Has anyone come accross someone who has built and flown an AV-8 Harrier jump Jet. A man from our local area had started, I believe it to be 1/6 or 1/7 scale Harrier. His craftmanship was excellent up to the point that he had it built. He had it up for sale at the local hobby store but couldnt get the price he was wanting for it so he decided to keep it and finish it himself. He since has moved off so i havent gotten to see his finished product. His model was designed for a ducted fan unit and was curious if anyone else had ran accross someone who had built one and seen one fly.

look here ...

i have spoken with the designer before and i thought it was to be released over 18 months ago....dont know what's going on now...

Thanks what_the?! That is an interesting site. I didnt know anyone was actually working to put out a kit. The guy that I knew was scratch building his.

That website looked like a WHOLE bunch of handwaving to me. THey make all kinds of promises regarding performance (particularly the VTOL part) and weight, as well as solicit investort, distributors and magazines, yet they don't have a SINGLE picture of any hardware????????

I doubt they even have a flying prototype....

Over the years there have been many promises/announcements of VTOL Harrier "projects", an all of them come to nothing. To date, the only successful VTOL RC Harrier model (that I am aware of) has been that of Eric Dainty(sp?) in Canada, period.

Peter

I agree with Dr. Mirage...

There is lots of talk of working VTOLs but a web site
with one pic does not convince me.

Show me a video with 60 sec of hover then I will
be impressed..


for a working turbine VTOL click here

http://www.corpcomp.com/weeks1/

Eddie Weeks

btw... with enough money, the RIG could be made
to look like a Harrier and it would fly too.

Not only all of the above, but just look at the durations claimed on that web site! JEEEEEEZZZZ!!!! I am skeptical. Where's some evidence? If you have really done this, then there will certainly be folks lining up to buy. If it is true, all you have to do is as Eddie said, post some video. You should certainly have that, right? Don't get us wrong, we all hope this is real as it would be magnificent. Its just that if it sounds too good to be true.......

I spoke with the designer today and he assures me that it is a reality...as well as a JSF version?...they have video, photos etc ready to go.

they also are working on UAVs coz you dont make a living from modelling as you'all know.

the new website will be posted when their product is finalised...

i know im excited!

Puting a single video online is not dificult...
But doing this has a tremendous impact on the way people regard this project ! This is the first business mistake...

OK, if they got video, let's see it! What's the hold up? I sure hope it is true.

After reading the web site again, my experience has found
a few things that just can't be...

1 "Noise levels under 80 db"
ANY ducted fan producing ~ 4hp puts out way more noise
than that... like 90-100 db... 80 db is ~6 times more quite..
I don't think so...


2. "20-30 minutes flying time on full tanks (supplied). "
(From what I remember) 0.90 DF engines burn ~ 3 oz/min
so it would need 3.5 lbs of fuel to fly for 25 min...
Also a 0.90 DF thrust in somewhere around 10 lbs...
That is at %80 and 4 hp...
You must have at least %10 of that for the reaction control system.
So with all the ducting you may get 8 lbs of thrust.. - 3.5 lbs
of fuel, that leaves 4.5 lbs for the whole plane with over 8 servos
and retracts...
I don't thinks so...

Show more specs, pics and the video and I will apologies.

Eddie Weeks

quote...."
.... We are progressing rapidly and yes,
we are not doing the current web-site justice with a lack of
information. In time, we will have a brand new web site with photos,
videos, etc. However, if we were to publish too much of what we are
doing at this point in time, we would be overwhelmed with information
requests and could not focus on our core objective, getting a first
class, quality product out of the door in the shortest possible
timeframe.

....using the technology as a
UAV platform and again this is slowing us down a little in other areas,
but the longer terms opportunities mean that the investment now is
worthwhile.....
"

Let me assure you that this guy knows what he's doing. He's no backyard mechanic, or carpenter come plane builder. He's the real deal. The problem he has is making it feasible and that means affordable whilst relatively cheap to manufacture...so the real smarts is in the manufacturing process, tooling, materials etc...Thjis skepticism displayed here is kinda condescending dont you think?

I still don't buy it.

SHOW ME THE DATA!

Peter

Well Said!

I do not consider it condescending at all, considering the baloney we have heard here and on the R/C Jets list in the last five years. There have been many many similar claims, and very few if any have bore any fruit. If all is as you say What_the, then offer to e-mail individuals who ask a short video (then you need not wait for the web site to be completed!). One that shows indisputable evidence. As I said before, no one is trying to be a smart a_s. We sincerely (at least I suspect most of us) hope this is all true as it would be a wonderful accomplishment for jets, but we are VERY skeptical. I hope you prove us wrong, really!

Let's wait and see ...

BTW i'm also interested by a video on my p.email, if any available.

At least could the builder keep a 'news section' up to date on his web site to mention what's going on ...

I have to agree with Mark (wocketman) here. We have heard so much BS here and on the RC jet list from guys making claims but that's all they were....Hot air! While this guy may be no backyard mechanic, what he is claiming to have accomplished is highly unlikely..... The data from the available market power-plants just don't add up to his claims....! unless he has designed some new flux capacitor to run this thing on I find it very hard to believe he has come even close to pulling it off..... We don't mean to sound condescending, it's just highly doubtful he has achieved what he claims to have.... Lets see it.... Proof is in the pudding, till then it all sounds like "Tracey" talk

Todd

Tracey talk (a new term is born!)? If that is true, this guy may have finally gotten the intermix ratio correct for the matter stream for injection into his matter/anti-matter reactor. Can true hyper-luminal warp propulsion be far away?

Laughing to myself here. I didnt mean to get a arguement started over this, was just curious if anyone else had seen a harrier. Im not positive but Im pretty sure the guy who was building the harrier here wasnt going to make a vtol out of it. If my memory serves me correctly he was going to run the exhuast through all four ducts and even have them rotate but his intention was to fly it as a conventional jet. If by chance I can find him, since he has moved, I'll ask him about his intentions again. Thanks to everyone who had input on this subject. I have found a few interesting sites from it.

By the way, has anyone heard about Eric Dainty latest works ? I think HE spent a lot of time working on VTOL DF projects, and a few years ago, it was claimed he was not far from releasing a commercial product. His aircraft has been seen quite a lot during jet shows.