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.