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After sharing Squirrels with his school, Dinkar has brought his Squirrels to his home town in India for the holiday. He is sharing them there with another school teacher Dilip. Anybody want to make a donation to send a box to Dilip? Contact me or follow this button.
I’ve been sending planes out to many places but lately I met Dinkar from India who is a very innovative and passionate teacher. He’s been very successful at sharing them with kids (and adults). I’m finding this very inspiring since this was the original motive for the Squirrel project. Sharing. I just received this picture from Niels of Germany. He says in August they are doing a holiday and will send some flying reports. I know Squirrels have been popular in Germany for quit some time.
Picnic season is here! If your floating around Ottawa and are looking for something that’s frugal and fun (not to mention educational), why not make some rubber-power planes with the kids? We will wave delivery charges locally and you can have them very quickly. As you can see below I am using my bike to deliver them myself. I can show you how to make them too.
Here’s Leighton with his new Squirrel! I’m looking forward to some flying reports and video!
I received these photos from my new friend Dinkar in India. He introduced the Squirrel model airplane project to teachers who are in training.
Here are some lovely pictures from Dinkar in India.
I was invited to help kids make some Squirrels at a school. My contact Robert had an innovative idea of using an overhead projector and a camera so the kids could see the steps close up. This is a brilliant idea and is much better than the way I was doing it. I think with some refinement this could be the ultimate technique.
As you can see below, it was a large group!
There are a variety of materials that work for this. I have been giving it as prizes to kids and I have prepared another batch. I think this is a great way to reward kids that attend model airplane workshops.
Balsa is tricky business. It varies in weight and structural characteristics. Also the wood can be warped or even brittle. Sometimes it’s so dense you can’t cut it. Sometimes it’s lighter than foam and if you bend it, it shatters like glass. Balsa companies cut it with varying degrees of precision. They cut with different grain orientations. I’m am exploring some other materials to be used in conjunction with balsa or to replace balsa. They include paper, foam, depron, tissue, cedar and other woods. I’m looking at some plastics as well. I’ll be sharing my adventures with materials here. Stay tuned! I was just cruising around the internet and came across this interesting plane. It grabbed my attention because it has Squirrel winglets on it.
Here’s a Squirrel along site a Clound Tramp. I’m assuming this is Brazil since the site is in Portuguese.
I have been corresponding with Dinkar who has been making Squirrels and so forth from scratch in India. He has making model planes as a school project. I sent him a box a while back which was not received yet. So I decided to send his next box now so he won’t have to wait as long. I included a hand full of Squirrels a winder and some lubrication for the rubber. This will go in the mail tomorrow as soon as the post office opens. The first box has a hand full of Squirrels so they can get them going and have fun with hand winding. This box will move them to the next level.
My new friend Dinkar who is a school teacher from India sent me these pictures today. He made these wings out of thin bamboo. He says they didn’t work and he feels it’s because the bamboo was too thin. It’s pretty clear he is resourceful and I’m sure the kids are excited about this project. They should be receiving their genuine Squirrel kits in the mail any day now. I hope they enjoy them! If anybody would like to donate, I’ll send them another box of goodies.
A Squirrel can fly quite well with simple hand winding. Here is a nice flight from last summer that was done with hand winding. Once you have your Squirrel tuned up nicely you can make it fly longer using the following techniques.
This alone will allow the elastic band to take more winding. This reduces the friction on the surface of the elastic. The elastic will also last longer. 2) You can use a mechanical winder to “stretch wind” the elastic. Here is a video of myself stretch winding a Squirrel. As you can see I have hooked the propeller onto a stationary “winding stooge”. I then take the knot end of the elastic and stretch it (it is still hooked onto the back of the propeller). The winder is used to wind up the elastic very quickly and as the tension builds up I am letting the elastic pull me in towards the model. Once it is wound up enough, I am unhooking the elastic from the winder and then hooking it onto the hook at the back of the model. 3) You can wind the elastic considerably more with these techniques. The rubber that comes with the Squirrel can take about 97 turns per inch before breaking if it is well lubricated and stretch wound. So if the elastic is 8 inches that comes to 776 turns. 9 Inches comes to 873 turns. You’ll want to use about 80 percent of the maximum since the rubber is stressed out quite a bit above 80 percent and will not last very long. The Squirrel should also work well with an elastic that is as long as 15 inches. That’s a 30″ loop tied. That can accept 1455 turns. Also a slightly thinner elastic will accept more turns (but it will not provide as much torque) for the propeller. You can shave some of the plastic off the flat surface of the propeller to make it lighter. Some of the motor stick can be removed sometimes as well to save weight. If you do all that you may be able to get the Squirrel to run on 3/32″ rubber instead of the 1/8″ standard. 3/32″ Rubber can take 129 turns per inch. So a 15″ loop can take 1935 turns. 4) If you don’t wait too long after winding I find it helps a bit sometimes as well. 5) In an indoor environment it helps if your plane has a gentle turn. As you can see in the video below it allows the plane to keep flying without hitting anything. |
What's special?
"Squirrel is a great flyer, requiring no experience or special tools. I hope it gives you a lifetime of enjoyment!" Turn a picnic into a riot of fun! Indoor and outdoor! Classroom friendly! Liven the office! Evolve patience
"I love this design, and because it is so quick to build, I used it in my 8th grade report on rubber powered model aircraft where I built one in front of the audience. Thanks for such a great design!" -- Jordan Loreto, San Clemente, California
"Thank you! You do not know how happy I was when I made it fly. All the neighbors out to see the Squirrel." -- Eduardo Bitencort, Brazil
"We got some excellent feedback from our other pack leaders on your Squirrel Air Plane kits. He said you did a fantastic job of helping them build the planes. It looks like an exciting craft and flying experience!" -- Brian Gunther, 1st Stittsville Wolf Cub Pack, Ottawa, ON
"Thank you Darcy for your unbridled, uncomplicated, straightforward, heartfelt enthusiasm! I love your wonderful energy to making this flight for the Leadership Ottawa cohort a unique one... thank you for reminding everyone that powered by imagination the sky is truly the limit...! " -- Bart Baaker, Leadership Ottawa |
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