side
of gusset is
directly under
spar for best
configuration.
Wing Dihedral: The one apparent exception to the need for dihe-
dral is a wing with full-chord tip plates. Tip plates
look like rudders at the very tip of the wing. Their
With one exception, the wing of a Freeflight
intended purpose is to improve the efficiency of
model airplane requires dihedral. The word
the wing. This increase of efficiency has been
dihedral comes from the geometric description
documented for full scale aircraft, note com-
of the angle formed when two flat surfaces inter-
mercial jets for example. However, that effect
sect. Wing dihedral provides lateral stability to
has not been proven for model airplanes. But
the airplane. Without it the airplane, upon being
they are an apparent exception to the need for
upset ever so slightly, will continue in that upset
dihedral because, in a dihedral sense, they are
mode and usually have it intensify to result in a
just exaggerated dihedral angles and the stability
spiral dive. An airplane flying in a circular path is,
forces are the same as for lesser dihedral angles.
by definition, flying in a slight upset mode! That
is, if the airplane could be made to fly perfectly
It seems that many beginners choose to build
straight, no dihedral would be necessary. How-
their airplanes without dihedral because they do
ever, besides being very difficult to attain, perfect-
not pay attention to that detail on the plans, do
ly straight flight is not even desirable for Indoor
not understand that it’s needed, or do not know
duration as the model would fly into the wall...
how to form it in construction. I think this is both
another upsetting occurrence.
a symptom of the builder’s inexperience as well
as that of the designer’s lack of communication.
Going back to the geometric description, wing
Some things found on airplane construction plans
dihedral is a change of angle in the wing at one
can be modified or disregarded. Others are
or more points along the wing span. That is, the
absolutely necessary.
leading edge and the trailing edge are cut and
Wing dihedral is
re-glued upwards at an angle. The cut is usually at
necessary.
the position of a wing rib. If there is more than one
dihedral change, the wing is said to have polyhe-
dral. If the wing is re-glued with the angle down-
wards, it is called anhedral...not recommended.
the conversion of “four pound” comes out to be denser parts will appear darker than the less
0.064 grams per cubic centimeter. Wood of this dense wood. Use this variance to help select
lowest density is very difficult to come by and wood for the application desired.
you should not even consider using it for Wright
Stuff airplanes. Medium weight balsa is about The choice of pre-cut balsa strip is limited to
eight-pound density, heavy balsa about 16-pound standard sizes with 1/16” square the smallest.
density. Most balsa wood sticks belong to the For construction of the stabilizer and fin of an
16-lb club and should be considered only for airplane, it is advantageous to use 1/32” sheet
high stress components. (We are assuming that and strip it to provide 1/32” square lengths of up
strength is proportional to density, of course). to 30 cm in length. If that is done, the mass of
There is no need to make assumptions about the wood has been reduced to one-fourth of what
density. The dimensions of the wood can be it would be for 1/16” square balsa of the same
measured to find volume and its mass deter- length.
mined on a balance. Just do it.
One last thought on balsa wood and saving mass
Balsa wood is sold in the USA with inch-unit has to do with tapering long pieces of wood so
measurements. The gauge I use for measuring that the thicker part is at the most stressed por-
the thickness of the wood is calibrated in units of tion of the beam and the thinner part at the least
one-thousandth of an inch. A formula for density stress portion. Note how a light pole is tapered:
was developed based on the way my instruments wider at the bottom than at the top. It is advanta-
are used. The mass of the wood is measured in geous to taper the tailboom so the thinner part is
grams because that’s the kind of balance I have. at the stabilizer position.
To determine the density in units of pounds per
cubic ft use the formula at the top of this page. There is much more to know about balsa wood,
A gauge is used to measure the thickness of especially selecting the correct grain and how to
the wood because the size given on the label is pre-test the strength of each piece. However,
usually not accurate. For example, balsa wood that knowledge is beyond what is necessary for
labeled as 1/16” (0.0625”) usually measures to be construction of Wright Stuff airplanes.
0.070” or greater.
Adhesives should be used sparingly. If you can
In order to provide balsa wood of the appropri- see the glue on the airplane you probably have
ate sizes and densities at a reasonable cost it is used too much. When cyanoacrylate (CA) glues
preferred to strip wide sheets of 1/16”- thick balsa are used for construction, if the glue doesn’t hold
into sticks. This is a skill worth developing. Use the first time, the tendency is to add more glue
a metal straight edge from a tri-square tool and a resulting in a heavier and weaker joint than if the
sharp single-edged razor blade. Once you devel- glue had cured correctly the first time. The rea-
op the skill, you will notice that some strips have son it is weaker is that CA glue does not adhere
more mass than others but seem to be the same well to itself once cured. If parts do not fit togeth-
size. That is because the density of wood in a er snugly before gluing, do not expect the glue to
sheet will vary across the sheet. To observe the fill the gaps and still provide a strong joint.
