FTFC23: Build-ruary by Inq: Inq'd F-23 Black Widow

Inq

Elite member
Fuselage 1
It looks odd. From the side view, Northrop contoured the nose nicely into the fuselage; yet from the top, it looks like they stuck a simple cone on the end of a toilet paper roll like we'd have done as 5 year-olds building our first rocket. Wonder if this has something to do with stealth or supersonic design??? I read that the F-23 was more efficient at super-cruise than any plane before including the F-22.

Side.png


Anyway...
205 mm long
21.8 grams
Fuselage 1.jpg
 

danskis

Master member
About the prop. In my experience with the mini arrow,a pusher prop flying wing, landing with the prop down just tends to bend the motor mounts and foam. I don’t recall having any problems with the F22 but I don’t recall a lot of things.
 
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Tench745

Master member
Fuselage 1
It looks odd. From the side view, Northrop contoured the nose nicely into the fuselage; yet from the top, it looks like they stuck a simple cone on the end of a toilet paper roll like we'd have done as 5 year-olds building our first rocket. Wonder if this has something to do with stealth or supersonic design??? I read that the F-23 was more efficient at super-cruise than any plane before including the F-22.
It's a little hard to tell just looking at pictures on Google, but it looks to me like the actual nose tapers pretty smoothly on the F-23. However, the blended chine changes shape and tapers into the nose at a steeper angle. That's the angle change you're seeing on the top-view.
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skymaster

Elite member
It's a little hard to tell just looking at pictures on Google, but it looks to me like the actual nose tapers pretty smoothly on the F-23. However, the blended chine changes shape and tapers into the nose at a steeper angle. That's the angle change you're seeing on the top-view.
View attachment 233840 View attachment 233841
The nose and the fuselage has the shape of the SR71
 

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skymaster

Elite member
I was looking at some of the pictures of the SR-71 and looking at this one. kind of takes the fun of flying a plane when you can't see nothing in front of you except the control panel. dont you think so?
 

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  • Lockheed_SR-71A_Blackbird,_National_Museum_of_the_United_States_Air_Force,_Wright-Patterson_Ai...png
    Lockheed_SR-71A_Blackbird,_National_Museum_of_the_United_States_Air_Force,_Wright-Patterson_Ai...png
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Inq

Elite member
The nose and the fuselage has the shape of the SR71

The SR-71 seems to transition smoothly in both the side and top views. The curves blends nicely.

From the side view, the F-23 does also as in @Tench745 image...
433817_39a378cbcf2f47b485ef9f2c06eaf4b7.png


... yet in the top view there is an ABRUBPT transition.
YF-23_top_view.jpg


The Northrop plans I'm using show it too, but I didn't really notice it till it came off the printer.
Side.jpg

Top.jpg


I've just not seen any other plane do this. F-104, F-15, F-16 transition nicely in both axes.
 
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Inq

Elite member
Fuselage 2 - Fresh off the printer

On the F-22, I simply had the nose (Fuselage 1) pop off for battery swaps. It worked for the smaller design, but I don't think it'd be good enough for this bigger design. So I'm putting a bomb bay type door so I can move the battery as necessary for the CG. Looking at things on the screen is misleading... I think I could stuff a car battery in here.
Fuselage 2.jpg

198 mm of length added. This gets it to just in front of the wing.
41.8 grams
Fuselage 2 weight.jpg
 

Inq

Elite member
Here are the hinges, horns and Tail Plane. The CAD repeated here is a little clearer.
433729_4803ecbf03c29abc930171242d6f687f.png

Tailplane.jpg


This sub section has 147 sq-in of foam board and weighs 37.1 grams. The plastic hinges are probably overkill. If I was a better pilot, I'd imagine the standard FT way of making hinges would be good enough although the hinge line isn't near as long as the F-22 because of the V-tail configuration of the F-23.
 

Inq

Elite member
Update
  • All plastic is printed
  • The fuselage is fused together, but not attached to the wing as I want to attempt to finish this one off a little better than the F-22. I'd like to at least get rid of the 3D printed layers even if the filler adds some weight.
  • All foam is cut, except for the propeller slot.
  • I need to place the servos, run the pushrods and put the reinforcement panels on still.
  • I'm not real happy with the elevons with all the hinges. If I do another, I'd probably do the standard FT hinges and reinforce it somehow.
Top.jpg

Low.jpg
 

Inq

Elite member
I've been working on this pretty slow... with my ADD, it wasn't the shiniest bauble in my workshop. I've decided to add it to my FTFC23 Build-ruary as #5 in case I can't get one of the other 4 finished. Here is its current build state as of the start of the Build-ruary this morning.

From the last post, I've done some sanding on the body and basically I'm not happy with the elevon hinges. Might have to re-make the tail section. :rolleyes:

PXL_20230201_111412112.jpg
 

Brian B

Elite member
I've been working on this pretty slow... with my ADD, it wasn't the shiniest bauble in my workshop. I've decided to add it to my FTFC23 Build-ruary as #5 in case I can't get one of the other 4 finished. Here is its current build state as of the start of the Build-ruary this morning.

From the last post, I've done some sanding on the body and basically I'm not happy with the elevon hinges. Might have to re-make the tail section. :rolleyes:

View attachment 234293
Any status updates on this beauty! I know the "challenge" is over, but still.