Pils

G'mornin',

I ran a program last year with 14 Middle School kids where we built two LT-40's. It took about 2 and a half months of meeting two nights a week to finish the planes and the kids got to fly them during the summer. The AMA helped out with a YES grant, as well as the local hobby shop, club members, and area businesses. I'd like to do something again this year but I'm thinking about changing the program to electric as we spent so much time building compared to flying- at least for the kids who were not able to make a lot of the flying nights during the summer. Also, though interest was high among other students at the school nobody but the kids in the program ever got to see the planes fly (because we took them to our local field). So I'd like to look at something electric that we could buddy-box with the kids right in the gym.

What I'm looking for is something that would require some building as I think there is a lot of learning that took place during the construction of our LT-40's. I would like something that can fly quite slow, yet could fly outdoors in the spring on a calm morning or afternoon. I saw something fly at a local indoor fly that fits what I'd like but when I asked about it they were a scratch built balsa and saran wrap deal. I'd like to find kits.

We still have the two LT-40's and plan on taking the kids out to the field to experience glow flight this year also. But I'd like to explore the idea of indoor electric as I think it would solve some of the problems of getting kids out to the field, as well as allowing more exposure to the flying portion of R/C to the rest of the school.

My only electric is a Tensor with a AXI 2208/34 running 2cell 900 packs. Love this plane but this isn't going to work for students learning to fly.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

timothy thompson

My Feedback: (1)

they let you im a math teacher in a high school and no airplanes because someone might get hurt. I mentioned football injuries and that opened a can of worms!! you are lucky

Benthehen

do a search for 'bit planes' on rcgroups- it is a cheap way to do a project like this. pretty much what you do is take a very cheap and small rc car and use the reciever and tx from it, and then power it with a single small lipo cell- 140 mah kokam is the usual cell to use with this. finished plane will be less than an ounce. ussually costs about $25 to complete the plane. only thing is that it is 2 channel, non propo. also, a little bit of smd soldering is needed- one small component on the board needs to be upgraded.

on the other hand, you could get them wattage micro flyers for $30 each- they are pretty much the same, except in a rtf form. single 150 mah lipo, 10mm diameter motor, actuator for rudder, non proportional, one ounce. first you can get them hooked by flying it for a bit, then after the airframes eventually get trashed they can build another one out of balsa and tissue or foam.

just some suggestions- rcgroups has alot more info on this though.

benthehen

Pils

Thanks for the response. Actually, cheap isn't a real concern. I've had very good luck with finding funding and don't think I'll have much trouble getting more. I have several hundred already donated for this year and I haven't even started asking! I still have the two 7C radios we aquired last year- they make great buddy box units as we can set up the students to only control the channels we want them to control and all settings from them can transfer to the buddy. I'm also not looking for each student to build their own plane. I'm thinking more along the lines of a small team per plane (last year we had two teams of seven- each building one LT-40).

I'd like something fully proportional with rudder, aileron, elevator that can fly both indoor and outdoor. Perhaps I've asked this question under the wrong heading?

Again, Thanks for your help.

Timothy- perhaps you should point your administration to the AMA's education page and some of the successful youth aviation programs. We were given a display case near the center of the school and our planes were on display for three months as they were being constructed.

Any other suggestions appreciated.

Thanks again!

Benthehen

oh, ok- when people say 'middle school project', 'cheap' ussually comes up first . does this need to fly slow? what size? balsa, foam, carbon stick and covering? arf, absolute kit? i would think elevator and rudder would be better, but i dont know.

this popped up when i reread the part about aileron and elevator control, indoor flight, some outdoor flight-

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/rarebear.htm

i have been eyeing that plane for a bit. electronics are pretty cheap, you may not like that it is arf to the extreme- cant say it would take all that long to build. look around on that site, there are alot of planes there that may intrest you, as most of the planes are smaller electrics- mostly foam arfs, thats what the majority of 'kits' are. there are a few balsa kits on there too. when you find something that looks pretty good, do a search on some of the rc forums that are on the net.

