Really Cool Toy (aviation, and a tiny bit of metal, content)

[Bob Chilcoat]

You airplane geeks will love this. My son bought his three-year-old an Air
Hogs "Twin Fury" plane at Toys-R-Us on sale for $12.95 Saturday. This is a
twin-engined pneumatically powered toy airplane that is very, very clever.
Here's a link to a picture of it.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001A8EHK/103-5293414-1923819?v=glance&s=toys&n=1162224&vi=pictures&img=14#more-pictures

What is really clever is the design of the motors. These are tiny little
pneumatic motors with only three moving parts each, designed for them by a
consulting firm: http://www.rehkemper.com/airmotor.html The original Air
Hogs pneumatic motor apparently cost 50 cents to make. These new motors are
more efficient and cost 8 cents (!) to make.

When pumped up to the recommended pressure (50 strokes on the supplied pump)
the motors run for roughly 10-15 seconds, initially giving enough thrust to
almost lift the plane on its props. Amazing amount of thrust. Gareth set
his off the first time and claims that it climbed to nearly 300 feet and
flew around for a couple of minutes. The second time it ended up in a high
tree and could not be recovered. No problem; at @ $12.95 he bought another
one. Now that he knows how far it can fly, he's going to be more careful
about where he launches it.

Yesterday I bought one too, only for me.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

[JKimmel]

Bob Chilcoat wrote:

> Yesterday I bought one too, only for me.
>
For a mere $30, you can get the Air Hogs Aero Ace, a twin engine RC
biplane. There are usually about three of them flying around in the
hangar where I work at lunchtime and breaks. This "toy" has boundary
layer control details molded into the wing and fuselage. It flys about
10-15 minutes on a charge from the charger built into the controller.

--
J Kimmel

www.metalinnovations.com

"Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum." - When you have
their full attention in your grip, their hearts and minds will follow.

[Andy Asberry]

On Mon, 1 May 2006 14:15:40 -0400, "Bob Chilcoat"
> wrote:

>You airplane geeks will love this. My son bought his three-year-old an Air
>Hogs "Twin Fury" plane at Toys-R-Us on sale for $12.95 Saturday. This is a
>twin-engined pneumatically powered toy airplane that is very, very clever.
>Here's a link to a picture of it.
>
>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001A8EHK/103-5293414-1923819?v=glance&s=toys&n=1162224&vi=pictures&img=14#more-pictures
>
>What is really clever is the design of the motors. These are tiny little
>pneumatic motors with only three moving parts each, designed for them by a
>consulting firm: http://www.rehkemper.com/airmotor.html The original Air
>Hogs pneumatic motor apparently cost 50 cents to make. These new motors are
>more efficient and cost 8 cents (!) to make.
>
>When pumped up to the recommended pressure (50 strokes on the supplied pump)
>the motors run for roughly 10-15 seconds, initially giving enough thrust to
>almost lift the plane on its props. Amazing amount of thrust. Gareth set
>his off the first time and claims that it climbed to nearly 300 feet and
>flew around for a couple of minutes. The second time it ended up in a high
>tree and could not be recovered. No problem; at @ $12.95 he bought another
>one. Now that he knows how far it can fly, he's going to be more careful
>about where he launches it.
>
>Yesterday I bought one too, only for me.

Neighbor kid and I strapped one of the originals to a 2 liter Dr
Pepper ( what can I say, it's Texas) bottle and plumbed it in.
Pressurized it to 90psi from a compressor. Lost it in some tall weeds
a half mile away.

--Andy Asberry recommends NewsGuy--

[.Blueskies.]

"JKimmel" > wrote in message ...
> Bob Chilcoat wrote:
>
>> Yesterday I bought one too, only for me.
>>
> For a mere $30, you can get the Air Hogs Aero Ace, a twin engine RC biplane. There are usually about three of them
> flying around in the hangar where I work at lunchtime and breaks. This "toy" has boundary layer control details
> molded into the wing and fuselage. It flys about 10-15 minutes on a charge from the charger built into the
> controller.
>
> --
> J Kimmel



I saw a guy at Creve Coeur (1h0) airport doing some hangar flying with one of those - pretty cool...

