R/C Landsailer

This is a home made landsailer using a wing sail instead of a traditional fabric sail.  The sail is constructed with a foam board inner structure and wrapped with poster board to create the airfoil shape.  The frame is simple enough, just 2 aluminum strips bolted together riding on 3 roller blade wheels (great bearings) to form a sturdy base to keep the wind from flipping it over.  I angled the forward frame for the front wheel so that it would lean in turns.  It seems to work pretty well.  The electronics are 2 old Futaba servos and a cheap receiver I scavenged from a ruined sailplane.  One servo turns the front wheel and the other turns the sail left and right to help catch the wind.

The hardest part of this build was creating a mount for the large wing that would turn freely and be strong enough to hold the wing straight up in high wind.  I attached a piece of copper tubing inside the leading edge of the wing which slides onto a piece of all-thread bolted to the frame.  Overall, I spent less than $20 building this thing as the only purchases I made were the aluminum pieces and a couple of hose clamps to hold down the rear wheel axles.