Designs

[leetx]

Yes, please post a picture of your plane!

I will do the same.

[leetx]

I posted a picture of my student's plane



http://gallery.scioly.org/details.php?image_id=2228

It's a Freedom Flight model.

[new horizon]

I think most people use freedom flight over leading edge. At states I found quite a few freedom flights.

[jcollier]

I think most people use freedom flight over leading edge. At states I found quite a few freedom flights.

That's what I saw at Regionals. At PA States, there were more Leading Edge and its varieties. I will post a pic of our planes. Bad luck at States, but the planes fly very well.

[new horizon]

I think most people use freedom flight over leading edge. At states I found quite a few freedom flights.

That's what I saw at Regionals. At PA States, there were more Leading Edge and its varieties. I will post a pic of our planes. Bad luck at States, but the planes fly very well.

I think it's probably because @ regionals people put together planes rather quickly because they're focusing on other events.
our regional plane was an absolute mess. I wasn't part of the team but they ran out of mylar or something and used tissue paper, and then the day of the competition the plane broke. It was really messed up and assembled the day before.

after regionals, i was put on the team and we ended up using freedom flight cause we're all wright stuff newbies so I ended up building the backup plane and doing some testing with the main plane. I'm pretty sure we got 4th. I don't remember, though. According to one of my teammates the motor snapped and they didn't make a proper backup motor. >_>

Anyway, I was still kinda mad that a 7th grader who really didn't do anything competed in wright stuff and battery buggy, and I was too lazy to find the gym so I didn't watch. I did end up watching some of the bridges, which was so much better.

Also, are any of you familiar with those aircrafts used in the military that use their bodies to produce lift? Do you think it'd be possible to make one of those into a SO plane? just throwing it out there.

[illusionist]

That would definitely be a great challenge! I think i'll try that sometime...

[new horizon]

I'm thinking it'd probably be unstable, but I think it'd be pretty cool. I'm not sure if you can make it work, I don't know enough about the design.

And is wright stuff going to be an event next year?

[illusionist]

Probably not because the events are cycled every 2 years, and Wright Stuff has been here for the last 2 years, it will most likely be Helicopter Duration for Division C, and Bottle Rockets for Division B...

[jcollier]

Yeah, sad that WS is cycling out. After helping with my older son since '05 through BLG and 2 years of WS in B, I am going to miss the flying events for sure. The Helicopter duration should be fun though.

The Leading Edge kit has opened up a new possibility this year, though we used to have the option of Harlan vs. Freedom Flights in earlier years. As JAnder, Calgoddard, and others have said, ANY of these plans, or a scratch build, can fly well enough to win a state or national competition if you put your time in, and wring out the possibilities of rubber, prop, and adjustments. Then, all you have to do is fly close to your best time in that 8 min. window.

For the question of the body of the plane being used for lift, it is an interesting thing. Our H.S. coach gave us a kit called the "Flying Wing" which was advertised as producing 5 min. flights. It technically conformed to the rules for the last two years. We could only get about 30-40 sec. out of it, though.
It would be interesting to try something else, but after messing with WS and BLG for this long, I doubt there is anything that would drastically increase flight times over the ones designed by multiple national champion designers.

[blue cobra]

Making a body that produces lift does sound like a challenge, and would be quite interesting. However I think that to do that properly would be beyond the building range of most MS and HS competitors, and keeping weight down would be a problem. So it may not be practical for SO, but it definitely sounds like fun!