jaredstrees
Well-known member
Nice! Can't wait to see it fly in person!
FTFC'18 WWII Daimler-Benz Projekt B
- Thread starter FAI-F1D
- Start date
FAI-F1D
Free Flight Indoorist
Well FFS was...interesting...
I did make a successful run with the jet and had fun buzzing around with it, but a dodgy signal wire for the left outboard esc on the carrier plane caused some bad decision making. Even though it was flying decently on three motors and a little opposite rudder, we opted to fly on just the two inboards. Worked ok without the jet onboard, but when we loaded it on and launched from out in the grass, I got caught in a downdraft and completely lost yaw control, so the whole assemblage plopped on the runway breaking a prop and most of the nacelles. Easy repairs, but very irritating.
To make matters worse, when I launched the as yet undamaged jet for Dan from the crash site, the line boss came over to chew us out and distracted Dan, who lost orientation, and the jet plowed across the top of the Horizon tent, so the line boss thought it would be a great time to chew us out for flying behind the flightline. SMH. A perfect end to a day when my best rubber model exploded 150' up and a different line boss chewed me out because shockingly, free flight gliders can and do stray outside the flying area. Followed by the suggestion that I go upwind to launch so my models would come down amongst the campers instead of the nonmovement area. Yeah, that's a genius suggestion. My spectator crowd got a good sarcastic laugh out of that one (why people would want to watch my planes is decidedly beyond my comprehension...there were actual good pilots out there. Go watch one of them).
Moving on...I'll get the DB fixed and back in the air. It needs a different landing gear arrangement so we can do takeoffs from less than flawless pavement and thereby end the awkward launch sequence. The ESC troubleshoot should be pretty easy to fix...same with the repairs, other than the huge gash in the jet's leading edge. Stay tuned for how that gets fixed.
I did make a successful run with the jet and had fun buzzing around with it, but a dodgy signal wire for the left outboard esc on the carrier plane caused some bad decision making. Even though it was flying decently on three motors and a little opposite rudder, we opted to fly on just the two inboards. Worked ok without the jet onboard, but when we loaded it on and launched from out in the grass, I got caught in a downdraft and completely lost yaw control, so the whole assemblage plopped on the runway breaking a prop and most of the nacelles. Easy repairs, but very irritating.
To make matters worse, when I launched the as yet undamaged jet for Dan from the crash site, the line boss came over to chew us out and distracted Dan, who lost orientation, and the jet plowed across the top of the Horizon tent, so the line boss thought it would be a great time to chew us out for flying behind the flightline. SMH. A perfect end to a day when my best rubber model exploded 150' up and a different line boss chewed me out because shockingly, free flight gliders can and do stray outside the flying area. Followed by the suggestion that I go upwind to launch so my models would come down amongst the campers instead of the nonmovement area. Yeah, that's a genius suggestion. My spectator crowd got a good sarcastic laugh out of that one (why people would want to watch my planes is decidedly beyond my comprehension...there were actual good pilots out there. Go watch one of them).
Moving on...I'll get the DB fixed and back in the air. It needs a different landing gear arrangement so we can do takeoffs from less than flawless pavement and thereby end the awkward launch sequence. The ESC troubleshoot should be pretty easy to fix...same with the repairs, other than the huge gash in the jet's leading edge. Stay tuned for how that gets fixed.
Last edited:
jaredstrees
Well-known member
Well, sorry to hear about some of those problems. I can say it was nice meeting you and really loved Daimler-benz. It was really sweet.
Sorry to hear about the flight line 'boss' issues. I have to say that's very uncharacteristic of any FliteFest I've been to, and not the behavior I'm looking for on my team when working the flight line myself. Maybe part of the issue is they felt they had to live up to the moniker 'line boss' instead of something more like 'flight and safety coach'.
FAI-F1D
Free Flight Indoorist
Well it's time to tie a bow on this project. As of this evening, all the boxes have been checked. Builder's guides are now available in my model aviation drive for both the carrier ship and the jet bomber.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9t_4cR6_fI7QjhEdlNYOW1qd3M
I don't know when the airplanes will fly again, or if. The water resistant foamboard has proven to be anything but water resistant, and the light moisture exposure received in the mornings at FFS has caused severe delamination of the flying surfaces. Mind you, the models were kept in a trailer each evening, so it's not like they were left exposed to severe condensation.
But let's not end on a sour note. Every part of this project executed well. I got to design and fly my first EDF and my first multiengine R/C model. Both proved to be fully aerobatic and there's video footage showing both aircraft performing basic aerobatics. The carrier ship cannot land well on grass but does fine on hard surfaces. Mounting larger wheels in the undercarriage would possibly allow flying off really short grass. All in all it was a lot of fun and both airplanes handle extremely well even in windy weather, though the carrier ship requires all four motors to be operating to get enough airflow over the control surfaces, especially the ailerons. The jet is devoid of bad habits. It's just fast and responsive.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9t_4cR6_fI7QjhEdlNYOW1qd3M
I don't know when the airplanes will fly again, or if. The water resistant foamboard has proven to be anything but water resistant, and the light moisture exposure received in the mornings at FFS has caused severe delamination of the flying surfaces. Mind you, the models were kept in a trailer each evening, so it's not like they were left exposed to severe condensation.
But let's not end on a sour note. Every part of this project executed well. I got to design and fly my first EDF and my first multiengine R/C model. Both proved to be fully aerobatic and there's video footage showing both aircraft performing basic aerobatics. The carrier ship cannot land well on grass but does fine on hard surfaces. Mounting larger wheels in the undercarriage would possibly allow flying off really short grass. All in all it was a lot of fun and both airplanes handle extremely well even in windy weather, though the carrier ship requires all four motors to be operating to get enough airflow over the control surfaces, especially the ailerons. The jet is devoid of bad habits. It's just fast and responsive.
JamesWhom
Project Air on YouTube
Hi Joshua! Just to let you know that I'm going to be featuring this project in a 'Community Spotlight' article this Friday. We're expanding the number of original articles put out on flitetest.com. This means that every Friday we'll be sharing a project pulled from the Forums or Facebook 'Fans' group in a written up article. This week, it's you! Congratulations.
If you would like to send me any resources or images that are not in this forum thread that you'd like to see included in the article, just send me a quick email. Cheers!
Many thanks,
-James
(Flitetest.com Editor)
If you would like to send me any resources or images that are not in this forum thread that you'd like to see included in the article, just send me a quick email. Cheers!
Many thanks,
-James
(Flitetest.com Editor)
