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Flying without helper - 1/30/2005 5:06:49 PM   
superclown


 

Posts: 4
Joined: 1/22/2005
From: Webb City, MO, USA
Status: offline 		Hello

Anyone have suggestions or plans for building a launcing device so a person could fly C/L
when there flying buddys are not able to be there and hold aircraft?
I fly 1/2A and .35-.40 size planes on grass circle. I dont think fabricating a devise for the
larger planes will be that much of a hassel because of them being able to roll out on grass,
my problem is the 1/2A;s. Any suggestions?

Thanks, Cale
WebbCity,Mo
       Post #: 1

RE: Flying without helper - 1/30/2005 6:14:50 PM   
Jim Thomerson



Posts: 2858
Joined: 10/9/2002
From: Austin, TX, USA
Status: offline 		The stooge I use is a large (@ 12 in long) nail with wire wrapped around the top and making two loops. My airplanes have some sort of hole or loop at their rear end, I have a wooden handle and a long piece of chalk line with a piece of wire on the end. The wire sticks through the two loops on the nail and the loop/hole on the airplane in between. When I pull the pin, I throw the handle away so I don't get tangled up in the stooge line. If the stooge should fail to release the airplane (it never has), I would just stand there holding the control handle and thinking deep thoughts until the engine quit.

I like to have the loop behind the airplane so I can see that everything is right without having to lay down on the ground. I hold the airplane and pull it against the stooge before starting the engine to be sure the stooge is engaged.

For a 1/2A without wheels, I think I would use a card table or similar and build a rack to hold it and a stooge working on the same principle.

Be ten times as careful flying by yourself. You have to have situational awareness of what is going on around you. If anything goes wrong you will have to deal with it by yourself.


Jim

(in reply to superclown)
       Post #: 2

RE: Flying without helper - 1/30/2005 8:43:43 PM   
Ryan Nau



Posts: 602
Joined: 10/1/2002
From: Elizabethville, PA, USA
Status: offline 		I use the Stooge that tom dixon sells. It works really nice. Its heavy enough you don't need to nail it into teh ground. I make hooks that go around the tail wheel and connect to the stooge instead of string. It works good. Maybe you can take your half a's off of something like a picnic table from a stooge. I only fly beater planes by myself that will take off ok. My better planes I wait till someone can launch for me.
Ryan


_____________________________

Check out my models and gallery on RCU.

(in reply to Jim Thomerson)
       Post #: 3

RE: Flying without helper - 1/31/2005 5:33:45 PM   
clscale-RCU


 

Posts: 426
Joined: 2/25/2003
From: Wichita, KS, USA
Status: offline 		As for the Stooge mine is simply a 10 lb steel plate with 4 rubber feet and a vortac bomb release. Don't over design this item, remember you are only holding back a .40 sized model, not race car. A steel pin of 1/8" diameter is sufficient to hold the model, combine that with some nose gear block, a spring and you have it made. Dubro makes some small molded nylon mounts (nose gear blocks) that will work very nicely. The idea of using a large nail in the ground also works great if in grass, for concrete the steel plate with rubber feet works better than you might think.

On a safety note:....I have stopped flying alone. Remember if you hurt yourself by getting your hand in the prop you are alone..if you are flying with someone they can take you to the hospital. I had this happen to a friend. He drove to the emergency room with blood dripping from one hand and will never fly alone again.

_____________________________

Fred Cronenwett
Float flying and scale

(in reply to Ryan Nau)
       Post #: 4

RE: Flying without helper - 1/31/2005 7:34:40 PM   
Jim Thomerson



Posts: 2858
Joined: 10/9/2002
From: Austin, TX, USA
Status: offline 		My experience supports the idea that flying alone is twice as dangerous as flying with helpers. I've driven myself to the emergency room twice, but only once been driven by a friend .

Jim

(in reply to clscale-RCU)
       Post #: 5

RE: Flying without helper - 2/1/2005 4:14:21 PM   
dada


 

Posts: 2
Joined: 1/31/2005
From: Litomysl, CZECH REPUBLIC
Status: offline 		for combat like planes (wing without landing device) I am using a stooge you can find on f2d.fortech.cz. It works fine - the one problem is with launching string it has a tendency to tangle with control lines so it would be better to have the control lines before the string. Some another designs you can see on www.clcombat.info

(in reply to superclown)
       Post #: 6

RE: Flying without helper - 2/2/2005 1:06:03 AM   
downunder



Posts: 3279
Joined: 10/10/2002
From: Adelaide, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline 		This is the tail hook and release pin I use on my 60 size stunters (I don't dare show the bit that goes in the ground because it's so crude you'd laugh at me ). I like to have the tail hook as close to the UC mount as possible to handle the thrust load. For me the critical part is that bent clip which stops the pin from vibrating out.

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(in reply to dada)
       Post #: 7

RE: Flying without helper - 2/2/2005 9:07:47 AM   
Hossfly



Posts: 3936
Joined: 12/3/2001
From: New Caney, TX, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: superclown

Hello

Anyone have suggestions or plans for building a launcing device so a person could fly C/L
when there flying buddys are not able to be there and hold aircraft?
I fly 1/2A and .35-.40 size planes on grass circle. I dont think fabricating a devise for the
larger planes will be that much of a hassel because of them being able to roll out on grass,
my problem is the 1/2A;s. Any suggestions?

Thanks, Cale
WebbCity,Mo


Way back when I was a CL Stunt competitor, I simply made a double loop hook out of clothes hanger wire and stuck it down in the ground, length depending on the hardness of the ground. Largest of my stunters was .40 size. A long string attached to a wire pin and a loop of string around the tail wheel always worked for those practice sessions.

For 1/2A with wheels, I use a small set-up of the same. I throw a 4 X 8 sheet of 1/4" ply or such -- sometimes cardboard -- on the ground. for an initial take-off pad. The machines are on their way adequately to keep going after clearing the pad. In my back-back-yard, the grass usually nets a flip-over 1/2A landing but I do fly several originally designed 1/2 A models there. Landings with a 19 size model are fine.

_____________________________

H. Cain AMA L-93

T Roosevelt "..the man who really counts in the world is the doer, NOT the mere critic, the man who actually does the work, even if roughly and imperfectly, NOT the man who only talks or writes about how it ought to be done."

(in reply to superclown)
       Post #: 8

RE: Flying without helper - 2/8/2005 3:20:45 PM   
Cfelton


 

Posts: 42
Joined: 3/16/2004
From: Lakehills, TX, USA
Status: offline 		Here's a simply stooge for under $5 in material. Use the short hardened nails to attach to concrete or blacktop. The long spikes are for grass or dirt.

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(in reply to superclown)
       Post #: 9

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