Hi all: well, the technique of rapidly moving the tailhook down didn't work. It still wasn't enough to counter the airloads while flying to lock it onto the magnet.

I did some more experimentation with trying to find a cable or flexible strap to keep the tailhook from blowing back into the breeze after it is deployed. None of these ideas worked, mainly because of the geometry of a 4 inch tailhook inside a tube that has to come out all the way before it can drop down making a 90 degree angle with the fuselage.

So, the latest is that I went to Home Depot hoping to find a piece of thin piano wire to wrap around a 1/8" diameter tube a few winds to make my own spring. Unfortunately, they didn't have any piano wire, but I did find a little package of assorted springs.

So this is what I've done for this attempt: I found a 5/8" long compression spring that is a little more than 1/8" inside diameter, or in other words, it slides onto the joint that has the robart hinge connecting the tail hook to the structure and cable that winds its way to the servo inside the fuse. I pre-bent the spring at a 90 degree angle at the middle of the spring, so that when I pushed it onto the tailhook, the bend in the spring is right at the joint where the hinge is. So, the spring is going to force the tailhook down at nearly a 90 degree angle once it clears the fuse, but allows it to go straight to fit inside the fuse when it is retracted.

If all this makes sense, I am hoping and expecting that the next test flight will have the tailhook coming out and down, forced to do so by the spring, and the magnet on the back of the fuse will latch onto the tailhook for extra security.

If this latest technique works, I think I have a final solution for both this size foamie and also large models, too. I'll post pics if this works.

I'll try it again tomorrow morning to see if it will work.

davegee