FTFC'18 WWII FH-1 Phantom designed by Namactual

[Namactual]

Thanks Damo. You are right, I should just stick with the 50's for now.

And on that note, she is pretty much ready. I need to install the RX and clean up the wiring, but other than that she is good to go.


I am using my gut for CG, but with this straight wing it is a no brainer. I have plenty of area to move the battery to get the CG dialed in.

I used DamoRC's technique for the seamless nosecone. It worked great, thanks brother!

Now I just need to work on my overall build quality.

Speaking of which, that's my biggest complaint with this build, she is a little rough around the edges. Hopefully the beta will be cleaner once I dial in the fitment.

Major changes incoming are as follows:
1: Higher wattage fans.
2: New wing spar and ribs. (to fix airfoil and dihedral issues)
3: Add functional rudder
4: Tighter fitment, and hopefully a cleaner lighter build

My biggest worry for the maiden is the TWR. I have flown FAR worse, just not with so many unknowns on a scratch build. I have confidence in my thumbs, but I will have some butterflies for sure.

I am not sure when I will get around to the maiden, it might have to wait until next weekend unfortunately. Work is going to be rather busy all week. We shall see.

 

[F106DeltaDart]

That looks amazing, fantastic work!! Looking forward to the maiden flight!

 

[mrwhiskers]

Oh, dear, I don't think my Heinkel can keep up with all this engineering. The plane looks fantastic, can't wait to hear how it flies!

 

[Sir Fly]

Amazing dude

 

[Namactual]

Thanks gents!

I want to go out and fly it, but it looks like rain for the next few days.

 

[Namactual]

Small update, everything is installed and flight ready.

I also just ordered two of these...
http://www.fmsmodel.com/fms-50mm-11-blades-ducted-fan-with-inner-runner-motor-2627-kv4500-for-4s
Lets just say TWR will not be a problem for the beta build.

Now if I could just lighten my air frame as much as I do my wallet...

 

[DamoRC]

that's my biggest complaint with this build, she is a little rough around the edges.

I think you are being too hard on yourself. It looks wonderful! I hope your weather improves so we can see this thing fly!

DanoRC

 

[Namactual]

Thanks Damo, you know the old saying we are our own worst critics.

It does fly though...

Wow, was it a hand full!

Elevator was slightly out of trim and WAAAYYYYYY too sensitive. CG felt good, and it handled very little power quite well. I think I could make the ailerons scale (smaller) and be good on the roll. The elevator needs to be 50-60% of what I had. I am going to try it on the inner most control arm hole for my next flight and go from there.

Sorry for the short Maiden. I had to bring it in to try and fix the elevator and I tore the nose off on landing. It just tore the paper off of the bulkhead. All of the glue in the world would not have helped there. Everything is intact though, just need to glue the nose back on.

I am going to work on it a bit and hopefully get her back up in the air this weekend if the weather permits.

 

[wilmracer]

Congrats on a successful test flight! You'll definitely get the bugs worked out but she looked great in the air.

 

[DamoRC]

Congrats! Looks good in the air.

DamoRC

 

[Michael9865]

Congratulations!

 

[Namactual]

Thanks guys!

I have to say, I feel a little better now that the maiden, (although shorter than I would have liked), is out of the way. At least I kind of know what to expect next time. I am taking tape with me to the field from now on. :black_eyed:

Speaking of which...

Repairs are done. Also made a few mods...
1: moved elevator rod to inner servo arm hole.
2: adjusted elevator trim
3: added spars to the outside under-cambered wing area (they were a little weaker than I liked)
4: cut a hole from the fuse to nose bulkhead and re-attached the nose. Also ran packing tape along the bottom of the fuse/nose.

Number 4 allowed me to install a 1550mAh battery and keep my CG. Going from my older 2200mAh to the newer 1550mAh saved me about 75 grams or so and allows me to push the CG even farther forward for testing.

New AUW is 796grams rather than my old 878.

