First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
05-26-2006, 06:50 PM
#26
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
Hi Joe,
Thanks a lot for your instructions. I really appreciate you help. I do have a 6 volt 5 cell battery pack. And here is what I will do:
- Keep the hs125s and follow your instructions, so it is ok for the ailerons.
- Replace the hs 81s with the hs 85s for the rudders. It should not be any problems switching these servos.
- Replace higher torque servos for the elevators. This may take a little work but should not be hard. What servos do you recommend for this TGA F-15's elevators?
I have not installed servo for the steering but will consider your recommendation when doing it. I am thinking about using the Futaba s148 for the steering because I still have couple of these servos but not sure if it has enough power. I also will upload a picture of the throttle and in flight mixture control for you to see if I am done them right.
I will have to postpone all this until I get back. Again, I thank you for all your help.
Hi AAbdu,
Thanks for the welcome and advice. I know it is very addictive. I can spend hours or even stay up really late building the aircraft whenever I have time. Good luck on your maiden flight. If possible, please film it and upload it here. Thanks.
Thanks a lot for your instructions. I really appreciate you help. I do have a 6 volt 5 cell battery pack. And here is what I will do:
- Keep the hs125s and follow your instructions, so it is ok for the ailerons.
- Replace the hs 81s with the hs 85s for the rudders. It should not be any problems switching these servos.
- Replace higher torque servos for the elevators. This may take a little work but should not be hard. What servos do you recommend for this TGA F-15's elevators?
I have not installed servo for the steering but will consider your recommendation when doing it. I am thinking about using the Futaba s148 for the steering because I still have couple of these servos but not sure if it has enough power. I also will upload a picture of the throttle and in flight mixture control for you to see if I am done them right.
I will have to postpone all this until I get back. Again, I thank you for all your help.
Hi AAbdu,
Thanks for the welcome and advice. I know it is very addictive. I can spend hours or even stay up really late building the aircraft whenever I have time. Good luck on your maiden flight. If possible, please film it and upload it here. Thanks.
05-26-2006, 11:33 PM
#27
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
Hi,
Below are a couple links where you can find some good jets. They use ducted fan engines. You can also find turbine kits there. I plan to get one of these ducted fan jets for my later project.
Good luck,
http://www.yellowaircraft.com/jets/f18s.htm
http://www.yellowaircraft.com/jets/f16.htm
http://www.oakdaleaircraft.com/f35-molded.htm
http://www.jethangar.com/
Below are a couple links where you can find some good jets. They use ducted fan engines. You can also find turbine kits there. I plan to get one of these ducted fan jets for my later project.
Good luck,
http://www.yellowaircraft.com/jets/f18s.htm
http://www.yellowaircraft.com/jets/f16.htm
http://www.oakdaleaircraft.com/f35-molded.htm
http://www.jethangar.com/
05-26-2006, 11:46 PM
#28
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
Not sure what specific servos to recommend for the elevators. You should get something rated at a minimum of 50 in-oz., and I think you will have a problem getting standard sized servos in there. The Hitec HS225's would work. As I said before some of them don't return to center as repeatably as I'd like. Then again some of them seem fine. I have found JR servos to be much better. The Futaba S148 should work fine for steering. If you bang the nose gear hard you could strip the gears, which is way it is nice to use a metal gear servo. I would use the S148 that you have.
Your plumbing doesn't look right. For parallel tanks to drain evenly you need to have equal length lines on each side of the tees between the tanks, for both the fuel and the pressure lines. Then they are not always exact. I fill and drain them several times using my fuel pump. If they don't fill & drain evenly then shorten the line to the slow filling tank in small increments until they are the same. Don't get carried away here; they will never be exact, but should be pretty close.
The mixture valve routing doesn't look right. Also I recommend the use of a hopper tank. Refer to the attached sketch.
Joe
Your plumbing doesn't look right. For parallel tanks to drain evenly you need to have equal length lines on each side of the tees between the tanks, for both the fuel and the pressure lines. Then they are not always exact. I fill and drain them several times using my fuel pump. If they don't fill & drain evenly then shorten the line to the slow filling tank in small increments until they are the same. Don't get carried away here; they will never be exact, but should be pretty close.
The mixture valve routing doesn't look right. Also I recommend the use of a hopper tank. Refer to the attached sketch.
Joe
05-29-2006, 12:51 PM
#29
RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
Update: flew yesterday in 30mph winds. Model was totally predictable and had full authority, even with gusts at 40mph at times. I do not have rudder, but landing was very sllllooooowwww. thanks to the headwind 
This is my 1st flight using a Ramtec on this airframe. I have not noticed any performance difference in comparison with a Dynamax, but then again, it was too windy to tell.
David
This is my 1st flight using a Ramtec on this airframe. I have not noticed any performance difference in comparison with a Dynamax, but then again, it was too windy to tell.
David
05-31-2006, 09:11 AM
#34
RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
I think there are a lot of us DF'ers out there, thanks specially to the Hardcore EDF flyers.
We should have an event, but obvioulosy we'd had to invite turbine flyers too, as they do let us fly at turbine jet rallies.
Why not? It should be pretty good, after all, most Rossie's, K&B's, Pico's are gone, so chances are everyone will have an OS or BVM which are not that much of a pain in the ***** to work with.
David
2nd chance Jet Rally: bringing ebay to the field
We should have an event, but obvioulosy we'd had to invite turbine flyers too, as they do let us fly at turbine jet rallies.
Why not? It should be pretty good, after all, most Rossie's, K&B's, Pico's are gone, so chances are everyone will have an OS or BVM which are not that much of a pain in the ***** to work with.
