Unveiling My Third Project: The Double Main Swift Wing B-52

CatholicFlyer

Active member
A lot of private discussion between me, @Chuppster @Mid7night on this and it will be huge, 12 feet wing span, so will do 6 feet wings for each side.

To attach the wings, I am borrowing the design this group used to build the Giant Flite Test Duster and bolt them inside.


Also another design feature I am going to borrow, is the removable power pods, So each connected EDF, will be removable and able to be used some where else when this big plane is not flying. For the first part of fuselage is the same 1/2 inch foam board used to make the duster, then it will be normal Foam Board to help continue to build the front of the plane and rear of the plane. Now a normal Swift Wing B-52 has only one wing, then rudder and horizontal stabilizer.

Now, the Second Main Swift wing, will be the horizontal stabilizer, so the front wing will have the ailerones, second will have elevators and then in the rear, the Rudder, same style Rudder a real B-52 has, where it opens up and the shute comes out to help slow it down. So, will be saving up to do the EDFs, I will see what I can afford, If I can't go with the full 8 EDFs, I will go with four.

So far nothing but 1/2 inch foam board, gorilla hot glue sticks, and gorilla clear tape, then a little bit of cardboard to begin the frontward build. There will be wood and bolts involved too, hoping to do the same style of bolts as on the power pods, so they are flush against the wings and not disturb the air flow.

To see the B-52 from the air, I also attached a photo of a normal one, so you will see I will be extending it to add the second main wing on it. This one I will take my time on, since it will be huge, and will continue to test the world war one plane that is ready, just waiting for the items from Flite Test.
 

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CatholicFlyer

Active member
The entire fuselage is 4 feet long or 48 inches. I'm thinking it will be six feet long and then first main wings will be 12 feet long, but will build two six feet wings to make it twelve. Then secondary main wing will be six feet. @Mid7night says to use either 70mm or 90mm, but a 70mm would be a good start, also suggested to doing 8 edfs but understands how pricy they are.

I started doing the braces with the 1/2 inch foam board, then it will get even sturdier when the wood enters into the next phrase.

So two more feet to add onto the fuselage and that part is done. Then onto designing and forming the Swift Wings. Then the complicated step, building a working rudder that opens up and the shute pops out, then closes around the shute cord to continue to steer the plane.

Then the removable/swappable EDF motor pods. @Chuppster did u get a good look at what the Duster's powerpod was made of?

When I mean swappable, if I ever do another EDF plane and need a powerpod ready to go, just slide it in and hook it up.

@DamoRC @Hai-Lee
 

DamoRC

Elite member
Mentor
The entire fuselage is 4 feet long or 48 inches. I'm thinking it will be six feet long and then first main wings will be 12 feet long, but will build two six feet wings to make it twelve. Then secondary main wing will be six feet.

So two more feet to add onto the fuselage and that part is done.

Did you have a look at a three view of the B-52? If you scale the wings to 12 feet wingspan (which is tip to tip) then the corresponding overall length of the plane will be basically 10 feet.

B-52 12 foot WS.jpg


Is the 6 foot fuselage section you are working on now just from the front of the wing to the front of the tailfeathers?

DamoRC
 

CatholicFlyer

Active member
Did you have a look at a three view of the B-52? If you scale the wings to 12 feet wingspan (which is tip to tip) then the corresponding overall length of the plane will be basically 10 feet.

View attachment 114741

Is the 6 foot fuselage section you are working on now just from the front of the wing to the front of the tailfeathers?

DamoRC
yep, sure is.
 

DamoRC

Elite member
Mentor
how are these EDF Motors? and is it complete? if so, 4 of them would cost $375.96 @DamoRC @Chuppster @Mid7night

These are high (ish) end, 90mm, 6S units. Apart from the expense of the unit itself, you are looking at having to invest in mutiple 6-cell batteries and 4 ESCs that are rated at least for 120 amps and can handle 6-cell - these will not be cheap either. At 3.62 kg thrust (8 lbs) , 4 of these will fly a model in excess of 30 - 40 lbs.

Any idea what your target weight for the build is?

DamoRC
 

Chuppster

Well-known member
These are high (ish) end, 90mm, 6S units. Apart from the expense of the unit itself, you are looking at having to invest in mutiple 6-cell batteries and 4 ESCs that are rated at least for 120 amps and can handle 6-cell - these will not be cheap either. At 3.62 kg thrust (8 lbs) , 4 of these will fly a model in excess of 30 - 40 lbs.

Any idea what your target weight for the build is?

DamoRC

I highly recommend shopping for EDFs after you have an idea of how heavy the airframe is.
 

CatholicFlyer

Active member
okay, complete length of fuselage right now, 6 feet long or 75 inches. I would assume, since the guys in the giant duster video used actual lumber chunks for wing connectors, it will be super heavy. So I imagine once ready for the engines, will need good size edfs.
 

DamoRC

Elite member
Mentor
okay, complete length of fuselage right now, 6 feet long or 75 inches. I would assume, since the guys in the giant duster video used actual lumber chunks for wing connectors, it will be super heavy. So I imagine once ready for the engines, will need good size edfs.

Yep - you will need a pretty solid center section and wing spars to make sure that the wings don't collapse.

In terms of measuring the weight, I know before we had talked about using a cheap kitchen scales for getting the weight of the plane. However, in this case, because each section is likely to be pretty heavy, you will probably exceed the max capacity of the scale. I think I saw someone else using a regular bathroom scales for a big build (might have been Mid7Night and the Valkyrie). If memory serves me correctly he stood on the scales first to get his own weight and then picked up the plane and stood on the scales again. The difference in the two weights was the weight of the plane.

DamoRC
 

CatholicFlyer

Active member
I might need to register this plane as well to be legal right? meaning for the weight.? Four more feet and the hard stuff begins. has anyone used the stuff JB Weld or something like it in building a giant RC Plane, think it is a cousin of locktight but not sure, might put that on the screws or bolts to hold the lumber chunks in place. Then wondering about the spars, the roundness of good ash pool cues would be nice and have them split in half, so bottom half be one and then top half be another, and give the wings some shape when forming them, but I don't think I can find those. why I mentioned the ash cues is that they are super strong, need something like this. Also, where to find a good quality shute for the rudder system?
 

DamoRC

Elite member
Mentor
If its going to be over 55 pounds all up, yes it will need to be registered.

I have never used JB weld on a plane but I think you will be good with Loctite.

The pool cues sound like a good idea for spars but it depends on the thickness of the wing (scale would be 3-5 inches thick at the root). In this case you would have to build in some way to mount the pool cue so it was supporting the wing properly.

Came across this build of another B-52. Even though its not quite as large as the one you are building, he managed to keep the weight to 5 pounds!

Also - here is a B-52 that I saw at FliteFest West last year - I think he said it was a 12 foot wingspan, same as yours. Not sure what the weight on this was but it flew really, really well.


DamoRC
 

CatholicFlyer

Active member
Photo Updates! as you can see, it's bigger than the dining room table. the white braces are the scraps of the 1/2 foam. It is 75 inches so far or 6 feet long. @DamoRC @Chuppster and yes the brown is shipping cardboard from Flite Test and Amazon. With the Gorilla Hot Glue Low Tempt Sticks, it is super tough.
 

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DamoRC

Elite member
Mentor
Hey all, we found 2/4 thick foam installation foam board, 2 feet wide by 4 feet long in the old wash house on the farm, really good shape, would this stuff work for the wings? @DamoRC @Chuppster

2/4 ?

Can you post a pic so we can see what kind of foamboard it is or does it have any manufacturers markings or product code?

DamoRC