Phantom V3 - DLG - Design Build

[bracesport]

With the Phantom 2 almost ready to fly but on hold while the Omicron sweeps through I thought I would start the CAD for a Phantom 3.

1- the P2 is 50g heavier than my BAMFzilla but until I do the maiden I'm not sure if is an impediment.
2- I want to try a one piece fuse/boom done in 3D printed moulds - the P2 is a fuse joined to a boom.
3- I want to make the fuse fully organic in shape with the drooped nose aesthetic.
4- my P2 wing is a bit heavy at 170g so that needs another go - I think I was mostly resin rich and the kevlar wing tape was beefy.
5- the P2 is a 3 panel wing and I am keen to go to 4 panels to get finer transitions on the plan form.
6- I am toying with the idea to do 3D printed wing moulds - maybe just the top surface to include the hinge line blade.
7- I also want to refine my SynergyII foils from root to tip as my P2 is a bit thick at the mid section compared to my BAMFzilla.
8- maybe a two piece wing but undecided on that - if I use wing moulds is it easier to incorporate something interesting.

Here is the first cut of the CAD - nothing dramatic in the shape at this point - smooth curves - the boom is elliptical biased for sideways deflection strength.

 

[bracesport]

Here is a comparison between the original CAD which is symmetrical and drooped nose - in the drooped version the wing is more aligned with the top of the boom - both nose cones are identical.

 

[SSgt Duramax]

This looks awesome! I have thought about trying the DLG thing, but I am not sure where to get started.

So the idea is you do 3d printed molds then construct the structure from fiberglass or carbon fiber?

 

[bracesport]

Yes! lots of work but not expensive!

This looks awesome! I have thought about trying the DLG thing, but I am not sure where to get started. So the idea is you do 3d printed molds then construct the structure from fiberglass or carbon fiber?

 

[bracesport]

Roughing out the fuse for the flaperons and servos - I have a 'mostly' straight run of the push rods with an 8mm flaperon horn - I am going to route the push rods internally with a recessed outlet for the flaperon end.

 

[bracesport]

Some more tweaking - 80% slimmer fuse section in vertical direction - the purple nose section that houses the servos is a 3D printed part that is removable and will be better for different configurations and modifications (including a prop version) - the 3D printed section has a 7mm CF tube for stiffness - the flaperon pushrods are now in perfect alignment for a straight run - battery up front - Rx through slot at the base of the 3D printed part - looks pretty good I think.

 

[bracesport]

The new wing is roughed out and assembled to the fuse - I will attempt to 3D print the moulds for the upper surface of the wing so that I can form the 'V' blades for the hinges - quite a bit of printing but we shall see how we go!

 

[bracesport]

There are five sections to print in pairs to make the fuse - the light green sections will be glued together and the the darker green is a removable section to form the undercut of the wing saddle - I am opting for the 3D printed internal section of the fuse nose but there will be a nose cone mould to print - if the moulds are good I can experiment with layups.

 

[bracesport]

There are four green sections to print in pairs to make the top side of the wing - all the sections will be glued together and the hinge 'V' will be moulded in (if the printing is successful) - the plan is to wire cut the foam and lay it into the mould with the top skins wet and bag it - as a second step I will do the underside with a mylar and bag it - at this point I imagine I will put the shear web into the foam but add the top and bottom caps during their respective layups.

 

[bracesport]

Here are the hot wire templates for the wing now in 4 panels - I am still using my version of the SynergyII foil - you can see in the side view the yellow of the templates poking out more than the blue wing - this is the extra length required to allow for sanding the curves in the LE and TE.

 

[bracesport]

I have added the wing to fuse fairings to the moulds and moved the end point for the hinge blade 15mm from the root (not sure what they are called) - next I will add some ideas in CAD to make this a two piece wing.

 

[bracesport]

For a two piece wing option - I think I would add a 5x15mm CF wing joiner next to the shear web - the plan would be to make a sleeve over the wing joiner and glue that into the spar and wing surfaces - I would then use 4 wing screws to fasten the wings to the fuse.

 

[bracesport]

For the flat patterns of the fuse/boom I am using a technique to UV map the 3D model to 2D - then create a 1:1 template pdf that I can tile for printing - each mould half with use the same template, however, one will have a seam allowance for the joining of the moulds.

 

[bracesport]

Some more CAD tweaks - this time I have made the wing joiner a 'V' for the dihedral and tapered it to match the shear web - I think it will better integrate with the shear web and be a little easier to make - I am planning laminated popsicle sticks covered with UD CF and a CF braided sock for the joiner - the sleeve will be CF braided sock and joined in with the shear web and wing skins - there will be an end cap for the wings to further integrate the joiner sockets - well that's the theory anyway.

 

[bracesport]

Here are some shots of the wing moulds - there are four sections with the pairs of wings (L+R) back to back for printing - the end caps also have an block to use the wing joiner as an alignment mount for the box section that will get moulded into the base of the wings along side the shear web.

 

[bracesport]

I have updated my foil templates for a better cut into the leading edges - thank you all for the input.

 

[bracesport]

The next big job is the printing of the moulds - it is not hard work, just time consuming - I will start with the wing which gives me time to review the fuse and servo mounts a bit more - I am still keen to make two fuses - DLG and a propped V tail - so there is always something to ponder.

Propped V tail version

 

[bracesport]

I started printing the wing moulds - will take some time - 20hrs per section.

 

[bracesport]

Just a few more print pictures - it will be interesting to put all the sections together soon - this time I will also clean up the moulding surfaces - it will be interesting to put all the sections together soon..

 

[bracesport]

The moulds are getting there - a few extra joins where I had some nozzle blocks, but otherwise they are looking good - I just need to print the last root section - then do some surface prep while I print the fuse moulds.