What would fly better, an airplane built with a pound of feathers or a pound of lead? [sm=surprised.gif]

i dunno. try it.

Well, that depends. Is an instructor present?

OMG, I am dying here! [sm=lol.gif]

The feathers still have the bird in them, and where did you get the lead!

I guess the question you need to ask yourself here is "are the feathers loosly packed? or compressed to the same density as the lead?" If they are loose, you could spread them out throughout the plane to evenly add a pound so there is not one single mass of weight to "unbalance" the planes' gyroscopic inertia which could cause unsightly or unpleasant flight characteristics. You could also use it to laterally balance or CG balance the airframe. You could compress it to the exact same density as a human body and use it as a crash test dummy in your airplane. You could use it to find the most desirable spot to "mount" your small pet in the airplane for a ride and still maintain good balance... as your pet lie zip-tied and taped to the inside of your canopy so the little guy can see how much fun he's about to have as you pull up for a verticle rolling takeoff. The possibilities are virtually limitless as to what one creative individual could do. I believe the answer you seek lies within the answer to another question... "What would be the feather-packing density?"

Brian

[8D]

I dont have anyone to pack my feathers.......[&o]

Just run over thema few times with your truck then dump PRECISELY 10 ounzes of COMPLETELY blended FIVE minute epoxy on them.

That will pack them up nicely. OH NO! Now they're stuck to the ground!

Flying lead has already been done..... its called the OS40LA engine, weighs about the same and lead BUT the lead has slightly better power.

Every plane I have built needed lead to fly so it has to be the lead that keeps them up!
Woodsy good call with the OS40LA !!

The lead is stiffer and that makes for a good plane.
Less chance for hanger rash so I would prefer lead just for that reason!

I think the lead has MORE power than the LA.

You could take a half pound bird, (feathers included), feed him a half pound of lead, spin him around in your arms so the centrifigul (sp) force pushes the lead to the approximate correct CG, allow him to regain his balance as he's probably a bit dizzy from the spinning and then let him go. Not sure where the servos go.

I LIKE my OSLA40[>:]...it's proven to be very reliable.

If the feathers are allowed to have teh bird, then the lead should be allowed to have the 'blast' [firing charge] behind it....

It's then no a matter of 'if' but how far over how fast!!

i agree whole hartedly. you even have to wash your hands after touching it.

Yeah, dontcha know you can use lead shot for bird hunting? Most hunters can tell you birds don't lfy well with lead in them, so it won't work with both a pound of lead and a pund of feathers[:-].

Yo', as a side here, sent me all your "worthless LA .40's" I will send you 1# of lead in exchange!

Jetts

I fly in a vacuum, they both have the same response...they drop like a rock. Now there's an idea..............hmm rocks?

You are forgetting an important fact. The feathers already know how to fly! You never see birds stall in mid air and crash to the ground, right? But make sure you don't use sparrow feathers, cause the plane will be attracted to window glass. Or ostrich and emu feathers cause you'll never get off the ground. Or penguin feathers cause the plane will want to go for a swim.

Kerry

I'm not a comedian, but I play one on RCUniverse.

It depends... if it's an ornithopter, the feathers are the way to go...otherwise, use the lead!

jetstarblue you can send me all the extra LA40's you don't want. I would rather have the .46 if it's slightly broken in as I haven't run my new one yet.

me too. i need the money i can get for selling them