Giant Rubber-Band Plane
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2022
- Links to plans for rubber band powered plane - store.projectair.co.uk/produc... ... More below!
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You could vary the run times of each rubber band to create a sort of staging for each motor. For example, if the central motors had a duration of a few seconds, they would dump a lot of energy at the start, from which the plane could then coast, running off lower output from the other (longer duration) motors. Kind of like how rollercoasters often add all their energy in one go at the start of the ride! Excellent video as always!
Love the staging idea! Can't wait to see whether it's incorporated!
Hi Dodgy Engineer (lol cool name) was thinking something similar. Motors firing off in pairs
But he said it didn't have enough power to climb with all engines running (so only just flying really) and props not running are a massive drag and dead weight.
Longer rubber motors are the way to get longer flights and maybe over winding...
gives me an idea, what if he could vary the stretch lengths with a servo, maybe that could be a simple way to have some control over thrust without too much loss due to friction.
or even better, use another elastic band to keep tension on the twisted one while it is unwinding!
All too heaving and overly complicated. The key is to build it light. Use a longer motors and bigger rubber cross sections does essentially the same thing.
As a 77 year old I well remember rubber powered planes, I also remember my dad telling me about lubricating the rubber with BANANA OIL ! yes there is or at least was such a thing. I tried it and it as I remember worked really well. I suppose it lowers the internal friction between the bands.
I used baby powder on mine.
I used to use green dish soap. But I’m sure banana oil smelled better. ;-)
Or silicone
Glycerine is best. It reduces the friction between the strands of rubber allowing them to slide over each other. You’ll get more winds on too. Keeping the rubber cool will give better performance also. Leaving it in the sun to get warm reduces its performance.
Just don't use mineral oil or cooking oil of any kind. they will soften and weaken natural rubber. Castor oil is fine, though. It is chemically different than most plant oils.
It always brightens my day when James uploads.
ikr
☺️☺️
same
Especially after a long day!
@@whitemonk369 he is flying it at a field I'm pretty sure it's not his house
Super satisfying, well done! I used to build little rubber band powered planes from kits when I was a kid and this is the best possible evolution of that I could have imagined!
That's cool! Yes same here!
@@Project-Air a r s e n a l b I r d
Good comment
❤🎉🎉😊
If you really want to get into the weeds of rubber power, have a look at what some of the indoor free-flight people are doing. Not everything they do would carry over, but a couple things from when I built rubber planes in high school:
- lubricating your rubber bands somehow is important, find something that doesn't damage the rubber though. It lets you wind it up much more before they start breaking.
- pre-stretch your rubber bands: I would always cut them to ~1.5 times the length of the mounting points, and then before I start winding, pull the rubber bands back until they're stretched to ~3x their unstretched length. This lets you get a lot more winds/flight time, at some reduction in instantaneous power.
Really excited to see you continue working on this project! best of luck
Fantastic video 👏
hello other diy youtuber i love watching
Thanks guys!
@@Project-Air vjr
You are the best @@Project-Air
@@Project-Airso what your saying is that all I need to do is say FANTASTIC VIDEO and I,ll get a reply?
Somehow I got down the rabbit hole on YT and watching all these model airplane videos. I used to fly 30 years ago, and I noticed that foamboard and hot glue is a very popular manufacturing method. Surprising. Hot glue seems REALLY heavy vs CA glue and foam board is heavier than balsa/tissue.
The upside is it's really really fast in comparison.
@@zogworth for sure initial build time is quicker, but if you're doing repair after repair, might not be as efficient as it first seems.
Awesome work! You really make me want to build one myself and join the challenge.
Do it! Try doing a 3D printed rubber powered airplane.
Wow cnc kitchen! Let's gooo
That would be great to see Stefan! I think you should!
Very cool! I'd forgotten playing with rubber band plane kits when I was a kid.
Minimize friction! Add bearings or save weight with bushings and graphite lubricant. Love this project! Great video as always!
A standard trick to increase the runtime taken from rubber driven boats is to make one of the connection point flex so that the tension in the rubber band stay more constant.
That’s genius
Cool video! A couple of thoughts :
-Depron is waterproof, you may consider using it in the future (but it's expensive
-using thinner foamay lead to a lower all up weight and therefore more performance, at the department store I've found a very thin type of foam that it very brittle used to insulate floors, but laminating it with some packing tape solves it.
This reminded me of The Great Egg Race (BBC Two TV show in the 1980s). The original challenge was to make a wheeled contraption powered by a standard rubber band to transport a hens egg as far as possible. From memory, the key to great distances was using a fusee to even-out the release of energy from the rubber band.
fusee to even-out the release of energy from the rubber band
more info if you could please :)
@@littlehills739 When a watch spring is tightly wound, or a rubber band is tightly stretched (or twisted), they want to release a lot of energy in a short time at the start. Mechanically, this is because the exert a bigger force when tightly wound, compared to later when they are partly unwound. The fusee is like a kind of continuously variable gearing that slows down the release of energy at the start, and then make the release of energy easier (through mechanical advantage) later on.