variance, hold the sheet up to a light bulb. The
The use of an aliphatic resin glue (Titebond To illustrate a common moment of inertia effect,
brand) or a solvent-based model airplane glue think of a swinging pendulum with a weight at the
(Duco brand) offers speed of construction when end. If the weight is great, it will take more en-
used sparingly plus the time to make sure things ergy to stop the pendulum from swinging than if
fit together before the glue sets up as it might the weight is small. That energy comes at the ex-
with a CA glue. Large globs of aliphatic resin or pense of the potential energy stored in the rubber
solvent glues take a long time to dry because motor as well as in the altitude of the airplane.
they depend on loss of water (aliphatic resin) or The result is a reduction of flight duration.
organic solvent (Duco) to gain full strength. If
large quantities are used, drying at the surface
inhibits the evaporation of the liquid beneath the
Circular Flight:
surface and very slow drying is the result. While One of the common questions I hear about flying
either the water or solvent is evaporating, they Freeflight model airplanes is, “What makes it fly in
carry the glue molecules into the fiber of the a circle?” The answer is complex. The first thing
wood to provide a bonding focus that exceeds to consider is that flying in a circle is normal, we
the surface area of the two parts of the joint. can only try to control the diameter of that circle so
CA glues, on the other hand, cure by a process the airplane does not fly into the wall of the Indoor
known as polymerization. There is no solvent to site. Besides the diameter of the circle, the direc-
be lost, however in their best bonds, some CA tion of the circle, left or right, must be considered.
glues penetrate the fibers of the wood before The conventional way of thinking left or right is
polymerization takes place. Think about what from the perspective of the pilot of the airplane. Of
happens when two pieces of wood are glued course, our Wright Stuff airplanes do not have an
together. A combination of wood micro-fibers and on-board pilot, but we can place an imaginary pilot
glue molecules becomes established that be- on board and use that perspective to establish the
comes a localized unit of adhesion once the glue difference between the two directions.
either dries or cures. To take maximum advan-
tage of this combination, the two pieces of wood An important force acting on the airplane is that
must in very close contact. If there is a visible of the spinning propeller. As the propeller, viewed
gap between the two pieces of wood, filling it with from in front of the airplane, spins in a counter-
glue will result in a weaker and heavier construc- clockwise direction, the rest of the airplane wants
tion than making sure the parts fit before gluing. to spin in a clockwise direction. This is a direct
That is in direct opposition to your goal: consequence of Newton’s third law of motion,
stronger and lighter. “For every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction.” However, the airplane does not spin
Besides flying better, there is a second advan- on its axis like the propeller because the relatively
tage to building certain parts of the airplane light. large areas of the horizontal surfaces compared
When the airplane gets upset from its normal to the propeller area resist that reaction. But the
flight pattern, some period of time will be required airplane tends to fly with the left wing lower than
to return to that normal pattern. During the pe- the right. In other words, the wing is said to be
riod from the upset to return, the airplane gener- banked to the left. An airplane with a left-banked
ally loses altitude. Loss of altitude contributes wing will fly in a left circle because a portion of
to lowering the overall duration of the flight. The the wing’s lift is directed towards the left. It is
time required to return to normal can be reduced said to be flying “with the torque” using aeronau-
by lowering the moments of inertia in the struc- tic jargon. For Indoor Freeflight models, unlike
ture. That is, make the extremities of the airplane their Outdoor counterparts, the torque range of
as light as possible and try to concentrate mass the rubber motor is relatively small. Outdoor
close to the center of gravity.
rubber powered models are universally adjusted The wing is not centered on the fuselage. It is
to fly to the right under power to provide a safe mounted so that the portion of the wing on the left
counter to the extreme range of motor torque side of the fuselage is about 10% longer than the
encountered. Indoor models, however, are ad- portion on the right side. This is one construction
justed to fly with the torque as a means to direct to provide more lift on the left than on the right to
the energy stored in the motor to longer flights. A keep the wing level in flight.
rubber-powered model flying in right-hand circles
is fighting the torque resulting in an undesirable The wing is also twisted a small amount to pro-
use of the total stored energy in the motor. Ad- vide a greater angle of attack on the left than
justments are built into the model because the on the right to help keep the wing level in flight.
best flight path will always be counter-clockwise The left wing thus twisted is said to be washed-
circles. A second important consideration is that in; trailing edge lower than the leading edge. A
if the airplane is flying in right-hand circles at the washed-out wing panel has the trailing edge
beginning of the flight, the direction can change higher than the leading edge. If you sight down
to left-hand circles later on. If so, the diameter the fuselage axis of the airplane, the wash-in and
of the right-hand circles will increase as the flight wash-out of the wing should be seen by a
proceeds leading to collisions with the structure crossing of the LE and TE but at
of the flying site. a very small angle.
