Will there be a sky bunny contest in 2016?
I have been asked whether there will be an International Sky Bunny Postal Contest in 2016. Yes, there will be!
I was planning to incorporate it into the 2016-2017 World Wide Postal, along with the Cloud Tramp and Senator, to give people all year to make flights, not just one chancy weekend. Many ardent Sky Bunny fans were not able to participate last year because of local weather, even though it was over a four day weekend. With a year long event, clubs could schedule club Sky Bunny events at any time they wish, Easter or Labor Day if the local weather looks good. The WWP runs from July to June, so this would produce a gap this year. For this first one I decided to allow flights to be made from January 2016 through June 2016. This would be as if including it in this year’s WWP as an add on, to be tallied with this year’s results in July 2016. There are enough people who have a Sky Bunny now and more can easily be built in 6 months.
If you do not have a Sky Bunny, excellent laser cut kits are available from Peck-Polymers. These go together quickly and easily, with clear, detailed instructions. Sky Bunny Ace pins like the ones we had last year are available from the same source.
2016 INTERNATIONAL SKY BUNNY POSTAL CONTEST RULES
1. Open to Bill Warner’s Sky Bunny design. Planes may be made from any edition of the Peck-Polymers kit or a published plan, according to the materials and dimensions on the plan. Both top and bottom sides of wings must be covered with tissue. Rubber motor is as specified on the plan, or equivalent.*
2. For those who are enlarging plans from a book or Internet site, the plan must have a maximum total wingspan of 18″ as measured flat on the plan.
3. Enter in one of four age classes: Junior (up to age 12), Teen (13-18), Adult (19-65) or Old Fart (over 65).
4. Flights must be made between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2016, inclusive.
5. Make as many flights as you want, indoors or outdoors, and report your age class and best time as your score to Comments, under the Leave a Reply heading, below, by July 15th 2016. The results will be tabulated and published here on EndlessLift.
*For our purposes, that means a rubber motor of equal weight.
Competition rules usually specify a maximum motor weight. The motor size in the Labor Day Postal rules was an 18″ loop of 3/16″ as specified on the plan, or equivalent. The kit I have contained a 39 3/8″ strip of 3/16″ rubber weighing 4.9 grams. Some might like to strip to their preferred size. Others might like to use a different cross section and length using a standard width. There is a distance of 11″ between the two hooks which hold the motor. Equivalents using standard sizes would be:
12″, 6 strands of 3/32″
13.5″ loop of 1/4″ or 4 strands of 1/8″
18″ loop of 3/16″ or 4 strands of 3/32″
21.6″ loop of 5/32″
27″ loop of 1/8″
36″ loop of 3/32″ is pushing the limit of what you can wind and put on the hooks without knots jamming the motor. This would make sense only with a much lighter than usual plane.
All of these would weigh about 4.5 grams, plus a bit added at the ends for tying the knot. This allows adjustment of power output and rate of climb. The thicker motor will allow a rapid climb for altitude which is good when flying outdoors. The thinner motor will allow a more gradual climb to a lower altitude and a longer motor run which is better when flying indoors under a low ceiling. You can start with the kit motor size and adjust according to the results and your preferred flying style.
For more information on the Sky Bunny airplane, sources of kits, plans and other information, see the 2015 Sky Bunny page.
Old Fart Class
Best time – 67 seconds, 13 May 2016, 8:30 AM EDT, Temp 73F, Hunidity 83, calm with a barely discernable drift.; Peck kit, 18″ of 3/16″ tan super sport; I believe that I could have done better but the wind picked up and I was afraid I might lose her. No opportunity to try for a better time before the end of the contest.
I had a lot of fun with this model. Especially watching her fly under a cloudless sky and the sun just coming up. Took her out several times March, April, and May for trim flights, trying different motors, increasing turns little by little to try and top my previous record, learning how best to launch her. I may have been lucky but there was little trimming to do; no trim tabs needed, just set the CG for the best glide I could get, and tweak the thrust offset a little to achieve a suitable turn to the right under power.
Thank you for your efforts, Gary and everyone else who may be involved.
My best time was 123 seconds, achieved at Waegell on June 4, 2016. My Skybunny is built from a new Peck kit and I’m running 4.5g 4×3/32″ motor.
My current best for 2016 Sky Bunny Postal is 174 seconds.
The plane hooked a very nice thermal at Lost Hills, CA, on Febuary 7, 2016.
Most who were watching commented “That one is gone.” Rose quickly and traveled about a quarter mile. I figured to walk with it as it was traveling slowly in nice trim. Suddenly she must have popped out of the top of the thermal. With higher air traveling back to the starting point. Final touch down was within 200′ of beginning. I am building a new Sky Bunny with a bit less right and a little less down thrust. This may allow me to remove my trim tabs that cause some drag.
Many at Lost Hills recognized the Sky Bunny and enjoyed watch her fly in nice trim.