Lee

What is the dihedral in inches on a 24 inch Snow ball at 150 degrees? I have been out of school too long to do the math!
Also on the engine mount I assume the 3" front 2.5 rear is without the "canopy" cover also do you dial in any bias up/down/right thrust?

Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by CaptPJB

What is the dihedral in inches on a 24 inch Snow ball at 150 degrees? I have been out of school too long to do the math!
Also on the engine mount I assume the 3" front 2.5 rear is without the "canopy" cover also do you dial in any bias up/down/right thrust?

If you use 1/2 inch foam to build the plane, the outside edge of the wing tip is 3" off the table.

The motor mount / radio box is measured without the canopy.

We are also experimenting with the EPP. We went to 1/2 inch foam because the 1.3# EPP foam was softer and was going to need more reinforcement. We have found that the 1.9# EPP is strong enough when it is only 3/8" thick saving 25% of the wing weight. We also have been discussing that the floats don't need to be so wide if the plane is not going to be flown off water.

That's just TOO COOL !!!!

I am finally getting some of the pictures posted and the first part of this thread organized. There should be more info and pictures most every day.

I have had several comments on the video. It was an interesting place to fly a plane like the Snowball. I was surprised that the Snowball did so well in the wind, rocks and weeds. I think the plane actually flies better with the floats.

The plane flew amazingly well in the wind. In a park on a calm day it flies like a stable trainer.

Lee

Super job Lee.... I have got to build new indoor plane....

Another video

Snowball ATV at Park 10-08 (3 min 59 sec)

Great work Lee!!! Looking forward to maybe a pdf plan, when you get to it.
Thanks...arniep
p.s. Have you tested it on water yet? How 'steerable' is it on the ground?

I'm going to keep an eye on this one. I just might have to add one of these to my collection.
My wife will be absolutely THRILLED!!!

Lee, I have been considering modifying one of my nutballs to have another NB Delta. However the skis are intriguing for grass. I wonder how this would be just making some removable skis as opposed to removable wheeled landing gear. The capricorn has strengh in its "w" shape, I am a little concerned putting skis out on depron or dollar tree foam on a flat foam wing without the great properties of epp and doing the hard touch and goes like in your last video. However, that would put the drag and weight of the skis well below the wing which might have some adverse affects to rolls. I really like to ROG, and grass is so much more giving than concrete. Very interesting indeed for all kinds of planes, not just a nutball. I was also wondering if you had tried tricycle floats with one in front and two in the rear? It also seems like someone did this on a video sometime ago in a superfly modified with a rudder. Found the video-- https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=1150

Any thoughts?

We have always added and removed floats and skis from our aircraft depending on the season here in Utah.

Some of our planes fly better with floats and skis than they do without. The big problems occur if the plane isn't designed to carry the weight or you shift center of gravity.

Try it and shoot some video. We would love to see what you come up with.

The tricycle landing gear adds weight to the rear of the plane. I have built fiberglass high performance gliders that have wire skids at the tips to protect the wing on landing.

I had the same thoughts you are considering when I designed and built the Snowball. The big problem is prop clearance.

I know you will probably cover this when you you fill in the section on motor mounts but I have to ask now......Using the motor mount as outlined in this thread it appears that from the photo's that the motor is mounted in the same plane as the motor mount with no mention of any down or right bias thrust?

So is the angle on the motor mount sufficient from the mount itself ? It also appears from the photo's that the motor is mounted only 75% in contact the base itself with 25% up on the "canopy" area? Or perhaps this is just a photo angle or is it a function of prop clearance and can be adjusted as required as long as the motor is secured sufficiently with the same prop angle from the base?

The motor is angled up about 4 degrees. Look and the motor information on the Capricorn Evolution Tutorial at

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...=898958&page=3

In this case both planes are designed the same.

I have to admit the motor angles are not what I thought they would be before I got into these projects.

The latest motor radio box is 6" long and 3" tall at the front and 2.5" tall at the back. The top of the motor mount is buried level in the top of the foam. There is no right or left thrust built in.

My latest Snowball has a slightly taller floats and higher motor mount to get the prop out of the deep grass, rocks and mud and weeds.



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Oops

Hi Lee:

Next time, let's see her spin.

Point the nose up, then give full down and left rudder at the same time, bet ya can't count that fast. For low level snaps, just do the same, only for one rotation.

Frank

Here is a slide show that I tried to post before but Vimeo and my program couldn't decide on a format. It has a little jazz in the background for all you cultured people out there.

Parasails and Snowballs (5 min 11 sec)