Star Wars X-wing...can Peter make it and Josh 'laser' it into a speedbuild kit?

[h1975]

Hi Guys,

I love the show! what an amazing effort you put into it every week to make great and new content over and over. keep up the good work!

I have a suggestion: Do you think you guys could build an X-wing? With the new Star Wars movie being released in the summer, wouldn't it be great to give us RC-guys (and the nerd some of us are ) a foamboard version of the best galactic fighter plane we all know so well?

I am thinking EDF... or maybe 4 super small pusher props or 1 large pusher?
And naturally with 2 crossed main wings, preferably with room in the cockpit for a Lego Skywalker along with a tiny camera where R2D2 usually sits


The disney Planes series were absolutely awesome. let's hope you can make this one just as great!!




anyone else think this would be totally A W E S O M E ? please post your reply below

 

[510thousandths]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but episode VII won't be out until December.

But I do think it's time to see flitetests version of a x-wing. A couple people have made them work, But they were all "fixed wing". I would love to see one go from 2 wings to 4 wings in flite!

 

[h1975]

yes totally agree. I think tey could pull it off, as always

 

[Kurt0326]

It could be a big quad EDF, or a smaller pusher. Would be a Delta wing configuration. I was thinking about the wing system, what gearing to use to open and close them in a scissor motion. If I get bored (which I never am) I could make a neat SketchUp rendering.

 

[SnowRocker88]

Just to prove it's been done. All you need to add is the wing "sweep".

 

[JAG]

How about a large version with 4 ducted fans? That would be sweet and super fast.

 

[h1975]

And a bit heavy...

I think one EDF in the center of the hull and mock up motors where the 'real ones'are in the movies. but than with red led's to light them up. also some green LED's for the lasers at the wingpylons.
Could work I think. there is enough room in the hull for one EDF i think. look at this angle:

 

[phyber]

I doubt it could be done but I'd love to have an RC tie fighter

 

[SteevyT]

I modeled up a mechanism for opening and closing the wings with one servo.

https://i.imgur.com/kypncrD.gifv

 

[Kurt0326]

I modeled up a mechanism for opening and closing the wings with one servo.

https://i.imgur.com/kypncrD.gifv

LOL Awesome. That's what i was mocking up in scetch up. Good job.
That with a pusher motor.

 

[Kurt0326]

Rc tie fighter interceptor

I doubt it could be done but I'd love to have an RC tie fighter

How about this?
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48394

 

[joshuabardwell]

I modeled up a mechanism for opening and closing the wings with one servo.
https://i.imgur.com/kypncrD.gifv

Would that stress the servo, since it would constantly be preventing the wings from closing?

 

[SteevyT]

Would that stress the servo, since it would constantly be preventing the wings from closing?

I'm not sure, I didn't have it simulate any forces. Although the end point with the wings open does have the the servo centered horizontally, the force from one side should be balanced out by the other, it's the closed position I would worry about a bit.

 

[h1975]

Wow! That could actually work. It seems to 'lock' them as well

 

[SnowRocker88]

I'm not sure, I didn't have it simulate any forces. Although the end point with the wings open does have the the servo centered horizontally, the force from one side should be balanced out by the other, it's the closed position I would worry about a bit.

Yes, the forces, when the wing is "open" pretty much zero out as the linkage enters a "singularity". All the force goes through the pivot so there is no resultant moment about the pivot. Basically you have designed a pretty efficient latch here. Good job!

 

[Kurt0326]

Would that stress the servo, since it would constantly be preventing the wings from closing?

There should be no stress on the servo after the wings lock open. The next thing should be a pusher prop with two axis thrust vector... Or are you going to try and get servos on all four wings?

 

[SteevyT]

Yes, the forces, when the wing is "open" pretty much zero out as the linkage enters a "singularity". All the force goes through the pivot so there is no resultant moment about the pivot. Basically you have designed a pretty efficient latch here. Good job!

Two parts of it enter a singularity when the wings are open (the bars that actually connect to the wings also become more or less straight). Unfortunately for me, that appears to have made ProE freak out on me, resulting in this mess. Although, I'm not entirely sure why it did this in the closed position, it's the open position that would have caused me problems if I were coding the solver.


I'll see if I can make some slight modifications to get rid of the forces in the closed position once I fix whatever is wrong with ProE.

Edit:
I can't seem to figure out the measures tool in simulate. I added springs to hold the wings shut, I would put stops in somewhere to take the load off the servo when they are shut. When it's open, the linkage design should keep the loads off the servo anyway. The tricky part is I have no clue what the loads would be in the transition from closed to open (well, I really don't want to run through that math right now). Here is a close up of the modified assembly anyway. It should work pretty well assuming the servo is strong enough. And since the loads on the servo should be more or less zero when the wings are fully open or closed it should be decently durable too.

 

[rcspaceflight]

I'm having issues finding the videos. But I thought I saw a video a few years ago of an RC X Wing that had actuating wings. Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly or maybe they took down the video.

Also, I remember that someone that built and was having issues with an X Wing also built a Tie Interceptor that flew a lot better and was actually easier to do. According to him. I don't know if a Tie Fighter would be easier or harder than the Tie Interceptor. Especially since he had the motor/prop out in front right at the wing tips.

If you make it light enough or over powered enough you can make anything fly. The real question is whether it will fly well.

(If you want a 3D model of an X Wing for Sketchup to play around with, I do have the original Sketchup file for the X Wing I made for RC Desk Pilot in the folder of the add on.)

 

[SnowRocker88]

If you're going to add springs you should make the linkages that join the wings over-center just a little bit so that they will 'lock' the wings in both positions.

 

[Corbarrad]

I think it's worth mentioning at this point that the wings on an actual ILM X-Wing pivot around a single axis, i. e. the top left wing is a single piece with the lower right and vice versa.
I know, only Nerds would notice something like this, but here Iam.
In my opinion this mounting method, along with the mechanism above would help a lot not only the mechanical ruggednes and the locking situation, but also improve aerodynamics. The increased gap towards the meeting points of the wing should help the opened foils behave like abiplane wing...