Micro Russian Thunder

[localfiend]

These little micro motor's I've been playing with have so much power that I figured a micro 3D capable profile plane will be possible with dollar tree foam board with the paper left on.



I'm thinking 16-17" wingspan.

6.4g HD1610 3400kv Motor
5030 Gemfan Prop - 5" Maximum Prop Size
6AMP Plush ESC
1.7g Servo x3
Micro Receiver
Gift Card Firewall and Servo Horns
180-260mah 2s

I've some ideas on how to easily make it swappable with my other designs as well.

I think this thing should fly. We'll see what happens.

 

[Flyingninja]

Dude, If you made tiled plans I would try it!!!

 

[localfiend]

Dude, If you made tiled plans I would try it!!!

Micro Russian Thunder Beta Decal Plans

There you go. They're early beta and I haven't tested them. So if it crashes with all hands lost it's not my fault.

If you want to give it a shot let me know how it went.

 

[localfiend]

Found the first problem. Slots don't line up on the tail/fuse section, I missed something there. So you may want to wait for me to fix it, otherwise you need to cut different slots into that piece.

 

[RCman50]

+1 subscribed

 

[joker24458]

Looks awesome, will be following this one. However I do have a couple things to say. I would highly, highly recommend you to peel the paper off. This will reduce the bare foam airframe weight by about half which is huge in micros. Also when the paper is left on it will inevitably start to peel from the edges or bubble from the middle. Even worse if it gets into contact with any kind of moisture it will warp the foam which is very easy for a profile foamy. Personally I don't see any advantages of leaving the paper on. Just do the hinges with scotch tape and use some carbon fiber for bracing (doesn't have to be a lot, just at least a wing spar should suffice).

Also you may want to make your elevator just a tad bigger/longer (chordwise) to get more elevator authority.

Anyways good luck on the build, keep us updated.

 

[localfiend]

Looks awesome, will be following this one. However I do have a couple things to say. I would highly, highly recommend you to peel the paper off. This will reduce the bare foam airframe weight by about half which is huge in micros. Also when the paper is left on it will inevitably start to peel from the edges or bubble from the middle. Even worse if it gets into contact with any kind of moisture it will warp the foam which is very easy for a profile foamy. Personally I don't see any advantages of leaving the paper on. Just do the hinges with scotch tape and use some carbon fiber for bracing (doesn't have to be a lot, just at least a wing spar should suffice).

Also you may want to make your elevator just a tad bigger/longer (chordwise) to get more elevator authority.

Anyways good luck on the build, keep us updated.

The original paper gets pulled off and the then foam gets covered by the decals.

See here:

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?21550-Decal-Plans-Everybody-Join-In

From the tests I've done, bare foam weighs about 30% less than with paper. Unfortunately without a lot of bracing dollar tree foam is not strong enough to use without a covering of some type. This is a test to see what happens to a profile plane. I know the plane will fly, but I figure it's going to be on the heavy side for 3D.

If it ends up too heavy to behave the way I want, I'm considering several ideas to cut out foam from the main body and wing while still retaining enough strength to hold together. If those options don't work out, I'll probably abandon this idea, as I can't think of any other way to make it work on something this tiny.

As for the elevator, that may be a good idea. We'll see what happens, I have a feeling it will be very strong as is. I'm more worried about the ailerons and weak 1.7g servos. I made the wings pretty darn big as I wanted all the area possible. The elevator didn't get as much of that treatment.

 

[joker24458]

The original paper gets pulled off and the then foam gets covered by the decals.

See here:

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?21550-Decal-Plans-Everybody-Join-In

From the tests I've done, bare foam weighs about 30% less than with paper. Unfortunately without a lot of bracing dollar tree foam is not strong enough to use without a covering of some type. This is a test to see what happens to a profile plane. I know the plane will fly, but I figure it's going to be on the heavy side for 3D.

If it ends up too heavy to behave the way I want, I'm considering several ideas to cut out foam from the main body and wing while still retaining enough strength to hold together. If those options don't work out, I'll probably abandon this idea, as I can't think of any other way to make it work on something this tiny.