[Glenn]

"Bob Chilcoat" > wrote in message
...
> You airplane geeks will love this. My son bought his three-year-old an
> Air Hogs "Twin Fury" plane at Toys-R-Us on sale for $12.95 Saturday.
> This is a twin-engined pneumatically powered toy airplane that is very,
> very clever. Here's a link to a picture of it.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001A8EHK/103-5293414-1923819?v=glance&s=toys&n=1162224&vi=pictures&img=14#more-pictures
>
> What is really clever is the design of the motors. These are tiny little
> pneumatic motors with only three moving parts each, designed for them by a
> consulting firm: http://www.rehkemper.com/airmotor.html The original Air
> Hogs pneumatic motor apparently cost 50 cents to make. These new motors
> are more efficient and cost 8 cents (!) to make.
>
> When pumped up to the recommended pressure (50 strokes on the supplied
> pump) the motors run for roughly 10-15 seconds, initially giving enough
> thrust to almost lift the plane on its props. Amazing amount of thrust.
> Gareth set his off the first time and claims that it climbed to nearly 300
> feet and flew around for a couple of minutes. The second time it ended up
> in a high tree and could not be recovered. No problem; at @ $12.95 he
> bought another one. Now that he knows how far it can fly, he's going to
> be more careful about where he launches it.
>
> Yesterday I bought one too, only for me.
>
> --
> Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

Bob,
If you really want to get some air time out of those .. fill it's tank with
butane from one of the cans they use for butane lighters. It goes in as a
liquid and turns to gas at a rate that keeps em running a really long time
:) I bought my son a car like that years ago and we "discovered" that a
little butane would make it run for blocks on a single fill.

Glenn

[Denny]

Anyway, yes the motor is clever... No it is not totally new... Any gear
head able to walk and chew gum recognizes it as a bump valve steam
engine... The original thinking is using a fixed shelf as the piston,
with eccentric faces that allow the extended piston head to swing in an
arc... This will work at low speeds and low pressures with a neoprene
0-ring as the piston seal...

denny

[Stealth Pilot]

On Mon, 1 May 2006 14:15:40 -0400, "Bob Chilcoat"
> wrote:


>What is really clever is the design of the motors. These are tiny little
>pneumatic motors with only three moving parts each, designed for them by a
>consulting firm: http://www.rehkemper.com/airmotor.html

I take my hat of to those guys. that is a neat design.
worthy of a design award.
Stealth Pilot

[Ron Wanttaja]

Coupla guys at work are goofing with the four-electric-engined version of
these.... the "Air Hog RC Titan." They found them at Costco for about $60.

The scary thing about these is that there is no aerodynamic control of these
planes. Nothing moves except the propellers. All the joystick does is adjust
the speed of the engines.... push the lever to the right, and the left-side
engines turn faster. Pull back on the stick and all the engines rev up.

Needless to say, this results in some highly erratic...yet highly
entertaining...flights. The planes themselves are light but incredibly impact
resistant. They haven't actually broken one yet, even with some fairly nasty
crashes.

Ron Wanttaja

[Kingfish]

>>>If you really want to get some air time out of those .. fill it's tank with butane from one of the cans they use for butane lighters.<<<

To avoid another TWA 800 tragedy, you'd need a fuel cell inerting
device. Then again, without any lives at risk it'd make an impressive
aerial flamethrower...

[steamer]

In rec.crafts.metalworking Glenn > wrote:
>If you really want to get some air time out of those .. fill it's tank with
>butane from one of the cans they use for butane lighters. It goes in as a
>liquid and turns to gas at a rate that keeps em running a really long time
>:) I bought my son a car like that years ago and we "discovered" that a
>little butane would make it run for blocks on a single fill.
--Hey neat idea; I'll have to try this with my High Hopping
Hoomdorm! :-)

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : I'll have the roast duck
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : with the mango salsa...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

[Morgans]

"Kingfish" > wrote

> To avoid another TWA 800 tragedy, you'd need a fuel cell inerting
> device. Then again, without any lives at risk it'd make an impressive
> aerial flamethrower...
>
Why not put a collector on the exhaust, and a small combustion chamber with
igniter. Jet power, anyone? <g>
--
Jim in NC

[Andy Asberry]

On Tue, 2 May 2006 16:05:41 -0400, "Morgans"
> wrote:

>
>"Kingfish" > wrote
>
>> To avoid another TWA 800 tragedy, you'd need a fuel cell inerting
>> device. Then again, without any lives at risk it'd make an impressive
>> aerial flamethrower...
>>
>Why not put a collector on the exhaust, and a small combustion chamber with
>igniter. Jet power, anyone? <g>

Same inquisitive kid as the Air Hog Guppy. He runs a fireworks stand
so he has a supply of rockets. He bought one of the foam gliders with
about a 30" span. We completely covered it with metallic HVAC tape.
Made it amazingly strong and stiff.

