Flite Fest 2021 group build

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!
 

b-29er

Well-known member
I have home depot rulers for days and can acquire more if needed, along with foam and the like. With some heads up i can cut some stuff on the CNC. Regarding some of the specs you mentioned:

-pushers are less effective because of turbulence issues, but given the thrust/weight ratios of rc planes it doesnt matter much.
-if you're going to go with 4 engines on a "glider" get creative. May not be a bad idea to have a pair of push-pull pods, that way all engines are close to the fuse for less yaw moment, or go with 3 engines and set up like a trislander or with a pusher engine in the back as a backup.
-double elevator is a great idea, triple a la the super connie might be even better since i've seen/had wingtip rudders fail in the past due to flutter.

I'm working on a 14' twin (or twins) for combat, but if you want a hand getting a few things prepped so the build is faster, just let me know.
 

The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
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!
I’m 100% down to help out man! I’ve got some large servos I’ll bring that we can use for it.