nchrome

Speedbrake I too would be interested in a copy of your plans too. This plane would make a bueatiful conversation piece at the field. And definately a lot of looks from others. I do think I see a solution to your CG problem if you make it a pusher. Install the tank a little forward of the CG the empty tanks weight alone should help and the battery up in the nose. Make a pitts style muffler for your engine and lighten it up as much as possible. Mount the nose wheel servo just behind the battery and possibly the nose wheel a little forward of the original positions. I think this would help a great deal with the balancing of this bird also with the leading edge tapered forward it mite help to put the alerion servos as far forward as you can get them towards the leading edge of the wing and forward of the CG. Instead of mounting them where you would normaly mount then in a standard wing. Just an IDEA you know.

speedbrake

A little more progress today. The fuselage is together and the intakes attached. The top sheeting will be next and then the turtle deck behing the cockpit. After that I'll mount the wing and start sorting out the engine installation. More to come, Speedbrake

speedbrake

Pictures

speedbrake

Pictures of the intakes

speedbrake

Work contiunues to go smoothly. No show stoppers yet. The fuselage top sheeting has been sanded and the turtle deck made. Things will slow down a bit while I finish sheeting the wing and then mount it to the fuselage. The engine needs to be mounted now as well. I think the fuselage is starting to look like the X-29. Once the servo tray and access hatch are done the top nose sheeting and the nose block can be sanded to shape. Speedbrake

ArmedZagi

My Feedback: (1)

That looks fantastic! Youre building that thing fast! Keep the pics comin

Quarryrat41

My Feedback: (5)

one bad plane right thurrr lol. man i hope i can get my hands on those plans the guys at the field wont belive it when it shows up for warbird day lol

Balsa Shavings

Here's My 2 Cents Worth. Have you thought of maybe going with a Hi Performance Brushless Electric Power, that would solve a bunch of problems, such as keeping th CG Static during the whole flight. The Batteries would also assist in balancing the craft. The Build Looks great.

Keep The Faith: Johnny

speedbrake

I agree with you. An electric motor would cure a lot of the details I'm struggling with. Having said that, this particular model was designed for an OS.32 engine and I think too heavy for a motor. I would build a completely new model for a motor, one which had a lighter structure and perhaps a bit smaller. Also, I could build the airframe a bit more scale as well. Let's see how this model handles and then think about an electric version later.

I like the idea of .25 - .32 size models for their size, ease of handling and transport, and simple building. I'm thinking of building a F-105 and F106 in the future. The F-106 would, I think, be an excellent subject for both electric and engine propulsion, and be an easy plane to design and build. More to come. Speedbrake.

speedbrake

More pictures. The wing sheeting is done. Need to add the tips and sand to shape. The wing hasn't been mounted to the fuselage yet...that's next. Once the wing is mounted the engine and fuel tank will be installed. After that the remaining fuselage top and bottom sheeting can be glued on.

The notch in the leading edge was time consuming. Six sheets of balsa were used to sheet the top of the wing. If I did it again I'd probably do it differently...at the very least make it simpler to fabricate. I also added two more inches to the canard...for a total span of 18 inches. The wing span is now 34 inches...pretty small!! The fuselage length is 45 inches. Speedbrake

OfFrOaDfReAk22

are you going to glass it or monokote it?

speedbrake

I'll use white monokote, and trim it with the stripes shown in the picture you started the thread with. Can you determine if the wide stripe is black or dark blue? I can't tell. I think it is a blue stripe with red stripes on each side. Anyway that is my goal. Speedbrake

perttime

In the NASA pictures, my eyes keep telling me, it looks black.
http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/Photo/X-29/index.html

But my wife always tells me: "no it is not black, it is that awful dark blue".

