SCRATCH BUILD CHALLENGE!!!

[Carmatious]

If you've ever played Black Ops 2, there is a plane called a "Hunter Killer" its rocket powered. Its fuselage is round, the wings spring open. So if it were to be placed in a tube that has one side blocked off. The plane would just launch from the pressure and its rocket power. That has to work, if it gets stuck, well, good luck. But how would the fuselage be made round from a sheet a foam?

 

[Liemavick]

I see risking damage to your plane using anything to launch it like a spud gun. If the design is right it could launch from its own power source out of the tube. Not nearly as fun, but it can be done

 

[rcspaceflight]

At a local craft store I saw that they sell a kite that is shaped like a jet plane and is just the right size, maybe a little on the small side, to make an RC plane out of. Maybe I should steal SteveOBHave's idea and make a spring loaded spar for the little jet kite. Of course I'd need some sort of plug to launch it out of an air cannon.

It was something like this except bigger. At least I think/hope it was bigger. 5" wingspan is a little too small:
http://www.amazon.com/X-Kites-Fight...d=1380563852&sr=8-7&keywords=jet+fighter+kite

 

[JasonEricAnderson]

I've thought about building a foam board version of the HKD as well. Not so much with the tube launching tho. It actually isn't that round. Looking at its geometry it would be fairly easy to fabricate using Experimental Airlines tube method. It even looks like the wings have a bit of KF. Airfoil going on.

The spring loaded wings would be the tricky part. I suppose you could make it rudder/elevator with an EDF tucked into the back somewhere. You could have a pin with a string that holds the wings folded. Loop the other end of the string over the wrist of your hand launching arm. With about four feet of length you would have some thing you could javelin throw like in the game and have the wings pop out just after launch as the pin pulls away.

There was a folding wing glider design called a Jim Walker Intercepter. I had something similar as a kid but it was foam. The wings are folded along the side and you would shoot it into the air with a slingshot. Wind would keep the wings back until it reached azimuth and then a rubber band would pop out the wings. The game's drone has scissor style folding but the wheeler style would be fairly doable. You could even rig up a latch that will hold the wings in place once deployed.

Found the patent drawing with the mechanism diagram.


More info here
http://www.americanjuniorclassics.com/interceptor/interceptorhome.htm

I'm thinking it would be cool to make about a dozen of these out of foam board and then release them from the air as a swarm.

 

[earthsciteach]

Oh, heck. I might just have to do this! I found the missing pieces of my potato gun...

 

[JasonEricAnderson]

Oh, heck. I might just have to do this! I found the missing pieces of my potato gun...

I'll get some better all round images of the Hunter Killer Drone from my XBox

 

[JasonEricAnderson]

I couldn't find any images on the web other than the one I posted. So I got some from my XBox.







Here it is just after being thrown before the wings flip out


I can get more or other angles if needed.

 

[earthsciteach]

Those pics are more than enough. I'm thinking pusher with folding prop and folding wings. Conceptually, its pretty easy but in practice, it will have to stand up to some intense loads at launch. Prob will need to be built around a carbon fiber tube for strength.

This reminds me of a project I worked on way back in the mid 90's that entailed converting a small, land-based ballistic missile into something that could be launched from a sub.