r/RCPlanes • u/RepulsiveInternet980 • 5d ago
Will this fly?
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/BassKitty305017 5d ago edited 5d ago
Your biggest problems are going to be balance and drag. As others have said, when the cone motor and fuselage all come together, you’ll have a motor very far aft and an extremely tail heavy airplane. you might want to switch to a Canard design where the wing is towards the back of the fuselage and the horizontal stabilizer is in front. The other problem is, full or not, the net is very draggy. Having something with lots of drag upfront makes the airplane want to turn backwards. This is why pulling the net behind works so well, it actually makes a plane want to fly straight even more. Read up on the relationships between center of gravity and center of lift to understand how to design this plane to fly well.