135% bravo it is then!
ABC STEM Trifecta Group Build
- Thread starter BATTLEAXE
- Start date
Grifflyer
WWII fanatic
Atta boy!!OK OK you all convinced me, I am in too but it will take me a little longer to build then usual.
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
Here she is ladies and gentlemen, the Alpha is complete:
This is as clean as it will ever look lol...
I did the bravo tail on it to give it some attitude...
Makes for a sweet fighter jet profile.
In making this as far as looks go, I like the shape of the wings and tail better on the FT-22, but this fuse is way better then the boxy nose section of the 22. So my next prop and slot jet will be a marry of the two. Looking at it this is the nose I was trying to come up with for the 22 but just couldn't see how it was going to take shape in my head. Now that I have built it, this is definitely going on the 22 for sure.
Nothing left to do but program and maiden... to be continued
This is as clean as it will ever look lol...
I did the bravo tail on it to give it some attitude...
Makes for a sweet fighter jet profile.
In making this as far as looks go, I like the shape of the wings and tail better on the FT-22, but this fuse is way better then the boxy nose section of the 22. So my next prop and slot jet will be a marry of the two. Looking at it this is the nose I was trying to come up with for the 22 but just couldn't see how it was going to take shape in my head. Now that I have built it, this is definitely going on the 22 for sure.
Nothing left to do but program and maiden... to be continued
Beautifully done @BATTLEAXE ! I can’t wait to finish (get started on😂) mine! I’m really eager to see how she flies
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
I can't wait to see how this flies, not because I have high hopes for it, but because there might be some sketch factor involved that I haven't thought about. Just have a feeling there might be some bad voodoo lol. If anything I will be surprised if it flies well, if it does as good as the 22, great! but I don't have high expectations... yet. Again the maiden will tell the story.
Grifflyer
WWII fanatic
Nice!! Any idea on how your going to paint it? I'm either going with a US flag look, or something like the gulf scheme for the Porsche 917.
Wildthing
Legendary member
Just looking at it, if you extended the elevons farther inward say to where the V is you would get a ton more prop wash over the surfaces giving you way more control and agility.
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
Your right it would, the elevons are the original design other then the reposition of the hinge line forward to lengthen the control surface. If I feel I need more I will play around with different configurations.
If you stand this up on it's tail surfaces and take a look at it from a profile standpoint, it kinda looks like a conehead eskimo, The elevons look like mukluk boots and the wing/fuse looks like a fur parka lol.
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
It's programmed and ready for the maiden. Just waiting for weather to warm up a bit and dry up the ground some.
I have been thinking of all the things I have learned with this prop and slot jets, there are so many things I could do now to design the ultimate jet fighter for speed and controllability. Depending on how this flies, I will be making a final version which I will stick with, pending minor adjustments of coarse. This type of airframe will always be in the arsenal and I owe my enlightened thanks to @The Hangar for the initial suggestion to build one.
I have been thinking of all the things I have learned with this prop and slot jets, there are so many things I could do now to design the ultimate jet fighter for speed and controllability. Depending on how this flies, I will be making a final version which I will stick with, pending minor adjustments of coarse. This type of airframe will always be in the arsenal and I owe my enlightened thanks to @The Hangar for the initial suggestion to build one.
Wildthing
Legendary member
When I started this hobby it was through RCPowers site and 99% of the planes were all prop slot. That prop wash gives you the tv effect so that's why I suggested modifying your elevons. All your weight is centered to which is a bonus
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
Yeah you make a really good point and I thank you for the insight, makes so much sense. I have been mostly keeping the elevons the same size and shape but moving around the hinge line for throw purposes. I still have some servo flutter, mainly because there is a lot of leveraged weight due to the long control surface chord, the servo won't stabilize on it's own. So on my final version, I will shortening the chord but, like you said, I will be extending them to the center to take advantage of the prop wash. I can see how this will help considerably eliminating the flutter, but also the control maneuverability, most of all at lower speeds as well.
Hey on a side note question... the bearings inside brushless motors, can you remove and maintenance them, clean and oil them? Do they dry out after time? I ask because I am getting an intermittent squeal from one of my motors and i want to fix it. Any suggestions?