WING WARP
LEADING EDG
E TRAILING EDGE
TRAILING EDGE
LEADING EDG
E
TAIL VIEW
Motor Stick
Tailboom
STAB
ILIZE
R TIL
TED
AS SHO
WN
Fin
Propeller and Motor: Rubber motors work best if they are lubricated.
Commercial rubber lube can be purchased or you
can substitute “Armour All” brand automotive vinyl
An airplane propeller has two basic dimensions,
fabric cleaner. Put a little lubricant in a plastic
diameter and pitch. Diameter is the length of the
bag with the rubber motor and rub the lubricant
propeller measured on a line from tip to tip that
into the motor. Motors that are used without lubri-
includes the thrust axis. Pitch can be thought of
cant suffer several ways: The number of poten-
as how big a bite of air the propeller blade takes
tial turns in the motor is reduced, the life of the-
per revolution. It is advantageous to use the larg-
motor is shortened, and the friction of unwinding
est diameter propeller allowed by the rules. Large
reduces the overall energy available for flying the
propellers are more efficient than smaller ones.
airplane. Motors without lubrication will demon-
The pitch of a plastic propeller can be adjusted
strate adhesion of the strands when unwound.
with two long-nosed pliers. One pliers holds the
propeller near the hub and the second pliers next
Some teams come the competition with motors
to the first is used to twist the blade or spar to ei-
that are obviously much lighter than the maxi-
ther increase or decrease the angle of the blade.
mum allowed. Others weigh out 1.5 grams of
rubber strip and then tie the knot. The rubber
Propeller blades are usually curved so the rear
behind the knot is wasted. If it is cut off, typical
of the blade is concave and the front is convex.
mass of a motor from 1.5 grams of rubber strip is
Wright Stuff airplanes have been seen where the
1.2 to 1.3 grams. In effect, they are giving their
propellers were mistakenly placed on backwards
airplane a 10- to 20 percent disadvantage from a
(concave to the front and convex to the rear). If
full 1.5-gram motor.
so, the propeller suffers a considerable loss of
efficiency.
There is more than one source of rubber motors.
However, the best currently available is called
Rubber motors are made from rubber strip by ty-
FAI Super Sport rubber and is sold by FAI Model
ing a knot. Some knots work very well and others
Supply along with many other items. Do not
may come undone
even bother with less than the best if you want to
while winding or
do well.
even while the
airplane is flying.
A 1.5-gram rubber motor made from rubber strip
Two recommended
of 3/32” thickness has a capability to be wound
knots are the
to over 1300 turns. To obtain such a result, the
“figure eight” knot
lubricated motor must be stretched to at least 5
and a combination
times its relaxed length as winding starts. As the
of a square knot with
number of turns increases past approximately
two overhand knots
700 the amount of stretch is reduced until the
behind it to keep the
final turn is put in the motor when its length is
rubber from pulling the ends through the square
the same as the distance between the propeller
knot. The knots must be pulled very tightly, so
hook and the rear hook. It should be obvious
tightly that you must pull as hard as you can. It
that a geared winder will be necessary to obtain
is very unlikely that you will be able to break the
1300 turns. Winders with gear ratios of 15:1 and
rubber by pulling on it. To keep the rubber from
16:1 are readily available. That is, each time the
cutting into itself while the knot is tightened, use
winder crank is turned, 15 or 16 turns are put into
some liquid soap or soap and water on the end
the motor. It takes practice and patience and
being tied to lubricate the knot tightening.
many broken motors to learn the skill of winding a
rubber motor to the max.
If you have a well-trimmed airplane and fly it in a of an inch different, a micrometer to measure the
low-ceiling site, such as a school gym, with maxi- thickness of the rubber strip and a variety of pro-
mum turns in the motor, it will rapidly climb into pellers depending on the conditions and ceiling
the beams and wires and baskets and all sorts of height. For Wright Stuff teams limited to one or
other trouble. To avoid that happening, the flyer two motor widths and a propeller at maximum di-
takes advantage of a characteristic of rubber by ameter, the only change available is to adjust the
unwinding some of those hard-won turns before pitch of the propeller. If the airplane lands with
launching. The available torque from a rubber too many turns left in the motor, the adjustment
motor decreases rapidly as the first few turns are is to decrease the pitch of the propeller. If rub-
taken off. With reduced torque, the propeller rpm ber motor runs out of turns while still at altitude,
is also reduced, the airplane flies a little slower the adjustment is to increase pitch. For the best
and doesn’t climb as fast. It is much better to flights, the rubber motor and propeller should be
wind the motor to its maximum (1300 turns) and matched so that very few turns are left in the mo-
then unwind to 1200 turns than it is to wind to tor when the airplane lands. That is, the airplane
1200 turns and launch. The initial torque of the is under power for the whole flight.
motor wound to 1200 is much greater than that
of the motor reduced to 1200 turns after being at
1300.
