First Draft
I thought and thought about this and finally needed to make a rough draft I could hold in my hands. Planning to build at 1:15 scale, which puts it right at the wingspan of the FT Mustang.
I took the wing from the FT Mustang and took out it's slight leading edge sweep and increased the angle on the trailing edge. Traced the fuselage and empanage from the 3 view, and printed it out at 50%.
You can see that I hate cutting out the notched spars, so I got lazy and only did it for the right wing. But it worked well, so it stays in the design.
Then cut up the Mustang canopy, cut holes for air inlets for the turbojet (EDF) in the back and used a piece of paper to mock up the air inlets. ...and apparently didn't take a photo of that before I cut it apart to trace for parts. I also took a curve out of the fuselage to be able to fold part of it together rather than assemble from individual sides, top and bottom. I think if you were laser or CNC cutting that could be OK, but when I hand cut, my 3/16" channels aren't very consistent and without being able to push parts against each other, it doesn't build neatly.
Printed this second draft last night and hope to build it today or this week.
In the 1:15 scale version, the fuselage is too long for one piece of foamboard. For last year's contest, I divided it near the front, but that ripped apart with my first nose-in "landing". (That was the only type of landing that plane ever had.) I'm thinking I will divide it where the EDF is going to sit near the tail, since that area will be getting reinforcement to hold the EDF in place anyway.
Planning on C pack motor in the front and FMS brand 50mm EDF in the back. Still trying to decide whether to by the higher KV 3S version EDF or the lower KV 4S version. I've never flown 4S, but I'd hate to get it all built and realize it's underpowered.
The aileron servos will sit at the end of the lower part of the wing, like the FT Mustang. May have to print a full-scale version to decide on where flap servo(s) and bomb drops will sit. Thinking the rudder and elevator servos will sit in the rear top deck between the intakes, sort of like the Bloody Baron.
Still debating about retractable landing gear. Trying to plan the fall in episodes of 30 day shipping from Banggood is confusing, but haven't found nearly as economical an option in the US. Maybe I'll try
Hilldaflyer's method and power the servos from a separate BEC so they don't brown-out my receiver if they jam. (I've never used retractable landing gear before, but that's my understanding of why servoless landing gear is a thing.)
Trying to avoid the temptation of building an FPV guided missile from a tiny-whoop turned on it's side. The fact that it's not historically accurate seems like it could be overtaken by being contemporarily awesome. I guess I could do (try) that in the winter and spring if I get the plane working. Another option I'm thinking of is an 808 keychain camera/DVR or something similar in the bomb, so I at least have video of it for later. I'll probably tack on an Eachine E010 or similar when I order the EDF at least.
I'm enjoying watching everyone else's builds. I kind of wish the forum had a thumbs-up button. I enjoy and agree with many more things than I comment on.