I'm almost done with construction of my Bird of Time. However, before she can rule the LMR at SEFF, she needs a means of getting in the air without using a hi start. So, I'm building a power pod.

Why a power pod? One of my local clubs has a flying field in the Manassas National Battlefield park, but they do not allow powered planes, strictly gliders. So, with a pod, I can easily mount it, or not, and hopefully have the best of both worlds.

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Tom

I sat down last night and found this video from Roy Dawson on how he did a fuel powered pod for his BoT. I like the looks, but I'm going for electric rather than fuel. But, his photos give me a good start on the concept of how I'm going to do it.

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Tom

Here is the first part cut out. It is 1/8" ply. My intent is to build a pod that fastens to the top that will house the ESC and the battery so that they're not just hanging out in the wind. If I size things properly, then I shouldn't have to worry about too much heat. Might even figure a way to get a heat sink installed that gets out into the wind, but is streamlined so it doesn't generate much drag.

Anyway, I plan on putting a 1/16" ply piece on each side of the 1/8" piece, but they will stop at the top of the wing and bottom of the pod. After I glue on the first piece, I'll cut a slot in the 1/8" piece to run my ESC lead down to the RX. Then I'll glue on the other side. That will give me a sturdy mount, but with a channel for running my leads. (This is exactly how it's done on the Polaris power pod, except in plywood.)

I'm figuring on some 1/16" by about 1" wide ply to lay flat on the wing on either side of the vertical piece. I'll use some tri stock to connect that ply to the vertical and also the vertical to the bottom of the pod.

Okay, that's all in my head now. Time to go off and pick up materials and see how things work out.

Oh, and I still haven't decided on the power plant. I need to figure that out before building the actual pod. I should be able to run at least a 6" prop, though.

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Tom

Had a productive Super Bowl today. While the teams were fighting it out, I was making progress on the pod.

The slot in the gap cover was done while it was still flat. I lined it up on my table saw, then slowly brought the blad up until it cut through the part, then moved the part back and forth to hit the end lines I had marked for the slot.

The curve was created by wetting down the part and then bending it and holding in position while I dried it with my heat gun.

The riser core is 1/8" ply. The two riser sides are 1/16" ply. And the gap cover is also 1/16" ply.

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Tom

Got the motor for my power pod yesterday. I ordered an eRC 15 from Hobby-Lobby. Am very happy with the fact that the color of the motor almost perfectly matches the color of the Monokote!

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Tom