Construction:
If you have not read the preceding part of this
Rubber motors do get tired quite rapidly when article, please do before starting to build your air-
wound to maximum turns. You may notice that plane. You will find reasons for why the airplane
the motor is longer after winding the first time is built the way it is. For now, avoid deviations
than it was before winding. The energy curve from the instructions as the presentation is spe-
from a tired motor is much different than from a cifically designed to allow the building of a suc-
fresh motor, especially after the first 20% of the cessful airplane. To my knowledge, there will be
turns have been used. You will notice that the nothing left out and nothing that has to be added.
airplane may climb almost as quickly as it did In other words...no changes! The airplane will
when the motor was fresh, but it comes back to fly and will fly well enough to get you a medal in
the floor much more rapidly than before. This most competitions at the regional level. To fly
observation may lead you make an item in your well enough to medal at the State or National
flight log regarding the number of times the motor competitions you will have to build something
was used. a bit better, but that will require materials and
equipment that may cost more than you want to
Once your airplane is adjusted for stable and ef- pay just to get started. Remember, you are just
ficient flight, the most important consideration to learning how to do this. One does not give an
obtain the longest flights from it is finding the best expensive and exotic race car to someone who
combination of rubber motor and propeller. has never driven before. The typical Science
Olympiad Wright Stuff project for the great major-
Dedicated Indoor Freeflighters have an arsenal of ity of students will require three or four airplanes,
equipment that is normally not within the reach of each one a little better than the previous one.
the great majority of Science Olympiad teams for With each airplane built, the student will gain both
fine-tuning the propeller and rubber combination building skills and knowledge of how to make
to optimize flights. They use a torque meter to each airplane fly to its optimum level. Because
determine the appropriate torque for launch of the this project is aimed at learning, the cost of mate-
airplane, a rubber stripper to provide motors of rials will be kept low so that that goal will not be
various widths, sometimes only one-thousandth inhibited.
To keep the cost of your first airplane at a mini- to this problem will be presented in the construc-
mum we are going to use plastic bags from the tion part of this article. Most contact cements
produce section of your local supermarket as the on the market are solvent-based. Besides the
covering material. They will cost you nothing, but hazard of flammable solvents and their associ-
be sure to look for the HDPE logo on the bag. Do ated odor, they cannot be diluted with water. But,
not use bags that are LDPE. The problem with most importantly, solvent-based contact cements
HDPE covering is that very few adhesives are simply do not adhere to the grocery bag plastic.
suitable for holding it on the airplane framework.
Three products that do work are Weldwood brand Note: In place of plastic bags and contact ce-
non-flammable contact cement, Dave Brown ment for covering, tissue paper and a glue stick
products Southern’s Sorghum, and Michaels Arts may be used. The resulting airplane will be a
and Crafts Aleene’s FoamCraft Foam Glue. The bit heavier, but construction will be much easier
Weldwood product can be purchased at most and not as messy. All paper has a “grain,” that is,
hardware stores. The sorghum product is some- a direction to which the fibers are aligned. You
times available at hobby stores, but can also be can determine the grain by tearing a scrap of the
purchased from Tower Hobbies (towerhobbies. tissue to see which way provides the straightest
com). They all cost about the same for a con- tearing. The paper grain should be aligned with
tainer, but you get much more product with the the longest direction of the structure that will be
Weldwood non-flammable contact cement. Con- covered. As paper tears more easily in one direc-
tact cement can also be used to construct card- tion, it also is easier to slice away the excess in
board boxes for carrying your airplane. All three the direction of the grain.
cements are actually contact cements. That is,
the way they normally work is to put some ce- The balsa wood for the airplane needs to be
ment on both pieces to be joined. After the glue carefully selected. Earlier, the portions of the
has dried the two pieces are pressed together airplane that require extra strength due to flight
and they never can be taken apart. For model stresses were mentioned: The main spars (lead-
airplane construction, the cement is diluted with ing edge and trailing edge) for the inner panel of
water, coated on only the wood surface and then the wing and the wing posts that come down from
pressed onto the plastic covering while still wet. the spars should be the hardest you can find.
