Heavy Lift Contest

[Wayne]

I have been wanting to do a fun heavy lift contest for years. you may have seen these college challenges where they have a set of requirements that forces some pretty odd planes.

Here is what I'm thinking..

1. The payload will be potatoes. They must be inside the plane, so no duct taping to the outside. We will provide a selection of large and small taters to pick from.
2. We will spec out a motor stator size, something like maybe a 28x15 stator. Teams can pick any brand motor that is the spec'd size. For example Emax has a couple of KV options in this size.
3. Battery max size of maybe 3S 1300mah or so.
4. Plane must be able to taxi onto the runway, take off, fly one complete lap, land on the runway and taxi back to the starting point.
5. The plane that can carry the highest weight in potatoes around the course wins.
6. Bonus points for landing in a target zone. (added weight credit?)

The motor size will be smaller to avoid really massive models carrying really high weights. (smaller is safer and easier to build)

That is the rough idea. We can certainly change any of this to whatever the competitors agree on. Let your creativity out, build whatever you think can meet the requirements.

Winner gets to take their pick of surviving potatoes to keep as their very own!!

 

[Yotaman1985]

Sounds super fun!

 

[Wayne]

I posted up on RC Groups too and are getting some feedback.

Thinking of a fun Heavy Lift Contest - RC Groups

Discussion Thinking of a fun Heavy Lift Contest Electric Plane Talk

www.rcgroups.com

My most recent response to some questions is kind of intersting so will share it here:

By limiting the motor stator size we have automatically outlawed any inrunner I am aware of. This will be simple outrunner based power systems.

By all means yes, go for a gear or belt drive! I'd love to see that sort of engineering!

The motor on these will only be able to supply a given amount of watts. How a team uses those watts will be fun to see. Ultimately the main focus of these builds will be the structure and aerodynamics of the wings. This is what will set the teams apart. This is where the creativity should shine.

To give an idea of the challenge, an Emax 2815, 1100kv motor produces about 89 ounces of thrust with a 12x8 prop, at 48 amps and 1.4 minutes of estimated full throttle.

Let's say that the goal is to haul 10 lbs of potato around the course, well, the space needed just for the cargo is 12 inches wide, 10 inches deep, and 6 inches high (about 0.25 cubic feet). I have a feeling we all might become experts on potato volume and mass.

No mashed potatoes! No cutting the potatoes.