Gouged Bellies...

[Pteradactyl]

Flyine sailplanes is great, but out here where I am, grass landing fields are few and far between. It's mostly rocks with a mixture of pea-sized gravel thrown in. This results in severely gouged bellies and a distinct reluctance to fly my Minimoa or B.O.T.

I can live with that while I improve my skills, but I spend so darn much time filling the scars after each outing that I have very little left to build. In addition, the Wanderer is getting pretty heavy!

So I was wondering if anyone here had tried using a strip of artificial turf-type material on the belly of their two-meter ship? It seems to me that the stuff is fairly light, and might be slick enough to slide over the rocky crud we call ground out here. What do you think? John

[Doc Data]

How about some of the nose skids available from Tim McCann at
http://www.superskeg.com/

Maybe with a pair side by side it will keep the fuze above most of the damage. I'd recommend you keep a layer of electrical tape (comes in all kinds of colors) to protect the rest of the fuze that won't hit as hard as the skid area.

I'd even recommend putting one on each wing at the poly break.

Another material, and I have no idea where to get it, is the nose skid that came in the old Aquila kits. It as abour 10" long, 1/4" thick, 1/2" wide and a hard grey rubber-like material. Tough as nails. 2 Strips of that side by side would work but you'll have to start considering how much weight you're adding.

Good luck,
Dave

[flyingdogtwo]

superskeg.com has plastic skids if you don't come up with a homebrew method that works for you..

[sierra-gold]

Back in the dark ages... 1970s. We used to find a car floor mat with nice rubber ribs and cut it into strips with a utility knife. Glued the strips on with epoxy to the nose area. Very durable and the weight added was in front of the CG, so you usually could remove a little nose weight to compensate.

Automotive self-stick door/side trim looks like it might work. I've seen rolls at Pep Boys that weren't too expensive for 15-20'.

I am currently using the nose skids mentioned in the post above. My only complaint is that they are made from poly???? and nothing sticks to it. They must be screwed/bolted in to the fuse.

Sierra Gold

[sierra-gold]

One other thing I have used in the past also was a "custom cut" piece of 1/32 plywood. It cuts well with scissors and it can be applied with double-sided tape or epoxy glue.

Sierra Gold

[swooper]

You can glass the entire bottom from the towhook forward with heavy car-repair glass cloth and CA for minimal weight gain.

[Pteradactyl]

Thanks for the replies, everybody. I ought to be able to find something that works with all these suggestions! John

[culiv]

Just a thought, never tried it. How about taking a piece of 2 or 3 liter soft drink bottle and heat shrinking it to fit the bottom of the fuselage. Cheap, fairly tough, easy to replace, next to no weight.

[Pteradactyl]

Pretty good idea, and you might nor even have to shrink it very much. Just cut it t ofit and use a couple screws on each end to hold it. John

[flyingdogtwo]

I have a few half sections of the plastic, 16oz pop bottles in my field box. For those rare occasions (snic) that I leave a canopy at home. I find the Mountain Dew bottle having the best shape.

[emersunn]

In Arizona, I've learned to fiberglass the belly and live with the scratches.

Now how do you keep a saguaro from dinging your leading edge?

:)

[flyingdogtwo]

emersunn;
Don't laugh to loud, but car door edge protectors works pretty good.

[emersunn]

But what about weight . . . and looks?:confused:

I guess it depends on the ship. Most of mine are smaller. (1M - 2M)

[flyingdogtwo]

You right, weight would be little bit of a concern, but they're not that bad. Plus they come in differentc colors. You could tape some bass wood to the LE or even another pre-formed LE. What maybe ugly on the ground, you can't really see at 100+ feet. It's all a trade off.