After a few minutes, the water evaporates and The size of those spars are 1/16-inch square
the wood and plastic covering are joined. The sticks. The sticks are sold in 36-inch lengths.
amount of water for dilution is about equal to the The weight of each 36-inch stick should be about
amount of cement as it comes from the container. 0.7 grams. The second strong piece of wood is
The reason that the cement is diluted is reduce the fuselage motor stick. Its cross-section is 1/8
the overall weight of the airplane. You may want inch by 3/8 inch. A 36-inch length should weigh
to experiment with exactly how much water can between 4.5 and 5.0 grams.
be used for the dilution. More water means less
mass on the airplane. All the rest of the wood for construction should be
quite light in weight. You will be very lucky to find
A few words of caution: Contact cements are such wood in the hobby shop as strips. For ex-
messy to use. Take care to keep the cement off ample, the 1/16-inch square strips should weigh
your clothing as it is almost impossible to remove no more than 0.3 grams for each 36-inch length.
once applied. Weldwood contact cement comes It is much better to find a sheet of 1/16 x 3 x 36
in a rim-sealed paint can. It is difficult to remove inch balsa wood that weighs about 14 grams or
a small amount without getting the cement in the less. Strips of wood are cut from that sheet us-
rim. If that happens, after re-sealing, the rim will ing a razor blade and a metal straight edge. Cut-
be almost impossible to remove again. A solution ting such strips from a sheet is a vital skill that
must be mastered through practice. Before strip- airplane, there is no better and cheaper propeller
ping the wood, cut it into lengths no longer than than the one that comes with the so-called
the longest piece that will be required for your “Delta Dart” kit. It
airplane. It is much easier to strip a short length is usually red in
than a long one. Place the shortened sheet on color and comes
a piece of cardboard with the cardboard flutes already fitted to a
at right angles to the length so you don’t cut into propeller hanger
your work bench or table. The flutes are at right that can be slipped
angle so there is nothing to influence your cut to onto a 1/8-inch by
wander. Place a metal straight edge on top of the 3/8-inch piece of
sheet of balsa wood so that the amount of wood balsa wood that you
visible from the top of the sheet to the straight bought for your
edge looks like about the same as the thick- airplane’s motor stick.
ness of the wood to strip a square stick. Use If you buy the Delta Dart (it is also called the AMA
the corner of a single-edged razor blade to slice Cub) kit for the propeller, consider building the
the wood by running the blade next to the metal whole airplane from that kit. You will use many of
straightedge. the techniques for the DD that can be applied to
the Science Olympiad airplane. In addition, you
Be sure to hold the razor blade as vertical as can learn some things from flying the DD that will
possible. It helps to stand up so your eyes are be valuable for your Wright Stuff model. Be-
directly over the part being cut. In fact it is al- cause the DD is covered with paper, it is recom-
most impossible to make a vertical cut while mended that a glue stick be used for attaching
sitting down. It may take two or three slices to the wood to the paper. Fast-curing epoxy (so-
go all the way through the wood depending on called “5-minute” epoxy) should be used for set-
how hard it is. Use fairly gentle pressure. If you ting the wing dihedral when the fuselage is glued
try to cut all the way through in the first cut, it is to the wing.
much more difficult to keep the blade next to the
straightedge. Even if you are successful, the Let’s review: We have the covering from grocery
strip of wood may become warped due to the store produce bags...the very lightest bags weigh
stress placed upon it during cutting. If you have about 2 grams. We have contact cement that
to discard several pieces of wood while learning will hold the plastic covering to the framework.
this skill, you will still be money ahead of buying There are glues available for the other part of the
individual strips. It is not so important that each airplane too. We have hard balsa for the high-
strip of wood is exactly 1/16-inch by 1/16-inch. stress components of the airplane and lighter
However, it is important that each strip is fairly balsa for the low-stress parts. And finally, we
uniform in the width that you cut. have a propeller and a propeller hanger to attach
it to the airplane.
It is quite unusual to find a sheet of balsa wood
that is the same density throughout. If you hold Plans can be easily
the sheet up to a light, you will see parts that ap- drawn by the student.
pear lighter than others. Those lighter parts are All that is required is
less dense than the darker parts and will provide the ability to measure,
the lightest weight balsa from the sheet. To a pencil, some paper
help remember where they are, the wood can be and tape, and straight
marked with a felt-tipped pen to outline the de- edge. The airplane
sired place to cut a strip. will have rectangular
flying surfaces
The next item is the propeller. For a beginner’s (wing, stabilizer and fin) for simplicity. Start with
two sheets of standard printer paper, 8-1/2” by 11”. Wing center panel LE and TE are cut from the
Tape the two pieces together joining the short ends very hard 1/16 sq balsa stick. They are both 20
with no overlap. The joined sheets should be a bit cm in length. Put the remainder in a safe place
over 55 cm long. For the wing, draw a rectangle as it will be used to make the wing posts that are
on the joined sheets that measures 40 cm by 8.0 also very hard balsa.
cm, center the rectangle at the place where the
two sheets are joined. Draw three lines from the Wing tip panels LE and TE are from lighter weight
top to the bottom of the rectangle, one at the cen- balsa and should be cut longer than 10 cm. The
ter and two more 10 cm from the center. The two excess will be trimmed away after the wing is
lines 10 cm from the center separate the wing into near completion. Four pieces will be needed.
