Hobby King Red Swan Heavily Modified as German HE-162 Salamander Build Thread
- Thread starter Joker 53150
- Start date
Here's a picture showing the wing design. Mine will be similar, although I'm possibly adding a little dihedral to it. The center section will probably go for the warmliner version I'm building, and I might be able to use the outer sections of the wing for this build.
Yeah, the SunBird's wing design may fit the look of the Salamander a bit better but I can't see myself buying yet ANOTHER kit from HK quite yet! 
I think this bird will need more wing area than if I were to build it close to scale so I may end up with a completely custom wing to get as much size as possible out of it while keeping the flavor of the original.
I think this bird will need more wing area than if I were to build it close to scale so I may end up with a completely custom wing to get as much size as possible out of it while keeping the flavor of the original.
With a few hours to kill this morning I cut out all the ribs for the stock RS and started trying to figure out the best way to make use of them for both the Red Salamander and the Red Liner builds. I'll end up having to add material and cut out ribs, but I think most of that will be on the Red Liner as I think I've got a good plan now.
The Red Salamander's wing will be made up from the stock RS outer wing sections, but they'll be built so the leading edge is perpendicular to the fuselage (on the stock RS these sections tapered back). This will cause the wing spar to angle forward. Normally there would be some dihedral where this wing section meets the inner wing section, but in this case it will be a straight wing with the only dihedral at the center of the wing. Total length of the wing will be around 42". Instead of cutting all new ribs for the inner wing sections I'll use the stock RS ribs and trailing edge and will add a piece of balsa at the trailing edge to continue the angle from the outer panel. In the picture below I placed a scrap piece there as a quick test. The wing tip shown is the stock RS piece which will either be replaced or modified.
Next up will be laying down some graph paper to help line things up so I can start gluing the main structure in place.
The Red Salamander's wing will be made up from the stock RS outer wing sections, but they'll be built so the leading edge is perpendicular to the fuselage (on the stock RS these sections tapered back). This will cause the wing spar to angle forward. Normally there would be some dihedral where this wing section meets the inner wing section, but in this case it will be a straight wing with the only dihedral at the center of the wing. Total length of the wing will be around 42". Instead of cutting all new ribs for the inner wing sections I'll use the stock RS ribs and trailing edge and will add a piece of balsa at the trailing edge to continue the angle from the outer panel. In the picture below I placed a scrap piece there as a quick test. The wing tip shown is the stock RS piece which will either be replaced or modified.
Next up will be laying down some graph paper to help line things up so I can start gluing the main structure in place.
I try to avoid looking at it too much for fear of starting a 5th Red Swan... I glanced at it the other day and thought I saw a B-17.
I saw a Lancaster bomber.
With the basic wing laid out I am able to start actual assembly. Before doing so I photocopied each of the different ribs so I could make more as needed for the Red Liner build. That one will need a lot of the B5 ribs and will also get the ailerons and the rest of the trailing edge from the RS kit.
For this wing I'm using all original RS ribs along with a few other pieces. The ailerons, trailing edge, spars, and spar webbing are all cut from sheet and stock I had on-hand. The leading edge will be 3mm thick wall carbon fiber tube.
Graph paper was covered with wax paper and a piece of stiff balsa was pinned down to let me line up all the ribs for a straight leading edge. All the ribs were lined up with the graph paper to keep everything straight. Once that was done, a little CA glue was added to hold the pieces in place.
Next step was to add webbing between the ribs and spars which was done with scrap 1/8" balsa sheet. The cap was glued in on top with all the webbing and cap held on with TiteBond II glue. The aileron and TE for the inner wing section were cut from 1/8" balsa sheet.
Once the CF LE is glued in place and everything has time to dry I think the final wing will be nice and strong. The overall wing length will end up around 42", a little less than the stock RS wing.
For this wing I'm using all original RS ribs along with a few other pieces. The ailerons, trailing edge, spars, and spar webbing are all cut from sheet and stock I had on-hand. The leading edge will be 3mm thick wall carbon fiber tube.
Graph paper was covered with wax paper and a piece of stiff balsa was pinned down to let me line up all the ribs for a straight leading edge. All the ribs were lined up with the graph paper to keep everything straight. Once that was done, a little CA glue was added to hold the pieces in place.
Next step was to add webbing between the ribs and spars which was done with scrap 1/8" balsa sheet. The cap was glued in on top with all the webbing and cap held on with TiteBond II glue. The aileron and TE for the inner wing section were cut from 1/8" balsa sheet.
Once the CF LE is glued in place and everything has time to dry I think the final wing will be nice and strong. The overall wing length will end up around 42", a little less than the stock RS wing.
Main fabrication on both wings are done and I've attached them together using one of the dihedral braces from the Red Swan, although I've lessened the dihedral angle slightly. With one wing laying flat on the bench the other wingtip is about 1/2" raised.
