Speed Secrets !!!
We have a fun and competitive little Q-25 series going here in North Texas, mostly due to the untiring efforts of Gene Hodges and Gary Alphin. (THANKS guys!) Some of us are just now venturing into the realm of building everything from scratch and have been cooperating with each other and teaching each other tips and techniques instead of flying those ARF things. However, to ensure that we share our hard earned knowledge, one of our group, who shall remain nameless, but his initials are Jim Pope, AMA L-85, NMPRA #85, has decided to "spill the beans" and give ALL of our speed secrets to the Contest Director in question (Gary Alphin) in hopes of helping him be a more competitive racer. Here is the letter that we sent... Keep smiling.
Gary A;
On second thought and after expensive research by the crack WAMS Q-25 Racing Team and consulting with our staff aerodynamic engineer Gary James, we have come up with more speed secrets that you should use. And Gary J. please feel free to add to any additional tricks that will help Gary A’s racing effort.
1. There’s no need to vacuum bag the cores. Just wrap the bare cores with Sara Wrap. I recommend that you double-ply the center of the wing. Use ¼ inch lag bolts to attach the wing to the fuselage. Use the ones with the hex head, not those cheapie square headed ones.
2. Use lead based house paint on the fuselage (two or three coats).
3. Use a 11/7 prop and don’t forget to cut one inch off of the left tip so it’s easier to turn around the right pylon.. Balancing the prop is a waste of time.
4. Use fuel containing 0% nitro-methane and about 40% castor oil. Your engine should last forever.
5. Eliminate ailerons altogether. The rudder will be adequate to make turns and should be as large as possible to eliminate the possibility of Portuguese roll (the opposite of Dutch Roll). .
6. The minimum weight of 3lbs, 4ozs is not desirable. You should add sufficient weight to meet an even 5 pound minimum so you can survive a midair crash or collision with a pylon.
7. Balance the plane at 4 inches back from the leading edge so your racer will be more responsive to elevator control inputs.
8. Add 5 ounces to the left wing tip so it will hang down nicely during a pylon turn.
9. Use 4 inch Du Bro wheels; the big fat ones that eliminate landing bouncing problems. Of course you may not have landing problems if you balance the airplane at 4 inches.
10. To avoid cuts, always allow as much leeway as possible when making pylon turns, but be sure to make your turns before the airplane disappears over the horizon.
11. Use re-bar for push rods. This should be strong enough and help meet the 5lb weight.
12. The 10 inch chord is a joke. Build your wings with a 13 inch chord and the 4 inch balance point will work quite well.
13. And don’t forget to have an elevator throw of 90 degrees.
Good luck, go fast and turn right!!!!