FTFC'18 WWII FH-1 Phantom designed by Namactual

bpw823

Junior Mastermind
That is truly unbelievable work. I cannot wait to see the finished project. I'm so glad that part of the challenge is creating plans for users to build from, because I want some!!
 

Namactual

Elite member
Wow, thanks for all of the kind words gents!

For a while there I thought I might just have to jump ship and go with an easier design for those pods. Something like a box. I almost gave up a week ago. It is still way more complicated than I would like, but I am at least happy with the way it turned out. It definitely needs a few tweaks, mostly in the way of alignment tabs and slots, but the foundation is there.

With that said, I am officially over the hill...

Thrust test is done!
some pics of the final product with a little better lighting as well
Update10.jpg
Score A+

VERY negligible loss of thrust. Just shy of 640 grams. She sounds good too! The EDF's being buried under that much foam really deadens the high pitch whine and all you are left with is the suction and exhaust air. If I had to guess just by suction feel of the intakes and submerged inlets, I would say that the sublets are supplying 75% of the airflow to the fans. I am toying with the idea of shrinking the sublets, but I do not want to starve the fans either. Especially if someone wants to throw more watts at it. Or I could leave the sublets and try a less complicated wing spar as well.

I will have to ponder for a bit.

...oh, and i forgot to mention, hot glue and aluminum do not mix...
...at all.
The EDF housings acted as heat sinks and sucked the heat out of the glue in literally a second or two. They are heavy as well. In hind sight I think choosing these fans were a bad idea. They seem to be built well, and run great, but the watts to weight ratio is not the greatest. I am still planning on these for the maiden, but I am going to search around for something a little better. Hopefully something still some what modest though. I would like to stick with the 3 cell 2200mAh and total amp draw under 60amps for both. I don't want to lock people into exotic expensive batteries.

These ALMOST work, if they were a tad bit lighter.

Again, thanks for the kind words all, I do appreciate it.
 

Namactual

Elite member
Wing prints are done.
Update11.jpg
I think...

No building tonight, I can't see straight.

Double vision.


Need sle..........zzzzzzzz
 

Namactual

Elite member
Ack, those wings are going to need some work. I don't know if it was because I was half asleep when I made the prints or what, but none of my ribs lined up very well along the leading edge for some reason. There were huge gaps in the front and as a result, the fold angles don't match up all that well. Kinda had to eyeball it as I was folding the airfoil.
Update11.jpg
The idea does work though, and it seems to be pretty strong. I keep forgetting this is my first prototype. I need to stop worrying about making it pretty and just make sure it flies. There are a bunch of changes I need to make anyway, I can worry about the aesthetics on my second or third prototype.

Third time seems to be the charm for my scratch builds anyway.

But, it's WAY past my bedtime.

Night all.
 

Namactual

Elite member
I am going to have to highjack my own thread here for a sec.

I put the Phantom on hold yesterday to take a trip over to the Selfridge Air National Guard Base located in Harrison Township, Michigan. Selfridge hosted an open house in celebration of it's 100th anniversary as an operational air base.

Selfridge is the home of the 127th Wing which includes the 107th Fighter Squadron and the 171st Air Refueling Squadron.
Selfridge01.jpg
Note: Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the 100th anniversary A-10. I had to find that one online. :(

While I was there, I had the chance to get up close and personal to two of the latest and greatest. This was also the first time I saw the F-35 in person.
Selfridge02.jpg
In my eyes, the F-22 is easily the most beautiful bird to ever grace the skies. And while the F-35 might not be as sexy, the amount of technology shoehorned into that little airframe certainly has my respect. Over the years the F-35 has started to grow on me, and would love to see it make a permanent home at Selfridge.

Selfridge has a long and rich history which I will not post here, but definitely worth looking into if you are into that sort of thing.
Selfridge03.jpg
Selfridge and the first 100 Years. The F-35 is possibly going to make its home here an kick off the next 100 years of service.

I was going to go back again today, but I am sun scorched. (see lobster) I forgot my sunscreen yesterday. :( I decided to stay home today, take some aspirin and work on the Phantom.


P.S. Sorry for the distraction and the patriotism, I could not help myself. :)
 

HilldaFlyer

Well-known member
The F-35 is my next design challenge with 70 mm EDF. Don't think I'm going to do the VTOL, though. That would be a good challenge.
 

Namactual

Elite member
Wings are done.
Update12.jpg
Not really happy with them, but they should work well enough for the test flights. I am going to spend some time testing foam fold dimension changes at extreme angles without cutting all of the foam away between the fold. My prints are all drawn with the assumption that the foam folds at a perfect bend line between faces. Which works for shallow angles, but obviously not after 45* or more without cutting away all of the foam. The fold edge turns into a radius that gets more extreme as it bends. We all know this, myself included, I just did not account for this in the prints. Hence my wings leading edge shape being nowhere near my ribs shape which had a domino effect to the airfoil folds.

