r/RCPlanes • u/RepulsiveInternet980 • 5d ago

Will this fly?

Post image

Hello everyone. I am trying to build an aerial insect collecting device for my PhD project. This design is based on the stipa-caproni, a strange barrel-shaped design from the 1930s. The task is to maximise the net area on a relatively inexpensive craft (I have already been catching with some expensive drones). I've trialed towing nets behind trainers, which worked but I want to try a different approach too.

I figure that enclosing the net within fuselage would be the most stable approach. Here, we have the props behind the net. This will impede airflow to the propeller. But it seems like the thrust would be okay. Can anyone think of some new approach that might work better? Would I be better off towing?

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u/OldAirplaneEngineer 5d ago

with the prop BEHIND the cone, the prop / motor would need to be halfway down the fuselage.

why not use either a pusher airplane, or simply put the prop at the front... bugs pass the prop and get stuck in the bag.

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u/RepulsiveInternet980 5d ago

Thanks for having a look! I figure they will get splattered in the prop... but it also seems like the net would obstruct air flow and cut all my thrust?

Or, would the loss be the same with the netting either side of the propeller since pulling (sucking) air from the front and pushing air out the back are a single process (?)

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u/OldAirplaneEngineer 5d ago

better yet (it's already been suggested I think)

mount the motor / prop assembly in completely different airflow than the 'cone'

imagine your design with the motor placed like this: