Wright Stuff B

[freed2003]

How do you guys wash the wings? I usually soak the wood and let it dry of a day but that seems inefficient

[JasperKota]

What's a good way of balancing propellers? I've tried adding glue to the lighter side, and also adding bits of scotch tape to the tip.

[jander14indoor]

Scrape the heavy side. Avoid adding weight to balance.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[freed2003]

Is there a big difference between 1/16 and a custom gut like 0.065?

[jander14indoor]

Is there a big difference between 1/16 and a custom cut like 0.065?

Well, it depends, but probably not. Keep in mind you are only talking about 0.0625 (1/16) and 0.065 or 0.0025". Less than 4% of the total. The uncertainty in the measurement is probably that big (unfortunately). As a general practice I don't try to cut motors closer than 0.005 inch as a reference.
Here's what it depends on:
- Who is doing the measurement?
-- Rubber is a difficult material to take accurate/consistent measurements on due to its flexibility.
-- To measure thickness you typically use some sort of contacting measurement which applies a probe on both sides of the rubber simultaneously. You have to apply enough pressure to ensure contact, but the pressure of course changes the measurement. This actually requires a specialized tool.
-- If you aren't consistent you can get widely varying results on the same thickness.
-- This becomes particularly problematic when the rubber is measured by different people as they may use different tools that apply different forces, resulting in measures that don't compare well.

- Where is the rubber vs what is ideal for your plane?
-- If you well away from ideal, such a small change won't make a big difference.
-- If you are very close to ideal, you might be able to see a consistent difference.

There are ways to improve the accuracy by changing what you measure. Most top flyers actually measure weight per length. UN-broken in motors for comparison. Weight is pretty unambiguous as a measurement of rubber and allows measurement to pretty small percentage error. If you use a heavy enough piece of rubber (and 1.5 gm is heavy enough) you can measure the length pretty well with a ruler. This will let you determine if two motors are identical to a couple of percent.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[JasperKota]

For those that will be competing at NY states on the 8th, does anyone know how large the small gym is? I believe they posted the room parameters for helicopters on newyorkscioly.org, but I have yet to see anything for Wright Stuff. Thanks in advance!

[SPP SciO]

For those that will be competing at NY states on the 8th, does anyone know how large the small gym is? I believe they posted the room parameters for helicopters on newyorkscioly.org, but I have yet to see anything for Wright Stuff. Thanks in advance!

"East Syracuse-Minoa High School Dimensions: Small gym 60×100; Ceiling height 24 feet."
http://www.newyorkscioly.org/tournament ... -b-states/

[JasperKota]

"East Syracuse-Minoa High School Dimensions: Small gym 60×100; Ceiling height 24 feet."
http://www.newyorkscioly.org/tournament ... -b-states/

Thank you so much! I must've missed it under the announcements section. Sounds like it's around the size of a basketball court.

[freed2003]

Would positive incidence on the stabilizer be a bad thing? The freedom flight kit instructs to add a shim beneath the leading edge to give a positive incidence, but wouldn't the cause the plane to go down?

[SciHC101]

Do you think I should purchase the Laser Cut Planes Vanguard P-18? For anyone who bought it: Does it fly well? Are the instructions simple?, and How long did it take to build?