Little known performance secrets

So you got a hot plane, eh? Tell us why you think you're gonna be Top Gun this year!

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Lou Melancon
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Little known performance secrets

Post by Lou Melancon »

<font face="Arial"><font size="4"><u><b>Why combat wings are made from foam</b></u></font id="size4">
In the early days before the molecular properties of foam were completely understood as they relate to combat wings modelers used balsa wood and coroplast to build wings. The problem with both these materials is they cannot trap and hold light air in stasis as foam can. It is necessary to hold the maxium amount of light air to achieve high speed, tight turning and survivability. Although we talk of wing loading, aspect ratio and thickness we are really just describing the density of combat molecules in our wings.

Balsa wood, being the product of a living organism has a capillary structure. This allows it to draw water through its length to provide nourishment to the wood fibers. Most good balsa wood comes from South America because everything in the southern hemisphere is upside down. Therefore the water in the ground rises through the trunk and limbs of the balsa tree as it exits through the uppermost branches at night. This water loss straight up has given a name to the areas where balsa trees grow, they are called "rain forests." The capillaries of balsa work fine for water but cannot hold the light air molecules necessary for flight. The capillaries are too porous for air but suitable for water. So they cannot hold or retain the correct density of combat air molecules.

For the most part conventional modelers, who don’t really need the light molecules needed in combat are unaware that although light their balsa is not able to hold enough light air, or as we will come to know them, combat air molecules, as well as other substances, namely foam.

Coroplast has man made capillaries we call flues which run either span wise or chord wise. These flues are excellent for holding combat molecules but unfortunately when the plane is banked they fall out. Sometimes in a tight turn the ones inside the inboard panel fall out but the ones on the turns outboard panel are trapped by the rubber band hold downs. This causes them to slam into and get lodged in the flues right at the fuse which makes the plane perform a violent turn we call a snap. Care should be taken when using a corolplast wing that the hold down rubber bands are not too tight to allow the combat molecules to move evenly across the wing flues. Some modelers will plug their wing tips or use tip fences to hold the air molecules in the flues. Unfortunately enough of the combat molecules get out over time, especially after being dislodged in a mid-air, and the coroplast wing performance then suffers.

Foam is excellent for combat because when it is manufactured gas is blown through the molten plastic. This process of blowing gas through the foam allows it to be formed in a process called extrusion. The combat molecules are trapped inside the material, nestled snugly side by side and cannot escape unless a hot wire is applied to the surface. If the hotwire follows the correct geometric path, which we know as an airfoil, the bad air molecules are released and only the best ones remain. The best place to manufacture foam for combat is one where there is abundance of hot combat air molecules. That is why during the term of the President before this one Dow Chemical set up manufacturing in Arkansas.

<font size="4"><u><b>Why do differ color props work better than others?</b></u></font id="size4">
It is a little known secret in the massive propeller manufacturing industry that elastic monomers used in propellers react to the light spectrum differently to gain performance.

For instance black props are the best ones to use at night. Black props have no ability to react to the light spectrum because of their zero reflectivity rating and therefore when other props are run at night and hunt for the best rpm to match the light spectrum they get confused and never come "on the light". Black ones are definitely the ones to use at night.

Yellow props ones are best used with small children and girlfriends who love bright colors. All kidding aside grey ones or those that are a dark gray black work best because as they spin they are affected by different frequencies of light. The prop sees the light color spectrum and reacts to it. The lighter colors, greens and blues in the light spectrum are the fastest ones, with the highest frequency ratings so props that align to those colors of the spectrum work best. Grey and Grey black props work best for this application. The gray props also have less light resistance and in general terms have fewer perforamnce barriers to overcome than black props. Now testing has shown that the best color is one that reacts best to the high frequency colors of the spectrum, has the least whirling resistance and works best in the temperature ranges consistent with combat contest. Those would be the organge props. Next time you are selecting a prop, try to find orange ones, they work best in both bright sunlight and overcast skies.

<font size="4"><u><b>Faster engines with Crisco or Mazola</b></u></font id="size4">
You have heard about kart racers and drag guys deep freezing their engines to align all the stresses and make the molecules line up.

It works but not for the reasons you think. Have you ever tried to grab an ice cube off your kitchen floor? Slippery isn’t it. Well that’s what makes that deep freeze treatment work. It makes the parts slippery.

We discovered that picking up an ice cube is hard but holding onto a piece of fried chicken can be much harder. Ever try to get all that slippery stuff off your hands after a trip to the Colonels? Well you can get your engine’s native friction down noticeably by deep frying your engine (don’t put plastic parts in) in either Crisco or Mazola for about 45 minutes.

Please do not batter it first as this will make it both look ugly and really gum up the bearings or the connecting rod fit.

We have noticed anywhere from a 1,500 to 2,000 rpm increase immediately after deep frying our engines. They smell pretty good too.</font id="Arial">
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

Sounds like Southern Fried Combat Fairy tales.[:D]
JGrizzle
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Post by JGrizzle »

Lou,
Call 123-456-7899. He is a very good doctor
spaddawg
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Post by spaddawg »

Hey!! Spread some of the magic fairy dust of here will ya!! Quit hoging it all!! [:D]
Love your show Lou!! Love it to death!! LOL!!
thojo
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Post by thojo »

This is Lou's brain, THIS is Lou's brain on SCOTCH!!
Lou Melancon
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Post by Lou Melancon »

Thojo,
Hate to admit it but I am no longer able to contribute liquor taxes into the economy. A 25 point drop in blood pressure convinced me that my formerly wicked ways have a consequence.

Next up I will try to explain how Foo-Foo dust and Whoop Up really work. As we all know these two substances are commonly available in the combat underground but most folks do not understand how to use them fully.

I would like than Eric Wenger for showing me how they work properly and Jay Fromm and Proppy Jon who showed me what happens when folks don't first read the directions.
jfromm
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Post by jfromm »

You are welcome Lou!
Cajun
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Post by Cajun »

I have read a lot of dissertations on the various properties of air,,,,,,but this is the longest one I have ever read on the properties of just Georgia Hot Air[:)].

Chalk up another first for Lou.
NOLA66
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Post by NOLA66 »

Hey I am really glad to see we all get along now!!!
Alex Treneff
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Post by Alex Treneff »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Lou Melancon</i>
<br /><font face="Arial"><font size="4"><u><b>Why combat wings are made from foam</b></u></font id="size4">Coroplast has man made capillaries we call flues which run either span wise or chord wise. These flues are excellent for holding combat molecules but unfortunately when the plane is banked they fall out.</font id="Arial">
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Thanks for the explanation, Lou. I always wondered why we had to wear hard hats.[:D]
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