An idea for a simple shock absorber
I recently built Sig's Jenny JN4 ARF (HERE – look under "ARF Scale Models") which I'll review soon.
Pic courtesy of Sig Mfg
One of the things that intrigued me on this model was the landing gear:
This is designed to absorb shock – the thin struts flex and thereby act as shock absorbers – in use I found that they tended more to distort on a hard landing and I had to straighten them out, easy enough to do. However, I liked the idea and thought about amending it a bit to make it a real shock absorber – so I came up with this:
A side view shows the troika-like framework:
The idea is pretty simple – after bending the wire into a shape similar to the Jenny, I then added two struts which freely slide inside an aluminum tube:
I affixed the two sliding struts by soldering after wrapping the struts with copper wire – solder would not adhere to the piano wire gear, and I also wanted some flexing in the joints. On landing, the gear should absorb shock by sliding back:
Another wrinkle is to mount a rubber band so that it will absorb shock as well. I also used the copper-wrapping technique to hold the three parts of the landing gear together:
CONCLUSIONS
When the weather clears I'll set this experimental model up and see how effective the landing gear is – interesting to see what happens during inactive flying time due to weather.
NOTE: Ed was nice enough to send this note on soldering piano wire:
"How to solder piano wire:
First, sand the area to be soldered to remove any oils from the surface of the music wire.
Next purchase a bottle of Tinners Fluid – this is an acid which etches and cleans the music wire's surface and preps it for soldering. Use caution when using and follow the safety directions.
After wrapping the music wire with copper wire (Sig sells a 0.016 diameter soft copper wire for wrapping), clean the assembly with Tinners Fluid. It takes a LOT of heat to solder music wire – it does not asborb heat or hold it as quickly as copper wire.
Place the tip of your soldering iron on the music wire and place the solder on the copper wire windings at the opposite end from where you are applying heat. When the solder melts, it will flow to the soldering iron's tip and fill the spaces around the copper wire.
The secret to good soldering is clean surfaces and PLENTY of heat."
NOTE: This is a new site so please consider it a "work in progress". I would greatly encourage readers to send in articles for posting on AmpAviators. In contrast to a forum, finding articles of interest will be TONS easier here.
Shock Absorbing Landing Gear
An idea for a simple shock absorber
I recently built Sig's Jenny JN4 ARF (HERE – look under "ARF Scale Models") which I'll review soon.
One of the things that intrigued me on this model was the landing gear:
This is designed to absorb shock – the thin struts flex and thereby act as shock absorbers – in use I found that they tended more to distort on a hard landing and I had to straighten them out, easy enough to do. However, I liked the idea and thought about amending it a bit to make it a real shock absorber – so I came up with this:
A side view shows the troika-like framework:
The idea is pretty simple – after bending the wire into a shape similar to the Jenny, I then added two struts which freely slide inside an aluminum tube:
I affixed the two sliding struts by soldering after wrapping the struts with copper wire – solder would not adhere to the piano wire gear, and I also wanted some flexing in the joints. On landing, the gear should absorb shock by sliding back:
Another wrinkle is to mount a rubber band so that it will absorb shock as well. I also used the copper-wrapping technique to hold the three parts of the landing gear together:
When the weather clears I'll set this experimental model up and see how effective the landing gear is – interesting to see what happens during inactive flying time due to weather.
NOTE: Ed was nice enough to send this note on soldering piano wire:
"How to solder piano wire:
First, sand the area to be soldered to remove any oils from the surface of the music wire.
Next purchase a bottle of Tinners Fluid – this is an acid which etches and cleans the music wire's surface and preps it for soldering. Use caution when using and follow the safety directions.
After wrapping the music wire with copper wire (Sig sells a 0.016 diameter soft copper wire for wrapping), clean the assembly with Tinners Fluid. It takes a LOT of heat to solder music wire – it does not asborb heat or hold it as quickly as copper wire.
Place the tip of your soldering iron on the music wire and place the solder on the copper wire windings at the opposite end from where you are applying heat. When the solder melts, it will flow to the soldering iron's tip and fill the spaces around the copper wire.
The secret to good soldering is clean surfaces and PLENTY of heat."
NOTE: This is a new site so please consider it a "work in progress". I would greatly encourage readers to send in articles for posting on AmpAviators. In contrast to a forum, finding articles of interest will be TONS easier here.