David
2nd chance Jet Rally: bringing ebay to the field
06-01-2006, 04:04 AM
#35
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
I think that would be a good thing. By judging by today's jet events one would think that fuel ducted fan jets are gone. I have been to several jet events in the past two years and one, or two fuel ducted fan jets is all one can expect to see. It would be interesting to talk with other ducted fan pilots in person and see what they are flying. Where are we going to hold the event?
06-01-2006, 08:15 AM
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
I hope it's close by or at least within an eight hour drive.
I would love to see four different tga F-15s in a nice finger four "loose" formation flyby.
Mike
I would love to see four different tga F-15s in a nice finger four "loose" formation flyby.
Mike
06-01-2006, 09:32 AM
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
no no , you all need to come to canada where it's a little colder
We all know that heat is not a good thing for jets!!
Vegas would be really sweet though!! as I have never been there.
Mike
We all know that heat is not a good thing for jets!!
Vegas would be really sweet though!! as I have never been there.
Mike
06-01-2006, 10:31 AM
#39
RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
ORIGINAL: jetace11
no no , you all need to come to canada where it's a little colder
We all know that heat is not a good thing for jets!!
Vegas would be really sweet though!! as I have never been there.
Mike
no no , you all need to come to canada where it's a little colder
We all know that heat is not a good thing for jets!!
Vegas would be really sweet though!! as I have never been there.
Mike
06-01-2006, 01:23 PM
#42
RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
ORIGINAL: zain
Vancouver BC is even prettier. You guys can stay with me and help me do some sanding.
zain
Vancouver BC is even prettier. You guys can stay with me and help me do some sanding.
zain
Are there any Aerospace companies in Vancouver? If not we need to start one. I don't know, maybe design tuna fleet interceptors?
06-02-2006, 09:15 PM
#44
RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
congrats on the flight! I have a Scratch built F4 pahtom in primer that needs to be finished. I have had it for over year now becuase I cant find a 70 size DF unit to fit inside! I had a OS 91 on a dynamax fan but its too big 
Once I find the motor/fan for it ill finish it and fly my 1st ducted flight
good luck
Once I find the motor/fan for it ill finish it and fly my 1st ducted flight
good luck
06-20-2006, 01:35 AM
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
AAbdu- So? Did you maiden or not?
Don't psyche yourself out about it.... They are easy to fly just get plenty of speed before attempting to rotate--- I opted for a full throttle start (assistant holds jet full throttle then releases it to minimize runway usage (Where I used to fly it was about 350 and I used all of it!) If you have plenty of room proceed as normal-
Keep us posted!
Don't psyche yourself out about it.... They are easy to fly just get plenty of speed before attempting to rotate--- I opted for a full throttle start (assistant holds jet full throttle then releases it to minimize runway usage (Where I used to fly it was about 350 and I used all of it!) If you have plenty of room proceed as normal-
Keep us posted!
06-20-2006, 01:45 PM
#46
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
Unfortunately I did not get in the maiden last weekend. I did some high speed taxi tests and found that the mini servo that i was using for steering was not up to the task (DUH). I called myself saving weight, but just ended up making more work. The kicker is, I had to add nose weight anyway. I will be building a new mounting unit for at least a standard servo and trying again. The good news is, everything else looked fine and it seemed to get light on the wheels pretty quickly, even on grass. This baby should really go.
I spent Saturday at teh Shelby, OHio air rally and left very motivated. There were two guys from Michigan flying ducted fans and the performance was difinitely inspirational. The turbines weren't bad either!
Anthony
I spent Saturday at teh Shelby, OHio air rally and left very motivated. There were two guys from Michigan flying ducted fans and the performance was difinitely inspirational. The turbines weren't bad either!
Anthony
06-20-2006, 05:33 PM
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
Yeah, at least use a std servo- are you on 6V? If so, a servo like a 3003 or 148 will have about 60 oz. torque which should be sufficient in most cases-
GO FLY!
High speed taxi tests eh? I have seen more crashes on "Taxi test days" than on maidens with fast aircraft--- [X(]
Keep us posted!
GO FLY!
High speed taxi tests eh? I have seen more crashes on "Taxi test days" than on maidens with fast aircraft--- [X(]
Keep us posted!
06-21-2006, 05:23 AM
#48
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
I am using a Hitec mini servo on my nose steering with a 6 volt battery. Works great. I will have to check to see which servo it is to let you know.
06-21-2006, 09:45 AM
#49
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
Steering servos take a beating. The problem with mini-servos is that they have small gears with tiny teeth that strip easily. I wouldn't use anything smaller than a standard sized servo. A lot of guys use metal gear servos.
Joe
Joe
08-15-2006, 03:53 PM
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RE: First ducted fan flight-TGA F-15
Hey All,
I found this forum today. It is very inspiring. I have a Top Gun F-15 that is powered by an OS 91 a Bryon's fan. It took a while to build, I had no type of instructions and didnt know what I was doing. Terry Holston helped me out a lot. He was really invaluable. I have since built a few planes and am embarking a new DF project. I have 2 new K&B 1.00 powerplants. What do you guys think of them?
If there ever is a DF Rally count me in.
David
I found this forum today. It is very inspiring. I have a Top Gun F-15 that is powered by an OS 91 a Bryon's fan. It took a while to build, I had no type of instructions and didnt know what I was doing. Terry Holston helped me out a lot. He was really invaluable. I have since built a few planes and am embarking a new DF project. I have 2 new K&B 1.00 powerplants. What do you guys think of them?
If there ever is a DF Rally count me in.
David
