Dragon Plane Scratch Build - do you think it will fly?

DudeSeriously

super noob
this is my first scratch build. does anyone have any suggestions on any alterations i should make? can anyone tell me how big the motors will need to be for a plane this size? the wing span is about 40 inches. will the curve in the ailerons and elevator cause problems? let me know your thoughts please.
mouth closed.jpg

mouth open.jpg

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xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
I have to say it looks awesome! Much more realistic than my foamboard Pterodactyl...
It may just be the angles in the pictures but the main wing might like a tad more area or it's likely to fly very heavy.
 

rcspaceflight

creator of virtual planes
It looks heavy. How much does it weigh?

The elevator looks too big. I've never tried an airfoil on an elevator, but it looks like that elevator is going to create more lift than you'd want it to. (But I have no idea if that's true.) Or are you trying to get the CG closer to the center of the Dragon?
 

DudeSeriously

super noob
i can always trim down the foam once i see how the elevator reacts in the air ... its a bit tail heavy at the moment, but it has no motor or electronics yet. or landing gear(legs), or a roman candle in its mouth.. . yet.

i actually have never flown before, and just got done ordering my very first plane on amazon. i got a hobbyzone sport cub s rtf. i am so excited. been practicing on picasim on my phone for 3 months.
 

Corbarrad

Active member
Thats an absolutely gorgeous piece of foamboard sculpture.
I'll have to chime in with the doubters, though as flight characteristics are concerned.

The wing looks very heavy and while it's got a pretty thick airfoil that should in theory create a lot of lift I think the rearward taper is too steep to allow theair to flow off of it without a lot of turbulence. Also, since you've got almost no apreciable self-righting with a mid-wing setup and no dihedral you might want to have a thicker profile or even undercamber on the outboard wing panels kinda like tche cessna corvals or, indeed the flite test planes.

The head is a great bit of sculpture and it makes the whole thinng come alive. It will also create a lot of drag as well, though and that's not something you want in front of your wing since it will counteract your stabilizer and might make your plane lose yaw stability.

The tail has been mentioned before and while I said you'll need a big tail to counteract the drag of the head I feel the airfoil you chose will cause problems along the line because it will create lift far behind your wing. That lift will push your nose down and that downward pressure will only increase as you gain speed. A profiled tail might help with stability but you should probably choose a symmetricall airfoil so you have neutral lift in the back.

Of course I'm not a professional aeronautical engineer, just a member of the armchair physics brigade. I probably should just shut up until I got at least one of my pipe dream designs in the air...
 

Corbarrad

Active member
... Did I just kill another thread by slapping a poor enthusiastic newbie with a wall of text?

If so, I'm sorry.
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
... Did I just kill another thread by slapping a poor enthusiastic newbie with a wall of text?

If so, I'm sorry.
I doubt it. We're only trying to help and while the plane is absolutely gorgeous as is, it's not an ideal shape to make fly well without a few concessions to aerodynamics.
 

DudeSeriously

super noob
thank you for all the advice. i am in the process of fixing the tail airfoil issue, but have gotten sucked into a bunch of other build ideas. . dont worry, you didnt slap me down, i just havent been back on my computer in a while, and couldn't log in on my phone for some reason. i really do appreciate all the advice, good or bad. thanks for the help!