We are moving the blog to our revamped website at brooklynaerodrome.com. The new site has a forum, blog and even a store for spare parts and kits.
The other news is that I just received advance copies of the book. Come over to the website and take a gander.
Breck
Phil Scott, a serious pilot in his own right, did a writeup about our educational programs at Brooklyn Artisan.
Breck is using holiday downtime to make an instructional build video for the kits.
Behold our tireless founder hard at work despite sniffles and a headcold.
Hacked video device
Assemble with tape demo
Airframe together and ready for next steps
Demo for cutting the hinge
Getting the hinge shot
Again, please let us know about your failing, flying and trying. All planes must fly.
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Greetings Breck!
-Darin
Got the following missive via the intertubes….great looking builds.
First the pix, then the story from George and his sons out of Stamford, Ct.
Breck
George from Stamford , Ct wrote:
“Hey Breck, wanted to share my experiences and some pictures with you. We saw you and Karen at the Mini-Maker Faire in Westport. My imagination was fired up but I wanted to build but I also wanted to build with my two boys 18 and 20. In June school was out and I said to my wife I wanted to start getting the stuff together for a build. She said you can’t do that, we are already getting everything together to surprise you on fathers day.
I had a 4’x8′ sheet of art board so we built the first few planes with that. The first ones flew ok and we learned why they were called the towel. It turns out the boys are incredibly good at flying. I guess from all that video gaming. I am not as good but have a good feel for launching the planes. Next we tried the art board and removed the paper. That was too flexible. Next we went with the pink 5/8″ foam. It works very well and is available. We covered one side with an iridescent gift bag. That was a very successful airframe. Now we built a Bat Signal airframe. This flies very well. We saw you at The World Maker Faire at Flushing Meadow and picked up some blue foam. Can’t wait to use it. We have some ideas we want to try. Thanks for the inspiration and hours of fun. “
Hats off to Darin from Queens for detailing his experience with the kit. He’s given us great photos and narration and I want to include all of it so keep scrolling!
Now, here’s Darin:
Hey Breck and friends!
I wanted to check in Towel #168 and share some build details with the group. This is the first RC plane I’ve built, and I’m very excited. Saw you guys at last year’s Maker Faire but there was no kit at the time. After seeing the kit at this year’s Faire, I couldn’t resist.
Being that I live in a tiny apartment in NYC, I had some concerns about the portability and storability of an RC aircraft. The biggest change I made to the design was giving the towel the ability to be broken down for transport, taking advantage of the removable deck. A hinge was created at the centerline of the airframe with tape so that the whole thing can be folded in half. In addition to the deck with zip ties, Velcro strips are used to lock the airframe open for flight. Quite strong. The process of breakdown will cost me 12 zip ties, but oh well. Next build I may attach the entire deck with Velcro. The whole kit can now be bundled up in/on a backpack for fly days.
Also used some wide drinking straws to build a leading edge, for aerodynamics and strength.
Went with a red color scheme, as this matched the components and leading edge reinforcement, and adds visibility against blue skies. I figure spray paint won’t add much weight.
Decided to run the electricals underneath the deck. Might make things tougher to repair, so to solve this issue I just won’t crash. 🙂 Initially ran the servo cables forward through a common hole but they were just too tight and I had concerns about interference with the antennas, so ran them sideways. Also snipped the corners off the motor mount for safety and aesthetics. Receiver is mounted on Velcro for easy removability and a little padding. Single dedicated zip tie holds it in. Wanted to attach the motor mount under the deck, but forgot… The prop hole was cut with rounded corners – a bit rough but just don’t look closely.
Complete deck. Left speed controller above for cooling.
Cable routing underneath deck.
In videos I watched, the pointy nose was the first thing to go, and I know that curves tend to fare better. Reinforced the nose with hangars. Actually found some purple clothes hangers, which were easier to spray paint red. One of the hangar curves happened to match the nose shape perfectly, so no bending was needed.
Makeshift jig I had to put together to slot the straws perfectly. (Very difficult without jig).
When lining up the elevons for taping, I found that a few straight pins did a great job of holding things right where I wanted.
Decided to go with a Batwing-like shape for the tail, similar to the Make magazine build. (Got my trusty April 2012 edition sitting here.)
Detail of airframe – you can see that the wings fold downward with no deck attached.
Detail of leading edge.
Detail of kung-fu-folding action.
Full build, top view.
Full build, front view.
The Brokelyn.com reworking of our internship posting is way better than the original:
Sweet internship alert: Hack the sky at Brooklyn Aerodrome
The original:
Internship at Brooklyn Aerodrome Brooklyn Aerodrome seeks a part time 10-20 hours per week intern to assist in completion of "DIY RC Airplanes from Scratch: The Brooklyn Aerodrome Bible for Hacking the Sky" to be published by McGraw-Hill. This will be a one month engagement starting immediately. The internship is unpaid. The intern will be assisting Breck Baldwin by: Verifying instructions Building aircraft Assisting photography of components and airplanes Assisting with video Experimenting with equipment RC flying skills are not necessary but good "hobby skills" are a must which includes handling exactos, soldering and working with varied materials. Product photography experience a big plus. What you will get out of this: You will learn to fly/build RC airplanes, take one home and get an intern credit in the book. About us: The Brooklyn Aerodrome creates and builds small remote controlled airplanes for education, fun and art. Please visit our blog https://brooklynaerodrome.wordpress.com for more about us. Please contact breck@brooklynaerodrome.com with a resume.
Every new successful build post makes me happy. We have 2 of 99 accounted for from the first set of kits. I want them all to fly. Let us know how we can help. BTW we never publicize names or planes without permission.
Breck
And I quote:
Hello Brooklyn Aerodrome,
Just wanted to let you know that kit #145 has been built and flies great! I bought the kit at the Detroit Maker Faire and used your videos to build it. Thank you for putting together a great kit.
Andrew B
Keeler, MI
#145 has been built!
Thanks to all who came out to see us!
Props to Eddie and Kevin who put in serious work at our exhibit – much appreciated!
Eddie holding down the Aerodrome
A gray day kept the vibe low key
Cadets were out bright and early on the second day
We are hard at work on that Mailing List for those who signed up, but if you are already here then no need to wait. Check out classes here: https://brooklynaerodrome.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/october-classes-at-brooklyn-aerodrome
Video of the flapping manta ray, striped heart flyer and banana plane coming up!
BA
Brooklyn Aerodrome will be holding it down in Zone D at the Maker Faire.
This year we decided to go big or go home (!) – behold our swanky sketch-up of Camp BA:
Breck’s rendering of BA 2012 for World Maker Faire 2012
Note there are TWO runways surrounding our silver hangar.
One of these is the “New Pilot Runway” where some former students and DIYers will show their planes and talk about their experience with the build.
Hope to see you there!
BA
Brooklyn Aerodrome 