Wildthing
Legendary member
We also found the control surfaces didn't need to be half as large (short control surface chord)
, we slowly made them shorter and still had great control. Bearings you can service, gun oil works the best for lubrication. If they are rough though then replace them, you will find them on Bangood or Aliexpress for cheap in packages of 10 or so.
I’m glad you are enjoying the prop-n-slot jets! If we both go to ff 2020, we should both pick cool jet-related projects. I’ve been toying with doing a 250% ff-22 as a twin c pack pusher with differential and possibly thrust vectoring for ff...
Update on my 135% bravo:
I got the plans printed and started tapping them together. I have good feelings about this one😃
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
Yea I am thinking the same thing. Strategically placed elevons at a reasonable size would be better then just throwing them on like an afterthought. I have a bunch of mods in mind, I might just design my own actually.We also found the control surfaces didn't need to be half as large (short control surface chord)
Bearings you can service, gun oil works the best for lubrication. If they are rough though then replace them, you will find them on Bangood or Aliexpress for cheap in packages of 10 or so.
As far as the bearings go I will go through my motor and try the gun oil thing. I thought a loose prop might be the issue but now I am thinking Its more then that. I have an onboard vid I want you to listen to to see if the bearing might be the issue if you have experienced this before. Check it out.
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
FF2020 dedicated prop and slot jet projects... hell yea. As far as the kind of project, I will have to see what kind of gear I have at that point in time but I am so in.
A 250% twin pusher would be awesome, would take some doing though, might be a monster FB project.
Wildthing
Legendary member
That was a scarey first launch
.I don't think it sounded bad at all, I think a lot of it is the airflow past the microphone. When doing a loop it was silent ( 0 airflow) , inverted was a different story .
If a bearing is getting rough you usually can hear it even with the prop off but I will check mine periodically for maintenance. C clip off and remove the can & shaft (shaft still in the can) and then I just use the collet side of the shaft and slide it into each bearing and spin it, in a sense backwards so the magnets aren't doing anything and with the weight of the can you can spin it freely. 80% of the time you will find the front bearing bad before the rear one.
I’ll start a thread on it a few months before ff, and I think it’ll be cool to watch the builds progress on the thread then actually see them maiden/fly.
How do you like your sportster so far? It is kinda a beefed up version of the speedster, and the speedster is fairly large, and the sportster would be a lot more aerobatic.
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
Maybe I will just maintenance it anyway, couldn't hurt. Thanks for the feedback.That was a scarey first launch
I don't think it sounded bad at all, I think a lot of it is the airflow past the microphone. When doing a loop it was silent ( 0 airflow) , inverted was a different story .
If a bearing is getting rough you usually can hear it even with the prop off but I will check mine periodically for maintenance. C clip off and remove the can & shaft (shaft still in the can) and then I just use the collet side of the shaft and slide it into each bearing and spin it, in a sense backwards so the magnets aren't doing anything and with the weight of the can you can spin it freely. 80% of the time you will find the front bearing bad before the rear one.
Its not just the beefed up version, its a whole different monster. The Speedster is more of an indoor flyer and has a great presence there because of it's size. This Sportster is more like the Baby Blender for maneuverability, and with a 9x6x2 prop has pretty much the same flight characteristics to the biplane, speed and handling. Turns, rolls and loops on a dime.
However yesterday I flew it on the 11x7x3... Holy Crap! That Sportster turned into the monster truck/race car Godzilla I was looking for. I normally fly with the 2 blade at about 70% throttle for cruising, 3 blade was half throttle for the same speed. As far as power goes, I put the coals to it and went into a climb, and it just kept going, no stalling, no stopping. I had to level it out to get it to come down, took off like a rocket. Top speed was about 40-50% faster then the 2 blade prop, it ripped, and got up to speed just about as fast as I pushed on the stick. It would give my 22 a run for the money. And to top it all off it sounds more like a gasser as well, the 3 blades give it more of a whooping sort of reverberation, sounds like a hot rod.
How do like the Sportster, I don't... I love it. It has scared me a few times now and it has made me a little gun shy, till I get used to it. It has kinda kicked me in the confidence for now but I like it, helps me push myself. Do I recommend it... yes! With a 3 blade... depends on who is asking lol!