@@JohnTelford1 fusee in clock making nice thank you for helping
Have you thought about stretching the bands, rather than twisting them? You could connect it up to a 3D printed gearbox, getting more power and runtime with only a single prop. You might be able to use much stronger bands, and also have a faster reset time between flights.
as an engineering student thankyou for the website! always need more CAD files and interesting designs!
Brilliant. Great work. I love to see how you work through problems. Great British engineering is alive and well. I also love that Tom Stanton is one of your supporters. Keep it going and smash that record! Maybe if your viewers have some similar projects you could have a "Fly off " day and smash some records between you ? The Great British Rubber Band Fly-Athon! TGBRBFAT.....
7:05
ProjectAir: we didn't have a helper on this day for the wooden chucks
Cameraman: Ummm, maybe I can help
Camera tripod: Sorry, this is my day off. I'm not holding the camera for you 😂
Rather than twisting the elastic bands around, it may be more effecient for the elastics to pull and use linkages to get the pull to a rotational motion.
However, I dont know how the extra weight would affect its flight time.
Nonetheless, cool project-keep the work up!
The elastics could be wrapped around a small drum on, or via a simple gear reduction to, the prop shafts and anchored to a point somewhere beside the drum. Fairly lightweight and directly translates the linear stretch into rotational motion. I think this would be neat because a person can vary the tension that gets wound onto the drum with each turn, too!
every conceivable design has been tried and tested over and over nothing is more effective and efficient than this design
the twisting is pulling it.
@@cayenne7792 true but my 600mm single F1B prop would destroy those puny little things
Always remember that any landing you can walk away from is a good landing, therefore all unmanned aircraft landings are good landings. I think this project is awesome!
Something I've noticed is that, bigger props with lower rpms are usually more efficient... instead of moving a bit of ar at a high speed, moving a bigger mass at lower speed should increase the runtime...
Yes, you have to balance it with the kind of rubber you have, though. Thickness/linear density, length, and quality all play a big roll. The condition's this rubber were being subjected to were not the best, no o-ring, no lubrication, and poor weather. What you are describing if perfect for F1D where it can take thousands of winds, but those planes are build for only the most controlled environments.
This was a pleasure to watch. Also, nice work on the kits, they look very thought out and professional!
Great project! Great how it flies! Because of the world record, my idea would be that you take the double number of propells with engines, but when starting only half activated and the other half only when the other engines are empty.
8:48 That flight was absolutely BEAUTIFUL
Can't wait to see V2! Hoping to see a fusee or some other clever solution.
Could you do a staged approach? So like 4 engines start immediately and 4 to increase endurance?
Had to watch this again man. Your storytelling is really impressive and keeps me engaged throughout the whole video
I guess you could say it wasn't *plane!*
This RUclips channel is the embodiment of because I can
There is a fine line between genius and madness... then again, some things are just crazy!
those virtual kits look really cool
definitely gonna see what you have
Rubber band airplanes were a childhood favorite, I liked the prop release system
Thanks Joel
@@Project-Air Have you thought of part two with a catapult launch? Use surgical tubing.
Lol, I thought I was dreaming. Turns out it's real. I love the NASA hat. So sick!
The key is the rubber band tension... you're on to something with making your own but can you make them stronger? Congratulations on your great achievements.
It shouldn't be too hard to add pushher motors to the nacelles too.
Also maybe consider thrust lines and a staged motor release. (Could have initial motors set for climb, and others for sustainment.)
Staged motors would only help if he has excess thrust/power.
Brilliant!!!
Come on guys let's smash that like button and comment on this video, if we support this brilliant creator, he will have the financials and freedom to create more epic content for us..win win:)
Great project. I can't believe the record is only about 30 seconds. A bit of inovation and I'm sure that Project Air can win it.
This system with 4 servos is great idea!!!
Fascinating stuff, James! As a flight-mad kid in the 1960s, I went through a pretty fair batch of rubber-powered balsa aircraft, which no doubt planted the seed for my later RC activities. There’s a lot of enjoyment in extracting maximum performance from minimal equipment. And yeah, when I saw the thumbnail for this vid, my first question was, “How is he going to release all those motors at once?” Nice solution! Now you can attack the issue shared with EVs… maximum range with minimum charge time. ;-) Cheers as always from Missouri, USA.
Would 4 much larger slower turning and thus longer running proper be a better option?
Yes
Finally another airplane video, ngl it's pretty good 👏👏
Brings back memories of making Keil Craft rubber powered model aircraft with my dad, we made a Piper Comanche, a Piper Grasshopper, and of course, a Spitfire.
