speedbirdted
Legendary member
Only 4 total actually... First 21 people were all meAbout to be 24 now that @buzzbomb is in the area
Anybody else scratch building tonight?
- Thread starter K3V0
- Start date
speedbirdted
Legendary member
Not necessarily an airplane scratchbuild but I figured out how to use a controller as a gamepad. I've already got one of those orangerx dongles that I use for simulator practice but with a little finagling I managed to get it to work in other programs since at heart, Windows recognizes it as just a normal controller. Here it is coupled with a 2d physics simulation program known as Algodoo which is normally only designed to run off of a keyboard but with some clever scripting I managed to add proportional joystick control. It isn't perfectly linear but it works well enough for something like a simple robot arm, and the trainer button on the dx8 works decently well for an adhesion based claw. I originally had a more complex mechanical claw running off of switch D so I could get three positions out of it, but Algodoo doesn't seem to recognize it at all so the button will have to do.
speedbirdted
Legendary member
lol the next idea I have that's based on this is even weirder... I kind of want to see if I can make a usb compatible transmitter so I can fly airplanes with all sorts of weird controllers by just running them through my laptop. Getting fully proportional control out of something like a guitar hero controller which only has buttons on it might be a little hard. But in the old days you had things like escapements and those seemed to work well enough?
speedbirdted
Legendary member
Well, compared to our systems filled to the brim with all the bells and whistles you could possibly ask for, yeah. But, back when escapements first hit the market in the late 40s and early 50s, 99.99999% of people were flying free flight - and even a single modicum of control over your model was miles better than anything else at the time, which was roughly knowing where thermals were and throwing your model at them! I've flown a single channel escapement model before and it's by no means very easy, given that you only have nothing or 100% rudder in either direction and you have to remember what your last input was - however it's made somewhat easier by the fact that most of the models they were installed in were the free-flight type which must have positive stability or else they'll just crash, which means on a calm day the model flies itself most of the time.
The first sorta proportional control systems weren't terribly nice either -
Suprisingly reeds radios could be flown with nearly the capability of today's systems, however it was much harder to do so - the control was only "proportional" in the fact that the control surface in question slowly deflected more based on the time that the switch was held down. There are a couple of old guys at my club who while they don't fly the original reeds systems (as they all belong in display cases) do occasionally fly with reeds emulators for a bit of fun & nostalgia and they do it pretty darn well!
K3V0
Elite member
Thanks for dropping some cool knowledge on us! I am constantly reminded that the hobby is really accessible these days and it wasn’t always that way. It definitely required a level of time/patience and investment that was not available to everyone. (Although now I’m imagining ordering power packs, servos, and fb from the sears catalog)
speedbirdted
Legendary member
Designing some floats... these will be for a plane that has about an 80 inch span so they're 44 inches long. I had a couple ideas but couldn't really decide and might end up building both. Expect a build thread soon if this gets anywhere. Note: these are only halves of the floats so they look a little strange. usually when I do these types of designs I make sections of them and then mirror them in Inkscape when I go to laser the formers
Also word of warning... if you plan to design something with lots of weird, intersecting compound curves don't do it in a parametric program like I did!! I ended up with about 50 workplanes total at the end of designing each of these. Should've just used Blender...
Also word of warning... if you plan to design something with lots of weird, intersecting compound curves don't do it in a parametric program like I did!! I ended up with about 50 workplanes total at the end of designing each of these. Should've just used Blender...
Vimana89
Legendary member
I have some warped foam that could only benefit from being molded/curved and have been inspired to try an annular wing or "barrel" wing build. I may play it safe and make the design more similar to @L Edge's, or I may go with this. I promise I was sober at the time of sketching this up just now. The front ring is like canards and will extend a tiny bit past the prop to act as a prop guard too. @Grifflyer asked to be tagged in this to see the madness
Attachments
Last edited:
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
.. and it was only a matter of time, not much time, but here we are lolI have some warped foam that could only benefit from being molded/curved and have been inspired to try an annular wing or "barrel" wing build. I may play it safe and make the design more similar to @L Edge's, or I may go with this. I promise I was sober at the time of sketching this up just now. The front ring is like canards and will extend a tiny bit past the prop to act as a prop guard too. @Grifflyer asked to be tagged in this to see the madness
Grifflyer
WWII fanatic
Lol I was expecting it to happen sooner
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
Hey he could have already built it and been posting video of the maiden, like chumming the water for sharks lolLol I was expecting it to happen sooner
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
I noticed it is getting hard to find FB and glue sticks this time of year, lots of diorama's being made I guess. Gonna hafta stock up for next year
Wildthing
Legendary member
Lol I was expecting it to happen sooner
Just need to plant a little seed and look what happens
Vimana89
Legendary member
I did something I had planned to do anyway, which was modify the fuselage template for my four wing plane to streamline it and add more tail length and a bit more nose length. I did this after looking at it and realizing the same one could be used as a basis for the annular V-tail plane. I'll rig it up with the motor and V tails before adding or attempting the wing, so if I botch that, I have a platform for another build of some sort, although it will not have the middle wing slot in the same position for the four wing plane, so maybe another experiment like a tailed V tail delta bipe or something. Lets hope I don't botch the wing and we get to see the barrel wing fly👍.
Vimana89
Legendary member
I was busy a lot of the day, so didn't spend it binge building on the annular wing...I did however have some time, and drew up a lot of the parts to begin cutting and assembling. I also chopped the rest of the nose on my Armin wing canard plane(after a second test, the thing that got it was almost definitely thrust angle. All it did was turn left, even with full right throws. I slapped on a tractor prop and moved the electronics around a bit, and now I've got a plank plane. I'll snap a couple pics tomorrow and maybe maiden if time and weather allow.
BATTLEAXE
Legendary member
So you put canards on your plank plane? Do you have any pics?
Similar threads
