EDF jets for beginners?

telnar1236

Elite member
interesting. how small can you scale a Hawk down too? could you fly with smaller EDF? it's like a dwarf F4P LoL!

also, what makes the A-10 hard to fly?
You can scale a hawk pretty far down. As an EDF trainer, it's good, but as a first plane, less so. The BAE Hawk flies basically like a warbird. The limit on your ability to scale it is the power systems. I've seen 28mm T-45s which are slightly modified BAE Hawks. But again, 64mm is probably the sweet spot. Small does not equal slow, and slow is more important than small.

But as a trainer, a delta is amazing.
 

Marzipan

Well-known member
Oh, yeah, those profile planes are cheap on BangGood and fly great. That's probably a 50mm model.

erm...thats a scratch build I think...but it dawned on me after posting you meant the 'FanTrainer' style. my bad.

and what are some good delta wing designs that use EDF?
 
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telnar1236

Elite member
erm...thats a scratch build I think...but it dawned on me after posting you meant the 'FanTrainer' style. my bad.

and what are some good delta wing designs that use EDF?
You're right that might be a scratch build. Here's a link to what I thought it was:

K8 5mm PP 980mm Wingspan RC Airplane RC Plane Fixed-wing KIT Sale - Banggood USA

I don't know why they're charging so much right now, but typically the kits go for about $20-$30.

The Viggen is a great delta wing airplane to start off with. You basically can't stall it and when built light it flies pretty slowly and is very manageable. With a light prop setup instead of an EDF and a good stabilizer it could even be a first plane.

I haven't flown a lightly loaded F4D Skyray ever, but I've heard good things about it from multiple sources. Gripens can be hard to build, but they have similarly good characteristics to the Viggen and retain energy better, but they might be a bit too fast. Steve Shumate has a nice parkjet Gripen on RCGroups. I like Mirages (2000 and III), but they can become more difficult to fly. However, if you have the skills to fly it a Mirage will just about hover in place. Mirages are very fast though as well and like too land a bit flatter, so it might be a good idea to wait until a second or third EDF for a Mirage.

In general, a lightly loaded delta will be fine. Canards make stall behavior better. Mid-wing aircraft (like the F4D Skyray) are more stable and lifting bodies are also nice.
 

quorneng

Master member
Marzipan
If you can build light enough, and I do means light, then a small EDF is quite possible but it does require some expert building skills.
True scale, 810 mm (32") span, 40 mm EDF, a 1400 mAh 2s and it weighs just 202 g ready to go.
13Aug17.JPG

A DH Venom. Twin booms are not so easy to build but the short fuselage means the EDF duct is also short.
It does not fly fast so is easy to hand launch and can be flown in quite a small space. Lands on grass with no damage.
If you can fly a similar sized prop plane you can fly this.
The problems? It is built using just 2 mm foam sheet, it uses 3 tiny 2.5 g servos and a micro 4 channel radio. To save weight everything apart from the battery is permanently built in.
My advice would be to stick to small prop planes until you have access to a big enough site to fly a 'proper' EDF.;)
 

quorneng

Master member
If you mean the Avro CF105 Arrow then most definitely a delta.
There is a long story associated with it which means nothing other than a nose section exists of the 5 that were built.
 

L Edge

Master member
erm...thats a scratch build I think...but it dawned on me after posting you meant the 'FanTrainer' style. my bad.

and what are some good delta wing designs that use EDF?

Here is my designed experimental delta wing 5 bladed 64 mm EDF wing that is tops as a trainer and with a 1300 lipo can fly almost 10 min. It can be flown in a small area and in tough gusty winds with my stabilizer. Change it to a prop and landing gear and it is outstanding as a STOL vehicle.

Trees are about 125 ft high and I am about 125 ft from where I start decend. Short takeoff as well. Who has this type of STOL?

 

Jade_Monkey07

Well-known member
to be honest, the jet frames I'm most interested in are the CL-41 Tutor, the BAE Hawk and the F4 Phantom. however I don't think any of those are suitable for a training plane. the first two are fighter trainers, so fast and good for stunts (ala Snowbirds prove that) and the F4P isn't all that maneuverable but is great for long straight high speed runs, LoL!

being real, I bet an appropriately scaled A-10 Warthog would be good as they can fly at an almost stall speed to ensure their BRRRRRZZZT hits where it's supposed to.

I know there are a few UMX A-10 out there that are BNP / RTF, but does anyone know if there are any scaled down even smaller? to say 12 or 15" wingspan?
I found a guy on ali express that seems to carry a bunch of the old umx kits. I just finished building my 35mm edf f86 golden hawks build from one of his kits. It's about 15 inch wingspan.
20210926_215851.jpg

C$ 35.98 | 35mm RC Jet F86 Unassembled Kit
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mOnkjzY
 

Jade_Monkey07

Well-known member

Marzipan

Well-known member
I found a guy on ali express that seems to carry a bunch of the old umx kits. I just finished building my 35mm edf f86 golden hawks build from one of his kits. It's about 15 inch wingspan. View attachment 208605
C$ 35.98 | 35mm RC Jet F86 Unassembled Kit
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mOnkjzY

I'm not much interested in craft such as that, but thank you. I perused some of the other offerings...what's with the lunatic shipping prices? freight quotes as much as the kit if not more!