FTFC'18 WWII Corvair XB-53 designed by TaleSpin

TaleSpin

Member
I've been scouring the web to find a plane that I wanted to build. I finally came across the XA-44 which was renamed the XB-53. It's a WWII era bomber that was to be jet powered and have wings swept forward and no horizontal stabilizer (though they termed it tail-less it has a vert stab). The silhouette of the plane is striking and caught my eye. I figured it's something I'd like to see in the air. Found some 3 view drawings and some 3d art renders of the plane which I will work from. I have not worked with EDF before in the past and may go that route rather than slotted prop jet, so we'll see how this thing goes, but I'm going to give it a shot. Input from anyone is welcome.
Front View XB-53.png Profile XB-53.png Tob View XB-53.png XB-53.jpg XB-53 3v.jpg

Oops. Typo in post title... Convair not Corvair... jet not car...
 
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Fluburtur

Cardboard Boy
It looks nice, I wonder how they decided that it needed to have this shape over some more conventionnal concepts.
 

TaleSpin

Member
It looks nice, I wonder how they decided that it needed to have this shape over some more conventionnal concepts.

Apparently they did a 30degree angulation and 8degrees dihedral to make it more maneuverable and have a better climb rate based on some German wartime research - thank you wikipedia.

Very cool! It's a bit like a jet version of the Laines' Planes Cuda pusher design - it'll be fun to see this flying! :)

Hopefully that means I can get it to fly.
 
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TaleSpin

Member
Ok, so I've made a few iterations of the CAD and have moved into my new place, so now I can get back to work a bit. Hoping to throw together the foam some time soon and try and put it in the air. Contemplating prototyping with a pusher prop, but I've ordered a 70mm EDF setup for the final build. I've modeled the plane at 1/20th scale since it would be gigantic in 1/10th. Here's a pic of the CAD more or less. Let me know if anybody spots any issues...

Screen Shot 2017-08-23 at 4.09.59 PM.png

The canopy I'm going to probably do more like Andres did his X-29 canopy, but I don't know how to do that in Sketchup (any advice? round stuff in cad... Grrr). Also the central structure/thrust tube is not pictured in this.
 
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Namactual

Elite member
It look's good so far, can't wait to see the build!

As far as the canopy goes, you can express the shape of a round object with sharp angles. The overall outline is far more important to the eye than a smooth surface. The beauty of that build is it looks like you could make the canopy last and just attach one you like at the end. Experiment with different shapes. It's a small part, you could use mostly scrap foam as well.

Keep up the good work!
 

TaleSpin

Member
It look's good so far, can't wait to see the build!

As far as the canopy goes, you can express the shape of a round object with sharp angles. The overall outline is far more important to the eye than a smooth surface. The beauty of that build is it looks like you could make the canopy last and just attach one you like at the end. Experiment with different shapes. It's a small part, you could use mostly scrap foam as well.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks!
Scrap foam and trial and error was my plan... agreed that'll be my last step , more of a stick on feature haha, thought about using soda bottle for canopy too... I'll see what I can figure out.
 

TaleSpin

Member
Any progress on this one? Hoping to see you in the air soon... :)

Made some build progress, but encountered an issue with the wing fit which I redesigned in sketchup, hope to put in some work on it in the next 2 wks. I've been dilly dallying playing with a FT3D and Bushwhacker that I just built.
 

FoamyDM

Building Fool-Flying Noob
Moderator
Distractions distractions distractions....

my yet-to-fly VF-9 has swept forward wings... after this challenge I will get that bird it's maiden. I've got my eyes on this for sure.

Your sketch up model looks great!

Speaking of distractions, come over to the Team ALLIED FORCES thread to discuss LOGOs, paint schemes squadrons, and event ideas.
 

TaleSpin

Member
So this is pretty ugly seeing as I had that wing fit issue I mentioned in my last post (almost wasn't going to post it), but in order to get the electronics to rebuild with the newer design, I'll have to first crash this :black_eyed:. I'm pretty sure that'll be a quick epic fail due to that wing issue, I'm sure to have bad tendencies. All that stands between me and the maiden is a few push rods needing installation and a canopy. I hope to have this thing crash... errr I mean fly this week.
02FFFCC0-19D3-4F61-A63E-047BD0331CC9.JPG
 
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TaleSpin

Member
Added the canopy and pushrods. Canopy looks good... Plane looks okay if you can ignore the massive tape job to the wings.
Too windy to maiden today... 15mph winds with gusts in the 20's. Hopefully soon, because I have to get v1.1 built.
IMG_3586.JPG IMG_3588.JPG IMG_3589.JPG IMG_3591.JPG IMG_3593.JPG
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
That looks like a bad something something airplane! (Read / replace words in Samuel L Jackson voice) :p
 

TaleSpin

Member
So the wind died down and I was actually able to maiden it. I knew it was going to go horribly, but it actually went better than anticipated. I figured I had a bit of an incidence issue and too much undercamber at the back of the wing (all issues I've solve since the original build). I filmed it so I could share the flight and crash haha. Working on uploading it to youtube now.