three panels, the main (center panel) and two tip
panels. After the wing is constructed flat on the Wing “ribs” are cut from the light balsa and
plans, dihedral will be put into the tip panels. Draw should be no longer than 7.6 cm. Five pieces will
another rectangle for the stabilizer that measures be needed. Take care to make sure all five are
20 cm by 6 cm. Again, this rectangle should be exactly the same length.
centered at the place where the paper was taped
together. Now double-check your measurements, Stabilizer LE and TE are cut from the light balsa
especially the 6-cm stabilizer chord to make sure it just over the 20-cm length, two pieces.
is not greater by even a fraction of a millimeter. The
wing and stabilizer must fit inside the rectangles. Stabilizer ribs are from light balsa, no more than
An oversized chord on the stabilizer will cause your 5.6 cm in length: two pieces. These must be
airplane to be disqualified. If the measurements are exactly the same length. The maximum allowed
not precise, start all over again, do not try to erase stabilizer chord is 6.0 cm. If the chord is greater
and draw over the erasures. For the fin, draw a than 6.0 cm, the model will be judged out of spec.
square that is 6 cm on each side. Tape the plans
to a flat surface. Fin LE and TE are light balsa, 6 cm in length.
The Fin tip balsa wood starts out longer than
Note: The instructions that follow are for use of needed and then trimmed to length.
the plastic bag and contact cement covering. If
you decide to use tissue paper and a glue stick, Tailboom is from light 1/16 sheet balsa. It is 24
just substitute where you see the plastic and con- cm in length and tapers from 0.6 cm to 0.2 cm
tact cement mentioned. There is no need to dilute over its length.
the glue stick...apply directly to the wood. Use of
tissue paper will result in an airplane that is about Motorstick is from 1/8 x 3/8 medium hard balsa
0.6 grams heavier than would result from using the and is 25 cm long.
plastic covering.
Prepare the covering
A grocery store produce bag is cut to open the bot- adhesive by diluting
tom and one side. That will produce a single sheet it with water. If you
that is approximately 60 cm long and 40 cm wide. have the Weldwood
Be careful not to stretch the plastic while cutting. non-flammable
Lay the plastic over the plans and tape it down so contact cement, use a
there are not too many wrinkles. Remember, this Styrofoam egg carton
plastic will become the covering for the airplane. for mixing. Into one
of the egg wells place
Now that the plans are drawn it’s time to prefab- some undiluted cement.
ricate the balsa wood for the structure. In other Use a scrap of the Styrofoam to transfer the ce-
words, make a kit. ment from the can to the egg well so that the
rim of the can stays clean. Mix in some water, adhesive is applied. The other is that the wood
about equal to the amount of cement and stir until does not stick immediately to the plastic. Be-
completely mixed. Throw away the mixing scrap cause the wood will warp, it is very necessary
and re-seal the can. to make sure that the outline of the structure fits
With a sharp razor inside the rectangle you have drawn. If any part
blade cut a new strip is outside the rectangle, your airplane may be
of Styrofoam to be disqualified for having its chord too wide. (This
used as a glue doesn’t apply to the span because the excess
applicator. It should wood will be cut away from the LE and TE before
be about 0.5 cm wide you complete the stabilizer.) To make the wood
with a beveled tip. It stick to the plastic, you will have to gently push it
also will be discarded down after a few minutes. It takes some time for
when done using. enough of the water to evaporate and make the
Remember that cement sticky enough to do its job. The wood will
contact cements are very messy and cannot be warp in a direction that is away from the side to
cleaned up from brushes, containers or your clothing. which the glue was applied. That is because the
wood fibers expand when wet.
Start with the stabilizer. Apply the thinned contact
cement to completely cover one surface of the LE The wing is constructed similarly to the stabilizer.
or TE. Make sure there are no coverage gaps. That is, the LE is first glued to the plastic followed
Because the contact cement may be difficult to by five ribs and then the TE. However, it is a bit
see on the wood, it is suggested that small ink more complicated
dots from a felt-tipped pen can be placed on the because the LE and
surface to be coated before starting the applica- TE are each three
tion. While the cement on the wood is still wet, pieces. Start with
place the cemented side on the plastic covering the center section
at the position of the LE of the stab making sure 20-cm hard balsa LE.
that it overlaps both tips in length and that the line Make sure it is placed
on the plan is just barely visible adjacent to the exactly between the
outside of the wood. In the same way place the two marks that are
two ribs at the tips on the plastic making sure that 20 cm apart. Next
there is no gap between the rib and the LE. Fin- come the two tip spars.
