YF-19 and SV-51 for radio control

[IAD]

Almost finished with the thrust-vector vanes. They're tricky, getting the tissue to conform to the curves, and what-not, but looking great. (Much better than bare foam, as per the first ship.)

~Luke

[IAD]

Thrust vector vanes are finished. Next step is the ducting... I'll be temporarily installing my fans in your ship, so I can make sure the thrust values are where they should be. (I need to pull the fan housings out anyway, so I can get the fans back on the shafts.)

Should I shoot for a before-December completion date?

~Luke

[kensei]

HAHA!

Yes, that sequence was classic...

--SWAPZzzzzz!--

"Whoa! Fan's gone......."

"Ooh...  It glides..."

-Pause-

"Uh-oh."

~Luke

417986[/snapback]

Dude, those vids are soooo worth downloading.

Great work!

[IAD]

Thanks! I'm still trying to get around to posting the last video I took... It's a longer set of flights, though still plagued by the fan-throwing behavior...

Apparently, the motors are literally melting the fans. Going to apply some heat-sink compound to the heatsink/motor interface, which should clear up the problem once and for all.

~Luke

[HWR MKII]

Thats great news Luke. ill e moving back to the states in early December so it might be best for you to hold on to the airframe until i get to utah. I dont want military movers to crush it in packing. i cant wait to see it in the flesh and to get a paint job on it.

[IAD]

Ok, I'll have it ready for you.

~Luke

[IAD]

Ok, I just finished torture-testing the fans:

A 5 minute full-throttle run, under static conditions. Both fans passed!

Because the fans weren't mounted inside the SV, I was able to monitor temperature (roughly speaking) as well. The motors got pretty hot, but not so hot that I couldn't hold them. A 30-45 second low-throttle cool-down after the test cooled them down nicely.

I'm guessing that 6 minute flights with throttle management and cooling the motors off with the fans running at low throttle for a minute or two afterwards should keep things running smoothly. Only testing will tell. (Which means more SV flying! )

~Luke

[jwinges]

I just read this whole thread and all I have to say is HOLY CRAP! That's so freaking cool.

By chance could give us a run down on how much it cost to make one of these?

Keep up the great work.

Ok, I just finished torture-testing the fans:

A 5 minute full-throttle run, under static conditions.  Both fans passed!

Because the fans weren't mounted inside the SV, I was able to monitor temperature (roughly speaking) as well.  The motors got pretty hot, but not so hot that I couldn't hold them.  A 30-45 second low-throttle cool-down after the test cooled them down nicely. 

I'm guessing that 6 minute flights with throttle management and cooling the motors off with the fans running at low throttle for a minute or two afterwards should keep things running smoothly.  Only testing will tell.  (Which means more SV flying! )

~Luke

427265[/snapback]

[IAD]

Glad you like it!

Cost: About $300 for the gear, motors, etc... The foam and whatnot is rather inexpensive, but turning it into an SV is... Well, difficult.

~Luke

[HWR MKII]

I cant wait to see more flight footage Luke. Its almost haunting seeing it fly.

[IAD]

I've almost got the video of the previous set of flights compiled. Just searching for a bit of music to put in the background. (While not necessary, it does add something.)

I agree, it's quite amazing, seeing it cruise around up there. I only wish I had a few VF-0 CFs to chase around.

~Luke

[HWR MKII]

Music? We dont need no stinking music. Besides its been 2 weeks have you edited the vids in that time?

[IAD]

Ah, MW is back! Very nice.

Ok, fine by me. I'll just compress it, and have done.

(I'm finished with the editing, but I haven't got it small enough to ship over the Internet. Also I've been rather busy with assorted things, including but not limited to SVs and a lasertag Desert Eagle .50 caliber pistol.)

By the way, I sent you an e-mail, need a bit more input.

~Luke

[IAD]

Ok, video's being compressed right now. It'll be posted in an hour or two. (~24 MB, best guess.)

~Luke

[IAD]

Right-click and Save As

(20 MB, DiVX 5.2.1 compression.)

Log:

00:20 Initiates loop. Heading change of 90 deg. results from gusty conditions.

01:04 Initiates attempted roll, aborts inverted after pilot judges roll rate to be insufficient. Recovery successful.

01:40-01:43 Uncommanded pitch up resulting in stall and 360 deg. roll. Altitude reduced to 0 ft. Pilot regains control before impact, vectors thrust to place the aircraft nose high and activates SWAG system, preventing damage to the airframe. Accident attributed to a short in the FBW system. (Corrected.)

01:46 Modified launch profile, note sharp rotation to level.

02:29 Initiates series of S-turns. Turbulence/wind gusts become more severe.

03:23 Forced landing due to low airspeed, low altitude, and low pilot aptitude. Contributing factor was wind conditions.

No damage to the airframe.

[Pilot commentary: You know, I have yet to land this aircraft, in a truly deliberate sense. It's getting on my nerves. I keep find myself loosing just a bit too much altitude and airspeed in a low-level turn, and just level it off and let it settle in. At least it's easy to do.]

~Luke

Edited September 11, 2006 by IAD

[IAD]

Forgot to mention: I'm re-rigging the SV control system. While the current setup works well in terms of control, I think I could get a bit more efficiency out of the airframe by reconfiguring the elevons as flaperons. (That is, up elevator causes the flaps/ailerons to deploy down. See attached diagram.)