They will be better on the beta.

@HilldaFlyer
I scratch built a prop and slot F-35C and been toying with the idea of making an EDF F-35A at about 150-200% of my C below. (200% would be 6 feet in length)
F-35peak.jpg
She is ready for retirement. Just have not got around to pulling the guts out of it yet.

Namactual trivia; The F-35C above almost took my hands off during final testing before the maiden. It now has a nice red accent color all over the airframe. :black_eyed:
It was also the the reason the Flite Test Rhino I built was not flight ready for FliteFest. :(
 

HilldaFlyer

Well-known member
Namactual trivia; The F-35C above almost took my hands off during final testing before the maiden. It now has a nice red accent color all over the airframe. :black_eyed:
It was also the the reason the Flite Test Rhino I built was not flight ready for FliteFest. :(

ooohhhh ooouuuucccchhhh!!!!
Hope you healed fine. Well... I was thinking of scaling up also, like to the size of my 150% FA-18. The smallest that would fit a 70 mm EDF in the fuselage at scale dimensions. Just dreaming...
 

Namactual

Elite member
ooohhhh ooouuuucccchhhh!!!!
Hope you healed fine.

For the most part.

The pinky finger on my left hand took the worst of it, peeled it like banana. I really lucked out though. It could have been far worse. It completely peeled the skin off both sides, but missed the tendons so I have full functionality. It's not pretty, but functional. I have pics from the ER, but they are not for this forum. Rated R I think. Well, PG13 at least. :eek:

The worst was trying to take care of myself with bandages on my hands. The bandage on my pinky was the size of a corndog. Had to take showers with bags on my hands. (see not easy) Driving was a chore. Worst of all I could not fly. :(

It's all good now. I just have some nasty scars and that pinky is numb from the last knuckle down. I might get some feeling back as the nerves grow back, but only time will tell.

2212 2200kv at full throttle swinging a 6x4 APC is pretty much a blender attached to a foamy, so be careful. :p
 

Namactual

Elite member
Been a busy couple of days at work which has put the smack down on my Phantom time, but I have been working on it daily. The rear of the jet is pretty much ready to be built, but after seeing some of the other builds I decided I needed to up my game a bit.

I have been experimenting with airfoils and folds.
Update13.jpg
While nowhere near Hilldafoil quality, they are much better than the standard flat plate. I am not sure the flat plate surfaces would hold up without bending anyway. This gives me a bit more strength and hopefully a bit less drag as well.

The rounded edges on the right are ok, but I am not quite happy with them. So I am going with the comprise foil on the left. The one with the elevator attached. These are both just experimental pieces. Now that I am happy with the result, I am going to build the actual parts. Hopefully a little nicer looking too.
 

Namactual

Elite member
Rear prints are done.
Update14.jpg
Went a little crazy with the stabilizers. I don't expect them to turn out, but I figured I would just experiment as I go. I will keep what works and fix what does not on the beta build...

...off to cut and glue...
 

Namactual

Elite member
Thanks guys!
@Kunphushun, I use a Mac program called Cheetah 3D. There is a little more info in a post a few pages back.

Well, I like it, and don't like it at the same time.
Update15.jpg
Note: it's just kinda balancing on the fuse at the moment and the horizontal stabilizers are the experimental ones. The vertical stab and rear fuse are done though.

I like what the vertical stab could look like, but it could stand to be a bit cleaner. I need to practice building a few more of these parts before I would call them acceptable.

I have to be up for work in like 4.5 hours though, so it's sack time for me.

Night all.
 
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Namactual

Elite member
Rear fuse is done and electronics installed.
Please excuse the mess in my work area.

Update16.jpg
By all rights, she should fly as is,:rolleyes: but I am going to finish the build before the maiden.

So after the maiden, I will tear it down and start my beta build. Usually pretty straight forward, make the changes I noted during the alpha build and any changes needed for better flight characteristics.

This time though, I am thinking a bit more.

See, I started shopping around for new fans a few days ago and almost bought a pair of FMS 50mm fans. Then I noticed for pretty much the same price and the same wattage I could scale up to FMS 64mm fans. If i get the FMS 64mm 4s fans, I am looking at well over 2 kilos of thrust! :eek: I did the math and the upscale required on the air frame would put me at a 52" wingspan and 48" in length or there about.

The larger air frame would have to have removable wings, but it could be done. I could easily do both, but I am not sure if I can design, build and dial in both by the deadline.
What do you guys think would be the best option?
I am open to any input everyone has to offer.
 

DamoRC

Elite member
Mentor
Still looking awesome! I would love to see the 64mm version but why not finish this one out (well in time for the deadline) and then scale up to the 64mm - either way you will have at least one great contender finished.

DamoRC