redtail

My Feedback: (15)

I am building a scale WWII bomber that drops a torpedo. Question is, how do you balance, find the C/G, of the torpedo so that when it is dropped, it will fly parallel with the ground until impact? Many thanks guys. Happy Holidays..

mgnostic

You are probably only going to get a decent compromise between dropping smoothly and falling in a level attitude. I'm pretty sure that even a full scale torpedo will drop nose down if it falls far enough. It will partly depend on how well the fins stabilize the torpedo. It also depends on the weight of the torpedo itself. A very light torpedo ie.an empty cardboard tube, might turn into an unstable lifting body if the CG is far enough aft and the dropping airplane is flying fast enough. A torpedo with an aft CG is also going to be less stable, wobbling as it falls. You don't mention your intended drop height. If it isn't going to fall very far, the wobble and thus the CG becomes less critical. The best advice I can give is to make up four or five disposable cardboard tubes with different CG's, maybe even as far back as 50% or more, weight them to match your intended scale torpedo and see how they drop.

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

A torpedo was dropped at around 50' off the water,, they never flew at level flight for more than the spit second they were released

Most RC bombs get into a wobble right away because they are too light to penetrated the air,, if you want a bomb or torpedo for that matter to fly more like a full scale version, you need to add enough weight (mass) to overcome the drag of the surface area

allanflowers

It occurs to me that the torpedo's moment of inertia is a key to keeping it stable as it drops. This implies a very light tube with weights AT EACH END. Of course it still needs the CG to be properly forward.