While the flaps will cause a small nose-down pitching moment, it should be overcome by the combined effects of the canard, elevator and thrust-vector surfaces, which have a greater mechanical advantage. Overall, this setup should provide better climb and speed retention.

~Luke

[HWR MKII]

Great stuff. Its good to see for once your having good experiences with a foam airframe. It also seems its proving to be a little more resilliant than you thought.

[IAD]

Yes, it's very strong, though I have taken a few minor dents. (Almost all of them from 'hanger rash' incidents, actually.) Overall though, it still looks as good as ever. I added a couple of reinforcements to key areas on yours, to prevent this type of damage.

Trimming your fingernails before launching is probably a good idea, though.

~Luke

[IAD]

Oh, Sean, since you're here...

I've got a question: Some of these photos show a slight texture to the surfaces... Mostly it's very smooth, but in a couple spots, there's a slight foam texture. (I'm referring to the tissue-covered areas, ignore the surface between the nacelles/intakes, it's unfinished, and therefore very rough.)

The texture can only be seen from specific angles, and at close range. On mine, it's pretty much unnoticeable, because I used flat grey/black. What worries me is that since the Nora scheme has a gloss/semi-gloss finish, these flaws might show up if it's examined closely. Note that this is purely aesthetic, in terms of flight performance, it won't make a bit of difference.

Also, there's a photo with a red arrow. It's pointing to a slight shaping flaw. Unless otherwise instructed, I'm going pick up some ultra-light filler, and see if I can't get the shape right.

~Luke

[HWR MKII]

Looks fine to me. Im not going gloss on the paint anyway since its heavier to use. Matt paints are more opaque and take less to cover completely. The Nora scheme is also very disruptive so people will be seeing the overall look more than the foam texture.

[IAD]

Ok, sounds good. It is very minor, at 2', you can't see it at all.

I also just managed to remove 0.1 oz. of excess glue, filler and foam! I'm determined to make weight targets on this one. (Mine was 0.62 oz. over target weight.) I'm trying to get you about a half ounce to work with, in terms of finish weight. (At that point, it would still be lighter than mine.)

~Luke

Edited September 11, 2006 by IAD

[HWR MKII]

You know i never noticed how much more prominent the bumps on the fuselage in front of the engine housings were on Noras SV. The ones on Ivanovs blend a little more. Im talking about the 2 pieces that run parallel to the cockpit housing.

[IAD]

Wait, wha..?

You mean on the build, or in the anime?

If the former, I haven't got them glued in... Once I do that, I can finish blending them into the top of the fuselage. (This is what I did with the first foam airframe. It's the only way to blend them correctly, since foam doesn't like to be sanded to paper-thin edges...)

If the latter... Let's see some screens, so I can get this right..!

~Luke

Edited September 12, 2006 by IAD

[HWR MKII]

I looked at the 2 hasegawa models and the ones on noras seem a little fatter almost like what you have on the airframe. I could just be seeing things. Ill have to check the vid when i get home.

[HWR MKII]

Luke is someone on the RC group forums doing a SV-51 as well?

I did a google search for SV-51 and got some pics from RC groups that were not your airframe.

[IAD]

What?(!) Not that I knew.

Let's see the link. I did give a fellow a set of outlines for a profile job.

I just did a sweep on RCG, and didn't come up with a thing... (Except a year's worth of my posts... )

Wait, I just got it: http://www.daddyhobby.com/forum/showthread...0659&page=1

~Luke

Edited September 13, 2006 by IAD

[IAD]

Oh, by the way... Since there's no access after I install the intakes, I would like to lay down a base coat and polish the duct surfaces. (Decrease turbulence/increase thrust.)

Any specific color that you'd like, or would Tamiya Dark Grey be sufficient?

~Luke

[HWR MKII]

Dark grey would be fine although real intake trunks are white.

Grey would work better for the aircraft.

[IAD]

The ducting is white, eh? Very interesting. I'll have to watch M0 again, I guess. It wouldn't be a problem for me to do, that's for sure.

Anyway, I've almost finished covering the nose... I should be working on threading controls in a little while...

And once I finish everything, I'm going to go back and update mine. I really nailed the shape of the nose on the second airframe, and mine is looking a bit square, by comparison.

~Luke

[HWR MKII]

Real intake trunks are white to aid in intake inspections after flight. Dirt, Debris, or say Bird guts will be more readily visible. For the model though grey will be fine to use.

[IAD]

Gotcha. Grey is anime-accurate, as far as I have seen, to boot.

White would get dirtied up, anyhow. It's amazing how much dust this thing ingests during a flight.

~Luke

[IAD]

Ok... Last week was rather lackluster, in terms of progress, but I'm back at it... I've got the right thrust-vector hinge assembly bolted (literally) into the airframe, and it's in order. I'm going to go install the other one right now.

~Luke

[Splash]

It's been a while! I'm the one who dragged you into all this, IAD.

I know you've got a weight goal but I'd like to see how the SV flies after you stick a 1/4 oz of lead in the nose; does wonders for high-speed slope gliders.

Nose heavy planes fly sluggishly, tail heavy planes fly once.

[IAD]

Huh, say again? How about I move the battery forwards instead? But...... Why would I want it to fly sluggishly?

~Luke

[Edwood]

Anyone archive the videos?

All the video links are dead.

-Ed