vicman

My Feedback: (10)

It was free but you took too long I am in SJ now. I can still cut you another set of parts out of FFF when I get back.

PilotSmith

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Antonio, I think I found the inspiration for your paint job. Was it Joe McBride's Yellow F/A-18 Twin? I just saw the video and it was awesome! Incredible detail. I could not bear to fly such a beautiful machine. When I repair my F18 I will repaint it the same as Joe's jet. This is a very good pattern to see in the sky.

PilotSmith

My Feedback: (1)

That is a generous offer Vicman but I'd feel bad to take you up on it. I have the foam and plans so I'd be just plain lazy not to cut some myself. Need to catch up a little with some work and then I'll start cutting! Enjoy SJ.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

No prob, I made a set of cardstock templates, so they only take a minute. I went over to Ames this afternoon and took some pictures of the moon rock and other neat stuff. I am going to bed early since my day started at 4 eastern.[sm=tired.gif]

AntonioE

Hi, sorry about your crash. It seems the plane is not very dameged, isn`t it? You have to repaired inmediatly and fly it again.
Yes PilotSmith you are Ok, it´s the paint scheme from Joe McBride. It´s amazing hes job. It´s perfect in all the details and with the paint.
I coudn´t flew this weekend my F-18 becouse with the wind was impossible, I think next weekend....

hypersoniq

looking to save a few $$$ in component gathering ...
would 0.6 oz make a big difference? If not I will just use my currently free R149DP futaba reciever rather than buy a hitec electron 6...

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

I use those little GWS packs.[sm=thumbup.gif]

PilotSmith

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Hyper,

My EDF conversion was about 29oz total flying weight with 4s battery. I think that is probably quite a bit more weight than the stock setup and it seemed to fly ok for the minute or two it was in the air before my ESC blew up. I didn't even have any flaps extended when I launched it. So I'd think an extra .6 oz on the stock plane would not be a big deal.

Vicman, how much does your F18 weigh with & w/out battery?

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

Never cared[X(] I follow the grip and rip school of learning. Tomorrow I am going to fly a submarine in a nuclear reactor. How cool is that![8D]

hypersoniq

a few random thoughts...
1. would a .157 CF stabilator spar detract from the exhaust flow enough that it's worth the weight/wiring etc of a second elevator servo?
2. considering trying the stock setup (included 400size brushed motors) with the gws fans first before investing in BL setup... gotta figure out what's needed for ESC's/Batteries. (11.1v 3s2p lipo too much?)
3. I read an interesting article @ e-zone regarding the use of 3/4 oz. fiberglass cloth and Minwax PolyCrylic for glassing foam planes... hmm... (could then get a decent approximation of the NACA 65A005 airfoil on the wings...)
4. finally found a PDF to DXF converter trial, transferred the .PDF and then saved it with AutoCAD as a .dwg also found a cool pic where the scale differences are noted between hornet vs. super hornet... the latter might be the trick to cram the pair of EDF75's in...
5. what about an inverted blue angels scheme for the bottom of the plane? (should aid in visibility... invert lettering to blue... that or a big ugly red stripe down the center and under the wings...mini funtana style [:'(] )

PilotSmith

My Feedback: (1)

I better get working on getting mine back in the air as it looks like I will have competition soon! Hyper, I don't think the Foamy F18 will have adequate performance as an EDF plane unless you go brushless. If there are any battery/motor combos you want me to run through MotoCalc just let me know. I just punched in a GWS EM400 motor with a 3 cell LiPo with a GWS EDF-75 fan unit. MotoCalc said it would only put out 12oz of thrust and have the performance of a basic trainer. With a Mini Fan 480 and that Motor the thrust drops to 10.5oz. This is in contrast to an estimated 18.8 ounces of thrust using a Mega 16-15-3 with a 3 cell LiPo and 29oz of thrust using a 4 cell Lipo. Note that my experience with brushed 400 motors is that they will only last 1 flight at the most with a 3 cell LiPo. I burned up 2 motors one after the other the first time I tried a 3 cell LiPo with them. [X(]

I also debated running a rod through the exhaust to have only 1 servo for elevator. That would save weight but I don't know how much that would impact thrust. If it is only a small drop then the weight savings may make it a wash. I decided to go with 2 servos on my conversion.

I'm going to repaint mine like Joe McBride's Yellow F/A 18. I like the look and it is very easy to see. My eyes had to strain way too much for me to see what was happening with the Blue Angeles colors. In retrospect I think it was flying faster than my F22 as the plane was looking real small rather quickly and I seemed to be a the end of the field sooner than expected. Maybe it was just from being nervous from the first flight but in either case it was had for me to see at the end of the field I was flying.

