It looks like Eduardo has made great progress. As I went through the pictures, I was going to suggest he find a bigger place to fly, and he did.

Paulownia is another wood that is light, almost as light as balsa. It is widely available in the Orient. A tree of wider distribution is cottonwood. The roots are soft and light, similar to balsa, but very porous. Unfortunately also somewhat brittle.

His first prop was not spinning very freely. Prop bearings can be made of metal tube or coiled wire. Ball point pens are a good source of metal and plastic tube. Metal washers can be used, or glass beads, or solid plastic from food cartons. Cardboard saturated with varnish or similar material will hold its shape better.

The prop shaft must make a slight angle to the wing, 3 to 5 degrees. I set the wing position by glide testing with the motor on, doubled over if possible, but no turns, and moving the wing until it makes a slow, steady descent. Usually that works, but the Squirrel zoomed and the wing had to be moved backwards.

My Squirrel weighed 5.9 grams and I estimated it would fly with a 20″ loop of 1/16″ rubber. I must have given the 20″ motor to one of the kids and not replaced it. I flew it with 1,600 turns on a 14″ motor and it did 1:02 in the Gym, after zooming and hitting the floor a couple times and having the wing moved back. It will do better after some tuning.

Gary Hinze