Round The Pole Plane

A fun project that lets you fly a plane around a pole.

Materials needed:

You will need to print the 6 gear bearing: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:53451
** Thanks emmett **

12v motor
12v variable resistor with dial
10' long speaker wire
10' long lamp cord
female power plug
3' copper pipe
brass L-shaped plumbing fixture
wire lug
copper plumbing c-clamps
6x1/2 wood screws (4 for the landing gear)
6x3/4 wood screws (2 for the brass fixture and 1 for the bearing cap)
6' long 2x4
2 gate hinges
L-bracket and clamp
balsa wood or substitute (I also used corrugated plastic and painters tape)
expanding glue
large paper clip
soldering equipment
rubber lined tires and metal bar for the landing gear
washers (used to balance the plane during flight (best to tape them onto the tail))
Dry lubricant (for the bearing to make sure it spins freely)

Assemble as shown in the pictures. Feed one side of the lamp wire up through the pipe and into the base. Attach the other end to the brass L-plumbing fixture and screw it into place with a wire lug. There is a hole in the side for the wire to go through. Bend the copper plumbing c-clamp to fit around the base. Strip the wire and fix it onto the inside of the copper ring made from the c-clamp. Screw the cap and bearing cap together and glue in place on top of the base. Glue the base to the top of the pipe. Wrap and solder the speaker wire as shown. At the other end of the speaker wire make sure you have a connection shown in the picture above (the white connector). This is where the plane motor will attach to. Back to the lamp wire, at the other end attach the female power plug. This is where the variable resistor will connect to.

Attach the propeller to the motor by wrapping painters tape around the axel and pushing the propeller onto it. You should have a firm pressure fit otherwise it will fly off when you start the motor. As a side note: the propeller tends to break upon landing so I'm working to improve the design.

When plugged in and the dial turned, the plane motor will start to spin and hopefully take off. If the plane moves but does not take off, you may need to make some adjustments to your plane design. If the plane falls onto the nose the moment it starts to move, then tape some washers to the tail and sty again. Don't be discouraged and keep trying. You will find the perfect balance given some patience. :-)

Please let me know if you need clarification on any of the instructions and I'll do my best to make improvements.