clovus

G'day...

Does anybody have any experience on setting up a bungee launcher??

I have a Oracovered balsa PC9 running a super cobalt motor and NiMH pack... It does ROG but needs a really long runway - over 20m's to get airbourne ...even within the factory weight specifications. My LHS has one too and he reported a long ROG was needed, and I have compared both planes with no appreciable weight differences between them. This leads to problems trying to find suitable flying spots as it will not take off from the length of a basketball court/cricket pitch. At the moment I am using a deserted bit of road next to a paddock as my local club uses a grass runway.... I did also use a mudflat, but it has boggy and muddy bits which are not so good for the plane

I have also tried a hand launch which was a failure and led to a broken prop, so am not too keen to try another. I thought perhaps a bit of bungee assistance would help reduce this distance.... Any ideas on how much bungee cord I need (is this related to the AUW?? Which conveniently I forget a tthe moment?), how far I should stretch it...etc... Is it possible?

Once in the air it is beautiful to fly...so much better then the foam models due to the extra weight and stiffness. I have tried a lipo pack which reduced the distance but then it lost its wind penetration and the flight characteristics was very choppy.

Is the bungee launcher going to work??