eciracing

I have been looking around for something that may not even exist. I currently own a Park Zone Corsair Electric Plane, and I think it would be great to be able to have a smoke sytem for this plane. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, I mean a setup where you could do a "sky writer" sort of thing. Fly the plane with the trail of white (or any other color) smoke behind you. I have seen this for the gas powered planes, but does such a system exist for an electric plane? Thanks in advance for your help.

Teenage Pilot 14

I've actually wondered about something like this myself. Try eBay and Google. The problem I see is that a smoke system needs a tank of smoke fluid which runs through a thing that turns it into smoke, so you have to figure out where to put that. You could also try using one of them smoke bombs where you light the fuse and it emits a bunch of colored smoke. Problem with that is it'll a) color the plane that color or b) you run the risk of it burning your foam.

You could also just tie/tape a big, long white streamer to your tail and write "Smoke" on it so everyone knows what it is, but that may not have the same effect as a big, billowy cloud or stream of smoke trailing behind the plane

ChuckTheMachine

r u really 13? can you really make a airplane smoke like a skyriter? im getting a plane soon and i want ti to be the coolest toy ever like with lights a nd smoke and really fast. but not like 500m p h lol.

cyclops2

This is a relativly safe smoke generator. Available from www.mcmaster.com . They come with durations up to 2 - 3 minutes. Low residue. Search for........smoke generator.

MaxAdventure

My Feedback: (7)

I've seen pyrotechnics used as the most common form of smoke generation for non IC planes/helis. Very light, lots of smoke. Legal in most states/municipalities. I have some that will put out tremendous smoke for about 2 minutes, picked up from a nearby fireworks stand. I think the big ones are only a couple of ounces, but I've never checked.

Glacier Girl

My Feedback: (4)

I've been playing with this for a couple of years now. As stated you will need a smoke fluid, some way to heat it and some type of ducting.

The most basic system uses a small bottle to hold the fluid. A large wick, and a coil of wire wrapped around the wick to heat the fluid to the point of it producing smoke. Also you will need something to power the coil, and as I stated some type of ducting to control the output of smoke from the generator.

I've built a couple versions of it. Mostly using a Slow-Stick as a test bed.

Two biggest obstacles I've run into. #1 Determining the proper length of wire to use in the coil (swiped from an old heat gun). Too long and it won't heat up enough to make the fluid smoke, too short and you'll find out smoke fluid will burn quite well.[X(]

#2 Powering the coil. On initial versions I built a tap for a 3 cell pack that powers the bird to also run the coil. Voltage changes will affect the smoke system, so some type of regulator is needed to keep the smoke flowing. As voltage drops, the coil looses effectiveness.

As I said I've tested mine on a Slow Stick. I was looking for something to use in my 60 to 120 scale birds so room wasn't too much of a problem, compared to a Park Flyer. Also the bigger birds can handle the added weight more easily.

Also like I had said you will need to build ducting for air in/ smoke out, again something easier to do on a bigger bird.

My latest version used a bottle about the size of an aspirin bottle, a wick approx 3/4" in diameter, 3 wraps of coiled wire, and a separate 3 cell lipo for power.

With the move to Florida and such, I've pretty much put it on the back burner for now.


As for an easier system, I'd say look at the smoke cartridges mentioned earlier.
They come in several sizes, don't use the smaller ones, you'll never see the smoke trail.

I've tried the 3 min versions, roughly the size of a 10 gauge shotgun shell, and they seem to work ok on slow flyers, faster stuff tend to really thin out the smoke thou.

Couple of things on them. #1 you will either have to light them before launching, or do as I did and rig a servo operated switch to light the igniter.

#2 You have to remember thy get hot, so you'll need some type of shield for deflecting the heat.

Lastly, these cartridges do have a bonus as they come in several different colors.

Gunkel

I just used the smoke cartridges and carrier from hobby lobby, they were cheap and easy to use, here is a link:

[link=http://www.hobby-lobby.com/atricks.htm]Smoke sticks[/link]

And some video of my attempt at skywriting, about 15 seconds into the video the smoke starts...

[link=http://web.mac.com/gunkel04/Site/Smoker.html]Smoker on a slow stick[/link]