|
This
is a site mainly dedicated to an ultra low-tech airplane
called the "Weed  Wacker."
The Weed Wacker was the pinnacle of our childhood
projects. It was the culmination of every creative
outburst we had up until the point when we were kicked out
of the house. In the Weed Wacker
we combined our interests in aviation, rocketry,
engineering, and naughtiness. The story of the Weed
Wacker plane is told below.
Shrike
Hunt (New Picture)
A little
history
The Weed Wacker was originally intended
to carry a cat, hamster, or brother.  We
concluded that the cat might cause substantial damage to the
plane and the end result would be wreckage. The
hamster has died (of natural causes) so that rules him out.
We're still working out a deal with the brother.
Sam was chief engineer and was in charge of
design and construction. Ben
provided funds
and is the test pilot. Moe
will -parents
permitting- ride the plane while Ben controls it from the
ground. Moe is now running track to cut weight; I
figure that he has to cut it to ten pounds or under, he now
weighs about 135. Keep running, Moe! The
airplane is built solely out of cut 2x4's. It is
covered with Econokote and uses a six-channel Futaba radio.
Wacker has a 10' wing span and uses a 40cc Homelite
chain saw engine that spins a 20x8 pusher prop.
Top speed is 65mph; stall is about 20mph and bomb
dropping will be from 100'. Our biggest reason for
doing this is to have large airplane fun for under one
hundred dollars (excluding electronics).
It Flies!
Weed Wacker--success at last
(oops!)
Finally, after two years of on and off
work, the Weed Wacker (AKA Weedplane) has been built and flown.
The first few flights were a bit hair raising because
of radio interference, but things went smoothly once we figured out
the problem. The only other major problem
was a few landing gear failures.
With
the initial flight testing of the Weedplane complete, the
question is no longer, "will it fly?" but,
"what will we use it for?" There are a
multitude of foreseeable applications: (none are
practical, but who cares?) dropping stuff from the bomb
bay, flying cross country from the back of a truck,
launching a Shrike from the top of the wing, firing
rockets from the wing tips, or taking pictures from above.
The
Weed Wacker has already been used for aerial photography;
and plans are under way to mount a GPS in front of a camera
to gather ground speed and altitude data.
The
End of an Era
The Weed Wacker bites
the dust The
Weed Wacker has been officially retired. As you can
see, there is no going back now.
Some
miscellaneous information that used to be on this page can
be found here. There are
a whole bunch of pictures in the photo
gallery.
A
new project has
begun.
|
