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Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

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Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Old 06-08-2005, 10:27 PM
  #26  
txaggie08
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

yeah it would work to
Old 06-09-2005, 10:16 AM
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

I can't wait to see what happens - sounds like some really neat planes (spaceships?) in the design process...

I'll have to wait for my tie fighter until October when I get home though. Probably small and electric. Roll stability might be a challenge, but should be possible. I LIKE the "rolling" landing idea, might be really fun.(away from the pits of course)
Old 06-09-2005, 04:52 PM
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

The late Bill Evans' ASTRON comes to mind...

Dear Gravityisnotmyfriend:

The PIPE Here once more...and way back in the April 1979 issue of the AMA magazine, on pages 34 through 37, there's an article on the late Bill Evans' OWN take on a Star Wars X-Wing...his small [for 20 size engines] ASTRON RC plane!

Checking on the price of the planset, at http://www.modelaircraft.org/plans79.asp , the planset for the Astron is only $7.50 before postage...it's plan set number 257...and the AMA Digital Archive has the article available, for online printing...it MIGHT be what you're looking for, for "starters", at least...!

Hope this helps...

Yours Sincerely,

The PIPE!
Old 09-25-2005, 11:53 PM
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

I had pretty much given up on the Star Wars plane. I made a couple of gliders to see how the tie fighter would work. I found that if it had enough wing to fly, it lost most of the scale appearance. I would've ended up with a wierd looking plane, but not exactly a tie fighter. I recently made a discovery that might put life back in this project. A friend of mine has a model of Vader's TIE. Did any of you guys know that there is a full body between the solar panels on Vader's TIE? I guess I alway just assumed that there were just pylons out to the panels like on the rest of the TIEs. The body of Vader's TIE looks alot like a wing. It's just begging to be airworthy. I have a Norvel .061, that I plan to use for power. I'm still working on the dimesions, but I'll start a new thread when I start making some progress on it.
Old 09-27-2005, 04:23 PM
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Here's some pics of the model that I will attempt to make airworthy. I'll have to take some artistic license with the leading edge of the "wing" but everything else should be able to stay scale. Any suggestions on the what size this should be? I was thinking about making it small enough to be powered with an .061, but I could make it 40 sized as well. I think the smaller vesion would be easier, but I'm open to suggestions.
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Old 09-27-2005, 06:02 PM
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Do both! Start with the 1/2a size. Build it with a sheet wing carved from 1/4 sheet balsa. Just round the front and slope the rear. It's very lightweight and most of all...FAST off the board. Think of it as a proof-of-concept model.
Old 09-27-2005, 10:14 PM
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Why not carve it from foam? I'm not usually a fan of "foamies", but this would be perfect. Lightweight, cheap, easy to work with...
I'm thinking deli trays(free if you ask nicely), stacked with a spar inside the airfoil. Can't wait to see this! [8D]
Old 09-27-2005, 11:34 PM
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

ever thought about thrust vectoring off ducted fans? maybe a vertical lifting fan and a pushing/moveable nozzel. VERY consealable anyway
Old 09-28-2005, 08:05 AM
  #34  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

If I make it 1/2A, it'll probably be made out of foam. If I make it .40 sized, it'll probably be mostly coro with some foam. This will just be for the prototype. Depending how it flys, I might build one out of balsa. I"m getting ahead of myself, I need to start cutting foam....
txaggie08, the thrust vectoring ducted fan sounds great, buy I'm gonna keep the first one simple and go from there.
Old 09-28-2005, 10:09 AM
  #35  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Hey guys! Sorry to jump in late, but I have seen a Hoth snow speeder, done as a hover/WIG(Wing In Ground effect)craft. I think I saw it on on of the WIG or Hovercraft sites, Maybe through Verners.com I am not sure. The modeler did a crack job,looked good, said it was made from cardboard and plastic tubing (straws?) it was maybe 10 in long, and ran off a standard craft motor. I honestly don't remeber if it was R/C, or just let it go type, but it was sweet. I'll see if I can find it, and post the link if I do. Sean


Whoops! My bad; it was more complex than I remembered. It is R/C and a hovercraft, although the original looksa like it was supposed to be WIG. Here it is http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=355287 The guy says he still has the templates for construction. Sean
Old 09-28-2005, 10:22 PM
  #36  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Yeah, I saw that model when I was origionally doing research for this project. I was under the impression that it flew like a plane. It makes more sense as a hovercraft though. I found that x-wings, the jedi starfighter and even the Mil Falcon have been built and flown as RC aircraft. I really like the snow speeder, but I think Vader's TIE hasn't been done and would look very cool when I get it built.
Old 09-29-2005, 10:00 AM
  #37  
biteme
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Yes Vaders' tie would be nice. don't punch the snow speeder just cuz it's a hovercraft, I 've seen hovercraft that also WIG, both full size and model. this snow speeder was slated, I believe, to be a WIG flyer but was toned down to a hover for ease of build. I bet It could be done as WIG. In any case, this should be interesting. If you haven't already, check out I think it's flyingthingz.com they have some wierd ones, might give ideas. Also, look under submarines. Quite a few subs are spaceships, built to 'fly' underwater, again, might give you some ideas. Sean
Old 10-01-2005, 08:28 AM
  #38  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

