RC Plane Wheel

thingiverse

My buddy crafts budget-friendly foam board RC planes and sought bigger wheels (4" or larger) for smooth landing and takeoff on grassy surfaces. Initially, I stumbled upon a cool spiral wheel design on Thingiverse that seemed perfect with its spring-like mechanism. I upscaled it by 150% to create a more substantial wheel. Although it worked initially, the wheel failed miserably during taxiing as soon as any lateral force was applied. Once I grasped that suspension wasn't necessary in the wheel itself, I swiftly designed a new wheel using TinkerCad. The new wheel weighs roughly the same as its spiral counterpart at about 32 grams. After some rigorous testing with hard landings, it handles rough terrain with ease and floats smoothly.