Twin 70mm F14 Build

[Splinter189]

With the other structure you have around the tubes in that underside, I wouldn't worry about strength. If you're landing THAT hard on the belly it's gonna hurt something else as well ...

Accessing EDFs ... Maintenance? ... Did I spell that right? ... LOL - Basically never. I fly pretty gingerly for the first few flights to enjoy whatever I just built, but not long after I get it dialed in I start to fly pretty hard to see where the limits are, and the EDF is never the limiting factor...UNLESS I've mis-sized something electronically and fry the motor, which I've only done once on my small Goblin-Jet. I basically ALWAYS wear out the airframe before wearing out the EDFs.

Good to know, I am beginning to suspect the first EDF fans I got were really sub par. I had several break for no apparent reason and some break with hard landing(noob pilot). The ones you sent me links to are built like a tank by comparison. If they hold up like you are describing, I will be a happy camper.

 

[Chuppster]

@Splinter189 you continue to impress me with each iteration of this bird. I started my own design for the F-14 a few months back and now, well, I don't know if I can finish it because I'd rather build yours! It's beautiful and the swing design looks solid.

If you don't mind a bit of critical discussion, I personally am not a fan of the Velcro. I'm sure it holds up adequately but I struggle with the idea of parts of my airplane not being glued on! I can understand the desire for maintenance as I have fried an EDF or two myself, but I've also gotten really good at undoing hot glue (it's not too difficult if you're patient). I think the velcro may be a really good idea for a prototype as you work to swap things out and whatnot but have you thought of making the final version all glued together? Possibly with a removable nose section (kind of like the FT X29)? Also, having formers with holes for EDF's works really well (see @Mid7night Viper) and keeps the build light and strong. I think this may help improve the strength of your design. Honestly, I learned a ton from building Ben's F-16 and it's the best flying EDF I've ever encountered. If you haven't tried putting one together it may be a good learning experience for you as well. At the very least it'd be fun to fly!

This is, of course, your build, and I think it's brilliant. But I really like the way Ben's (@Mid7night) builds are so solidly built and yet lightweight. Yeah, maintenance can be a pain, but in this hobby weight is a huge penalty!

Just my thoughts. Keep it up, you're designs are a great asset to this hobby!

 

[Splinter189]

@Splinter189 you continue to impress me with each iteration of this bird. I started my own design for the F-14 a few months back and now, well, I don't know if I can finish it because I'd rather build yours! It's beautiful and the swing design looks solid.

If you don't mind a bit of critical discussion, I personally am not a fan of the Velcro. I'm sure it holds up adequately but I struggle with the idea of parts of my airplane not being glued on! I can understand the desire for maintenance as I have fried an EDF or two myself, but I've also gotten really good at undoing hot glue (it's not too difficult if you're patient). I think the velcro may be a really good idea for a prototype as you work to swap things out and whatnot but have you thought of making the final version all glued together? Possibly with a removable nose section (kind of like the FT X29)? Also, having formers with holes for EDF's works really well (see @Mid7night Viper) and keeps the build light and strong. I think this may help improve the strength of your design. Honestly, I learned a ton from building Ben's F-16 and it's the best flying EDF I've ever encountered. If you haven't tried putting one together it may be a good learning experience for you as well. At the very least it'd be fun to fly!

This is, of course, your build, and I think it's brilliant. But I really like the way Ben's (@Mid7night) builds are so solidly built and yet lightweight. Yeah, maintenance can be a pain, but in this hobby weight is a huge penalty!

Just my thoughts. Keep it up, you're designs are a great asset to this hobby!

Honestly I think either way will work just fine, so far, all the EDF planes have stayed together. I was definitely leary at first, but confident now that it will hold together after lots of flights with various aircraft.

Now if a person wants to glue stuff up, no issue there at all. I can definitely address that in the build video I have to do. I realize people have their own preferences and styles for building. The plans and kits I plan to have should allow for differing build styles.

Thanks for the input😁

 

[Splinter189]

Firming up wing mechanism

 

[Splinter189]

Today rocked!! We were able to successfully test fly the F14 and F15. The first couple flights for both showed the aircraft COG a bit to far back and both planes generally underpowered. It dawned on me that they must not be getting enough airflow. So, over the course of several flights I increased the size of the cheather holes. Power was decent. Still going to increase hole size some more.
Should be able to hide them on later variants.

The F14 is a bit wobbly at low speeds, but seems to become pretty stable once airspeed picks up. Wing mechanism worked like a charm, the transitions are nice and smooth. You can hear Jesse comment that it flies better with wings back. Didnt stay up long with a 2200mAh battery, it just all of a sudden dies lol. I would really like to try again with no wind.

 

[JTarmstr]

Wow, you just have to paint it and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference from a real F-14. Great build maybe someday when I have two extra 70 mm EDF's I can build this and paint it up like a VFA-101 F-14.

 

[Splinter189]

 

[PsyBorg]

Wow!!!

How did I miss this build.
Amazing work mate. One of the best f-14s I have seen if not the best in foam.

Looks like it flys well too.

