Could you launch a R/C plane off a...

[WWIIace]

Aircraft carrier?

I figure you launch a helicopter no prob, but, is it possable to do that with a plane? :confused:

[Habanero]

Nothing remotely scale military- might do it with a micro citabria or vapor but not very realistic.

[Shaun Hendricks]

Theoretically, yes... and land one.

Practically- difficult and very difficult. The launch would be easier, even a rubber band catapult would work. Landing, that becomes factors of practice, environment and control, even with a 'camera' view out the cockpit, it would be hard. Then you have to have arresting gear that wouldn't damage the plane, etc. etc.

Mechanically recycling the plane to launch again... amusing. Possible, but probably very expensive to 'pull off'.

It's all 'possible' but I don't think it's been done.

[Ghost 2501]

also, you would need a large ship, say45 long, and a large area to sail it, and by that I mean a BIG lake. even a model needs some forward airflow over the wing, simply firing it off the bow may not get the required windspeed over the wings, however steaming into the wind at around 5mph means you have a 5mph head wind plus what ever the wind is.

landing however, find some tarmac!

[tweety777]

Use a camera in the flight-deck, then you can build everything a lot smaller as the aircraft doesn't need to be able to carry a camera.

Greetings Josse

[realtimerecon]

U asked 4 it.Hold on to your seats !:D...RTR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKGV-0-74FI

[arrow5]

No problem. 31ft HMS Invincible. Depron "Sopwith Pups" GWS cheapo power. Landing IS trickier, net flat on deck ,tail hook on plane. All movies were/are on VHS tape, yes it was that long ago !

[fooman2008]

hit you tube they had a couple of guys who made and R/C aircraft carrier out of a party barge a couple of years ago.
The video that he sent is one of many.....
Foo

[Shaun Hendricks]

Yeah, but again, cost and you can't cycle the planes back into the cats.

[Steve Bad]

You people are starting to frighten me............ :(

[foam and tape]

i've done helis, I'm rigging the carrier for sea operations and i'm going to use a citabria or vapor for a plane to launch/land

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp8WZXhyVr4

[tigerbay]

Thoughts only,

It is possbile a manned model carier would make it easeir, as a person on the carrier can better judge the landing.

Park fliers may be small and light enough for take offs, but you may want a calm day.

[redboat219]

i've done helis, I'm rigging the carrier for sea operations and i'm going to use a citabria or vapor for a plane to launch/land

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp8WZXhyVr4

Great video! "Ride of the Valkyries" from Apocalypse Now seems more appropriate here :rolleyes: .

[charlie eaton]

It has been done in the past going back to the first proportional radio systems in the early 60's. An old model mag had pictures of a Corsair being flown off and on an 18' outboard fitted out with a flight deck

[drakonis]

It has been done in the past going back to the first proportional radio systems in the early 60's. An old model mag had pictures of a Corsair being flown off and on an 18' outboard fitted out with a flight deck
wow, deja vu. lake washington in seattle. my grandfather was there watching his friends do that from shore. there is a group here that made a boston whaler into a carrier and they fly small electrics off of it.

[keith S]

Can be done but very tricky. Had a fellow modeler landing his heli on the deck of a American enterprise at the Fissh Expo last year. Made 7 good landings before luck ran out and heli went for a dip. Much tougher than it looks. The bigest problem was that the prop wash from the heli would move the boat as he made an approach. But it still was done and can be with LOTS of practice, good landing platform, and good flying conditions.

[tweety777]

For helicopter landings my Well Enhancer would be a pretty good platform i think.
Helo-deck high above the water, so until the helo gets above the helo-deck the rotor-wash can go anywhere, and that also makes it harder to loose the helo, as that height also is the height to fall down from, so much chance of noticing, and responding on the miss.
Still is a very tough job, tried it on land myself, but also on land inside a house it's pretty tough to land properly.

Greetings Josse

[toesup]

For helicopter landings my Well Enhancer would be a pretty good platform i think.
Helo-deck high above the water...

I would think if the helo deck is high off the waterline, its going to move around a lot more than if it was lower... :confused:

[Prins Willem]

Take an old canoe, put in some heavy duty RC gear and deck it over with 1/4" ply . Get an electric Curtiss biplane and you have an instant USS Langley. The trick will be unhooking from the arresting wires. If you don't like the Langley install sidewheels and mak it the USS Wolverine or USS Sable. Then you can fly any early WWII navy plane off her. Same problem with arresting gear.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

I haven't done it yet, but my mCX is too small and light to take outside..
Kevin did several helicopter landings at Marine Expo using a CX2 and landing on his
Dumas Enterprise while on of the Burchett boys did the sailing..

