Squirrel made front cover of Mecatronica magazine in Brazil.
Squirrels makes front cover of a magazine!
Monthly Archives: November 2006
Model Airplane Report
This was sent in by Chuck Young.
Professor Emeritus (Geophysical Engineering)
Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Michigan
Technological University Houghton, MI 49931 USA
Ken Fisher (about 83 years old!) working with students
Craig Kimmer working with students
Teacher Deb Sage and students
dramatic launch in auditorium
moment of release in auditorium
dramatic followthrough/victory dance
in flight in the auditorium
Model airplane experimentation in BC
Subject: My pet Squirrel
Hi:
I thought you’d get a kick of of my rendition of your interesting plane. This one is 10 grams, and has a 12 in. wingspan with a 2 in. chord. The only prop I had on hand was a 9 in. hand carved model, and it is way too much for this little plane. It was hilarious to see the results of a too-big prop. After about 200 winds, I let ‘er rip. The plane rocketed up about 20 ft. and began doing a twirling tail dance. The prop was obviously turning the plane. A small(about
5 in.) prop is forthcoming, as is a 28 in. wingspan model, currently on the building board. Thanks for giving me an enjoyable few hours away from the building of my unlimited rubber job.
Cheers
George Clarke
Science Class Project
From: Charles T Young
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 6:24 AM
Subject: squirrels at Houghton Middle School
Hi Darcy:
We* are building Squirrels in the Houghton, Michigan 7th grade middle school science class. We are devoting three class days to the project, and have completed the second day. Most all the Squirrels are flying today. We will devote the third day to fun flying in the school auditorium and some scientific measurements such as the relation between the number of turns and the flight duration. As you know, the construction involves a lot of following directions and manual dexterity in building. We found a pack of tissue in many bright colors at the local Dollar Store.
We will send you some photos.
*”We” are Chuck Young, Craig Kimmer and Ken Fisher, the remnants of the local RC club.
Notes after the last day: We had some contests: longest distance, greatest time in the air, most acrobatic etc. So, some kids that had corkscrew flight paths thought it was great fun, etc. Greatest casualities are the glue joints in the wing corners and breakage of the wing leading and trailing edges. Craig and Ken staffed the repair station. We may make it a point next year to have the students read and follow your written directions carefully rather than rely on our spoken instructions.
We sighted an airplane lodged in the rafters of the auditorium since last year. It has been there all year, so everyone who has sat in the auditorium could see it.
Chuck Young