Airrow

The aircraft starts out as a flat sheet of foamboard with thin plywood reinforcing strips stuck on each side.

This photo shows the simple, bent-wire gear screwed to the bottom of the structure. The bottom half of the elevon servos can also be seen protruding down through holes cut in the sheet.

This is a top-side photo, showing the three servos Only an HS55 for the throttle. Some simple woodwork to hold the servos in place.

Two wire/wood pushrods extend from the servos to the elevons, cut also from foam-board and tape-hinged to the rear of the delta!

Bolted to the front of the model is a brand new GMS .25 with a 9x6 prop attached. The 4 oz. fuel tank is directly behind it, held in place by #64 rubber bands.

Right behind the tank, and also held in with rubber bands is the FMA eXtreme 5 receiver.

You can't actually see it, because it is embedded in a hollowed out block of EPS, for it's own safety.

The short extension is in lieu of a switch. It is just waiting for me to plug in...

...the battery pack.

Servo-taped and cable-tied into place, this homebrew pack was positioned so as to set the CoG as desired. One sixth of MAC, according to Whitehead!

Here she is again, ready to go! She even looks like she might be fun to fly. I was somewhat dubious about her flyability, since I had no idea where to set the throws.

Sorry, but there are no in-air photos of the Airrow. Which pisses me off, because I particularly like to get at least one shot of my aircraft in the air!

I made three attempts to fly this model, and each lasted about ten seconds (if so long) and ended with a crash on the strip. When I made the first attempt, I realised this model has no rudder and no steerable nose or tail wheel, so a ROG was out of the question. Hand-launching ensued.

The three flights were essentially the same. In each case, the aircraft went away from the launch fairly flat and smooth. It was a little jerky on the sticks, but not out of control. Within a few seconds, though, as I eased back on the elevator, the engine lost power, and with nothing but a flat-plate wing section, the model immediately put it's nose down and went in.

This photo shows how after three crashes, her back was essentially broken.

This closeup shows that the foamboard was not simply creased, but actually torn and broken. Were it just a bad crease, I'd consider gluing in a reinforcing longeron on either side, but with it gone this far, I don't think it makes much sense.

As you can see, the lower reinforcing ply plate snapped right behind where it was peirced for the servos. I guess if I was a better designer, I would have realised that was a weak spot and extended the upper plate to full-length.

Well, she didn't fly, but the entire clubhouse enjoyed the attempt, and I did learn a few things. I'm not too unhappy. Here's hoping for better luck next time.