Looking Like an Airplane
With the oak pollen hitting full force this weekend, it was a great time to stay in and work on the plane some. I decided in the interest of cost, timeline, and simplicity that I would keep this plane a glider, saving the resources for future projects. Next will come some basic glide tests to set up proper center-of-gravity, as well as to gauge stability, then the ArduPilot and camera instillation.
Things that I have learned so far from this project:
1) In the words of pretty much every single middle school shop teacher: measure twice, cut once. Working with photoshop and flash all day gets you in the bad habbit of relying on an “undo button”, turns out roughing out a cut and then trimming it down requires alot more time and wastes supplies too.
2) When trying to develop a new skill, go out on a limb. This can be especially true for learning things like how to apply Monokote – all the manuals and tutorials in the world will not preparing you like just trying it does. Make a test area, or try it out on a not-as-critical area first. Square, flat, and small-er sections are great to experiment on. I think that we are becoming overly-reliant on pre-built solutions. Although you can be mostly sure that the “ready to fly” park flyer foam plane will work out of the box, you are missing out on half of the fun!
3) Ability may come from inspiration, but craftsmanship comes from practice. There are imperfections in the structure, the Monokote is warped in places, and some of the cosmetic details are slightly less than pretty, but by the time I was getting to the last cross members or final film coat, I had done it enough to feel confident that the next one I build will be a great deal better – and even more so for the one after that. Just like you learned in school that a good scientific experiment only has one variable, when it comes to building an airplane, it’s best to take as many variables out as possible. If you are new to the building aspect, start with a proven design!