Next are some options I have been bowling over the last few hours.

The middle Phantom is where it stands now.
The top Phantom is a modified frame at the same 1/12 scale which removes the EDF's and adds two 2205 red bottoms on wingtip tanks.
The bottom Phantom is likely to be my next build. 1/10 scale with the new high watt FMS fans running on 4 cells.

While I ponder this, I am going to put the beta Phantom on pause and rebuild my Rhino today. I was showing off and, ahem, landed my last Rhino inverted at high speed. If all goes well, I plan to make a full day of flying tomorrow. I will try to hire my nephew for a camera man and hopefully record a better flight of the Phantom.

Until next time...

 

[FoamyDM]

This build looks so good. I'll be looking forward to the video if you can get more.

 

[Sir Fly]

Those are really amazing and professional models!

Was the top design an actual prototype design built after WWII? Or is it ur own thought?

 

[Namactual]

Was the top design an actual prototype design built after WWII? Or is it ur own thought?

No, unfortunately McDonnell did not use the wingtip tanks on the Phantom. The F2H Banshee which was originally planned as a heavily modified Phantom used tip tanks, but I never found any evidence that they were ever installed on the Phantom. The Phantom had this ugly underbelly external tank, it kinda made it look pregnant.

I was just trying to come up with an aesthetically pleasing way of using props rather than EDF's if someone so desired. The best I could come up with was having the Phantom borrow it's bigger brothers tip tanks.

The Banshee is one of my fav's and although it does not qualify for this challenge it will be built...

...soon.

Again, thanks for the kind words all!
The Phantom flies or dies today.

 

[Namactual]

Wow, it was a good day...

...no, make that a GREAT day!

It still needs a few tweaks, but wow, I could not be happier with those 4 flights I put in today. This really does have the potential to be a good EDF trainer. I am compiling my video as we speak, I should have some uploaded in a few hours.

Again, a good day.

 

[Namactual]

Here are a few raw unedited flights...

This is a closer zoom for better aircraft shots.

Also added a little color. I had a tiny bit of orange tape left and put it to use. It looks horrible up close, but it does add a bit in the air.

This is a no zoom for a better sense of speed and behavior.

It still is a bit touchy on the pitch, but I am at the limits of what I can do mechanically. I never use expo, but I might just try a little until my next build which will have a smaller elevator. Another issue I ran into is it behaves so well at slow speeds, you sometimes forget you need airspeed for the control surfaces to do their job properly.

My voltage alarm is set for 3.8 volts. Those are five minute flight times on a 1550mAh battery to storage voltage my friends.

Do NOT try acrobatics with this. The roll rate is crazy slow. In the second vid I tried a roll and barely survived it. It took all of my altitude and tip stalled on the pullout.

Messing up the wings during the build are causing issues on landing. The wingtips are the lowest part of the aircraft and as a result, they catch every time on landing. The under camber tips are taking quite a beating and require bending back into shape every flight. This will not be an issue once built properly.

I wanted to stay all day, but my nephew was ready to go home after 4 batteries. I only have 2 1550's so a charge at the field was required. I will probably go back tomorrow, without a camera man unfortunately.

Off to work on the Rhino, never did get it finished last night. I really want to get started on my beta build though. This bird is starting to grow on me.

 

[planebreaker2000]

Great!!

 

[AkimboGlueGuns]

Nice job! Looks like an easy flier. How close to scale are the ailerons? I'd bet that by making just a slight increase in width that you could make the roll rate substantially faster.

 

[F106DeltaDart]

Great work, looks really good in the air! I would agree that some upsizing of the ailerons might not be a bad idea. As for the elevator, I would give a bit of expo a try personally. I used to fly entirely without it, but when I started getting into EDFs, I found that about 20% calmed things down dramatically, and still let you keep enough travel for flaring for landing at slower speeds. Or, you could also try adjusting your throws to a bit less with dual rates if possible.