ish by adding the TE, making sure that the line on They must be perfectly in line with the center
the plan is visible outside the wood and that there spar and fitted so there is no gap between the
is no gap between the TE and the ribs at the tips. center spar and the tip spars. Now add the five
Note that there is no ribs. One at each tip, one at the center position
rib at the center of and one at each junction of the center and tip
the stabilizer; the spars. Continue with the TE spars. First place
tailboom will become the center spar and then the two tip spars mak-
a structural member ing sure that there is no gap between the spars
at the center of the and the ribs. A mistake to avoid is placing the
stabilizer. Placing a rib between the center spar and the tip spar for
rib at that position is either the LE or TE. That is, the spars must be a
redundant and only continuous length of three pieces.
adds weight to a
location where it is To reinforce the wing and stabilizer, small paper
desirable to reduce weight. You will note two triangles are glued at the corners. These trian-
things: One is that the wood warps when the gles are called gussets. The strongest gussets
are those where the grain of the paper is paral-
lel to the longest side of the triangle. To find the
grain of a piece of paper, try tearing it and ob-
serve which way the
cleanest tear can be
made. That is usually
the same as the
11-inch dimension of
standard computer
paper. Cut a strip of
paper about 0.5 cm
wide along its grain.
From this strip cut
triangular gussets
that have a 90-degree
angle. You will need
at least 10 of them,
but it doesn’t hurt to
have extras. To pick
up such small pieces, covering away from the wood structure right at
use a scrap of balsa the juncture of the covering and the wood. This
wood with one end is best accomplished by holding the structure up
wetted with saliva with one hand while the blade slices through the
from your tongue. plastic covering. If you feel resistance to the cut
Use brush-on Super you are probably cutting away wood and should
Glue to coat the wood stop immediately before you cut away too much
on both sides of a of the balsa wood. Once stopped, the cut can
corner of the wing or began again only with the direction changed
stabilizer. Immediately, towards the mistake. To help precision in cut-
place the triangle on ting, move your wood-holding hand as the cut
the glued corner and proceeds so that it is not more than 5 cm from the
hold it for a few razor blade.
seconds until the
glue sets hard. Be sure to save the plastic and plans for the
Continue until you tailboom and rudder construction. We will get to
have all four corners that in a few minutes, after the wing dihedral is
of the wing and all four corners of the stabilizer started.
with paper gussets. Next place gussets at the
wing center rib where it meets the LE and TE. To set the dihedral in the wing place the center
There are no gussets at the other two ribs. section, covered side down, on a support that is
about 4 cm high so that both tip sections hang
Trim the excess covering from the wing and sta- down. The support can be two pieces of plywood
bilizer structures using a sharp new single edged or some books, as long as they are flat. Under-
razor blade. First cut around the structures leav- neath the supports must be a surface into which
ing a border of 2-4 cm so the covered structures pins may be pushed. Hold the tips down with
can be removed from the building board. Next, pins and scraps of balsa wood.
use the corner of the razor blade to strip the
Build the fin onto the tailboom. Using the tailboom
as part of the fin saves one piece of wood and a
little bit of weight from the tail of the airplane. Re-
member, each savings at the tail saves four times
that weight overall for the airplane. Cover the
rectangle that was drawn earlier with plastic from
the grocery-store bag. Use the thinned contact
cement to attach the rear 6.0 cm of the tailboom
to the covering on the rectangle. Attach the two
6- cm sticks to the covering so that there is no gap
between them and the tailboom. Finially, attach the
forth stick to the other two to complete the rect-
angle. Use the paper gussets and Super Glue to
reinforce the corners as you did with the wing and
stabilizer. When dry, trim away the excess covering
with a sharp razor blade.
Make a second
bend in the long leg
at right angles away
from the dip in the J.
Glue the 6.5 cm wing post to the back of the TE Adjust the balance point of the fully assembled
at the 1-cm mark you have made. The angle of model (including the rubber motor) so that it is
the wing post should be slightly skewed to the left located 2.0 cm in front of the rear wing post. You
when viewed from behind the TE. Skewing the may use modeling clay for initial CG adjustment,
wing posts will translate into the desired twist in but the final CG location should be fixed by gluing
the wing when they are inserted into the sockets. a length of wire to the appropriate location.
(Review the part about Circular Flight earlier in this
Time to Fly! Stretch the motor while winding. Reduce the stretch
to be equal to the approximate distance between the
To fly the airplane you will need a fairly large place. propeller hook and the rear hook at the end of the
A school gymnasium will do nicely, but arrangements winding.
will have to be made to have the heating and air-con-
ditioning (HVAC) fans turned off. If you fly the airplane The holder pinches the motor at the knot end about
in the drafts caused by the HVAC system, very little one cm from the knot while you unwind to make a
useful information will be obtained. It will be like flying small open loop than the holder can place on the rear
a full-sized airplane in a hurricane. hook after removing it from the winder hook.
