BS projects inc.
Elite member
1 month, 14 days, and 16 hours
Hey all I know it's been a while....almost a year...but my summer break lines up perfectly with Flite Fest and I'd like to get a group build going for a combat plane. At Flite Fest Ohio 2019 on the last day I remember how gliders were actually very effective combat planes as their slow stall speed and strong tendency towards level flight made them difficult to knock out of the air. Of course the responsible thing to do is to build a monster of a glider with roughly an 8ft wingspan. By the time Flite Fest starts I'll have most of the electronics required, but I am going to need some help to get it built and ready for combat.
Here are some of the design features I'd like to incorporate
4 motors
In a single and twin engine setup it only takes one motor to fail before things go south. In a 4 motor setup If it were to lose only one motor it can still be safely brought back to the ground or even keep flying.
Pusher prop setup
Two reasons, safety and durability. If the wing were to take a hit from the front it would be unlikely for all 4 motors to survive or go unaffected if they were in a pull configuration. Putting them behind the wing makes them much more difficult to take out. As for safety, if something went incredibly wrong and the plane were to direct itself towards the crowd, the motors are by far the most dangerous part of the plane. Having them behind a thick layer of foam makes things a bit safer. The only issue with this is I believe they motors would not produce as much thrust in comparison to a tractor setup, can anyone confirm this or the extent to which it is true?
Two vertical stabilizers
This one is mainly inspired by what took out my last monster combat plane. An a-10 took out my rudder and that was pretty much it. I was lucky that the plane was over the field because it immediately went into a spin. Having two vertical stabilizers, possibly one above and one below the fuse, would add some redundancy.
Landing gear
This feature is mainly for taking off. Hand launching a plane of this size, even with a couple of people, is always a risky task and I'd like to avoid it. Even something crude would do the job.
Separate power system for control surfaces
I forget how but I did this with my monster mustang, I'll look into it.
View attachment 201183
This is an oversimplified drawing of the general idea. It lacks the second vertical stabilizer and landing gear but you get an idea for the general shape of the plane. As you can tell, this build is going to require some materials. Although I gave out most of my arsenal about a year ago, I still have some of the more expensive items and will fund the purchase of the rest of the required electronics.
Electronics I have
-FrSky Taranis qx7 with an R9M LRS system (using a 900mhz LRS in combat will ensure a much better connection)
-Two 3 cell 3000mah batteries
-Two 3 cell 5000mah batteries
-Series and parallels connectors
-xt60 extension cables
Electronics I will have
-Four emax GT2215/09 1180kv motors
-Four 30amp esc's
-Sixteen 10x4.7 props
Materials needed (only items I will not have bought by flite fest)
-pack of foamboard (If we could all chip in to buy a pack of 50 that would be huge, of course the remainder would be split between everyone at the end)
-Lowes wooden rulers
-hot glue sticks
-control rods
-servos
-control horns
It is worth noting that I will not be able to attend the full event, only Wednesday evening, Thursday, and Friday. I would like to have my transmitter and batteries back, so if I can find someone trustworthy enough I would be willing to leave them there for the weekend if someone could ship them back to me. I will also have no use for the motors and escs after the event, so I would like to see them go to whoever helped out. You guys did some pretty cool things with my old stuff last time so if you're willing to send me a picture of what you build with it, they're all yours. If you can help out, have any suggestions, or anything else comment below, training resumes tomorrow so I can't guarantee how quickly I will respond. I look forward to seeing you all there!
Hey all I know it's been a while....almost a year...but my summer break lines up perfectly with Flite Fest and I'd like to get a group build going for a combat plane. At Flite Fest Ohio 2019 on the last day I remember how gliders were actually very effective combat planes as their slow stall speed and strong tendency towards level flight made them difficult to knock out of the air. Of course the responsible thing to do is to build a monster of a glider with roughly an 8ft wingspan. By the time Flite Fest starts I'll have most of the electronics required, but I am going to need some help to get it built and ready for combat.
Here are some of the design features I'd like to incorporate
4 motors
In a single and twin engine setup it only takes one motor to fail before things go south. In a 4 motor setup If it were to lose only one motor it can still be safely brought back to the ground or even keep flying.
Pusher prop setup
Two reasons, safety and durability. If the wing were to take a hit from the front it would be unlikely for all 4 motors to survive or go unaffected if they were in a pull configuration. Putting them behind the wing makes them much more difficult to take out. As for safety, if something went incredibly wrong and the plane were to direct itself towards the crowd, the motors are by far the most dangerous part of the plane. Having them behind a thick layer of foam makes things a bit safer. The only issue with this is I believe they motors would not produce as much thrust in comparison to a tractor setup, can anyone confirm this or the extent to which it is true?
Two vertical stabilizers
This one is mainly inspired by what took out my last monster combat plane. An a-10 took out my rudder and that was pretty much it. I was lucky that the plane was over the field because it immediately went into a spin. Having two vertical stabilizers, possibly one above and one below the fuse, would add some redundancy.
Landing gear
This feature is mainly for taking off. Hand launching a plane of this size, even with a couple of people, is always a risky task and I'd like to avoid it. Even something crude would do the job.
Separate power system for control surfaces
I forget how but I did this with my monster mustang, I'll look into it.
View attachment 201183
This is an oversimplified drawing of the general idea. It lacks the second vertical stabilizer and landing gear but you get an idea for the general shape of the plane. As you can tell, this build is going to require some materials. Although I gave out most of my arsenal about a year ago, I still have some of the more expensive items and will fund the purchase of the rest of the required electronics.
Electronics I have
-FrSky Taranis qx7 with an R9M LRS system (using a 900mhz LRS in combat will ensure a much better connection)
-Two 3 cell 3000mah batteries
-Two 3 cell 5000mah batteries
-Series and parallels connectors
-xt60 extension cables
Electronics I will have
-Four emax GT2215/09 1180kv motors
-Four 30amp esc's
-Sixteen 10x4.7 props
Materials needed (only items I will not have bought by flite fest)
-pack of foamboard (If we could all chip in to buy a pack of 50 that would be huge, of course the remainder would be split between everyone at the end)
-Lowes wooden rulers
-hot glue sticks
-control rods
-servos
-control horns
It is worth noting that I will not be able to attend the full event, only Wednesday evening, Thursday, and Friday. I would like to have my transmitter and batteries back, so if I can find someone trustworthy enough I would be willing to leave them there for the weekend if someone could ship them back to me. I will also have no use for the motors and escs after the event, so I would like to see them go to whoever helped out. You guys did some pretty cool things with my old stuff last time so if you're willing to send me a picture of what you build with it, they're all yours. If you can help out, have any suggestions, or anything else comment below, training resumes tomorrow so I can't guarantee how quickly I will respond. I look forward to seeing you all there!
