Tag Archives: George Clark

Smaller Squirrels

January 5, 2007Experimental, SightingGeorge ClarkDarcy

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

Huge Squirrel from Surrey, BC

January 2, 2007Experimental, SightingGeorge ClarkDarcy

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

Hyper Squirrel — The largest Squirrel

December 10, 2006Experimental, SightingGeorge ClarkDarcy

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

Model airplane experimentation in BC

November 11, 2006Experimental, GalleryGeorge ClarkDarcy

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