Still to be done: aileron fabrication, extra bracing at key spots, wingtips, servo mounts, sheeting of the center section, and adding bracing for hold-down bolts. Plus a bunch of other stuff I can't remember right now...
I've set an empty toilet paper roll on top to simulate the EDF on top of the wing and it's looking more and more like the HE-162!
Still to be done: aileron fabrication, extra bracing at key spots, wingtips, servo mounts, sheeting of the center section, and adding bracing for hold-down bolts. Plus a bunch of other stuff I can't remember right now...
I've set an empty toilet paper roll on top to simulate the EDF on top of the wing and it's looking more and more like the HE-162!
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Oh yeah! I can See it now:
The year is late 1946. Following the Allies' defeat at the battle of the Bulge, and with increased oil imports from friendly nations, German designers are now needing a high altitude interceptor to combat gradually increasing B-29 raids. After the Success of the TA-152, Kurt Tank presented a heavily altered He-162 Salamander: The TA-206 "basilisk". The aircraft sported Tank's trademark long span wings, as well as an upgraded turbo jet engine. The test pilots reported excellent handling characteristics, as well as a decreased takeoff roll. Speeds of nearly 800Kph were reported at 12000 meters. Also fitted were the standard ejection seats, and optional fittings for the Ruhrstahl X-4 air to air missile. This fighter is poised to become the greatest high altitude interceptor of the war.
The year is late 1946. Following the Allies' defeat at the battle of the Bulge, and with increased oil imports from friendly nations, German designers are now needing a high altitude interceptor to combat gradually increasing B-29 raids. After the Success of the TA-152, Kurt Tank presented a heavily altered He-162 Salamander: The TA-206 "basilisk". The aircraft sported Tank's trademark long span wings, as well as an upgraded turbo jet engine. The test pilots reported excellent handling characteristics, as well as a decreased takeoff roll. Speeds of nearly 800Kph were reported at 12000 meters. Also fitted were the standard ejection seats, and optional fittings for the Ruhrstahl X-4 air to air missile. This fighter is poised to become the greatest high altitude interceptor of the war.
It is coming together a bit better than I had expected, but wings do really help show what I was trying to explain early on in this build. The wing is probably going to be longer than really necessary, but a short wing would require faster speed than I want out of this plane.
I still need to figure out what size EDF unit will be needed - that should probably be done soon so I can get it ordered. The 4S motor and ESC for the Red Liner should be here soon so that build might get priority on the bench for a few days. I want at least one of these planes done by the end of the year!
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Squirrel member
Um, no, I just love German Jets!
Btw, I hate the Nazi Regime, I just like the rate that Technology was forced to advance by the war, and couldn't resist the Kurt Tank connection.:black_eyed:
Btw, I hate the Nazi Regime, I just like the rate that Technology was forced to advance by the war, and couldn't resist the Kurt Tank connection.:black_eyed:
The Germans had some amazing weapons, but thankfully they didn't have the resources or leadership to make more use of them.
It isn't a huge update, but a few details really help make the plane look like the Salamander. The drooping wingtips are on, but more importantly I lucked out on the EDF tube. I'm planning to use a 50mm EDF and wanted to mock up a tube to see how it'll all work with wing mounting hardware, etc. I had a mailing tube that arrived a few days ago so I grabbed it and found it's right at 50mm. I know the housing around a 50mm EDF will be slightly larger, but it should be easy to get the tube to work. This housing with some simple cosmetic modifications would look better than simply attaching the EDF to the top of the wing by itself.
No major updates recently as I'm jumping between three different builds and the Red Salamander has been collecting some dust. However, the EDF unit arrived today and I couldn't be happier! I got the 50mm "Dr Mad Thrust" from Hobby King, which is listed as a 4800Kv from a 3S pack. I soldered the connections on the ESC and tested it to make sure it works and am very impressed. No noticeable vibration and it just sounds GREAT! The sound will really fit well with the look of the Red Salamander. Now it's time to figure out how I'm going to mount it to the wing.
The cardboard mailer tube I mentioned a while back works well, although I need to split the tube open to allow the EDF to fit in it. The split will be hidden by the balsa sheeting I'll add to it - that balsa sheet has been soaked with Windex and is currently drying around the tube to get it to the correct radius without splitting. Getting the EDF today pushed this plane to the front of the line to get more work done!
The cardboard mailer tube I mentioned a while back works well, although I need to split the tube open to allow the EDF to fit in it. The split will be hidden by the balsa sheeting I'll add to it - that balsa sheet has been soaked with Windex and is currently drying around the tube to get it to the correct radius without splitting. Getting the EDF today pushed this plane to the front of the line to get more work done!
Work has kept me from getting too much done recently, but today I'm trying to get the EDF pod figured out. The cardboard mailing tube was wrapped with balsa which was then trimmed to size. A mount was then made to cradle the pod. I haven't decided yet if I'll 'glass the pod or not, but may do that for the extra security around the EDF unit itself. Some balsa filler will help give me a cleaner joint.
