Category Archives: Experimental

Smaller Squirrels

Experimental, Sighting

More from George Clark out in BC.

Now we’re going for the other extreme.

He is now experimenting with small Squirrels.

Darcy:
Here’s my latest, the Little Squirrel, and it’s a beauty. Wingspan – 10 in. Chord – 3.5 in. Total weight – 8.5 grams. The prop is 5 in., shaved down to save weight. Excellent wing loading of .24 g/ sq. in. Anything below .5 g/sq. in. will fly, but the lighter the better. I cut the wing from a single sheet of 3/32 contest balsa in order to save the added weight of glued joints, and gave it an airfoil shape. Test flights with a single short loop of 1/8 rubber prove that this little plane will disappear in a hurry unless care is taken to give it a large enough field to fly in.
Cheers
George

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Huge Squirrel from Surrey, BC

Experimental, Sighting


Here’s another stretched Squirrel picture from George in BC, Canada.

It’s interesting to see the different ways people experiment with the design parameters.

Darcy:

The first has a 4 in. chord and an 18 in. span. The prop is undersized –

6 in., and will be replaced with a 7.5 in. prop. Total weight 14 grams, for an excellent wing loading of .19 grams/sq. in. With two loops of 1/8 rubber it goes like a scalded cat, nearly vertically,

the too-small prop churning furiously. The second plane, the Giant

Squirrel, has a 36 in. span with a 4 in. chord. Total weight – 36 grams, for a very good .25 grams/sq. in. wing loading. It flies fairly well with a 9.5 in. prop, but I am going to substitute an 11 in. prop for better performance. This one is definitely for calm air flying as the wing is prone to flexing in windy conditions.

Cheers

George Clarke

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Hyper Squirrel — The largest Squirrel

Experimental, Sighting

I received these Squirrel pictures from George Clarke who lives in Surrey, BC.

I thought you might be interested in this version of your design. Wingspan – 36 in. Chord – 3 in. Length – 34 in. Weight – 36 grams. Not too bad with respect to wing loading – approximately .3 g/ sq. in. With 2 loops of 1/8 rubber powering a 15 in. carved balsa prop, it just pokes along with the prop turning fairly slowly. It will probably require a third and possibly a fourth loop of rubber to really make it go. I put a slight vee dihedral in the wing. Cheers, George

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Model airplane experimentation in BC

Experimental, Gallery

 

Subject: My pet Squirrel

Hi:

I thought you’d get a kick of of my rendition of your interesting plane. This one is 10 grams, and has a 12 in. wingspan with a 2 in. chord. The only prop I had on hand was a 9 in. hand carved model, and it is way too much for this little plane. It was hilarious to see the results of a too-big prop. After about 200 winds, I let ‘er rip. The plane rocketed up about 20 ft. and began doing a twirling tail dance. The prop was obviously turning the plane. A small(about

5 in.) prop is forthcoming, as is a 28 in. wingspan model, currently on the building board. Thanks for giving me an enjoyable few hours away from the building of my unlimited rubber job.

Cheers

George Clarke

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Squirrel inspires other model airplane designs

Experimental, Gallery, Testimonial

 

Subject: new Squirrel derivative…

Darcy, inspired both by your Squirrel and the Dandrieux butterfly (you must be familiar…see photo “copter”) I have come up with a ridiculously simple parlor mite that, after some refining, really does fly and is about as easy to build as the Squirrel, including the innovative glue-and-fold prop I came up with. I thought you might like to see this airplane but I also wanted to ask about selling a kit of it….I thought it would be polite to get your thoughts & make sure you were OK with me selling something like this, considering how closely it resembles the Squirrel. I took a lot of your ideas….

* leading edge only wing and stab

* vertical wing tips

* same basic configuration (tractor, rubber powered monoplane w/single fin) There are some differences….

* It’s tiny! 5″ span, weighs about 1/2 gram

* paper rudder

* unique paper prop that I’m real proud of 🙂

* more typical alu bearing and wire hook

* even ctr wing is leading edge only

* with 1/32 sq wood, not good for kids 🙂

So…anyways…let me know what you think. The Dandrieux butterfly copters will definitely be out there as kits too. In all cases the # of kits I make will be ultra-limited…just haven’t the time…basically will make as many as and when I feel like. They will sell for $3 each but you’ll get a couple gratis, again, for your ideas.

—————————–

Ondrej “Andy” Mitas

art, music, airplanes

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