We cut the explosive charge off of 3 of the large rockets. The
propulsion motors were joined into a three stage and mounted on the
belly of the glider.

Two lengths of pvc pipe were cantilevered at the guesstimated proper
angle for a launch rail. After the requisite countdown, the fuse was
lit. That thing took off like a...rocket.

The second stage kicked in on the vertical side of a perfect loop. It
completed a 3/4 loop and rolled upright just as the third stage
touched off. I've seen RC jets at 200mph and this thing must have been
doing at least half that when it came over us...headed straight for my
pickup. Luckily, I had been checking the oil and the hood was up or it
would have gone right through the windshield. No fire but there was an
explosion of foam from the impact.

Any use of "we" instead of "he" in this story is inadvertent.

--Andy Asberry recommends NewsGuy--

[Casey Wilson]

"Morgans" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Kingfish" > wrote
>
>> To avoid another TWA 800 tragedy, you'd need a fuel cell inerting
>> device. Then again, without any lives at risk it'd make an impressive
>> aerial flamethrower...
>>
> Why not put a collector on the exhaust, and a small combustion chamber
> with igniter. Jet power, anyone? <g>
> --
> Jim in NC

Hmmm, I wonder if there is enough pressure there for a glow-plug to do the
ignition??

[Tim Ward]

"Ron Wanttaja" > wrote in message
...
> Coupla guys at work are goofing with the four-electric-engined version of
> these.... the "Air Hog RC Titan." They found them at Costco for about
$60.
>
> The scary thing about these is that there is no aerodynamic control of
these
> planes. Nothing moves except the propellers. All the joystick does is
adjust
> the speed of the engines.... push the lever to the right, and the
left-side
> engines turn faster. Pull back on the stick and all the engines rev up.
>
> Needless to say, this results in some highly erratic...yet highly
> entertaining...flights. The planes themselves are light but incredibly
impact
> resistant. They haven't actually broken one yet, even with some fairly
nasty
> crashes.
>
> Ron Wanttaja

There is a fair amount of information on the web about the Aero Ace.
Because it flies so well out of the box, it has developed quite a fan club.
There are some mods that can be done to the controller that improve the
controllability.
The three or four I've seen have all been a little light in the nose.
Shifting the battery pack forward definitely helps.
If you're going to fly outside, removing the lower wing lets it fly a little
faster.

Tim Ward

[Smitty Two]

In article >,
"Bob Chilcoat" > wrote:

> You airplane geeks will love this. My son bought his three-year-old an Air
> Hogs "Twin Fury" plane at Toys-R-Us on sale for $12.95 Saturday. This is a
> twin-engined pneumatically powered toy airplane that is very, very clever.
> Here's a link to a picture of it.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001A8EHK/103-5293414-1923819?v
> =glance&s=toys&n=1162224&vi=pictures&img=14#more-pictures
>
> What is really clever is the design of the motors. These are tiny little
> pneumatic motors with only three moving parts each, designed for them by a
> consulting firm: http://www.rehkemper.com/airmotor.html The original Air
> Hogs pneumatic motor apparently cost 50 cents to make. These new motors are
> more efficient and cost 8 cents (!) to make.
>
> When pumped up to the recommended pressure (50 strokes on the supplied pump)
> the motors run for roughly 10-15 seconds, initially giving enough thrust to
> almost lift the plane on its props. Amazing amount of thrust. Gareth set
> his off the first time and claims that it climbed to nearly 300 feet and
> flew around for a couple of minutes. The second time it ended up in a high
> tree and could not be recovered. No problem; at @ $12.95 he bought another
> one. Now that he knows how far it can fly, he's going to be more careful
> about where he launches it.
>
> Yesterday I bought one too, only for me.

So you're the marketing director for Rehkemper, Bob? Could your firm
design a spam-powered motor?