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Poly Pipe RC Landyacht

Poly Pipe RC Landyacht is a simple and inexpensive model land sailing yacht constructed primarily from PVC piping and carbon fiber kite spars. Key features include a PVC pipe body and steering head, shopping cart wheels connected to inline skate bearings for traction, a ripstop nylon sail controlled by servos, and components like the mast, boom, and axles made from affordable carbon fiber kite parts. The detailed document describes the design and construction process for this budget-friendly radio-controlled land sailboat.

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Johnn
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970 views3 pages

Poly Pipe RC Landyacht

Poly Pipe RC Landyacht is a simple and inexpensive model land sailing yacht constructed primarily from PVC piping and carbon fiber kite spars. Key features include a PVC pipe body and steering head, shopping cart wheels connected to inline skate bearings for traction, a ripstop nylon sail controlled by servos, and components like the mast, boom, and axles made from affordable carbon fiber kite parts. The detailed document describes the design and construction process for this budget-friendly radio-controlled land sailboat.

Uploaded by

Johnn
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Poly Pipe RC Landyacht

I have been mucking around with model landyacht designs for about 30 years and here's the latest
version. This one is the cheapest and simplest so far.

Construction
The body is PVC pipe, internal
diam. 40mm, costing less than
$5.00 from Fagg's Mitre10. I call
it poly pipe but I'm told that's not
strictly correct but the name
seems to have stuck.

The angled steering head is a


poly pipe elbow ($2.50) held in
place by duct tape, no need for
glue.

Mast, boom and rear axle are


carbon fibre kite spars.
($9.50/m). Ali tube would also
work well.
Wheelbase length 0.75m
Rear axle width 0.50m
Mast height 1.0m

Wheels
Finding the correct wheels is crucial to making a fast
controllable landyacht.

In-line skate wheels have great bearings but not enough grip.
($10 roller blades from Cash Converters gives 8 wheels and 16
skate bearings!)

Plastic shopping cart wheels have great grip but no bearings.


($2.75 each from Fagg's Mitre10)

So connecting the two together gives the perfect wheel. Care


must be taken to ensure the skate wheel is dead centre in the larger wheel before screwing them
together. I used a 25mm hole saw to remove
the centre of the trolley wheels.

Skate bearings slip snugly onto this axle. A


simple wrap of duct tape holds the wheels on.

Steering
The front forks (and steering horn and rear axle
bracket) are made from poly pipe, cut then flattened out and shaped with a paint stripping heat gun.

The 80mm long steering bolt pivots in 2 holes drilled in the angled elbow.

Cords tied to either side of the steering horn lead back to a standard Futaba 3003 servo.

Mounting the steering assembly at an angle gives smoother steering at high speed.

Sail
The sail is made from ripstop nylon kite material. It is
basically a flat piece of cloth, hemmed all the way around,
with a pocket along the leading edge to slip over the mast. The
leading edge has a small amount of curve to push some
camber into the sail body.

A thin perspex batten supports the wider head area.


Reinforcing patches strengthen each corner.

The boom slips into a sewn pocket in the front reinforcing


patch (tack) and is held in with a line tied to the back
reinforcing patch (clew). Holes in the sail are melted through
using a heated coat-hanger wire.

The sail downhaul line also holds the mast down into the internal nylon (chopping board) mast base.
Foot length - 42cm
Mast pocket - 93cm
Batten length - 20cm
Mast to boom angle - 80deg

Sail control
A powerful Hitec Mega Sail servo operates
the mailsheet which alters sail angle. The
standard Futaba 3003 servo might be OK
for a smaller sail.

The mailsheet leads through a stainless steel


saddle which is bolted through the axle
bracket to the body. This also holds the rear
axle bracket in place.

Inside
The receiver sits in front of the sail servo. Batteries
slip in the end of the pipe/body and are held in with a
plug, which also acts as a mount for the ON/OFF
switch.

Keeping the weight right at the back gives maximum


righting leverage (resistance to capsizing)
In stronger winds extra weight (up to 1/2 kg of lead) can be strapped to the body between the saddle
and the sail servo.

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