Radio-Controlled Plane With Chainsaw Engine
Brothers Sam and Ben Showman, Shellsburg, Iowa, have been building radio-controlled aircraft for about five years in between chores on the family hog farm. Their efforts resulted in a wood-framed plane with a 10-ft. wingspan, powered by a 40 cc gasoline 2-cycle engine.
"Our other planes weren't as sturdy as this one," says Ben, an 18-year-old freshman pre-engineering student at Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sam, 21, is now a junior in aerospace engineering at Iowa State University, Ames.
The big plane takes off from an 800-ft. runway behind the family's hog confinement buildings.
Home-schooled throughout elementary and high school by their mother, the Showman brothers turned their interest in aeronautics into numerous science projects and learned lessons in math and physics along the way. The Showman boys called their plane the Weedwhacker because it was initially powered by a gasoline engine they salvaged from an old string trimmer. Even though that engine performed well in their testing, they eventually replaced it with a lighter, more powerful 40 cc engine they "borrowed" from Homer's 20 year old Homelite chainsaw.
The young men say the airplane is built solely out of 2 by 4's. They spent countless hours at a table saw, splitting thin strips of wood from 2 by 4s, in order to build a light but strong frame. They use a six-channel Futaba radio to control the plane.
It has 6-in. foam wheels on the main gear and a 2 1/2-in. foam tail wheel.
Ben says they used a stopwatch to clock the Weedwhacker at a top speed of 65 mph. "It stalls at about 20 mph, but is very easy to control and bring out of a stall," he says.
At full power, the plane uses 1.6 oz. of fuel per minute. They fitted it with a 32-oz. fuel tank so it can stay aloft for 20 minutes at full power. That means it could travel 21 miles without running out of fuel. "That's a lot farther than our radio signal will carry, and well beyond where we could see it," Ben says. He says there have been instances when they've allowed it to climb high enough into cloud masses that the radio signal breaks up and they lose control - temporarily.
The plane itself weighs about 30 lbs. It will handle a payload of about 10 lbs. The plane is fitted with a bomb bay and radio-controlled door, so they can drop "bombs" with it.
They've also added a fast-burning jet engine to assist it in takeoffs. And Ben recently added radio-fired air-to-air missiles.
Without a load, the plane takes off in just 75 ft. It also requires about 75 ft. to roll to a stop on landing.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ben and Sam Showman, 6477 29th Avenue, Shellsburg, Iowa 52332 (ph 319 436-2805; E-mail: weedplane@aol.com; Website: http://members.aol.com/weedplane/weedplane.htm).
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Radio-Controlled Plane With Chainsaw Engine WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Chain Saws 25-1-23 Brothers Sam and Ben Showman, Shellsburg, Iowa, have been building radio-controlled aircraft for about five years in between chores on the family hog farm. Their efforts resulted in a wood-framed plane with a 10-ft. wingspan, powered by a 40 cc gasoline 2-cycle engine.
"Our other planes weren't as sturdy as this one," says Ben, an 18-year-old freshman pre-engineering student at Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sam, 21, is now a junior in aerospace engineering at Iowa State University, Ames.
The big plane takes off from an 800-ft. runway behind the family's hog confinement buildings.
Home-schooled throughout elementary and high school by their mother, the Showman brothers turned their interest in aeronautics into numerous science projects and learned lessons in math and physics along the way. The Showman boys called their plane the Weedwhacker because it was initially powered by a gasoline engine they salvaged from an old string trimmer. Even though that engine performed well in their testing, they eventually replaced it with a lighter, more powerful 40 cc engine they "borrowed" from Homer's 20 year old Homelite chainsaw.
The young men say the airplane is built solely out of 2 by 4's. They spent countless hours at a table saw, splitting thin strips of wood from 2 by 4s, in order to build a light but strong frame. They use a six-channel Futaba radio to control the plane.
It has 6-in. foam wheels on the main gear and a 2 1/2-in. foam tail wheel.
Ben says they used a stopwatch to clock the Weedwhacker at a top speed of 65 mph. "It stalls at about 20 mph, but is very easy to control and bring out of a stall," he says.
At full power, the plane uses 1.6 oz. of fuel per minute. They fitted it with a 32-oz. fuel tank so it can stay aloft for 20 minutes at full power. That means it could travel 21 miles without running out of fuel. "That's a lot farther than our radio signal will carry, and well beyond where we could see it," Ben says. He says there have been instances when they've allowed it to climb high enough into cloud masses that the radio signal breaks up and they lose control - temporarily.
The plane itself weighs about 30 lbs. It will handle a payload of about 10 lbs. The plane is fitted with a bomb bay and radio-controlled door, so they can drop "bombs" with it.
They've also added a fast-burning jet engine to assist it in takeoffs. And Ben recently added radio-fired air-to-air missiles.
Without a load, the plane takes off in just 75 ft. It also requires about 75 ft. to roll to a stop on landing.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ben and Sam Showman, 6477 29th Avenue, Shellsburg, Iowa 52332 (ph 319 436-2805; E-mail: weedplane@aol.com; Website: http://members.aol.com/weedplane/weedplane.htm).
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