Next project should be a catapault system for the back of the zombie killer so you dont end up with tore up shoulders like me hehe.

Didnt put the forum name together with who you are until i heard your voice. Gonna log in to yt n sub you if I dont already have you in the growing list already.

Amazing job on this as the Tomcat is in my top 5 planes ever if not top 3.

Once I master prop planes I am pretty sure this will be one of my first edfs if you release plans for sure.

 

[Chuppster]

Alright, great job! It looks amazing! one thing I noticed is that it flies a lot like my prototype did... very unstable and difficult to fly. I would rate my flying experience as a 3/10 for the CH_F14. When the wings are swept it does fly much better though, much like mine did! I don't know what cased the instability in my model but I would very much like to see you try and get it to track a little better at all speeds. I hypothesize that the airframe may just be too heavy and the wing loading leads to a very high stall speed, followed by high strain on the airframe (leading to the "unintentional dihedral effect"). @Splinter189 , what do you think?

 

[Splinter189]

I honestly think it just needs a are speed. The faster it went the smoother it flew. We were also fighting pretty high winds, that didn't help anything. I'm gonna lighten up things in the rear, I believe that will help as well

 

[Splinter189]

Yesterday we took the F14 up for a spin, winds were much more favorable. I had Jesse try and push things a bit with some aileron rolls and tighter turns. I have had some concern with wing flex as you can see in the vid.

While the plane is still a bit twitchy, it really flies really well. Maneuvers are easy whether wings are forward or back.

This flight was going well till all of a sudden we lost power. Evidently the wire I was using was garbage lol. New wire, new connectors and new wiring plan is in the works.

I just started another F14 based on the last. This one will be entirely laser cut. I have had to make a few changes but nothing major. Most changes consist of locater tabs and slots.

The last photos show my latest wing mechanism compared to the last one. The new one will prevent the flex we have been experiencing. Additionally, this will allow builders to either manually actuate wings and secure with a nylon screw and wingnuts or electronically actuate with a servo.

 

[Splinter189]

Alright, great job! It looks amazing! one thing I noticed is that it flies a lot like my prototype did... very unstable and difficult to fly. I would rate my flying experience as a 3/10 for the CH_F14. When the wings are swept it does fly much better though, much like mine did! I don't know what cased the instability in my model but I would very much like to see you try and get it to track a little better at all speeds. I hypothesize that the airframe may just be too heavy and the wing loading leads to a very high stall speed, followed by high strain on the airframe (leading to the "unintentional dihedral effect"). @Splinter189 , what do you think?

Sorry I had missed this. While it is twitchy, Jesse continues to tell me it doesn't fly bad at all. I think once we get the mixes dialed in a bit, things will smooth up a bit more. I am also thinking this new wing mechanism will help out a bunch too by eliminating much of the flex seen in the vids.

 

[foamtest]

Yesterday we took the F14 up for a spin, winds were much more favorable. I had Jesse try and push things a bit with some aileron rolls and tighter turns. I have had some concern with wing flex as you can see in the vid.

While the plane is still a bit twitchy, it really flies really well. Maneuvers are easy whether wings are forward or back.

This flight was going well till all of a sudden we lost power. Evidently the wire I was using was garbage lol. New wire, new connectors and new wiring plan is in the works.

I just started another F14 based on the last. This one will be entirely laser cut. I have had to make a few changes but nothing major. Most changes consist of locater tabs and slots.

The last photos show my latest wing mechanism compared to the last one. The new one will prevent the flex we have been experiencing. Additionally, this will allow builders to either manually actuate wings and secure with a nylon screw and wingnuts or electronically actuate with a servo.

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This thing is even more gorgeous on the inside than on the out. It's pure foam board origami, that I believe, trumps Andres work! (No offence meant to Andres if he is reading this, the both of you can do much more than I can with CAD)

Awesome job!!!

 

[PsyBorg]

Hehe. Yup. Proper wiring is important. Ben learned that on th C-17 build he did.

One thing I would do instead of nylon bolts and wing nuts is go to a wood dowel and body pins from rc cars. Wing nuts vibrate loose to easily, are heavy, and putting in bolts from the bottom just makes it easy to fall out.

If you want the nylon for light shearing force stay with them but still use body pins instead of wing nuts.

Looking forward to the new version with the lazer cutting. It does look cleaner. That should aide hiw it flys too.

 

[Splinter189]

Getting a little more wiring, won't be ling now.

 

[PoorManRC]

I wish they had a LOVE button!!! Seriously, this is beyond Impressive!! I can only admire Designs like this, because creating Planes from scratch is way beyond my pay grade!
That is beautiful.

 

[Great Grey Owl]

Violently launches money @Splinter189... that's an impressive feat of engineering my friend! I WANT THAT!

 

[Great Grey Owl]

Only made it sound like i'm joking about the money... seriously wanna buy it!

 

[dsexton1990]

Did u ever release the new plans for this awesome jet i want to try to take a stab at it

 

[Splinter189]

Did u ever release the new plans for this awesome jet i want to try to take a stab at it

Not yet, been working on a bunch of others. I am likely going to completely start over. Learned lots over last few months.