combatpigg

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Thanks JC!! Another NC 1/2A flyer.......youer overdue to go to one of Rogs'' fly-ins, aren''t you?
Sounds like a pretty good time to me [if you can keep the gates locked until either sundown or until all the fuel is gone] .

DeviousDave

CP, your twin is just the "Whootness"...[8D]

combatpigg

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DD, if the Man from U.N.C.L.E. was into RC, this would be his trainer [8D]

I remember looking at threads in the extreme speed forum where the discussion was about launchers for some overweight deltas that were on the market at the time and thinking to myself.........oooiiiiiinnnkkkk.......[:'(]

now here is my oink-o-vator....lead sled slinger.....hoggapult.....[:@]

The next step is to rig it for a nice steady pull. I don't want the engines to die from too much acceleration, I think about 20 feet of latex tubing will do the trick. After confidence in the launches is gained, hopefully the height of this sled can be reduced. Still have to get beyond launch 1.

Larry Driskill

Pigg,

Thats looks great.

'Probably equally useful for launching twins or laying siege to a castle.

digital_trucker

Beware of the French though...they throw COWS, not pigs.

combatpigg

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Thanks Larry. Do you have any extra cast iron frying pans I could borrow to do some test launches with?

combatpigg

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DT, a lot of wars would be over in a matter of days if we saved all those disposable diapers for one big air drop.

build light

CP, Be on your guard if you spot even a small group of men without horses carring banners and coconut halves!

Robert

MJD

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What, suction draw and carbs? No bladders? Whassup...?

Best of luck on the maiden CP, that is a seriously cool bird. I assume that once gflight tests are complete, a pair of piped CS's are going in their place. I'm leaving tomorrow (Thurs latest) for Denver on a road trip to pick up an airplane, I bet the succesful first flight report will be all over here by then. 1600 miles each way in a '77 GMC Gaucho shaggin' wagon. We thought of sticking flowers all over it, but those sorts of things tend to alert the border patrol that a cavity search might be in order. Somebody actually said "peace" to us a couple of days ago.. yikes. Maybe I can watch the flight video on YouTube in my cell, if Bubba lets me at the keyboard.

MJD

combatpigg

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MJD, it's been too long since I used a high start, but if memory serves correct they used about 20 feet of latex tubing that got stretched out........I'm going to say 4 times original length? I was always impressed with those glider launches with the gradual pull. IIRC the tubing was about 3/8" diameter?
Have a nice trip to Colorado, that's my favorite place inland. Drive to the highest place you can find, then chug a couple of beers real fast.

MJD

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Bin dere, done dat... at least as far as I can remember! [sm=spinnyeyes.gif] I had a brief sebatical from Canada and lived in Co Springs for 3-4 years circa '89-'93. Cheyenne mountain was visible out the bedroom window, I was always waiting for the 1ms flash then - raster lines -. Once a young lady who was acquainted with my wife and I wanteed to take a trip, so she flew down to visit. Nice girl, but she was pushing 300 pounds. We still drove my wife's old Nissan Pulsar, and she wanted to go to Pike's Peak (14k). Well, we got to about 9k then vapor locked, I guess it was heating up too much under the load, it made it with the two of us fine before.. so we apologized, blamed it on the car, and turned back down.

Yeah, hi-starting is indeed a riot. The tubing varied in diameter depending on the weight range of the glider for which it was intended. Latex typically maxes out at about 7x AFAIK. There was more than 20', not sure how much, not a whole lot more, maybe twice that, I can't recall - mine rotted and got tossed, I use my buddy's whenever I need to, but mostly I tug (gliders that is). Sometimes it seemed like it was never stretched enough. It also seemed like it took a whole day to roll it up again when you were done for the day.

Should be a fun trip, two middle age ex-st disturbers in a hippie van for 60 hours round trip. We bought a nearly complete Pietenpol, got an engine waiting here for it. Putt putt putt.. good fun. You can get these things way cheaper than I ever imagined.
MJD

cncswiss1

be sure to stick a parachute or some sort of drag creating device on the anchor end of your high start, just in case it pulls out of the ground, at least the speeding dart of doom will look colorfull on its way to smacking you at a ga-gillion feet per second.

KidEpoxy

Maybe he should attach another plane to the Anchor End,
so at least he will get a lunch along with a tentpeg to the face

combatpigg

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You guys forget that I'm an electrician...I have to drive into the ground a pair of 10 foot ground rods next to every service panel..[]..for this contraption there will have to be stakes driven all over the place to secure the framework, too. I've got a bunch of rebar and will make some 18 inch long stakes.
MJD, I lived in a barracks in the shadow of Cheyenne Mountain 1975-77. The most irritating thing to try to do there was sun bathe, one minute you would be roasting, the next you could have snow flakes, 5 minutes later back to roasting again. It snowed in Colorado Springs on the 4th of July in 1976 after being in the 70s most of the day.
Your aeroplane sounds like a lot of fun, but uhh...once a plane gets past about 100 years old shouldn't it be retired?

