How to hook-up an Indoor FF model airplane

Free Flight Indoor By John Kagan As seen in the October 2011 issue of Model Aviation. If you are looking for a dating guide, this is the wrong column. But, if you want a rundown on how to get a tightly wound motor onto a fragile Indoor Free Flight (FF) model, you’ve come to the right place. Some of the techniques I’ll describe aren’t absolutely required for events such as Limited Pennyplane, which uses fairly robust models, but it’s worthwhile to build them into your program if you intend to move on to more fragile categories at some point. Early in my F1D career, mentor Gary Underwood conveyed the value of having a strict process for handling delicate models. After you iron out the details, following the same set of steps will reduce the chance of running into unexpected problems. Mentor Steve Brown then showed me that details matter, and anything you can do to eliminate potential catastrophes is time well spent. Getting five or six consecutive good flights is hard enough without the complications of hangar rash. A post on one of the Indoor FF forums asked about the details of winding off the airplane and getting the wound motor back on. Watching some of the amateurs struggle a little during the recent LPP Pro/Am competition at the Indoor FF Nats also showed that this is a topic worth discussing.

The author’s hook-up technique includes starting with the propeller end first. The model stand is out of harm’s way and the airplane is clear of all obstacles. Photo by Gary Underwood. To begin, you need someplace to put your model while you wind. Dropping it on a table covered with pointy glue bottles, scissors, and other hazards isn’t a good idea. Build yourself a nice model stand (a topic that I’ll delve into in a future column), and position it close enough to reach comfortably, but out of harm’s way in case you break a motor while winding. I have a portable winding setup built into my F1D box. The model stand is at the rear corner of the box and positions the airplane behind and above the winding area on your table. The large face on my torque meter does a good job shielding the aircraft from broken motors. The location of your winding area on your table will depend on how you prefer to hold the model when you hook up. You will grasp the propeller hook in one hand and the end of the motor in the other. If you like to hold the propeller hook in your right hand, then your winding area should be set up on the right side of the table. This will allow you to hold the model clear of the table and away from hazards. If you like to hold the propeller hook in your left hand, put your winding area on the left side of the table. The rest of the description will assume holding the propeller hook in your right hand; reverse as required. Your winding stooge should have a torque meter (an essential piece of equipment) to hold one end of the motor. For the other end, most people use some kind of lock on their winder to keep it from spinning off turns when they let go of the handle, along with a method of securing the winder to the table or stooge. I use a slightly different variation, transferring the motor from the winder to a hook on my stooge. At this point you will have just completed winding the motor (a process covered in a previous column). It has been stressful and mentally draining in direct proportion to the importance of the flight and the fragility of the model you are about to fly. If it isn’t, you aren’t winding hard enough. Relax, take a deep breath, stretch, and dry off your hands. Now, get your model, taking care not to drag your stabilizer through the stand. If possible, lay your stand flat on the table. Otherwise it’s a tall aircraft hazard minus the warning lights. If your model has a rolled motorstick, this is the time to position the blast shield to protect it in case the motor breaks during hook up. Grasp the propeller hook between your right thumb and index finger. It is a good idea to get used to reaching your fingers around both sides of the propeller spar and holding the propeller shaft and hook, rather than holding the spar directly. Stout LPP propellers will handle the stress without complaint, but the complex, variable-geometry propeller mechanisms used on F1Ds probably won’t. I orient the flat part of my propeller hook so that when I reach past the spar and hold the hook between my fingertips, the propeller spar clears my fingers. Grab one of your propellers by the hook and you’ll see what I mean. Hold your airplane off to the side of your winding stooge, keeping the stabilizer well clear of all obstacles. Position your body so that you aren’t tempted to run the rear end of the model back into something stationary. It is not uncommon to see someone so focused on getting the motor onto the propeller hook that they don’t notice their stabilizer twisting and breaking as they ram it into the table. Remove the rear end of the motor from the stooge using your left hand. You will hook up the propeller end of the airplane first. Do not try to hook the motor to the back end of the airplane while you hold the front end—lighter motorsticks aren’t designed to handle that kind of load and will collapse in dramatic fashion. Keep the length of the motor constant as you move the front end over to the propeller hook. Stretching it longer will add stress to an already close-to-the-limit motor and increase the chance of it breaking. Letting it pull shorter will stack up the knots and can cause the same problem when you stretch it back out to fit between the hooks on the model. Motors can break at any time, but they usually seem to break either while winding or while hooking up. Keeping the motor length constant will reduce the chance of the latter. Another reason to keep the motor length constant is to preserve the benefit of backing off. Backing off reduces the peak portion of the torque curve, leaving the valuable flat section. Winding to peak torque and backing down produces better times than simply winding up to the same number of turns. Manipulating the motor after turns have been backed off can change the torque curve back to that of a motor that was simply wound up to the given number of turns. Connect the O-ring to the propeller hook.(You are using O-rings, right?) Once it is in place, grasp the O-ring and propeller hook between your right thumb and index finger. Hold the bottom part of the hook to avoid contacting the motorstick with your fingertips. This will help prevent crushing the stick or tearing off the propeller hanger. Reach back to remove the rear end of the motor from the torque meter. Move it up to the model, again keeping the motor length constant. Connect it to the rear hook on the motorstick and you are ready to go. This may seem like a lot of detail to remember, but it will quickly become habit and will help prepare you for more advanced events. Give it a try! Brett Sanborn aims for a place on another F1D World Championship team. Note the blast shield in place. Photo by Kang Lee. SOURCES: National Free Flight Society (NFFS)
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