An unusual Warbird. The A4b - a V-2 with wings.
- Thread starter quorneng
- Start date
quorneng
Master member
Yogenh1
Thanks for the kind words. I was surprised as anyone on how well it does actually fly.
However whilst testing the gyro heading hold feature things don't always go to plan!
For some reason it did not produce full power and rose up rather slowly. The gyro tried to keep it upright but eventually lost the struggle.
The thin skin Depron structure did it usual superb job of 'crumpling' and absorbing the impact. No other part of the structure was damaged and all the electrics remain operational.
A new nose is under way.
Thanks for the kind words. I was surprised as anyone on how well it does actually fly.
However whilst testing the gyro heading hold feature things don't always go to plan!
For some reason it did not produce full power and rose up rather slowly. The gyro tried to keep it upright but eventually lost the struggle.
The thin skin Depron structure did it usual superb job of 'crumpling' and absorbing the impact. No other part of the structure was damaged and all the electrics remain operational.
A new nose is under way.
mjmccarron
Member
A bit of an understatement. Very interesting and cool. Very creative approach to the tail mixing. Great job!
Best of luck,
Mike
Last edited:
kacknor
Build another!
Just saw your video and the vertical take off is very cool! It occurs to me that even on a windy day a soda straw guide glued to the fuse slipped over a steel rod stuck into the ground would keep it vertical until power was added. It's how we used to launch the Estes rocket kits when I was kid. May have to scale it up a bit, (Carbon fiber tube?) but it should work.
JD
quorneng
Master member
kacknor
My real concern is not so much it can blow over as the effect of the wind just as it rises of the ground.
With any wind the wind gradient close to the ground would cause it to topple a bit down wind and the aerodynamic controls have absolutely no effect for the first 20 feet or so.
The only way of ensuring a good 'lift of' in any sort of wind would be to have quite a tall arrangement so aerodynamic control was available by the time it left the guide.
It would work but it would loose the scale appearance.
Now if I made a 'vertical riser' Bachem Natter that did use a launch tower!
My real concern is not so much it can blow over as the effect of the wind just as it rises of the ground.
With any wind the wind gradient close to the ground would cause it to topple a bit down wind and the aerodynamic controls have absolutely no effect for the first 20 feet or so.
The only way of ensuring a good 'lift of' in any sort of wind would be to have quite a tall arrangement so aerodynamic control was available by the time it left the guide.
It would work but it would loose the scale appearance.
Now if I made a 'vertical riser' Bachem Natter that did use a launch tower!
kacknor
Build another!
Indeed. It's a matter of thrust vs speed. The quicker one can build speed the easier it is to vertically launch. I wasn't really envisioning a rocket though (Well, OK, maybe a little). Not knowing the limits say a 6 kph breeze will knock it over, but is relatively easy to fly in. 15 is max flight limits but 12 can be managed. A rod & tube guide about 1.5 meters in length might give a vertical launch envelope of 0 to 10 kph vs 0 to 5.
It's all variable and in the end, you have a cool video of it being done already and that may just be cool enough. Frankly I still think it's pretty darn awesome that you did this whole project.
JD
Not knowing the limits say a 6 kph breeze will knock it over, but is relatively easy to fly in. 15 is max flight limits but 12 can be managed. A rod & tube guide about 1.5 meters in length might give a vertical launch envelope of 0 to 10 kph vs 0 to 5. It's all variable and in the end, you have a cool video of it being done already and that may just be cool enough.
Frankly I still think it's pretty darn awesome that you did this whole project. JD
