Apollo Leader Posted September 24, 2007 Posted September 24, 2007 (edited) There have been a number of large scale replicas of the X-Wing fighter from Star Wars through out the years. But how about one that can fly?!?! http://www.polecataerospace.com/X-Wing.htm This is being built by one of the rocketry groups in southern California and will be flown in a few weeks. There is also a 1/4th scale Y-Wing fighter being built by another California group that will also be flown at the same event (Plaster Blaster): http://rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=35511 Edited September 24, 2007 by Apollo Leader Quote
dizman Posted September 24, 2007 Posted September 24, 2007 Ha, thats pretty big. It probably wont fly unless its rocket powered, gonna take alot of power to get that hulk off the ground. Quote
Warmaker Posted September 24, 2007 Posted September 24, 2007 That sucker's going to be huge. I hope it works for the guy, because I'd hate to hear all that work crashing into the dirt. Quote
grapetang Posted September 25, 2007 Posted September 25, 2007 Pretty cool. Hope it doesn't cato! Quote
Apollo Leader Posted September 25, 2007 Author Posted September 25, 2007 Andy Woener and his buddies have done some pretty big and complicated projects through out the years so I think they should be able to pull it off. The Y-Wing is pretty big, too! Quote
Steve68 Posted September 26, 2007 Posted September 26, 2007 Is it just going to fly straight up and then parachute back down? I'm just not seeing a pitch control anywhere. Quote
Apollo Leader Posted September 26, 2007 Author Posted September 26, 2007 Is it just going to fly straight up and then parachute back down? I'm just not seeing a pitch control anywhere. After reading some of the details further, the RC controls and related mechanisms are apparently for controlling the wings in their locked/unlocked poistions during flight. Quote
Apollo Leader Posted October 1, 2007 Author Posted October 1, 2007 The rocket is almost finished and will fly on October 6th! http://www.polecataerospace.com/X-Wing.htm Quote
Apollo Leader Posted October 3, 2007 Author Posted October 3, 2007 More pictures and news on the 21 foot tall X-Wing fighter model rocket! http://www.rocketryplanet.com/content/view/2075/28/ Quote
David Hingtgen Posted October 7, 2007 Posted October 7, 2007 It flew! For about 3 seconds until it went boom. http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/boom/x%20wing-r...p?autoplay=true Quote
Beltane70 Posted October 7, 2007 Posted October 7, 2007 How not unlike the X-wings making the trench run! Quote
1/1 LowViz Lurker Posted October 7, 2007 Posted October 7, 2007 Toynami are going to sue for their patented self-destruction gimmick featured in their products after a few seconds of use. Quote
wolfx Posted October 7, 2007 Posted October 7, 2007 It flew! For about 3 seconds until it went boom. http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/boom/x%20wing-r...p?autoplay=true HAHAHA! I so saw that coming. I'm no engineer but when I saw that the xwing was gonna be made of wood I knew it was gonna be doomed. The 4 rockets will just tear it apart and even if it doesn't, it probably won't fly straight up for long and may become dangerous as it becomes into a missile or something. Quote
grapetang Posted October 8, 2007 Posted October 8, 2007 (edited) Poor Porkins, indeed! Ouch!!! All that work! I really feel for them but it seems typical of how my old smale-scale X-wings "flew". Back to the drawing board for Incom & the rebellion... Edited October 8, 2007 by grapetang Quote
Warmaker Posted October 8, 2007 Posted October 8, 2007 "He's all over me!" "Stay on target..." "I can't shake him!" "Stay on target..." "Aaaagghh!!!" Poor Porkins. His gravity pull was so much that the Death Star smashed into him. Quote
Apollo Leader Posted October 8, 2007 Author Posted October 8, 2007 (edited) It flew! For about 3 seconds until it went boom. http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/boom/x%20wing-r...p?autoplay=true Watching the footage several times over from what I can tell it was a mix of being both underpowered and the stresses on the wing joints. About 2 seconds into the flight the X-Wing was about horizontal; it needed at least twice the initial impulse and two to three times the burn time to have gotten a much more decent flight. It was right at about apogee (top of flight) when the bottom right wing ripped off from probably the the stress of the motors, the X-Wing flipping over, and that the mounting points for these wings weren't strong enough (especially since they were designed to pivot). IMHO, if they want to do this again this is what should be done: 1) If they want to stick with the same 4 AeroTech Redline M class motors for the realistic engine effect, they need to to axe the folding wing design and go with fixed wings, make a stronger wing joint, and find a way to nix 40 to 50% of the weight (typically with an unguided rocket you want to have at least a 6:1 thrust ratio or higher). 2) Drop the 4 M's, go with like a single P class motor, and get someone (like Pat Gordzelik) to make it for them. Unless they can find a way to make a more sturdy pivot point for the folding wings, this feature again should be axed. When I saw the size of the 4 motor mounts in relationship to the rest of the vehicle, I feared something like this was going to happen. But sometimes we have to learn the hard way before we get things right. Edited October 8, 2007 by Apollo Leader Quote
Apollo Leader Posted October 8, 2007 Author Posted October 8, 2007 HAHAHA! I so saw that coming. I'm no engineer but when I saw that the xwing was gonna be made of wood I knew it was gonna be doomed. The 4 rockets will just tear it apart and even if it doesn't, it probably won't fly straight up for long and may become dangerous as it becomes into a missile or something. There's been plenty of subsonic aircraft (prop, jet, and rocket) that have utilized wooden construction just fine. Obviously making these wings so that they would fold together in mid air made for a weaker mounting point and if the rocket had stayed in a straight vertical path it may have held together. Quote
Apollo Leader Posted October 8, 2007 Author Posted October 8, 2007 Here's another video of the flight: Here's the big Y-Wing that was also flown; the parachutes deployed while the motor was still lit: Pictures of the Y-Wing in flight; the guy controlling the launch is pretty darn close for an L motor!: http://rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=40084 Obviously the Force was NOT with these rocketeers in Southern Cali! But my hats go off to both team for making two large and complicated flying models. Quote
Apollo Leader Posted October 8, 2007 Author Posted October 8, 2007 Closest video and from the side! http://eyespot.com/share?cmd=permalink&...centUpload:null Watching it from this angle if it had held together it would have taken a cruise missile trajectory into the ground before the chutes could have opened. Here's some good still shots of it and some of the other Plaster Blaster flights that weekend: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradpennock/s...57602300347053/ Quote
Apollo Leader Posted October 9, 2007 Author Posted October 9, 2007 For those who want to see how a large scale model rocket is done right, here's the 1/3rd scale Mercury Redstone some guys from my group here in Nebraska built and flew done in Kansas last month (this is a 27 MB WMV file): http://www.rocketryonline.com/misc/RedstoneTrailer.wmv Quote
Apollo Leader Posted October 10, 2007 Author Posted October 10, 2007 Here's a lot more about what actually went on with the flight (read Andy Woerner's postings): http://rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=39652&page=7 Quote
grapetang Posted October 11, 2007 Posted October 11, 2007 Great comments by the guy, particularly about increasing awareness of the hobby, designing for safety, and triggering the safety escape. Kudos to him & his team! Great way to spark kids' imaginations too! We need more of that in this world. Awesome Redstone launch! Man, I feel sorry for the recovery crew... Quote
Apollo Leader Posted October 12, 2007 Author Posted October 12, 2007 What really happened to the X-Wing! http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a8d_1192187599 Quote
Fly4victory Posted October 12, 2007 Posted October 12, 2007 That is great! What really happened to the X-Wing! Quote
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