Keep us posted on you project!

hypersoniq

I'll be waiting until I can figure the whole power/motor deal out, until then I'll pick up the gws fans for sizing purposes... will be busy converting the plans to a super hornet

hypersoniq

finally got around to ordering some supplies (CF tubes, Balsa triangle stock, GWS Fans, 3/4 oz. glass cloth)
still need to pick up the servos (5x HS-55) and figure out what I'm doing with the battery/esc/BL mess.
CD-ROM motors looking better all the time... don't want to have to fork out even more $$ for hackers or kontronix "fun" 400 (considering how cheap the GWS units were).
HET-rc has a line of edf motors released recently, about 1/2 the cost of the others... maybe I'll check them out.

PilotSmith

My Feedback: (1)

Check out these brushless motors: http://www.balsapr.com/catalog/motors/BPBrushless.asp Next time I need a motor for a pusher jet I think I will try one of these $25 BP21 outrunner jobs. The BP21 according to the specs on the page will put out 21oz thrust with a 3 cell LiPo and 8x4 prop at only 13 amps. The Mega 16-15-6 (which I have on my F22) with the same prop and battery also puts out 21oz thrust but uses 16-17 amps. I have no idea if something like this can be used in ducted fans, but it sure seems like an economical alternative to the Mega for 1/3 to 1/4 of the price. On my Foamy F18 EDF I put in the HET / Typhoon 3 turn brushless. It was 1/2 the cost of the Mega. It has a little bit of play in the shaft so I don't think they use the same quality bearings as the Mega. Will have to see how well it holds up over time.

5 servos... You planning to use one for rudder and 2 for elevator? Or are you going with independent flaps and ailerons?

hypersoniq

I was planning on 2 aileron (w/flaperon mix)/2 elevator/1 rudder

seems like a nice testbed for future adventures in fanfold and edf...

next one will also be a modified 3Dfoamy jet (love that design! you could make so many different planes with the basic fwd fusealge setup)... F-15 "Active" (NASA variant with canards)

I'm wondering if properly placed internal ducting to the rear of the fwd fuselage (opening into the fan stream) would draw more air through the front NACA duct to aid in cooling...

were the cf wing spars strong enough? any major flex? I was considering adding a third cf tube running straight across since the wings will be a bit bigger after "super"sizing...

hypersoniq

here's another comparison pic, 3 views this time...

PilotSmith

My Feedback: (1)

The 3D-Foamy was my first Depron airplane. I was a bit skeptical at first. I really thought it would come out flimsy. But it turned out to be quite a sturdy airplane. The wings with the single spar are quite strong. I doubt with the recommended pusher setups you could do anything to rip the wings off. I posted a question as to whether I should add a second spar to mine as it is heavier with the ducted fan conversion than the original design called for. I think the guy that responded to my post was the one who designed the 3D-Foamy F18. He said it should be ok with just the one spar but I might consider adding a second one if I was going to be doing high G manuvers. So I probably will add a second solid smaller spar to the wing behind the original one. But I think it is probably fine the way it is. I tend to worry too much and build my planes on the heavy side. My very first RC plane was destroyed after the wings failed in a high speed dive when I pulled up. Since then I have been paranoid the same would happen again and probably use way too much epoxy when I build my wings!

hypersoniq

4-blade edf-75's on backorder from tower (at least 3 weeks). I'm still gonna try the GWS route for a start, and if it's too underpowered, a pair of 75mm Kyosho fan units should drop right in... well, it gives me more time to work on the superhornet design changes in AutoCAD. the bigger rear is downplayed a bit by a slightly larger wingspan and bigger control surfaces.
I have read that the GWS impellers can't be too stressed or they distort... making a BL motor search even more difficult.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

I can assure you a brushless 370 in a GWS C gear will not disappoint you! It will run around 45/50 MPH and will do loops quick as you want and rolls qicker than you can see! I think I will get mine back in the air tomorrow.

hypersoniq

got the cad rollin' today... finished the new LEX, wing, stabilators and aft rear fuse sections... next up will be the fins/rudders.

Zagiflyer576

any news on when 3D Foamy's website is gunna be back up for ordering?? i really want to get one of these...

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

[8D] pm me.

AntonioE

Hi All, yesterday, I was proved my F-18 with exatly the same results like the PilotSmith plane. I thing the CG was very rear and the plane crashed in to the ground.
The fly was very critical and the plane stall and crashed.
The repair its easy and I think the nex weekend ill fly it again. I hope the results will be better.

PilotSmith

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Antonio, sorry to hear your first flight did not go well. My CG was way too far back on my first flight so I landed it right away or else I think I would have been in trouble if I tried to fly it like that. My replacement ESC arrived today. So now I have everything I need to fix my F18 except time. [] I'm hoping to get some spare time this week to start my repairs. Keep us posted on how your next flight goes.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

I don't know what your guys wing strakes looked like but when these plans were originally posted note was made as to the importance of them being properly sized and contoured. I will get the new one in the air this week.[8D]