All posts by Darcy

Fat Squirrel

Fat Squirrel

Here is a variation of the design that flies extremely well. I suppose, it will have a wing loading that is twice as favorable since the wing is about twice as wide. Here are the changes:

-Use 4 inch wing ribs (instead of the three 2 inch ones)
-Use a 6 inch wing mount (instead of the 4 inch one)
-Use a double shim because the wing is wider and needs twice as much shim
-I bottom covered it as per plans, then covered the top. I trimmed the top so that the bottom was used for the winglets as per plans.

The tail looks bigger but that’s just because I cut the tissue on the horizontal stabilizer to an semi-circle rather than a triangle.

On this prototype, I did another thing different. I mounted the toothpick at the very back of the motorstick instead of on the leading edge of the rudder.

 

Andy Church Squirrels

I was at a breakfast business function one morning as I arrived home I noticed a local order for three Squirrels. The order was from Andy Church from Westboro area of Ottawa. I hopped on my motorbike and dropped them off. He gasped when I came to the door as he had just made the order a half hour later.

A short while later I received these pictures and video.

He then came to one of my pub meet-ups in Ottawa to make Squirrels.

Pre flight coaching

Model planes are fun for the leaders as well as youth. I find that the leaders often help with the workshop but also make their own plane.

After you get through building it’s helpful to give the kids some flight coaching before they go outside. You still have their attention. It takes a bit of time for all the kids to get the message. Expect them to be very excited so you need to be patient. If you change setting it’s harder to make sure all the kids don’t make certain common mistakes.

Also, the planes will not break from flying. They are designed to tolerate strikes to the wall and ceiling and so forth.

Common issues:

-Not winding
-Winding backwards
-Throwing instead of a gentle push
-Not holding under wing (otherwise finger interference)
-Not pick up by propeller/nose (loss of winding, damage)