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Skwalker X8 catapult

Posted by brett binnekade on February 1, 2013 at 5:00am

With the amount of equipment in my X8 is on the increase, so is the weight. Its becoming very difficult and somewhat dangerous to hand launch. 

Iv decided to build a catapult. I dont like the idea of a bungee launcher because of the amount of flat space required. some places I fly dont have this.(eg: off a cliff =) ) I really wanted something self-contained and foldable.

 

The APM flies the X8 really well BTW =)

 

If anyone wants to build one I have posted all the info and pics here

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Comments

  • Bret C March 18, 2013 at 4:56am

    Richard:  Regarding the need for the carriage to pull through all the way to the end (to avoid the slow down at the half way mark) I wonder what would happen if you took a hybrid approach to the bungee/tubing?  What I mean by this is, how would it work if you kept the two double bungees from one end to the other, but also added two more bungees that stretched from the back end around the pulleys and back to the carriage?  This will give you a firm thrust from the release and the two that stretched around the pulleys wil have enough tension to continue the carriage travel to the end of the track.   Just an idea...

    Bret C

  • Matt March 17, 2013 at 9:13pm

    Looks like it needs at least double the power...

  • Moderator
    Nathaniel Caner March 11, 2013 at 4:13pm

    What keeps it in the cradle when you power up? Just friction? I like the design overall and would like to make a modified version for my 6lb Super Sky Surfer!

    Regards,

    Nathaniel ~KD2DEY

  • brett binnekade March 8, 2013 at 5:09am

    That looks awesome Richard! thanks for sharing your build. Will you be lauching an X8 too? very keen to see it launch!

  • Matt February 24, 2013 at 4:52pm

    Have you tried to launch this in Auto or Stabilize mode? Is the APM able to deal with the large acceleration numbers?

  • brett binnekade February 17, 2013 at 4:07am

    Chad, there is a link on the blog post to my build thread.

  • Chad Frazer February 16, 2013 at 11:27pm

    Please add a bill of materials and some drawings!!!

  • Jay Bryon February 12, 2013 at 4:57pm

    Nicely done indeed!  Thanks for posting your data!

  • eko rahardjo February 3, 2013 at 7:12am

    Very cool..I like this one.

  • brett binnekade February 2, 2013 at 6:44am
    Thanks Andrew. As far as I can remember I'm logging everything possible so I will have look at the logs. Else I will make sure it's logging next launch.
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