Hello! I don't remember where I saw it, it might have been a link from this web page, but anyway, this guy build a "lawn mower" airplane. I also have seen flying race cars.... Anyway, my question is, how do you know things like that will fly? How does one go about planing something like that? I know you all are going to think me a loony, but I was thinking that the "new" Enterprise from the Star Trek prequel of the same name, would make a much better "airplane" than a Toro lawnmower I mean, it is just a disk with little wings with a perfect little mounting place for a pusher engine... Any thoughts? Thanks!

-Jim

You can get anything to fly with enough horsepower. How do ya think the F-4 Phantom flew? Anyway, you could probably get it to fly, but it will involve alot of trial and error. You might have to modify some things to get it to work. Like the lawnmowers, the handle for it isn't just a tube. It serves as the vertical stab, and the bar running across it is the horizontal stab.

Jim,
You can find the plans for the lawn flyer at

http://flyingthingz.com/

Randy

Hello Jim,
I have been a scratch builder for years mostly from plans and I lean toward the more off-beat subjects [ then I take liberties with the looks and design ] in an effort to come up with "something different"

Your best bet is to make a small model of what you want to build, like a glider, cut it out of meat tray foam and start chucking it around experimenting with the cg and control surface deflections.

Most of the "far out " designs like the flying STOP SIGN & lawnmower started out that way, I'm sure.

Start with a flat disc, put some small weight at the front, put some reflex [like a small elevator turned up ] at the back, and a vertical stab for stability, then start throwing it around to see what you got!

Don't expect instant success but keep trying and you will be rewarded that [ You did it yourself ] and you will have the only model like it at the field, while everyone else are flying 'SHAKE & BAKES" This is such a great hobby!

Good luck ----Roger

GIFLYRC gave you some good advice. You can even make paper or cardboard profiles to check out glide and balance prior to embarking on the actual RC model.

You could also build it out of that SPAD stuff so that if you crash during testing, you aren't going to have to completely rebuild.

Jim --

Good idea. Now if you could just start with something similar, the only real issue would be balance. In addition to things like the flying Porche, the Flying Witch, and the Flying Doghouse, RC Modeler publishes plans for a Flying Stopsign... which is just an octagon with a vertical stabilizer. (It's designer also flew things like a Gulf oil company sign... he used to hang out here, too -- Hey Bob, you still around?)

Anyway, the stopsign should be similar enough to what you're after to give you a real good start on a design. Go to the RCM site and you can find the plans in their "Store" section.