Electric Lipo Missiles

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flyingschnitzel

Junior Member
or: Nerf/pressure Missiles



Hi,
I just joined the forum, cause i love FT and I've got an idea on which I need some help.

I'm going to build a jet soon (viggen or ft22/f15 from the forum) and I want to arm it with bombs and missiles (aka falling and flying Foam bits).
Bombs are easy, but missiles are either rather expensive (rockets) or harder to build (electric).
I choose the latter cause if I always wanted the easy way, i'd also buy myself a jet.

What i probably need:
  • 1s Lipo
  • fast motor-prop combination
  • small esc
  • the missile (foam cut/4mm foamboard design)
  • something, that allows me to start the motor and keep it on for some seconds (the hardest part IMO)

Any ideas or links for the last point?

It might be difficult but theres enough time until spring ;)

Hope you can help me

Cheers,
Patrick

Edit: this post might sound kinda bad, ive tried to explain it on the bottom of this site
 
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ftwingnut

WWI Flying Ace
Before you get started, you might want to check the AMA rules regarding launching projectiles from model aircraft. ;-) Just sayin...
 

ProfessorFate

Active member
Sounds like great fun!

Hey I really would not worry much about AMA rules IF YOU FLY SOMEWHERE YOU WON'T GET INTO TROUBLE
Where I fly, there's no risk of personal injury to anyone, and I am flying by myself, often
This is what our Flite Test Guys did with the Storch and Breakfast Bombers, small group of people, controlled area works.

This sounds cool, I started thinking of a rotating cylinder with 6 compartments, missile in each one, and some way where one servo could ratchet this thing around to either hold ready to drop or just to simply drop a missile when turned


You could have foam missiles with a rock buried in the nose to make them fly straight, and put some fins on the back just like what you play darts with, you're making a foam dart with a weight buried in the nose


Well you got me so interested in this just talking and thinking about your idea makes me want to build a foam jet and do this too

First, I want to get a Hurricane in the air with a special wood power pod, this layout would not work as you need a hi wing so the missile container is under the CG ( Storch, Harrier, ....? Hi wing aircraft ), unless you just wanted missiles mounted outside under the fuse or wing.

The rotating cylinder idea would really be good tho, because you could have 6-8 missile shots before you had to land and reload.

Making some kind of ratcheting mechanism that the servo could push, will be the challenge.




*** Well, something funny here, I did not read your thread request so carefully, now I see you want to drop powered missiles, OHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh man, that sounds expensive and wayyyyyy too much trouble, no kidding, just for a foamboard airplane?!

I would not even bother with all that to start with, and it does sound kind of dangerous as above mentioned ( lipo battery, motor, and ESC, dropped???!!! ), but foam missiles with rock weights and fins, this might be much better and more economical and safer too.


I'm also interested in doing this, but with safer cheaper weighted, foam missiles from a rotating cylinder; doesn't this sound much much more feasable/practical?


Good luck with your project
 
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Tench745

Master member
Perhaps a rubber-band powered missile? The mount would hold the prop in place, on release the missile would drop free and the prop would be free to spin. I think electric would be cool, but a legal hassle if anything went wrong. See other's concerns above. ^
 

ProfessorFate

Active member
Flight Sim games but real

Have you ever done anything with Real Flight and the games they have in there like Limbo, that's kind of my favorite, but imagine if you built the rotating cylinder containing 6 weighted foam bombs and did passes over a football practice field like I fly at often, trying to hit a target on the ground. This could be an interesting variation on roll playing/dogfighting/combat if you had 2 people with similar setups

Try to drop one in a basket on the ground? Or try to hit your enemies bunker?


Weren't the first bombs just powerless projectiles only having fins that would just land where they were dropped?

Well, this would be the easy workable idea. And little investment in something you might drop and lose or break.

Just the suggestion has me going and thinking about doing it too.
 
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smithhayward

Large Child
I'm about to start a thread regarding a multiple projectile (drop) mechanism that I want the FT community to help me design. I've got a 3D printer on its way and my goal is to create a (mostly plastic) contraption that can hold 2,3,4+ "things" and upon each triggering of a standard 9g servo it drops a single thing. Repeat until all things are dropped. That said, maybe this can eventually play into what you're doing here, however I too feel that dropping is much safer and WAY cheaper. That said, with unlimited resources and a safe people-free area in which to test (I suggest getting a bunker like the Mythbusters use), I say go for it. Tiny prop on a 6" long 3/4" thick missile, NEATO!
 

flyingschnitzel

Junior Member
Wow a lot of stuff here already...
It might sound a bit aggressive without further explanation... I see this more as a challenge and as a (scratch) build of something new. The safety worries are of course true, but ive got some hectares of grass to fly on ;) also, they should be electric cause the chemical ones (mamy people use those for experimenting on rc planes!) are IMO less safe than a light built edf missile. Light built means it needs the power at all time because of hardly any momentum (->injuries unlikely)

Ive built an alula clone as a challenge to get something into the air, im building a shockflyer for the flying skills and now i want to try something entierly new.
I hope my first post here doesnt seem so strange now ;)
Just felt like this was the place where ill find scratch builders who can help (classical forums are often just telling you everything but the old brands are garbage)
 

hotwax

Active member
Please check physics

If you launch that propellor driven missle, you will soon have its fuselage turning fast in the opposite direction of the propellor.
The missle will fall tumbling down.

To counteract torque, you could use counterrotating propellors (like in a torpedo). In my opinion too much efford for a toy.

Enjoy flying, not shooting
 

ScottyWarpNine

Mostly Harmless
Please check physics

If you launch that propellor driven missle, you will soon have its fuselage turning fast in the opposite direction of the propellor.

You can get around this by putting fins on the missile to slow down the body's spinning relative to the prop. Some spinning I think would be desirable to keep the projectile stable and prevent it from tumbling.

Not that I think an electric projectile fired from an RC aircraft is at all a good idea. Sounds like a good way to get this hobby into even more trouble. Having an uncontrollable thing with a fast spinning prop and a potentially explosive lipo battery is reckless and frankly a stupid idea.

I would not pursue it.
 

flyingschnitzel

Junior Member
Ok, calling it a stupid idea is still kind of harsh...
If a lipo is so likely to explode, every plane crashing would be a huge risk, then, an edf would solve the propeller problem, fins will stabilize it, and a light and on the front soft structure would turn them into nerf bullets.
The last point may be the problem tho...
Just had an idea, why dont i use nerf bullets..! Or something air pressure powered... I think this will be much easier. "easier"
 
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