Fan Drag

[Possumbot]

I was watching the vids of the fan car. i was absolutely hooked!! That was awesome!! I've got a few cars laying around, so i was wondering what it takes to make 1. I figured remove the tranny, but how do u mount the motor on the car, and how do u mount the propleller?

[jeepinator]

I think I am qualified to answer this ;)

I mounted the motor with the motor holder part of an RPM motor station. The props are mounted to the motor with a nifty little prop adapter than any decent hobby shop will have.
Here is a pic of an older version (much less custom):

http://www.theshreves.com/pics/oldfancar.jpg

Be warned though than this car was very prone to tip over. That is why the rear arms are very wide on my ver 2.0
When a car with a prop tips over very weird things happen ! Like prop pieces flying through the air like bullets.

[Possumbot]

Thanks, im planning on putting mine on a RC10T. Do i need to remove the shock tower? And if i do, what do the shock bolt on 2?

[jeepinator]

Well, it all depends on how serious you are about performance.
On the B2 in the pic above I merely zip tied a motor holder to the rear shock tower, removed the tranny, and put stub axles where the CVD would have been. This took me all of about an hour to figure out and get running. The downside was performance. It was tipsy, the prop did not have clean air, and it oversteered very badly.
My new kit, however, has none of these traits. But, it took me some serious thinking and prototyping to get it how I wanted (I spent about 10 hours and built the car about 5 different ways, custom making parts along the way). The motor sits about the same height, if not lower, than the B2 setup, yet the prop has about as much clean air as I would think possible. This was acomplished by using RC10 GT rear bulkheads (2) and laying the shocks WAY down. I actually used the "natural" Losi pistons, 80 weight fluid, and blue springs before the rear end was set up properly :eek: Those are a lot of extremes (smallest piston, almost the thickest fluid, and the stiffest springs). The dang shocks alone took me 2 hours to get right.
I am babbling ;)
My main point is that you want to create your own contraption and not just photocopy mine. I have no problem with you doing just that, and I will go in to an exact parts list if you want, I am just saying that you will probably get more out of the project if it is mostly your own design. Plus, when you post pics I might get some cool ideas :p

BTW, one of my other tricks was to actually put the rear arm holder (toe in block thingies) on backward and then bring toe in back to zero by using 3 degree hub carriers on the outside of the arm. This is why the rear has a swept back look.

OK, I am babbling again ...

[GeorgeK]

Hey Jeepinator,

That's a very interesting car you've built! I also read the other thread you had about your second version as well. Very creative! Although I was fascinated, I didn't really have anything to contribute -- until now...

After reading about the tendency to tip over, and the hazard it creates when the prop breaks up, I was wondering if you had considered rigging up some sort of cage for the prop (you know, just like on an ordinary oscillating room fan)? Or for more efficiency and directional stability, maybe a tube-shaped sort of enclosure? Just some thoughts...

Also, this way, when you got neighborhood kids or pets chasing your car, you won't have to worry about the inherent danger, not to mention avoiding the paranoia I know I would have about my own fingers!


Regards,

George K.