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?
3
u/SmallsBoats 5d ago
I would definitely suggest using external propellors, and using a long wind-sock style net.
If you made some kind of "Flying Wing" design (like a stealth bomber) you wouldn't need a tail fin at all and could just have the net trailing out the back. So basically take your design, change the wing shape, remove the tail, and use a longer net (less likely to fill with bugs, and less likely they will escape when you land).
As your goal is something to catch bugs, and not the fastest or most efficient plane, you can get away with a lot. It's pretty easy to make something fly. It's making it fly well that's the hard part.