fpv flying wing build log

[Coal Miner Clean]

Lowe's sells a great flexible paint called Duramax. You can even apply it down to 50 degrees F. Look @ the HobbyKing - Darkwing model for a size/shape comparison.
"www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__20276__Darkwing_FPV_Drone_1727mm_Composite_ARF_.html"

It has a wingspan of 1727mm or 67.99" and weighs 1400g.

Most people mount pusher motors. Mine has twin 90mm EDF's mounted A-10 Warthog style.

Happy Trails.

 

[earthsciteach]

Thanks for the paint info, Coal Miner. The X-8 was the main influence in the design. Its similar to the Darkwing.

Noname-Yes, its going to get a nice paint job. I have no idea what that is as my artist freind is going to be painting it. Its going to be his plane.

SteveO-I'm going to give the NACA a shot. Already have a plug form made. I'm going to make a fiberglass intake that inserts into the belly. If cooling is a problem, I can pull that out and put in a scoop.

 

[earthsciteach]

Getting close!

Made some good progress on the "innards" over the last two evenings. The motor mount is finished and installed. The motor fits very nicely! Grandi lost his mind and handed his camera and video tx over to me today. I plucked apart his Sky Surfer/Bixler pan and tilt apparatus from ReadymadeRC to test fit the fpv stuff. Hope I can put it back together.
I bored the camera hole in the nose. I need to build some sort of mount for it. I'm still working that out in my brain. Ideally, the mount would utilize the little plywood piece the camera is mounted on from the Readymaderc setup. But, that would mean the camera is upside down in the wing. Like I said, still working it out. Pics:

 

[Tritium]

Teach you need to use that model to make a mold so you can blow mold MANY more of those craft.

Thurmond

 

[SteveOBHave]

Hey Teach, looking spiffy! Have you thought about narrowing the trailing edge close to the motor mount? It'll make it both quieter and a little more efficient although with the tapering toward the prop you're most of the way there. Mine makes a hell of a racket even with the edges trimmed down a bit. I'm thinking of pushing my motor further back to give the prop a bit more clean air to work with.

 

[earthsciteach]

I really haven't thought it that far through. I plan to cut the cooling outlets on the tapered rear end sections so the prop draws air through the payload bays. I'm not opposed to a loud airplane. These electric motors need some personality.

 

[earthsciteach]

An exciting event and a boring post

I fired up the motor in the wing for the first time this evening. After verifying that it spun, I attached an 11x7e prop. Ooooh man! It really moves some air! It also had this deeper rumble as opposed to the high-pitched whine that I'm used to from the electric motors I have experienced. It was pretty awesome. Guess you had to be there...

 

[Bbjen]

Make a video, let us ear this please!

 

[earthsciteach]

FPV Wing Maiden Flight - brief and nerve-wracking!

Finally! After many months of planning, indecision, building, indecision, fiberglassing, second guessing and hanging my hopes on a wing and a prayer, the FPV Wing proved it can fly - barely.

I got together yesterday morning with my flying buds. We had two maidens planned for the day. Grandi's BH thrust vectoring F-16 and my (actually, to be his) FPV Wing. The F-16 was a bust as he destroyed his only 4 cell in this A-10 last year. So, he tried with a three cell. Not enough kick, but it looked cool zipping across the parking lot!

Finally, after delaying as long as I could, I focused on the wing. It took me what seemed like 1/2 an hour to program the wing into Grandi's 9x, mostly because I was stalling for time. Nervous does not even begin to describe how I felt. I spend a silly amount of time deciding if the control surfaces were moving the same distance and were centering at the same spot consistently. I eventually ran out of ways to prolong the inevitable.

The video shows pretty clearly the issues I have to fix. The cg is slightly too far aft and the control throws are too large. Pitchy is an understatement! I was able to use throttle to control pitch so I didn't end up chasing the nose with the elevons. As you can see, she has plenty of power!

Grandi is the one tossing the wing, Vince is the one video taping and laughing at me, and Burnham is the other, voice in the video. I was too nervous to talk.

 

[colorex]

Whoa!

 

[earthsciteach]

Yeah, it was not a relaxing experience!

 

[lobstermash]

CG probably just a little too aft... Not very far though.

 

[earthsciteach]

Yup, my conclusion, too. She's not far from flying very nicely!

 

[SteveOBHave]

Teach - had my heart in my mouth for you on that one Deffo just a bit more weight in the nose and it'll be on the money! Nice work getting it in the air though!

 

[Carbon]

Looks like you got it in the air! Very cool, I can't wait to see it zooming around with some FPV gear on it.

 

[earthsciteach]

IT FLIES!!!!!!

After school today, in a light snow, I remaidened my scratch built fpv wing. The cg was right on after adding 200g of weight in the nose. She flew like a dream! I'm so happy with the result!

She is very docile, yet can turn on a dime. I wouldn't call the wing a floater, but it does have a gentle glide slope. I was very conservative with her today, but can't wait to see what she can do!

I don't have a video to post. Maybe I can find someone to video for me the next time I fly her.

 

[lonewolf7717]

The flying vagina is back again......any thoughts on painting that thing something other than pink?

 

[earthsciteach]

Was thinking of adding a little razor stubble for effect.

Grandi (the guy I'm giving this one to) is an artist. I can't wait to see what he comes up with.

 

[lonewolf7717]

Dear Lord!

 

[earthsciteach]

Here's an on board video from the fpv wing using a HD Wing Camera from HK. Temp was about 20 degrees F with winds at about 5 mph, gusting to 15 from time to time. In other words, it was COLD! The flight is short because I wanted to give Grandi a chance to fly it, too. We pushed the wing much farther than the undocumented first (real) flight. It is very stable and handles the wind quite well. I tested the stall characteristics at about 3 min 30 sec. She "mushed" for a second, then right into a tight spin. Recovery was quite easy and quick. I may allow her to get wound up with a few revolutions on the next flight to see if it turns into a flat spin. Overall, I'm ecstatic with the performance! The maneuverability is surprising for its size. Grandi was performing rolls and loops with no prob. The roll rate is impressive. I was actually worried that the elevons were undersized (too little width). No worries there!

The video is unedited because, well, I wasn't feeling that ambitious. First flight is me at the controls, then Grandi takes over. The camera shuts off shortly into his flight.