Never heard of Keil craft . It’s Keil Kraft.
Thank you for making the Website with the plans 😊 now I have a good project to build with my little brothers 😁
That’s awesome to hear! I hope you have fun with it!
Fantastic work, James!!! 😃
Looking forward to see what you do next!
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Your vids always put a big grin on my face. Love em. Reminds me of Sunday morning meet ups on the weaver Hills where we used to slope soar our sljngsby capstans. Happy days ... 🇬🇧
DIY is my favorite form of art. That's why I love these your excellent videos. Keep up the good work James👍
You should try counter rotating props for each side. That seems to be a simple mod that might improve stability.
Awesome dude!! Im thinking about increase the flying time, so, could that plane flight with only 4 propellers? cause alternating the propeller block when the first 4 run out of energy, release the other 4... Could work? Hugs from Canary Islands!
Drag from the stationary props could become a problem don't you think? Longer elastics would help, but the ways he runs them currently, he would have to add longer spars, which adds more weight. I wonder how much a tiny 90° bevel gear at each prop would weigh? It would let him run a much longer elastic under the wing, and if it's a torque reduction, he could beef them up as well, and get longer runtime that way too.
An absolutely brilliant experiment with rubber power NICE 1👌.
Perfect example of never ever giveup🎉👏👏
You get 10000 thumbs up on this one buddy! Terrific engineering!
Nicely done! Love your persistence and adaptability. Try, determine result, adjust, try again until you succeed. That's how the Brothers did it. Many of us have continued this engineering method and you are doing well too. Keep up the good work and inspiring others.
top plane design and flight! propellors that fold back would reduce drag at the end of the flight, and might lead to a more smooth landing. cheers!
It actually sound like an old prop plane because of the rubber hitting the struts. Amazing!
Really cool! How come you're not using a single servo for pin release? I imagine you could have one servo for the pins, and use two more for control surfaces (rudder and elevators, or even elevons) for a total of three servos, to add some control and potentially increase fight time.
I love rubber band plans, but could you make a plane that is powered with cpu fans plzzz
Peter Shirol? Has made one. Made man carrying EV plane too.
@@alwayscensored6871 Project air
could make better version of it
long awaited video🙂
Have you thought of using those big bands you get on slingshots? You can store a lot of energy in those things.
Check out my new Project Air kits here! store.projectair.co.uk
Oh hell yeah i’ve been waiting for this
hell yeah! this sounds really cool (also maybe pin the comment? :) )
GutFeeling(tm) says that pulling (rather than rotational) tension is more energy efficient, and can easy add more stored energy into the system.
Awesome video, well done!
Link returns to this video :(
Had a random thought about rubber band planes. Could you try attaching a band to an adjustable rail or screw shaft, geared up to the rotation of the prop and use the rotation to stretch the band as it unwinds?
The purpose of this would be to increase the efficiently at which the planes uses the stored energy, perhaps extracting a little more than it otherwise would and maybe increasing the time a loft.
a much lighter way to do that would be to use a second elastic band set up to just provide linear tension, or even an alternative setup of the rubber band, where the loop forms a triangle with one point on the prop and 2 on the body, so winding also makes use of linear tension.
@@sperzieb00n or have a longer single band it is more efficient
Amazing job it looks like the Wright Brothers aeroplane
I’m a rubber powered freeflight guy, and this is pretty interesting. First though, you’re leaving tons of rubber performance on the table. It appears you are using 1/4” tanII super sport (the good stuff), so from the turns per inch of loop table we get 69, and assuming your loop length is 18” that’s a maximum of over 1200 turns per motor. The torque skyrockets as you near max turns but even winding to 80% you should be safe at around 1000 turns per motor, more than 3x what you said you were using. You might consider fewer motors and bigger props, but the winder you are using won’t handle a cross section much more than you have.
He does not seem to have any lubricant either
"prevaricating" new word of the day!
That noise from the on board cam sounded great
idea: separate the plane into 2 stages, controlled by the releasers, first start the center 4 motors with the center 2 releasers then later do the edge 4 motors, this should double the duration and break the 30 second barrier
Brilliant, it reminds me of Howard Hughes' 'Spruce Goose' !
This is the best time to log on ! James upload!!!
Bring back the old memories
You can get a LOT more power from a rubberband engine if you slather the strands of rubber with glycerine. We built a boat with 8 twelve-strand by 18" motors driving two counter-rotating props. It could go the length of a swimming pool in under two seconds from a standing start. We wound the engines to triple-knots and when we tried it with dry strands the rubber bands melted when we released the props. Saturating them with glycerine freed them up to where they could unwind without melting.
Even more with Rx silicone oil
Mark my words, this video will get 10 mil views.
This was actually quite impressive! I wouldn’t have expected such a flight from a rubber powered bird
It made a lovely sound when all props were spinning
It did!
