For orientation purposes I'm planning to do one wing / wing tip in a different color. Maybe an opaque white bit out on the end. If I can't tell up from down, at least I'll know right from left
Ooh the excitement builds. When do you expect the first flight? Can we expect some video with all these teasers?
Awesome to see someone else designing 3D printed planes! I've built a few from 3Dlabprints and I'm always looking to try others designs. My printer is currently without any projects at the moment! Hint, Hint... LOLHah. I wouldn't make you figure it out on your own. Could make a short video showing what has to happen. It's basically only 4 steps. Make a sketch plane along a spar, add a sketch to that plane, draw circles on said sketch, then extrude the circles through the spar. You just have to do it over, and over, and over again.
However, that may not even be needed. We'll see after I get the plane done and can figure out what the weights should be. What would probably be needed are motor and servo specs and sizes. The firewall arrangement would have to be adjusted, as well as resizing the servo cutouts. Did you have electronics in mind when you picked 24 inches?
Printers finished up the stuff I had drawn this morning.
You can see the tongue and groove assembly I settled on. This lets you easily just slot the wing together without having to mess with alignment tabs for gluing. This will make getting perfect CA joints very easy, and the tongue and groove material doubles as an additional heavy duty spar right where it's needed. Should be easier to assemble than most of the 3D lab prints stuff.
Awesome to see someone else designing 3D printed planes! I've built a few from 3Dlabprints and I'm always looking to try others designs. My printer is currently without any projects at the moment! Hint, Hint... LOL
I think if you moulded in a proper hand grip like the Eflite RearBear, it would make things very easy for a good toss every time. Have a look at the third picture on that HH page and it will give you a good idea of how it looks. If you still need additional pics, send me a message and I can snap some for you on mine. I can even get measurements for you.
I may have to think outside the box a bit, or make the handgrip area a separate printable part. That grip shape won't be printable in the orientation of the rest of the integrated fuse/wing pieces, and the spars inside won't be printable if I swapped directions.
After typing that, I think it could be doable, but it will have to be entirely separate, with it's own spar structure. Will add some to the weight, but that will be worth it. I'd be interested in knowing how wide it is at the narrowest point.
Or a catapult? (Can be a pain to setup/tear down I guess....)Have you considered a discus type launch?
Have you considered a discus type launch? I use to launch my wings like a traditional hand toss, but discovered that the discus method seemed to have better results and higher launch speed. I will admit it takes a bit of practice because every plane is a bit different and the weight difference between planes also changed how much force was needed. Just a thought...
I normally wing tip launch most flying wings and pushers. I know some people don't like that method though, and a plane you spend effort on printing out is probably the wrong plane to practice with. I'd rather it be easy and repeatable for everybody though, so a good grip spot seems like the best overall idea. Same thing for a catapult, too big of a pain.