RocketRob

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CP. we were pulling our EDF bungees to around 20lbs measured with a fishscale.
Hook placement is fairly critical....
Get this event on film dude!

MJD

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It's a 1930's design, but newly built. The airframe is 2 years old. So when we're done it will be a zero-time airframe, and the Continental has 37 hours on it since rebuild - so it is nicely broken in is all. Attached is a pic of the prop I ordered, except the one in the pic is walnut/ash, I went for mahogany/ash due to the color scheme of the Piet. Sexy, and no more $ than a normal prop.

Yeah I recall waltzing around outside in a T-shirt on Jan 7 during a freak warm spell. You can do that around here for about 30 seconds until you freeze solid in mid-step. When that happens, they just wait until the spring thaw to deal with it, if the polar bears haven't carted you away like a Popsicle. The best lightning activity I have ever seen was over the foothills just north of Springs.

I figured you must be an electrician, I noticed the launcher looked like it was made from EMT and saw the conduit bender in the background.

MJD

combatpigg

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MJD......WOW!! That's a beaut! All the tubing looks just big enough. Funny how some folks complain that APC props don't look "realistic"?
How much does the whole plane weigh?

RR, thanks for the info...that sounds like reasonable tension. I think I'll make a plywood double of this plane [might be lighter] and do some test heaves. I buried a 4 inch long aluninum tube in a mound of fiberglass and epoxy on the belly.....a steel pin inserts into the "belly tube" and rides on the center rail of the launcher. I want to make sure that the launcher accelerates quicker than the .074s or else if the plane releases before clearing the 10 foot long launcher it will be ugly.

RocketRob

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20pound pull for 3-4 pound EDF. I would think you might be in the 15-18lb range? If you use to much pull you might accelerate upon your bungee line and foul your props

Good call for the "drone"!

play around with the hook placement - there is a magic percentage between nose and leading edge - can't remember but will try to dig it up

KidEpoxy

I wonder at how many G's of accelleration the engines will starve from not being able to pull fuel forward in the line from the tank? Wouldnt the fuel in the line try to suck the fuel near the needle back with it?

combatpigg

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KE, that's the part that complicates this project. Hopefully the accelleration is not enough to kill the engines.

MJD

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I'm not sure either way, but it seems to me a split second of acceleration shouldn't rob it of the fuel it needs to run for that same split second, but..? We'll find out soon I guess. The lekkie guys are smugly proud of their immunity to this issue I am sure..

Just in case things go awry, why not point it up at about 80 degrees, at least you'll gert something akin to a short parachute-less model rocket flight.. okay I'll shut up.
MJD

MJD

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Now to set things straight, that is not the airplane, but the prop is identical - it's the picture sent to me by the prop maker as an example of his work. The airplane pictured is a really nice example of a Baby Ace. Our Piet will look pretty much like the one in the middle of the attached photo, except it is royal blue and white. We need to finish the wings (luckily all the ribs are built) and fit the engine.

The empty weight is in the mid 600's. We're putting a 75hp Continental on it, we expect climb rate to be in the 400-500 fpm range (800 with NOS ), cruise in the 70-75 range. The prop is a 72-38.

Open cockpit flying kicks butt, even if it is low and slow. Later when I'm rich (ha ha ha, when's that again?) I'll build or buy something that allows some aerobatics. If my stomach can take it these days that is, my cast iron midway ride resistant abilities seem to have disappeared sometime in the last 20 years or so.

MJD

combatpigg

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MJD, build 2 wings while you're at it and use one of them to make the worlds largest Lil' Satan!! You could use an old, gutted VW for a takeoff dolly.

Remby

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Combatpigg
Are you concerned about the high-start getting tangled in the prop(s)?

As far as stalling, if the high-start gets enough airspeed before the engines dies you should still be able to do a landing as long as your as ready for this, if need be.

Also, I was working on another Carnad, and was toying with launching with a rail like yours, but no high-start. Just a low friction slides ,and long enough to let it build speed before it leaves the launcher, 12 to 15 feet. Coule even be straight and a slight upward at the launch point.

Just a thought, I've launched powered gliders on high-start assist, and funny things can and will happen.

Good luck, look forward to hearing how this goes.

combatpigg

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Remby, this wing slides on foam pipe insulation and it isn't all that slippery. I'm going to run duct tape over it which should help. This launcher keeps the plane centered until the time when the plane pulls away from the 4 inch long pin that rides the center rail. The rigging never leaves the launcher, so unless the plane dips into the pull line right at the get go, it should work. It will be interesting to see how close to plan it works.