To store the airplane when not in use and to transport Hold the airplane by the fuselage under the wing with
it to the flying site, a container that keeps out all air one hand and the propeller with the other hand for
drafts is an absolute necessity. Just walking with the launching.
airplane outdoors in the slightest wind is likely to break
it. A cardboard box will do fine. Some people like to Launch the airplane very gently...please no hard
buy expensive plastic storage boxes however. To con- throws. All the motive force comes from the propeller.
struct a custom cardboard box, start with a large box A hard throw will probably break the airplane. A prop-
and use the cardboard and contact cement (no water erly built and adjusted airplane will climb under power
added at this time) to make one just right for your to about 20 meters under full power. If it doesn’t climb,
airplane. A good source of large cardboard boxes is that problem cannot be solved by brute force.
automotive body shops. The box for your airplane
should have a removable top such as found on boxes The first flights are just to adjust the trim of the
for copier paper. Beware of boxes with folding flap airplane and should not use anything close to
tops. On windy days, the wind will get into the box and a fully wound motor. A total of about 300 motor
could destroy your airplane. turns (20 turns from a 15:1 winder) will do nicely.
To make a motor from rubber strip a knot must be tied The model is in trim when it flies in a counter-clock-
to make a loop. The best and simplest knot is known wise turn with no banking of the wing and there is no
as a figure-8 knot. The knot must be pulled very tightly diving or stalling.
to keep it from unraveling while winding the motor.
You must pull on the rubber strands as hard as possi- Turn direction can be adjusted by gluing a balsa wood
ble to finish the knot. However, this pulling can cause tab to the back of the fin.
the rubber strip to cut into itself and create a flaw for
later breakage. To avoid the rubber cutting into itself, Turn direction can also be adjusted by changing the
the rubber strip is first placed in some soapy water to thrust line of the propeller to the left.
make it slippery. Remove the propeller assembly and shave a small
wedge of balsa wood from the right side of the motor
Place the rubber motor into a plastic bag with a few stick. Glue the wedge to the left side and replace the
drops of rubber lubricant. Massage the bag in you propeller assembly. Care must be taken to let the Su-
hands to coat the entire motor. Using the bag keeps per Glue cure completely lest the propeller assembly
most of the lube off your hands. Motors will have to also becomes glued to the motor stick (OK once you
be re-lubricated after about 3 uses. Place the lubricated have the correct side thrust).
motor on the propeller hook with the knot at the rear.
Diving and stalling is adjusted by moving the wing post
Place the knotted end of the motor on your winder hook. up or down in the sockets to change the wing incidence.
Have a helper hold the fuselage at the propeller Once the airplane has been adjusted at low power, the
end so that the propeller is kept from turning as number of winder turns in the motor can be increased
you wind the motor. to provide longer flights.
How to not break Retrieval of the airplane often results in a break-
age or destruction. Plan your flights to avoid
your airplane: such hazards by not over winding the motor and
by observing your launch location and the air-
No one sets out to break an airplane that has plane’s expected flight path. Practice the wind-
required hours of work to assemble and test. ing technique described earlier: Better to wind
However, careless and unthinking behaviors fully and then remove winds before launching
often result in broken airplanes, especially the so that the airplane does not climb above the
lightweight Indoor models. The need to place the hazards in the gym. It takes a lot of practice to
airplane in a well-sealed box for transportation master the technique of winding the motor.
and storage has already been mentioned. One
student reported that his airplane in a flap-top If the airplane is on a path to collide with a per-
cardboard box was destroyed when the family cat son, provide instruction to that person to just hold
tried to get into the box! still and let the airplane hit as long as his or her
eyes are not the target. Trying to walk out of the
Make sure that those observing the flying keep way will create an air current that the airplane will
their distance and beware of waiting in line at follow right to the person who is trying to get out
competitions to have your airplane measured by of the way and is a common cause of damage
the contest officials. It is your job in such cases to the airplane. It would be best to explain this
to concentrate on holding the airplane so people ahead of time.
cannot brush against it. Your friends may be
interested in observing how you get the airplane The most common location for flying Indoor air-
ready for flight, but make sure they keep their planes is a school gym. Make sure that no other
distance. activities are going on at the same time you are
flying. Your airplane is no match for a bouncing
Indoor airplanes are designed to bump into an ball of any sort. No running allowed in the flying
obstacle and keep flying. It is rare that such site; stirring up the air by running is detrimental
bumps cause the airplane to break. However, to good flights at best and destructive at worst.
sometimes the airplane will get caught on struc- If there is more than one group flying airplanes
tural features in the room where you are flying: at the site, good manners and good sense re-
beams, baskets and light fixtures. quire that you (and they) do not walk across the
floor except to retrieve their airplanes and do not
stand in the middle of the floor while airplanes
are flying.