FTFC'18 WWII Vought XF5U "Flying Flapjack" designed by SP0NZ & LocalFiend

[localfiend]

FTFC'18 WWII Vought XF5U "Flying Flapjack" designed by SP0NZ & LocalFiend

Sir Fly is already cranking away on the V-173, and I've been toying with an XF5U for a while now, so I figure giving both a chance for flight is the best option. They're quite different aircraft even though the XF5U is based on the success of the V-173.

Dan and I want to go all out on this one. We plan to go as scale as possible within the time limit, that means taking advantage of his excellent CAD skills. We hope to add 3D printed accents to the plane that will not be required, but will add to the look and function of the aircraft.





The XF5U was based off the V-173 but never flew. A few of the largest differences between the two are as follows:

All Metal Construction
Two 1600HP Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Radials
Two Gigantic air intakes in the center of the fuselage.
Control surfaces are perpendicular to the line of thrust rather than at an angle.
Retractable landing gear instead of fixed
30% increased size

And a quick tease photo of very early prototyping...





**************************************************




Final Entry Stuff is all added. I'll stick it here for easy reference.

Build Log:

Post #68 on page 3 of this thread.

Plans

All-In-One

Full-Size

Tiled A-Size Sheets

Tiled B-Size Sheets

Optional 3D Printable stuff:

The bulk of the 3D printable parts are here:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2740856

That link includes the nosecone, firewall pieces, landing gear mounts and skis.

The air intakes created by Dan can be found here:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2742235

And the steerable tailwheel assembly can be found here:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2740873

 

[SP0NZ]

I'm very excited to be teaming up with Dale on this crazy design!

 

[rockyboy]

Excellent!! Looking forward to seeing the retracts in action - that's going to be neat!

Would be interested in seeing pictures of how they did the power transfer from the big motors closer to the centerline out to the props. Are you guys going to try and replicate that too?

 

[PsyBorg]

Wow talk about a "Dream Team" hehe.. That thing always reminds me of the stink bugs that plague us here every summer.

Seeing that shell there I notice that the winglets are larger and the "Elevator" surface is split in the center. That kind of rules out my thoughts that the outer control surfaces were elevons and the center control surface being more of a flap or trim surface to counter the high alpha tendencies of the 173.

 

[localfiend]

Excellent!! Looking forward to seeing the retracts in action - that's going to be neat!

Would be interested in seeing pictures of how they did the power transfer from the big motors closer to the centerline out to the props. Are you guys going to try and replicate that too?

Yeah... Probably not gonna 3D print gearboxes for that. It was scary enough on my autogyro lol.

Wow talk about a "Dream Team" hehe.. That thing always reminds me of the stink bugs that plague us here every summer.

Seeing that shell there I notice that the winglets are larger and the "Elevator" surface is split in the center. That kind of rules out my thoughts that the outer control surfaces were elevons and the center control surface being more of a flap or trim surface to counter the high alpha tendencies of the 173.

With Dan on the team, maybe I'll actually get something finished this time around... :black_eyed:

I figure that it will be best to leave all control options open. A small amount of radio fiddling will let us choose control sets with the flip of a switch to see what works best.

 

[SP0NZ]

Would be interested in seeing pictures of how they did the power transfer from the big motors closer to the centerline out to the props. Are you guys going to try and replicate that too?

To keep the build as simple as possible (following the guidelines) we plan on putting the motors in the "nacelles" with a custom spinner to completely cover the motor.

 

[SP0NZ]

Yeah... Probably not gonna 3D print gearboxes for that. It was scary enough on my autogyro lol.

Not to mention the loss of efficiency in the power transmission system.

 

[Air-headed Aviator]

Man..... I wanted this one! That is if I would of been able to participate . The Beta fuse looks extremely good and I'm sure this will go well. The only thing I hope is that it flies super slow, it flies super fast, and that plans will be posted!

 

[SP0NZ]

Man..... I wanted this one! That is if I would of been able to participate . The Beta fuse looks extremely good and I'm sure this will go well. The only thing I hope is that it flies super slow, it flies super fast, and that plans will be posted!

I'll settle for...it flies, period. LOL

 

[PsyBorg]

With you two working on it I am sure it will fly better then "just" flies. You guys will rock this out fast and be doing FPV knife edges between tree branches by fall while the FT crew films an episode on it.

 

[Sir Fly]

Oooh, the Flying Pancake has a friend! May the best disc of fluffy goodness win!

Lol jk might end up asking for help so don't want to burn any bridges here!

 

[localfiend]

With you two working on it I am sure it will fly better then "just" flies. You guys will rock this out fast and be doing FPV knife edges between tree branches by fall while the FT crew films an episode on it.

Heh. Good, think positive.

Dunno about knife edges though. Heard that rudder authority was poor. Maybe differential thrust would help out in that department.

Oooh, the Flying Pancake has a friend! May the best disc of fluffy goodness win!

Lol jk might end up asking for help so don't want to burn any bridges here!

We can be friends. I'm not hanging out with any flying waffles though. Those guys are jerks.

 

[localfiend]

Getting ready to try my 3rd attempt at skinning the framework. Lotsa triangles.

 

[PsyBorg]

Speaking of "Waffles" that looks syrup ready mate.

If you want to try it.. I have found a way to bend foam where it does not wrinkle and would be willing to share the secret. I will be at some point making a video when weather is not right for flying to show the process but can pass on the knowledge in a pm to you now if you like.

 

[localfiend]

Sure man, I like secrets.


Though I have found that the brown stuff is very wrinkle resistant. Especially if wou make a ton of micro bends with a straight edge where there are delicate pieces.

 

[wilmracer]

Love the look of that structure. Cant wait to see how it looks with the skin on it.

 

[localfiend]

Love the look of that structure. Cant wait to see how it looks with the skin on it.

It'll be beefy. Especially once I get the battery boxes, and landing gear boxes installed. Everything ties together. Trying to make it as light as possible here, because I think the motor attachment areas will need to be heavy duty.

Apparently the structure of the full scale version was not easy to destroy, even with a wrecking ball.

Here's the skins, which is the tricky part. My other attempts had serious alignment issues. Think I've fixed most of them. Only one way to find out.

 

[localfiend]

Well, the easy center sections mostly work. The rest have got issues. Off by about a foamboard width. Back to CAD, then recut.

 

[wilmracer]

Fantastic!

 

[wilmracer]

Fantastic. I've got a feeling I'm going to need one of these