speedbrake

Thanks. I don't have any "awful" dark blue monokote! I guess that's good. Thanks for the addtional pictures. I didn't know what the underside of the aircraft looked like. Speedbrake

speedbrake

Took a break in balsa cutting and covered a couple of parts. I think the paint scheme of the X-29 in awesome. I wanted to see how the scheme would look on the model. Now it's back to balsa cutting and sanding. Speedbrake

speedbrake

The engine has been installed. The standard muffler for the OS .32 extends behind the engine and firewall. Obviously this is unacceptable for a pusher. I used a helicopter muffler instead. It does not extend behind the firewall so is perfect for a pusher installation. However a prop shaft extension was necessary to provide clearance between the prop and the aft portion of the muffler. The muffler extends below the fuselage. The cylinder head protrudes from the fuselage side ...thus allowing cooling air flow over the cylinder. The front of the fuselage has been shaped and sanded, and the bottom hatches installed. An eight ounce fuel tank has been installed forward of the CG. A fuel pump will be used to feed fuel to the engine. The wing has been mated with the fuselage so the fuselage can now be completely sanded and readied for covering. The simulated engine nozzle can now be fabricated and installed. The project continues to go smoothly. Speedbrake.

speedbrake

More pictures

speedbrake

This program drives me crazy!!

RC_Pattern_Flyer

My Feedback: (1)

I did not notice, but are you going to make the canards fixed and use elevonsin the rear only?


Great looing plane, i am anxious to hear how it flys.. i happen o have a spare 32 magnum laying around looking for a home.

Chuck

speedbrake

The front part of the canard is fixed,and the rear half is the elevator. On the actual plane the entire canard moves. Perhaps on the next model a more scale movement could be explored. Speedbrake

speedbrake

The building phase is done. With the exception of the ailerons, wing tips, and canard elevators, the airframe is done. Just a little shaping and sanding is all that remains. The canopy will be accomplished after the fuselage is covered. The covering is on order, so will have to wait until it arrives to begin. As you can see, the bottom hatch areas on the bottom of the fuselage will provide access to the battery and receiver (front hatch area) and the servos (rear hatch area). The aileron servos are installed in the bottom of the wing. The antenna will be inside the fuselage. The landing gear needs to be bent...and will be long so the prop will clear the ground on rotation. The airframe seems light at this stage....I don't have a scale so can't give an exact weight. This has been an easy project thus far.....I can only hope it will fly....and fly well! I will use a computer program to double check the CG before flight. If additional weight is required for balance, I plan to hollow out the nose block and place the weight there. More to come, Speedbrake

Stratotanker

My Feedback: (3)

The X-29 on Parkjets.com is the one that I designed, I still have all the CAD and laser files.

Chris

speedbrake

I'm in the middle of covering the fuselage. If there is one thing I dislike about building...it's covering. Enough whining! I deviated somewhat from the actual paint scheme. The bottom will have a different design so I can see the model....I'm afraid the white won't show up when the model is a couple of hundred feet away. The intake rims were outlined with gray. Otherwise the scheme is fairly close to the original. Perhaps another week or so to completely finish the model. I'm based in Holland and weather is crap right now. I won't be flying the model until late March or April. More to come, Speedbrake

OfFrOaDfReAk22

speedbrake man that thing looks so bad. i cant belive you made this its like wow man its stunning. i really hope i can get thos plans off of yah cause now i really want to build this that thing is ssssswwwwwweeeeeeetttttttttt.

speedbrake

Thanks, I think the original paint scheme is awesome. And it is pretty easy to duplicate. I've taken some short cuts with the scheme, but overall it looks like the original. I'm pleased with the airframe, it is light and strong. However, the CG has me worried. The balance point is between the canard and wing ....which is about mid point on the fuselage. It will be hard to balance once the engine/muffler/wheels/aileron servos are installed. It will probalby take a lot of lead in the nose to balance it. If I build another one, I'll probably stick the engine on the nose and place all the radio gear/fuel tank above the wing. The puller configuration would also provide more air flow over the canard. Let's see how this one flies and go from there.