Soaking the rubber bands in castor oil helps out a lot. It improves their durability considerably.
Awesome project, really nice 👍
this is definitely not the largest plane because in our aircraft modelling club back in 90's we had standard schematics for rubberband planes of approximately that size.
the trick to storing more energy is definitely not using more rubberband engines, it's using much longer and much thicker rubberband threads. we used to have a glass fiber pole as a frame with length of about 2m and about 0.5cm^2 rubberband.
another important thing is to make the prop foldable (backwards) so that once the plane reaches its height it folds and does not produce extra resistance. the engine works for about half a minute and its glide time depends on your skill and where you launch it, but it's on the magnitude of minutes.
"I didn't have a helper" Immediately looks at the camera/cameraman and laughs
Well they weren't very helpful
Met you in SF at a hostel 6 or so months back, and now you're in my recommended feed! Congrats on the huge success of this video.
You forgot to add the recommended video at the end :)
Check with Experimental Aircraft Association. In the 1980s at Oshkosh I saw an ultralight airplane, (Lazair) converted to rubber power (engines removed). Large propeller with bungee cord stretched through the tail boom and wound tight with a drill. Carried a human!
Amazing design. Thank you
YES!!!!! We need to build a rubber band powered boat in class so I’m just gonna take that rubber band power system
Two words - Rubber Lube - all rubber powered flyers use it for their models
Maybe a longer rubber band like a conventional rubber powered plane with one BIG prop.
YES!
I think you could maybe increase the flight time by staging the motor starts throughout the flight although this would add weight.
Outstanding :) I thank you for the Entertainment and the wishes to assist others such great work. I know plenty of other comments, so I thought, the Propellers on one side rotate Counter Clockwise with other side Clockwise. Thanks :)
My claim to fame, at around age twelve I built a KeilKraft Ajax rubber power plane. It took off from the pavement outside our house did a beautiful 180 turn crossing the road and landed perfectly on the pavement on the other side of the road 😳
A little later I was winding the motor and the elastic broke, it total shredded the fuselage and that was the end of that 🥺😰😭
Wahey! One of the first things I ever built from a kit as a wee chap was a rubber-band plane.
The first model airplane I ever built that actually flew (and amazingly, I might add) was a very primitive kit for a rubber powered parlour plane (or penny plane) when I was about 13 years old. The kit was very crude. I had to not only cut the wing spars from a solid block of balsa, but then cut the airfoil into them. I had to fashion the propeller out of thin balsa stock using an aluminum can as a form for the contour. The covering material wasn't tissue, but more closely resembled the skin you get in the pan after you boil pasta. When it was all finished, it weighed just a few grams. It was an indoor - only plane, obviously. It flew fantastically! Probably at less than 15' per minute, and the torque from the prop shook the whole airframe as it crept along. A sneeze would have destroyed it.
Try adding two wings like a biplane. It would help with lift at slow speeds!
using bearings on the shafts would decrease the friction sou you may have some extra power...
I see a bright future for rubber band powered aviation.
Back in the 1980s we built ruber band planes with foldable 2 feet geared propellers. The fusalage in fiberglass held the rubberband inside wich was built up with hundreds of thin rubberbands, sourced from everything from oxygen masks to golfballs. They flew for ages. straight up whlile on power and then once up and rubberpower depleated, switched to gliding thru a small notch in the gearbox. It also had a small timer to make it land after 3 minutes which was the maximum contest time so they did not disapear. A plane travels a long way in 3 minutes, even if you make it go in circles..
The propeller was locked with the gearbox and you wound the rubberband up with a hand drill and a hoock at the back of the airplane.
Wings was made by balsa wood and rice paper.
We still compete and fly for fun using modern version of that
That was an awesome. I would have been so elated about that flight
I love the way it sounds.
Awesome work. It looks wild
To roughly double the power of the rubber bands treat them with glycerin. (they will stretch further without breaking plus it lubes the twists which will unravel more smoothly and without as much internal resistance -- when we were kids, no one could 'compete' if they weren't using glycerin) There's some kind of molecular interaction between the rubber and the glycerin which you can't get with ordinary oil lubes.
Using silicone oil is even better
Attach long quite soft but not too soft spring to the back of rubberband holder and make it movable, as the rubber spins loose spring will pull it whole a little bit back giving you momentary thrust boost, as the rubber band goes loose
I thought this was Peter but I wasn't disappointed.
to make it fly longer maybe instead of "turning on" every propeller simultaneously you could try to turn on the propellers in pair, so the total time of the propellers been spinned is longer
The prize is the Guinness World record! Awesome video
Sangat menginspirasi. Terima Kasih telah berbagi 🙏🙏🥰🥰
Actuator disk theory: You'll get much better efficiency driving one big propeller than many small ones.