mk.1 Maelstrom GR.1a (General RC.1a)

[leighb2282]

mk.1 Maelstrom GR.1a (General RC.1a)

DETAILS

Hey Folks, I have just gotten into the RC hobby (building a Tiny trainer) but all that did was start my brain working overtime on scratch building, i'm also ridiculously naive on how much work actually goes into one of these models so it will be interesting on how this airframe goes together.

So the goal is to design and scratch build a Twin engined EDF fighter, inspiration mostly coming from the SEPECAT Jaguar and the Panavia Tornado in terms of look and feel. (high wing, dual inlets just set back from the cockpit, single vertical stabilizer)

I already have a lot of the nosecone, cockpit area and airframe body designed in Sketchup but Vertical and Horizontal stabilizer are still in the design process, so too are the side mounted EDF pods/ air intakes. The main Wing I have yet to decide on, but I am possibly looking at something like the FT Racer or something similar to the Versa wing in terms of profile.


FAQ


Will the mk.1 Maelstrom GR.1a be swappable?
It will not be designed as a swappable but quite conceivably you could design a firewall to go in the front of the aircraft if you forego the nosecone or also make it a pusher with minimal changes if the design continues the way it is going.

Differential thrust or rudder?
A rudder for sure as I don't know how well twin EDFs allow for differential thrust, I think this will be something I look into after the first maiden.

How many servos will I need?
Currently 4 (2x for Ailerons, 1x for rudder, 1x for elevator) I may also look into flaps which would most likely bring that up to 6.

What about landing gear?
Initial plans are for no landing gear, although as the design and build progresses depending on weight I may look into adding fixed gear or maybe even retracts!


SPECS

WINGSPAN	Roughly 46”
LENGTH	Roughly 30”
CHANNELS	4
Weight	TBD
Build Difficulty	Unknown, (a self confessed newbie is building this)
Build materials	Foam Board Hot Glue CA Fiberboard (like that used in PCBs)

PLANS

None Yet.

BUILD LOG


Day 1 - Cockpit section.


REVIEW


Coming soon.


Finally, Apologies and thanks to NerdNic who I shamelessly stole the design of the project page from.

 

[leighb2282]

mk.1 Maelstrom GR.1a (General RC.1a) Day One

Build Day One


I started with the cockpit (technically incorrect as I made a quick nosecone before the cockpit but I don't like it) transfered my design to DTFB and made all the relevant cuts as well as the braces I made to give it some rigidity





I started off with a dry-fit of the braces, its one thing to design it in sketchup but another to find that they actually fit nice and snug! The space between the braces is hopefully where the battery goes (if the cockpit is large enough, I may have to create a more lengthy one depending on how long the battery truly is)



Complete cockpit section with recessed socket for the nosecone, nosecone will be friction fit in there as I hope it will be able to take a certain amount of the brunt of a crash and friction fit means they are easy to replace.



And a final picture of the Cockpit section with the aforementioned disliked nosecone, now having it fitted to the cockpit I feel it needs to be longer and maybe even have its sides/top/bottom in-line with the cockpit sides and tapering into a blunt point on all 4 sides, not just the top and bottom.



Next should come the canopy which I plan to be swappable for a 'realistic shaped' canopy as well as one which is more suited for a small FPV camera, I also have my main airframe body printed out and need to transfer it to foam board (this is made all the more easier due to the fact that I bought a large format printer (11x17) for this precise reason, trying to do all this with letter sized paper would be a nightmare I refuse to partake in)

 

[leighb2282]

mk.1 Maelstrom GR.1a (General RC.1a) Day Two

Build Day Two

So I designed and built a new nose today, taking inspiration from the Jaguar GR3 and am mostly pleased with it. it is still removable and i'm almost tempted to look into using hte opening in the nose for a cheap FPV camera (maybe like the one that Peter build on the FT youtube video, have the electronics in the rear of the nose and the camera up the front)



I also cut out and mocked up the cockpit canopy that will be on top of the battery hatch, and quite frankly I don't like it, its to wide and blocky, I don't have any thick foam safe CA or posterboard to fully enclose it.

I think i'm going to wait until I can get the actual body of the airframe cut out and put together to see if I can make a better looking' canopy (one that actually perfectly ties in to the airframe body at the back and maybe 'swoops' down into the nosecone more.



Anyway, body next!

 

[saiga556]

Is there a picture or conceptual drawing that you can share with us. Just wanna get a feel for what your building.

 

[leighb2282]

Is there a picture or conceptual drawing that you can share with us. Just wanna get a feel for what your building.

I will try and get some sort of conceptual sketch drawn up in the next few days, the design is mostly coming from my head as I design in Sketchup, and i'm making this up as I go along (hence the poor dimensions of the original nose and canopy.