The Y-Wing is being done.Here is a link to it http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...&page=24&pp=15

Here is my MF.It draws a crowd everytime I fly it
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Old 10-03-2005, 03:41 PM
  #39  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

nstaller,
Please provide more info on your falcon. This is a ship I have dreamed of modeling and I would love to hear how you worked it out.
Thanks
Stan
Old 10-05-2005, 05:53 PM
  #40  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Several of my club members built the ASTRON when it first came out. Great performance. Some of the others were brought out as control line ARFs by cox. There have been many R2D2 clones flown as rockets. May even have been a kit or two in diffeerent sizes.
Old 10-05-2005, 10:02 PM
  #41  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

The Mil Falcon looks great. I bet you do get some looks at the field. That Astron looks pretty cool too. Most of the X-wings I"ve seen needed some sort of a canard for control. How does it fly? So, I started on the TIE. I started out building a mini PBF. I wanted to get an idea of what kind of wing area and wieght I should shoot for for this project (or maybe I just wanted a PBF). I got the solar panels put together and the main wing cut out. I'm going to leave out the things that don't add to airworthyness (like the sphereical pod) until I see if it flys. I still got some work to do but here's my progress so far. The solar panels are just temporarily taped on for the pics. I also added some pics of the PBF.
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Old 11-08-2005, 06:12 PM
  #42  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Well, the TIE prototype is ready to be test flown. It came out bigger than I had imagined. I hope the .061 will have the guts to pull this thing around. If it works out, a .40 sized will be next. The prototype came out so well, I can barely tell which picture is which.
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Old 11-09-2005, 12:37 AM
  #43  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

That Tie looks good, best wishes on the maiden
Old 11-11-2005, 11:09 AM
  #44  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Just a quick update. I tried to fly the TIE yesterday. I got two flights, both were straight up, then right back down. Apparently I mis-judged the CG and it is way too tail heavy. It didn't get too damaged - easy fix with a little epoxy. I'm going to have to add some wieght to the front see if I can get the CG figured out. I guess these little setbacks are to be expected when you design something new. Thats why I'm starting with something that is small and durable.
Old 11-11-2005, 11:17 AM
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Quick tip for determining CG on a new design. Just build a scaled down hand launch glider version. If you are close to the scale proportions, the cg on the more complex model will be very close to the scale position on the HLG. A lot cheaper and easier than trial and error flight test/repair on the serious model. It at least gives you a starting point.
Old 11-11-2005, 04:08 PM
  #46  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

That's kind of what I did. Prior to installing the engine and radio components, I attached weight to the front of the plane and glide tested it. When I added enough weight that it glided well, I marked the CG. Then I added everthing to make it balance where I had marked it. After talking to some people, I found that a plane will glide slowly if it's tail heavy, but still won't fly under power ( as I found out). When I do figure out the CG, I'm going to scale the whole project up to a .40 size so I can add more detail and make it look more like the real TIE.
Old 12-20-2005, 09:15 AM
  #47  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

i had a uhh model rocket that was shaped like the uss enterpirse Star trek not wars but unfortunatly the chute didnt open during the maiden flight....
Old 12-25-2005, 03:40 PM
  #48  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

Another spin on things, how about leaving the original tie fighter design in tact and add a gyro within the cockpit to force stability.
Old 01-18-2006, 11:57 AM
  #49  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

I am a long-time Starwars Fan, and a newcommer to RC. This got me to thinking how cool more of the Star Wars models would be.

I went and checked out the Databank, and came up with a couple of other designs, that may be cool.
[link=http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/droidstarfighter/img/movie_bg.jpg]Droid Starfighter[/link] - Pods closed, though.
[link=http://www.revell.de/starwars/reqRessources/img/produkte/abb_droid.jpg]Droid Tri-Fighter[/link] - It is hard to find a good shot of this one. The Starwars Battlefront II game has a great model. It has 2 lower wings, and a vertical stabalizer. I think you could even put a ducted fan through the middle.
[link=http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/ebonhawk/img/eu_bg.jpg]Ebon Hawk[/link] If I remember right, this was the transport from Knights of the old Republic. Build it similiar to Millenium Falcon. But, I think this one would be a little easier.
[link=http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/fanbladestarfighter/img/eu_bg.jpg]Fanblade fighter[/link] - I think this is from the Animated Clone Wars saga. (Great shows, if you have not seen them, and are a fan)
[link=http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/nabooroyalstarship/img/movie_bg.jpg]Naboo Royal starship[/link] - From the first movie.
[link=http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/p38starfighter/index.html]P-38 Starfighter[/link] - Another interesting design.

Futher reading/inspiration: [link=http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/]Staship Databank[/link]

Old 01-19-2006, 03:29 PM
  #50  
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Default RE: Calling all Stars Wars aficionados

I am currently testing a x-wing fighter I built from plans. check out my pics:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/davidp.../ph//my_photos

I tried flying it twice now and had severe CG problems, who knew you need to balance a pusher plane with a full tank of fuel. It glued back together good enough to prove out the design, but i will need tobuild a new pretty one if I get it all ironed out. I want to get rids of the verticle stabs, I might just rip them off and give it a shot if it ever flies.

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