The RM airfoil, you guys might like this.

[RustyMustard]

Hi all, as some of you may have seen i posted an article on the RM airfoil earlier this month. In case you missed it, here's the article:

http://flitetest.com/articles/the-rm-airfoil-performance-for-the-masses

Lately there's been a lot of development of the concept and several builders aside from myself are obtaining absolutely astonishing performance from a build so simple, anyone can do it.

It's also been proven on a variety of planforms so far, low AR, high AR, swept wings, planks, forward swept planks and such. With recent proliferation in RM builds and success stories, i wanted to make sure that fellow FT'ers don't get left out of the loop, so i'm sharing this with the community in hopes that many of you can share in the rapidly growing RM airfoil scene.

The RM airfoil would also be an excellent candidate for building the flitetest way.

I've lost count of how many RM planes are flying now, but it's a lot, and they all fly amazingly well. If you're interested, refer to the article for the basics, and feel free to ask questions here on this thread. I don't always get to visit flitetest daily, but i'll do my best to answer any questions here.

Now that you know, go grab a piece of foam and spend a few minutes with it to build the flying wing of your dreams!

For videos, check my youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB1UGHWxWD5gObWy2YWtQFQ to see lots of RM planes in action!

And here's some gratuitous glider action demonstrating the airfoil in action:

Fast:

And slow! Look closely, the DarkAngel doesn't have trailing edge elevons, but a variable washout/camber tip that's half wingeron and half elevon. I call em washerons!

 

[Foam Addict]

I've been reading your thread on a RCgroups about this airfoil, and I'm fascinated by it. This is a brilliantly fresh idea on a simple airfoil that flies great.
Edit: I'm leaving for college in a few days, but I need to test this. RM, has anyone done a mini high speed wing?

 

[RustyMustard]

What do you consider mini?

I just did a 23" finless yesterday to make the new RM build video, and i don't know how fast you're looking to go with a mini, but my little wing isn't slow. I barely got a chance to test it in a storm gust today and a bunch of text tosses to fine tune CG. If the wind blows tomorrow i'll try to get out to see how fast it'll go.

 

[Foam Addict]

I was thinking 36" span, with a 180 watt motor... I'll try to build it today.

 

[RAM]

That was like watching a real bird fly.

I hope you put some pics and dimensions up for it. I have a rough idea of your build method from your other videos but not enough experience to do something like that by eye. Very nice design.

 

[RustyMustard]

Plans are coming for many planes soon, hopefully! There's only so many hours in a day and R&D/flight testing takes up most of that time, and things are moving quickly as results from all these proof of concept planes pile up as quickly as the planes themselves.

I'm also trying to find a way to bring some of the more refined designs to market as high end, high performance kits, but i can't find a way to do business with anyone without having a paypal account

Stay tuned though, this week i'm going to try laying down plans for possibly up to a dozen planes i've got in the cue to run into CAD. If i can get a chance to sit down and do it, there'll be an explosion of new designs anyone can build coming down the pipe. I also need to run polars and flow analysis on a variety of planforms to further potimize and begin to lay down the equations and principles that govern RM dynamics. Due to it's angular geometry, calculations for expressing the airfoil are simple and it can be effectively modeled with as few as 5 polygon faces, so optimization, as well as the ability for anyone to precisely build the optimized wing easily without hot wire cutting should be easily do-able.

What flying wing/planks would YOU all like to see plans for? Subscribe to my Youtube channel to keep up with the latest designs, and if plans are requested, they become a priority and get done faster, so browse my vids and see what planes you like. I'll fast track the most requested plans.

This RM is just so good that everyone should experience it, especially for slope, where some builders are making extraordinary claims of it performing far beyond other sections on the same model planforms. One builder claims everything that's not an RM wing is in the recycle bin after flying his! I could care less if this was my design or another's, it's something that i feel will move the hobby forward in a hurry because it takes less than 10 minutes without exaggeration to build an RM airframe. Many swept and high taper planes won't need fins as the RM is self-stabilizing in all axes when built with both taper and sweep. 45 degree drag tips are the new fins and planes can be flat stacked without breaking anything. This means Nurflugels for all and they cost a couple dollars each minus gear.

 

[RAM]

What flying wing/planks would YOU all like to see plans for? Subscribe to my Youtube channel to keep up with the latest designs, and if plans are requested, they become a priority and get done faster, so browse my vids and see what planes you like. I'll fast track the most requested plans.

I subscribed to your channel and my vote for plans goes to the DarkAngel. I could watch that thing fly all day long.

 

[RAM]

hey Rusty....

I finally finished my first plane and maidened it. Now I would like to try and build the Dark Angel. Did you ever get any plans made? I did see the post on the paoli wing. Should I use that shape instead and just size it down?

Also, where do you get that white polystyrene board? All I can find here are the pink and blue 1"x4'x8' boards at lowes and home depot.

Thanks

 

[RAM]

Update: I found some white foam board at Lowes for $12.98. Home Depot had the same stuff for $9.70 so Lowes price matched it for me. On the way out a contractor let me know there is a foam board company in the town I live in and they would sell it for even less (but not on a Sunday).

The board I purchased doesn't seem strong enough at all. I see that you use packing tape so that's what I'll try but I may as well paper coat it too. I had to cut it in half to fit in the car and the foam beads at the cut almost poured out. I hope this is the right stuff.