Help! Colonial Viper?

Good Project Build?

  • Not sure.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • To complicated. Don't try it.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    6
  • Poll closed .

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
I'm actually thinking of doing this. I found a mod for the FT arrow and am building a test bird for the cockpit. The next test is to pull off the Battlestar Galactica rebooted versions black bird. Then I'm going to feel comfortable with moving onto the mark 2 version. I feel like it'll have to have wings that have been embellished a tad so I plan on taking some creative license with the design.
Oooh! You got it going on!
 

Andrew

G'day Mate
I built a Colonial Viper many years ago, just a simple profile pusher version. The longest flight was about 20 seconds, it was very twitchy in the role axis, probably because of its small size and the "Anhedral wing".
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Piotrsko

Master member
See told you about the roll troll tendencies. How about a multi axis gyro like the Heli people do? Then one engine, standard control surfaces, although a gyro with strong gain running the rudder should be enough to roll the ship by itself. 11 degrees is enough anhiederal, most people wont know it is off.
 
See told you about the roll troll tendencies. How about a multi axis gyro like the Heli people do? Then one engine, standard control surfaces, although a gyro with strong gain running the rudder should be enough to roll the ship by itself. 11 degrees is enough anhiederal, most people wont know it is off.

Hey @Piotrsko and @Andrew I can see what you mean. KISS would be nice (Keep It Simple Stupid), But then I do like the big Floaty idea. Big Floaty CV-Mk I means I can do single pusher with 3 cans.

Years ago I still had my leftovers from my Shot Gunned bird. I had been screwing around with a A tail design angular Space/Air craft that the main wings had 3 positions. Vertical for storage like a Navy bird. Horizontal for normal take-off and landings. 22.5 % down pitch for high-speed and high maneuvered flight. Funny thing was, I never built her. But the guy I sold my pile of electronics did!
It flew! And it flew hot! This was years before gyros and stabilizers. Although he was a fighter pilot, I never got over seeing that crazy bird floating at level wing about 5 knots, go wings down and flat COOK! And then at full throttle hook a turn around me three times before I could blink, then snap skyward.
 

JennyC6

Elite member
If Flite Test has shown me anything it's that just about anything can fly if you give it enough power and some sort of control surface.

My concern with the viper, as much as I would like to see that is the lack of wing/control surface area.

That being said, there is one way to find out, build it and try to fly it, and with that in mind I say go for it!
My concern is less 'wing area' and more 'CG'. There's enough wing area present, especailly with three 70mm EDFs pushing it, for it to fly, but all the wing area is right on its arse end. Same issue the X-Wing has.

Clear canards may just be necessary for it.
 

Piotrsko

Master member
My concern is less 'wing area' and more 'CG'. There's enough wing area present, especailly with three 70mm EDFs pushing it, for it to fly, but all the wing area is right on its arse end. Same issue the X-Wing has.

Clear canards may just be necessary for it.
NAAH, we were flying X-wings canardless without gyros or modern electronics back in '84. Basically a plank flying wing biplane.
Did have to use differential servo arms to the elevons that moved more up on the upper wing with no down, and ditto on the lower wing but backwards. Cg on a wing is just Cg no matter what is in front or behind.
 

JennyC6

Elite member
NAAH, we were flying X-wings canardless without gyros or modern electronics back in '84. Basically a plank flying wing biplane.
Did have to use differential servo arms to the elevons that moved more up on the upper wing with no down, and ditto on the lower wing but backwards. Cg on a wing is just Cg no matter what is in front or behind.
It's gonna be pretty damn hard to get the CG right and get control authority when the wings are right at the tail. Not impossible, but definitely not easy. ANd the X-Wing has a bit of an advantage in wing area compared to the Viper.

Easiest way to do it would be clear canards.
 
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Salvage0ne

New member
There was one guy from somewhere in the UK who had built a Viper MK IV, if I'm not mistaken. It was his version of Tom DeSanto's Viper, for those who know what I'm talking about. Enclosed, please find the files. The woman and the man holding this monster apparently never finished the project. This was towards the end of 2018, and it was supposed to be available by Christmas of that same year. The company in question is Jagar Hobby, who as of today, are apparently out of business. The model was supposed to be either EDF or turbine-powered, according to the seller. I saw how he made it. He used a 3D printer to print out hundreds of parts (see photos) from a foam-like material, and then he glues everything together to form this model. A bloody nightmare if you ask me. The man claimed he had video of it in flight, as he said it flew great. He said he would get around to uploading me a video. He never did. He stopped answering my inquiries over a year ago. The 3rd photo is me about 20 years ago with my version of the Viper Mk I. This was a model rocket. It flew right-side-up and horizontal for hundreds of feet before the parachutes deployed from inside the nose section. I routed 3 E motor tubes to a single center tube through the fuselage, for parachute deployment. Between working and raising a family, I've been thinking about building a flying version as well, but not a stick-flier. It's tough when you are so preoccupied with life, right? I want it to be made up of composites, so it has the scale look of the real deal. Btw, I think whoever built the stick versions are awesome, because they actually did it!! From a distance, they look like the Vipers. The picture at the bottom is of Tom DeSanto's Viper Mk IV. His has a tighter anhedral than Jagar's, but the Jagar owner justified that his version was more of a flying wing, given that the fuselage is contoured within the wings, much like on the SR-71. Wow, 2019, and people are JUST starting to talk about this the way I've always wanted to build it. I hope whoever's reading this will get with me on this. Maybe together we can build a really nice and stable ship.
I hope this isn't a deterrent. Jagar Hobby may have given up on everything, including this project, but I don't believe that this is a losing battle. Like someone in the forum said earlier, it can't hurt to try. I've proven my rockets fly upright and level, which are totally amazing to watch. With that being said (and btw, my ships never had a horizontal stabilizer like a canard on them), perhaps someday we can make this happen. Gyros? I was wondering about that, but I never heard of one in a fixed wing, before. I always thought they were in rotary wing craft.
 

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