benthehen

kzimmerman

Hey, we've got plenty of people on the board that design planes, why can't we come up with an rcu educators plane? Something simple, like a stick fuse, tisue covered wing, about 30" wingspan. I am also an educator and would love to get something like this in my school. Pils, how did you get the funding? Were they grants or donations?

blw

My Feedback: (3)

About using car receivers- you aren't supposed to fly with car radios and vice versa....at least not as an AMA member or at an AMA field. I just read that recently and was surprised at the separation of the two hobbies.

lmopar69

Get a bundle of fan fold, some gws geared motors, servos a few TX and RXs and have the kids make thier own plans / planes. They could learn a lot!

Pils

Sorry,

I gave up on this thread a while back and hadn't checked in for a while. I got funding for last year's program through an AMA YES grant. Check out the education page- a club can apply for a $500 YES grant one time. We received a $500 grant from AMA, had almost as much donated from local companies, and were able to build two LT-40's with Futaba 7C radios last year with two teams of kids, seven in each team.

This year I want to go electric so we can fly in the gym in the winter. I still have the LT-40s and we'll take this year's kids to the field in the spring to fly them too- in addition to the indoor planes.

Since this thread I've decided to try the Cobweb II from Hobby Lobby. We have one on order- but they're backordered- to try. We want to make sure it'll fly slow and easy and work for what we want.

I'm in the middle of looking for funding and it's hard work. I've sent out packets of informational stuff to local companies as well as R/C companies. Only Hobby Lobby has responded to me at all- they said they'd look over my information. Everyone else has ignored me so far...[&o]

However, we have enough money already to get two planes and at least make this happen. If we can get more I'm hoping to get a flight sim or two (to use in addition to my own personal one I used last year) as well as a couple more planes.

The fan fold is an interesting idea- but remember these are middle school kids (6,7) that know nothing about flying an R/C plane. So, we really need to start them out with something that is known to fly well, and can take a little abuse. I'm hoping the Cobweb will fit our needs.

Pils

I'd like to thank Hobby Lobby for donating two of their Cobweb II planes to our "The Sky's the Limit" Middle School program. They helped us out with planes, brushless motors, speed controls, and lipos. Because of their generous donation we will be able to proceed with our program. We're hoping to get 12-16 kids the chance to assemble electric planes and learn to fly them in our gym. They will also get the chance to fly the two LT-40 glow planes in the spring that last year's kids built. This will be an experience these kids will never forget.

Thank you!

Pils

Just got back from flying our test Cobweb II in the gym (one of our club members ordered one earlier to test and see if it would work for our program). WOW! This plane is exactly what we're looking for. If flies very slow yet has a great "feel" to it. I was a little afraid that the flexible design would wobble in flight but it is very true and honest in the air. We passed it around to every club member there and sure enough, we got durability testing. One member flew it into the wall and it flopped down onto the bleachers. No damage, no worries, no problems. It got pounded on a few landings too as they held too much elevator and then let it fall the last foot and a half to two feet. No damage, no problems, no worries. I didn't time it but at quarter throttle the 300 mAh lipos just went on and on and on. It really lands and takes off all by itself if you just let it. I was surprised that, even after hovering the Tensor and so forth, it was quite fun to fly this light little plane around the gym at seemingly impossibly slow speeds. Perfect, perfect, perfect.

I think we may have just sold some more Cobweb II's and created some indoor fliers from folks that never flew inside before.

Thanks again Hobby-Lobby!

alex k

Just to make a suggestion but if u do it again u can get a couple Air Hogs Aero Aces, they are extremely durable and cheap, 30$ rtf. there are 3 different frequencys so u can have all sorts of fun. go to www.aeroacemods.com

monstermaker13

you can buy some aero aces, take them apart, and then give it back to the kids and tell them to build it.good idea