FTCC'18 WWII - Dornier Do 335 Pfeil

bpw823

Junior Mastermind
After surfing the forum today I came across the challenge page and the new FF18 design challenge.

Obscure airplanes and concepts have always been a favorite of mine, and World War II designs especially, so I had a field day thinking of ideas for the build-off.

After coming down to two options (the Do 335 and Me p.1110) I decided upon the pusher/pull world-speed-record holder of 1945, the Pfeil, or "Arrow".

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37 of these German fighters were built during late 1944-1945, but despite setting new speed records, none saw combat.

I am hoping to create an accurate model using two swappable C pack pods to represent the speed and power of the 335, while maintaining FT build techniques and fundamentals of design.

Preliminary design will begin when I return from vacation in a week.
 

Fluburtur

Cardboard Boy
Nice choice! I really like this airplane and I wanted to get one (I still do, I just forgot for a while).
If we ever meet it will be nice to fly in formation with late war fighters!
 
I saw the real thing at the Udvar-Hazey center in D.C.! Very interesting bird and I can't wait to see what you can do with it!
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
I also would love one of these and have been eyeing one of in the local Hobby Shop but it is sadly a lot of money to put in the air, (for me).

If this build goes well I might try one but definitely not if just a box with paper curves. Hopefully It might be adaptable to my requirements.

Have fun!
 

bpw823

Junior Mastermind
I also would love one of these and have been eyeing one of in the local Hobby Shop but it is sadly a lot of money to put in the air, (for me).

If this build goes well I might try one but definitely not if just a box with paper curves. Hopefully It might be adaptable to my requirements.

Have fun!

Thanks! I plan on a simpler FT-style build and a larger, detailed build. Possibly entering both. I want something that anyone can build and something beautiful to fly.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Thanks! I plan on a simpler FT-style build and a larger, detailed build. Possibly entering both. I want something that anyone can build and something beautiful to fly.

Excellent! I was thinking along similar lines, but I don't know that I'll do a full plans entry for the more build. With base plans to work from and enough inspiring photos, people should be able to follow along and create their own big beast! :)
 

bpw823

Junior Mastermind
UPDATE 7-24-17

Design has started! I've set up a couple of 3-views in CAD and begun tracing the lines for the fuselage. I've decided to fully embrace FT techniques, and let me be the first to tell you that the lining up of the motors in such a fuselage while maintaining pleasant curves is HARD! I want to use a swappable pod on both the front and rear motors, so I have to account for their mounting and spacing requirements. Nevertheless, I believe I've found a way to create a detailed, advanced FT-style fuselage that accurately reflects the Do 335.

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Before I draw up the wing, I'm going to have to figure out the folding and structure of the fuselage, so the next update should cover such progress. At this scale, we are looking at a 45" wingspan- similar to that of the FT Mustang and FT Spitfire.
 

wilmracer

I build things that fly (sometimes)
Mentor
If you need reference shots let me know! I'm lucky to live right around the corner from Udvar Hazy and I'm always looking for an excuse to sneak over there :)
 

bpw823

Junior Mastermind
If you need reference shots let me know! I'm lucky to live right around the corner from Udvar Hazy and I'm always looking for an excuse to sneak over there :)

Really? That's awesome! I went in 8th grade and I do distinctly remember the Do 335. I'll let you know if I need anything ;) Honestly it'd just be really cool to have a ton of different angles from the ones you normally get online, you know?
 

mrwhiskers

Ludicrous speed, GO!
My favorite story about these things is when a flight of tempests spotted one flying real low, and when they gave chase the Dornier simply advanced the throttles and left them in the dust.
 

bpw823

Junior Mastermind
UPDATE 8-15-17

So it's been a bit since I last worked on this project, but I've since decided to change my plan of attack here.

After pondering the subject of how I want this to come out, I'm just going to try to go all-out on this model. I changed the build style to a more realistic finish and scaled the size of the project up as well. I haven't finalized anything in this department, but I made some practice/test models in Sketchup to validate this design concept. I prefer AutoCAD for designing these airplanes, but with this method I found Sketchup to be very helpful with developing the correct plans and finished model at the same time, without allowing any major discrepancies from escaping my 2-dimensional blind-side in AutoCAD.

Enough rambling, here are some screenshots of the WIP:

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This angular construction technique was inspired by many other brilliant builders on this forum, and it is much easier to determine the skin for the model, compared to a curved, more scale method. With this style, the Do 335 should come out very true-to-form and unique, while maintaining closed creases (my Helldiver, with curved skin, had many large gaps between pieces of skin).

Anyhoo, I'll be continuing development on this as much as I can this month, as Senior year starts in just a few weeks. Wish me luck!
 

bpw823

Junior Mastermind
UPDATE 10-8-17

Hey all,

School's been pretty time-consuming, but I've gotten a bit more work done on the 335. I've just about done as much as I can on the planning phase, and prototype building is next. But before I do that, I need to finish my Helldiver, as it is currently taking up all of my build space! Meanwhile, here's a few Inventor renders for you.

Render 1.jpg Render 1B.jpg Render 2.jpg Render 3.jpg
 

HilldaFlyer

Well-known member
Looks so cool. Are you planning on belly landing or making gear?
I have the same issue with a lower vertical stabilizer and I really don't want landing gear exposed during flight, but there isn't room for retracts.