DIY model boxes for safe storage and transportation
by Louis Joyner
joynerduration@gmail.com
Flying Free Flight (FF) models can be an enjoyable hobby, but it is also a serious sport. The sport aspect means flying in contests with other modelers. Although the competition is against a stopwatch, flying with other modelers provides a learning experience and an opportunity to meet other modelers from across the country and around the world.
Attending contests requires traveling, though. For many of us that means a long drive or flying commercially. In either case, safely transporting our models and field equipment becomes a major concern.
The types of models and the number of different events will often dictate how you travel to contests. If you compete in the larger AMA Gas events, for example, there is no practical way to travel by commercial airliner. Likewise, a quantity of smaller models could be difficult to pack for air travel.
For those who travel to contests by air, a model box is a necessity. Even if you drive to contests, a model box provides safer storage at home and in the car. It also helps keep the components together. Nothing is worse than driving 500 miles to a contest and realizing that you left all of your stabilizers at home.
At the 2016 Nats, two model boxes attracted considerable attention. Both were owned by Canadian modelers who compete internationally. Yuri Shvedenkov flies F1C Power using models produced by Artem Babenko from Ukraine. These carbon-fiber models have a wingspan of roughly 8 feet and a fuselage that is approximately 58 inches long. Yuri fits four of these models into a box that is nearly 2.5 feet long.
How? These models are “folders.” At launch, the outer wing panels are folded under for reduced drag in the climb
then they open to full span for the glide. Folded for storage, each wing half is approximately 2 feet long.
The fuselage breaks down into three sections. The front section, which extends slightly behind the wing’s trailing edge, contains the engine, electronic timer, and wing mount. The carbon-fiber tailboom is made in two sections with a threaded aluminum connector, allowing it to fit into a more compact box.
Yuri constructed the box using ¼-inch birch plywood. For appearance, he faced the plywood with thin sheet balsa. Before assembly, the sides, top, and bottom were covered on both sides with
fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin and then vacuum-bagged. Rounded hardwood strips were used to finish the corners of the assembled box. Aluminum channel reinforces the edges of the top and bottom.
On the inside, Yuri molded U-shaped fittings out of aramid cloth and epoxy resin to make brackets for the front fuselages. The result is a compact box that safely stores the models and allows easy access on the field.
Yuri’s minimalist approach carried over to the flightline. His starter was not the usual big box on legs, but a simple plastic tube with two folding supports. Inside was the starter motor and battery. Pushing the model’s spinner into a rubber cone at one end of the tube activated the starter. The battery also supplied power to the model’s glow plug via a plug-in cord.
The other Canadian, F1B pilot Tony Mathews, also had a self-made model box that held five models. F1B Wakefield Rubber models are considerably smaller than F1C aircraft, but don’t use folding wings.
Because two-part fuselages are nearly universal, the wing is the limiting factor for model box size. Wing aspect ratios have increased throughout the years to approximately 20 to 1, putting the wingspan close to 2 meters. The typical two-piece wing requires a 1-meter model box.
Although Tony’s model box wasn’t particularly small, it looked small. Its actual measurements are 10.5 x 5 x 38.5 inches. Perhaps that was because of its all-black, carbon-fiber covering.
Laminated over a ¼-inch balsa core, the exterior was covered with two layers of 5.8 ounce per-square-yard twill-weave, carbon-fiber cloth. The inside surface received a single layer of TeXtreme spread-tow carbon fiber. The ⅛-inch balsa dividers were covered on both sides with spread-tow carbon fiber. The carbon fiber was vacuum-bagged on before assembly. In addition to being compact, the box is both lightweight and strong. Tony has recently added a custom-made nylon cover from Ace Wing Carrier.
Although both model boxes were custom made, there are some off-the-shelf alternatives. A popular case for F1B models is the Pelican Storm 3100, designed for transporting rifles or shotguns by air. Measuring 6.7 x 16.5 x 39.8 inches, the case can hold six F1B models. It is heavy at 19 pounds empty, but it does have wheels and a handle.
There are several commercial case options, including cases for photographic lighting and for hunting bows. Usually the limiting factor is finding a case deep enough to accommodate the wing chord.
In the past, a few specifically designed boxes were available. These include molded plastic boxes and sheet-aluminum boxes. A used box occasionally turns up. The only currently produced model box I’m aware of is the F1A box that W-Hobby offers, but also check out the Free Flight 4 Sale public group page on Facebook. Model boxes are occasionally offered for sale there.
SOURCES:
National Free Flight Society (NFFS)
www.freeflight.org
TeXtreme
www.textreme.com
Ace Wing Carrier
(480) 654-8378
www.acewingcarrier.com
W-Hobby
info@w-hobby.com
www.w-hobby.com
Free Flight 4 Sale Facebook group
www.facebook.com/groups/638395372942003