As for the elevator, that may be a good idea. We'll see what happens, I have a feeling it will be very strong as is. I'm more worried about the ailerons and weak 1.7g servos. I made the wings pretty darn big as I wanted all the area possible. The elevator didn't get as much of that treatment.

Ahh, I see. I thought you meant that you would use the original paper. This is a great idea and those decal designs look awesome! Might have to try it for myself LOL. Good luck!

 

[localfiend]

Found out yesterday that the local RC club was sponsoring a Huckfest this weekend so I decided to build the thing. I love micro builds with decals. It's so fast to build.









Leaving little tabs makes lining stuff up a breeze.







Bare Airframe 32 Grams:




AUW 76 Grams. A little heavier than I would like, but not much you can do without radically changing the build process.








So it works. Maiden was a little ugly. Tried flying it without the vortex generators and aileron authority thingymabobs to see what would happen. I don't know what those things really are, but they're on the full scale plane, and some of the other designs out there include them. Turned out they're needed so it's good I drew them up. Once I got them on, my rudder servo started acting up. It was from my micro F22. I think it hit one too many trees. It would randomly seize up, making me think the plane was just an unstable mess until I found the problem.

Here's the maiden. It's a bit boring, ugly, and I had no cameraman.

Fixed the servo issue after this and got some better video at the Huckfest. I'll post that once it finishes uploading.

 

[localfiend]

Here's the video from today:

Local RC Club was hosting a huckfest this weekend. Thought the micro prototype would fit in.

I got most of the bugs worked out and it flies very well, though the breeze did push it around a bit. Elevator and rudder authority are very good, aileron is a little weak. I need to remove some slop from the linkage, get some more throw, or install a 3 gram servo.

It was a bit crazy at the end there, a bunch of bigger planes started up, and kids were running out onto the runway to retrieve a quad they crashed. I moved over to the side and tried to hover and a gust pushed me over the flight line so I dropped it in the grass.

Gonna see if I can get some of the skilled 3D guys to give it a shot tomorrow so I can get some feedback. I'm still a newbie, and I'm really not a 3D pilot. It'l hover, fly inverted, do loops, rolls, flat spins, and a pretty decent blender but that's the extent of my skills. Rolling harriers and the like end up with me splattering planes.

 

[rdallaire]

I'm interested in building this. Would this motor work for these micros? The recommended motor you have is not available at HK and I am fairly new to micros and not sure if this one weighs too much or is enough power.

18-11 2000kv Micro Brushless Outrunner (10g) (US Warehouse)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=30925

Thanks

 

[Grifflyer]

are your plans up to date? is the model ready to release? if I build it would it work?

 

[RioWilson]

I know this thread has been quiet for a while, but I just repurposed the guts of a UMX Pitts for a Micro Russian Thunder - waiting on a prop and cable to turn off AS3X. Balance seems spot on at this point. Maiden soon...

 

[Samh]

Are there the more updated plans yet?

 

[Samh]

Hey Local Fiend. Whats your email address. I have a few questions I would like to know about the micro Russian Thunder

 

[OliverW]

Hey Local Fiend. Whats your email address. I have a few questions I would like to know about the micro Russian Thunder

Just PM him.

 

[Samh]

Just PM him.

I DONT KNOW HOW !!!😔

 

[localfiend]

Ok, here's the CAD files for the plane. You can tweak them however you want. I've uploaded both a DoubleCAD XT file, and an ordinary DXF that should open in any CAD program.

DoubleCAD is free, so if you don't have, or have never used CAD before, it's pretty easy to learn.

https://www.turbocad.com/content/doublecad-xt-v5

You can download FT Style CAD Templates here for use with doublecad, and I also have a quick tutorial video on how to draw simple stuff with it. Should be enough to get you started with tweaking the Russian Thunder if it needs it.

https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/ft-style-cad-templates.25514/#post-267027