Bungee powered balsa plane goes backwards...

Greebo

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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/24/giant_model_plane/

Excerpt:
A UK artist has dismally, albeit heroically, failed to get off the ground in a 20ft aircraft powered by a giant rubber band, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Mark Clews attempt to reach 3,000ft in the oversized kids' toy ended with the aircraft travelling just six feet backwards at a "rain swept" Dunsfold Park airfield in Surrey.
Artists != Aeronautical engineers...



Cute attempt though... :)
 
Did you notice he has put his rubber band airplane into an exhibit along with his paper boat, paper plane and paper helicopter -- all of which were also failures?

Going backwards on the ground, though is something I want when I'm parking my C-172.
- Aunt Peggy
 
Doh! He put the prop on backwards! Did you also notice in the article they asked if the A380 would be put in the exhibit as well. Heh heh.

I suppose for the builder its a good thing he didn't get to 3000' The ceilings looked aweful low in the background there. But I guess what would it matter if it didn't have any movable control surfaces.
 
AdamZ said:
Doh! He put the prop on backwards! Did you also notice in the article they asked if the A380 would be put in the exhibit as well. Heh heh.

Their quote is sly and sharp :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Whether the exhibition will also feature an Airbus A380 (by our reckoning currently the world's leading example of "the importance of failure as an essential process of development"), is not noted.
 
yea i got a kick out of that airbus quote too
 
Hmmm, operates just like Ed's Cherokee. :D
 
There was an article by Peter Garrison about a rubber powered airplane which was supposed to hop the grand canyon.
The designers of the plane spent several hours winding up the rubber band before each flight, and the band packed something like 30 horsepower for the first 15 secs. After that, the power curve dropped off a bit.
The crew tested one of their specially designed bands to failure and the resulting break of the band blasted through the iron frame they were using to test the thing. Obviously it had a bit more power than the airplane in this story.
I'll try to find the article.
 
infotango said:
There was an article by Peter Garrison about a rubber powered airplane which was supposed to hop the grand canyon.
The designers of the plane spent several hours winding up the rubber band before each flight, and the band packed something like 30 horsepower for the first 15 secs. After that, the power curve dropped off a bit.
The crew tested one of their specially designed bands to failure and the resulting break of the band blasted through the iron frame they were using to test the thing. Obviously it had a bit more power than the airplane in this story.
I'll try to find the article.
I'd love to hear more about it. I think that "was supposed to hop the Grand Canyon" is the operative phrase in this story, though! :eek:
 
sounds like a good idea for a self launch glider. maybe make the propeller something you could eject to save drag.
 
If memory serves, the propeller was something like 12 feet long. I couldn't find the article on the web, but I'll look for it when I get home.
 
Some aircraft enginers at VNY werebuilding a rubber powered airplane?? I saw it doing "Taxi Test" any body know about this one ??
_________________________________________________
ATR AS/ML/S CFII/G ROTORCRAFT HELICOPTER LTACFI GLIDER B-B17 CW C-46 DOUGLAS DC-3 DC-6 DC-7
RB-26 GRUMMAN F6F F8F TBM and the rest i cant remember :eek:)
 
The trick is keeping the prop at a usable RPM. Rubber band powered airplanes tend to explode with power initially. It quickly decreases. If you design it to produce the proper RPM on launch you'll soon be out of energy. If you over power it--you'll need some sort of constant speed prop or transmission to get anywhere.
 
It hurts enough when a regular rubber band breaks, how much would it suck if the bungee snapped right under his a$$ like that...yoww!
 
He is able to have a positive attitude about it, one that I would not have come up with;
"....everything I hoped it would be, apart from actually flying."

Is that like, "The dinner was perfect! Even though we never really did get any food."
:D
 
"These works reveal the importance of failure as an essential process of development."

I must be one of the most developed people on the planet!
 
The "TRICK" is to have ENOUGH Prop to LOAD the amount of rubber you may have "ENOUGH PROP" when the prop area exceeds the wing area !! LOL

I have seen indoor rubber fly for 10 minutes BEFOR it hit something and I think it would be fun to find the record
 
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The trick is to put the rubber band propellor on a hang glider and jump off a cliff.
 
The "TRICK" is to have ENOUGH Prop to LOAD the amount of rubber you may have "ENOUGH PROP" when the prop area exceeds the wing area !! LOL

I have seen indoor rubber fly for 10 minutes BEFOR it hit something and I think it would be fun to find the record

Makes sense. My great great uncle built those when I was a kid. They would fly around for a good 10 minutes or so indoor. Now that you mention it--it did have a huge prop that turned slowly.

Scaling something like that up would not be easy.
 
Tony Lets fold the blades back instead and we can certificate it as a " Motor Glider" and I can fly it with out a Medical

Remember what I said about " Load the rubber with the right Prop " this prop will require one hell of a landing gear !! Landing gear will fall away on Take off liike Me 163

http://www.balances.com/applications/free-flight.html

Aint this fun
 
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