Fun Fly Events - Bomb Drop

[MadMonkey]

Hey guys.

Our club (114th RC Aerosquadron in Grapevine) is hosting a Fun Fly this October. We've locked down all of our events and figured out rules, procedures, etc. The only thing we're still having trouble with is the Bomb Drop.

Having never hosted Fun Fly competitions (we've only done just that... flying), it's been a challenge to figure everything out, but this one pretty much has us stumped.

We were planning to use the old "popsicle stick through the cup and rubber banded to the wing" trick; trouble is, our safety guy doesn't want us to use golf balls, so we're trying to come up with a different payload. We aren't fond of the egg idea either.

We've tried badminton birdies, and though they weren't easy to get out of the cup, they did work okay. We also had a member suggest using wood dowels with crepe paper streamers wrapped around them, but they flew out of the plane before even getting off the ground. I'm thinking golf practice balls, either the nerf or wiffle style, should work just fine, but I haven't gotten around to trying them yet.

Now other members are telling us the only way to be successful is to use another servo and another channel. Trouble is, a lot of people are bringing 4-channel trainers to the competition (for other contests) and don't have that luxury.

Does ANYBODY have any ideas that we could use?

I'd prefer it to be simple, without having the use of an extra channel, and something that can be used on sport planes also, not just trainers.

Thanks in advance for ANY help you can give me!

[FL. AV8r]

Use wooden dowels, 6 inches long, 2 holes drilled, 1 at each end,,,, ,,,,
For bomb MOUNT, make 2 inch X 6 inch deck(plywood) with 2 nails in it, 1 at each end... secure to fuse w/rubber bands. Place bomb onto nails in deck ...To drop bombs, simply NOSE DOWN QUICKLY over target... but DON'T watch the BOMB ! Watch yur' plane ! i HATE it when that happens !

[wizard]

Another method that I have seen is to make a mount that rubberbands to the plane with about a 3 inch dowel rod sticking straight up. For a bomb use a large washer with a streamer attached. Same method of drop. Either a quick dive or roll inverted to drop the washer.

[FixedWing172]

Joel,
Our club does many of these events and we use something very simple that doesn't require any additional servos or equipment and is very safe. Take a piece of luan or other thin plywood and cut a "bomb" holder approximately 1-1/2" x 3-1/2" drive two thin nails through the bottom so that they are sticking straight up approximately 2-1/2" apart from one another. Apply foam weather stripping to the bottom of this plate to protect the airplanes from rash. Cut a 1" dowel to 3-1/2" long. Drill two 5/16" holes straight through the dowel with the same spacing as the nails. Attach the bottom plate to your airplane with rubberbands. Slip the dowel over the nails. This should be a lose fit. Take off and try to manuever the airplane so that the dowel falls off when you want it to. Despite what many folks think, rolling inverted is not very effective. The forward momentum of the airplane keeps the dowel from falling off. The best method is a quick blip of up elevator followed immediately by down elevator and the "bomb" will release every time. We have gotten pretty good at it and can hit some pretty small targets with practice. I have attached a photo for you.
Stan Berger
Jersey Coast Sport Fliers

[FixedWing172]

Here is another photo

[MadMonkey]

Hey, that's pretty slick! I knew we were missing some great ideas... Thanks for the assistance. Keep 'em coming!