As for the mCX, it just can't take any breeze at all.
I had hoped to try landings at Model expo, but was just too busy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqVPl4l8DPs

Here it just couldn't fight the breeze at all, and it landed on the water.
I had to push it in with the tug... Water tension is too strong to break
free from the surface once the heli lands on the floats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLcWtcT1cTQ&feature=related

[fooman2008]

Normal Military for helo operations from surface ships (not aircraft carrier type) is 30-30 that is wind 30 degrees off the bow at 30 knots over the deck that way if you have a problem the ship will move out from under you. It also means that you have to train the helo pilots to always have a small amount of forward speed when landing.
Foo

[seaphoto]

Scale Ship Modeler back in the late 70's or early 80's had a photo of someone operating r/c aircraft (not to scale however) off of Peter Shreeves 1/72 scale Nimitz. He was the owner of Super Ships, a company that specialized in 1/48 scale fiberglass hulls, but he produced a three piece Nimitz hull that I suspect was the largest commercially offered hull ever to be produced for public sale. You bolted the hull sections together when they were on the water to form the model, as it was too large for most people to transport assembled.

[Minn.Man]

In the coverage from Efest I read that someone built a carrier out of foam and they were taking off and landing on it there.

[foam and tape]

In the coverage from Efest I read that someone built a carrier out of foam and they were taking off and landing on it there.


yup, that was me :p I'm currently converting it into a boat :eek: it floats without any modifications :cool:

[arrow5]

Got any pictures Foam`n Tape ?

[tweety777]

Hi Toesup,

Well Enhancer is a pretty large model, so she needs pretty much force to start moving.
The bigger height in that case isn't quite that much of a problem anymore.

Greetings Josse

[foam and tape]

Got any pictures Foam`n Tape ?


in this thread :cool:


http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=955618

[WWIIace]

I didn't know so many people tried it,...

So, Has there been ones with arster hooks? :D

(sorry for mis-spelling)

[charlie eaton]

An addition to my earlier comment. The cover of the September 1965 Model Airplane News shows a full cover picture of the ''Enterprise JR.'' Inside is a 2 page story with 9 pictures of a 60'' wingspread F4U Corsair and an 2 other planes flying off and landing. This was in SEATTLE WA. The models were flown on Lake Washington. Dr Ralph Brooke was fyling the F4U.

[fooman2008]

I would think the problem would be to get some kind of visual cue for getting and keeping the plane in the glidepath. Especially for DF or mocern combat type aircraft.
The Brits invented the mirror landing system for carriers that gives you a light, (the meatball "Tomcat roger ball fuel 5.5") to follow down the path. How you could do that I wouldn't even venture to guess.....I do know that if you figure it out you will get phone calls from the Navy, General Atomic (who make predator/raptor), and Northrop, all of them are working on the next gen. attack aircraft which is going to be a UCAV. I know they are trying to get the X-45 to land but have not had a lot of success with the durability.
Foo

[drakonis]

An addition to my earlier comment. The cover of the September 1965 Model Airplane News shows a full cover picture of the ''Enterprise JR.'' Inside is a 2 page story with 9 pictures of a 60'' wingspread F4U Corsair and an 2 other planes flying off and landing. This was in SEATTLE WA. The models were flown on Lake Washington. Dr Ralph Brooke was fyling the F4U.
thanks charlie. thats the one i was talking about. somewhere in my stash of old family pics i think theres one from that day. i seem to remember having one of the carrier from shore but i havent seen it for a long time. next time i get to that box ill dig it out. (couple thousand old pics) :eek:

[charlie eaton]

Forgot to mention that Dr. Brooke was made an honorary Navel Aviator for his flights.

[Chiconc]

i've done helis, I'm rigging the carrier for sea operations and i'm going to use a citabria or vapor for a plane to launch/land

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp8WZXhyVr4

WHERE DID YOU GET THE HELICOPTER CARRIER? is it remote control?? I have been looking for that exact thing, a helicopter carrier for my remote control 22" Chinook helicopter. What are the specs of it?.. How did you make it?..

[foam and tape]

scratchbuilt form 1 inch blucore found at lowes, just a box like thing held together with hot glue :D

[Chiconc]

Scratch built huh? That's great! You think something like that could hold a large 4 channel aluminum helicopter? Cuz if it is... i'm going to lowes! lol :D

[pops52]

Incredible clip!

Thanks!!