RC-Captain

I hate snow especially since I got into RC planes. So I decided not to fight it but join it and made skis out of coro. It wasn't hard at all especially when I'm jonesing to fly this weekend. The pick is below enjoy.

exeter_acres

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What size/weight plane is that on?

They look good

RC-Captain

Thanks exeter_acres, the plane I'm going to use them with is a Megatech Airstrike trainer. the weight of this plane is about 5 lbs. which I'm currently using a OS .46FX engine. I think they will work but I'm just worrying about the wind pushing them up do to poor aerodynamics. If the work then I just saved $30.00. Dubro make skis but sell them 2 in a pack and 1 in the pack.

exeter_acres

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I made mine out of plexiglass... work great....

I think yours will work, but they may be a bit short for a .46 size plane......

I learned that you have to be pretty exact landing with skiis, but it is fun!!

RC-Captain

Plexiglass isn't a bad idea. At first I was going to buy them then I thought why not try to make them . Do you have pics of yours ? and you may be right , the plane may be kind of heavy for mine but I'm hoping at 8:00 AM in the morning the top of the snow will be crusty and frozen. ROG's should not be to hard to do on an ice coating surface.

exeter_acres

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Here is a pic.....

they are 9.5 inches from tip to tail...we made the mount out of light weight aluminium.... they are hard mounted versus flexible, so I need to be careful and get my landings right.... they have proven very good.... broke one on a hard landing, made a new one in about 1/2 hr and riveted it on and wnet back flying.........


for size...this is a Thunder Tiger Lazy P-51 .25 size airplane............

for a .46 size I would make them about 12 inches or so long....
mine are 2.5 inches wide.......

Hope that helps

RC-Captain

Very nice , so you are telling me they don't move when you fly ? I used rubber bands to pull either end back to original positon when landing . Tommorrow will be the true test. I will let you know how it goes.

exeter_acres

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no, they do not move...they are hard mounted..... works for me.... several flights with perfect take offs and landings....


Good flying. I'm hoping to fly tomorrow too!!

RC-Captain

WoW I just looked that plane up online and I think I mat get it. Now fill me in . How is the gliding and why didn't you use the required .25 engine ?

exeter_acres

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I do have a .25 in it... and it floats.....and floats....and floats....but still quite fun in the air

RC-Captain

Dude please forgive me . I mis-read your post. But don' tget me wrong I want the plane to glide , makes for better landings. Thanks for the info.

RC-Captain

Ok , I tried the skis today and they worked ok . I didn't get of the ground do to the snow being soft and the down , right thrust of the engine. So I'm in the LAB right now making wider skis. More surface should make it more controllable on the soft snow. I will post pics soon.

RC-Captain

I'm just now getting back to this post after this past weekend and I have remodified the skis to wider base shape.

I was able to break ground but I had to rev the engine high holding the tail then let it go . It has a signifacant lift do to the skis but trim will correct the problem.

When landing if you have never flown with flaps , you may want to practice air landings. Imagine a landing strip 50 up in the air and try to hit it ....

The first time I tried the plane stalled , I didn't get any damage but it was rough. The second time I nailed ht e landing , but to no surprise the plane just went nose over in the snow . I should have applied more throttle to make the plane land softer.

Well the pics are below , enjoy

johnboyrc

I thought about making skis last winter, then thought about the projects I have going on... I bought the dubros, and love them. Just like any other ski, you will sink in soft snow, and must keep a bit of power when landing. I use just the main pair, but if I wanted I could get two nose skis. They may cost a lot, but from my experience, they were worth every penny. Our club had a winter event a couple of weeks ago, and quite a few members liked how well the skis were (anything was better than small wheels).
You may be right about making your own skis and getting a better tailored fit, but I'd rather fly... I worry about making the skis wide though -more drag/lift. I would think a longer ski would be better. As far as tracking goes, a fin on the bottom of the ski really helps.

RC-Captain

johnboyrc, The dubros will be bought but in do time, money gets tight some times. I agree I would rather just fly too instead of making stuff. Also I am just experimenting with the Coroplas, because I just got into building SPAD planes.

I have to do more modifications to both sets of skis I have fabricated. I beleive I can shape the coro to over come the soft snow problem.

exeter_acres

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Tend to agree...I would make them longer too....

let us know how the testing goes!

BiplaneCrasher

I hope you dont mind my help with this topic.

Last season (winter) I was way dedicated to flying.. As long as it was above 25deg f and it was not raining I would be out flying. I did not fly my heli in the cold, and planes were difficult because your fingers turned into chop sticks. I am not that dedicated anymore. I've not flown since October.

As far as the skis go. the Dubro skis work fine. They help in a multitude of situations. They are easy to set up, bthey don't have too much drag, and they come up to plane quickly. I flew mostly off of powder with these skis on my Ultra Stick and had a ball. A buddy and I even had races with the main wing removed and tore a** across the field at full throttle. Great fun!

They also do great for carrier landings!!!!

exeter_acres

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Wow.....nice "landing" Ummm...you were trying to hang it up there......right?

RC-Captain

Not at all thanks for your help. I will purchase skis one day but since I was building a SPAD I fiqured why not just invent some. They are not perfected yet but I was able to ROG with the second set I made.

Ummmm please tell me your plane is not stuck on electrical wiring ? [:@]