The Northstar has been around for 20 some years now and a lot of fellow modelers have modified the Northstar both aerodynamically and aestheticly.They have been made big and small,ducted fan and turbine.I'm building a 150% Northstar,while I'm not changing the basic aerodynamics I am changing the apearance.If you take a step back and look at the basic airframe,this is a wonderful platform to create any type of plane/jet/electric/whatever you want.Boy's let's see your creations. Thanks-Jeffo

Mine's the old design made per plans except I spaced the motor pod up maybe 1/4" to have better prop clearance. I have hundreds of flights on it and it's 5?? years old now...

Let's see your's!

Jim

Here's my 75% electric all foam NorthStar. Its all up weight is 2 lbs. Great little flyer Not too much modified but the fuse a little behind the cockpit area.

Pete

The Ultimate Northstar...

Well, this is not really a modification from the original design, more like addons. Mine is in building right now - about 95% done. Here is what I am planning to put in this plane:

- a 500mW 2.4 Ghz Video transmitter
- a high quality micro security camera on a pan and tilt base
- black box from Act-Labs - to record and overlay flight data on the video downlink
- extra battery to power all these things.

The video link is going to be transmitted to my video goggles, so I will be virtually flying the plane myself. The movement of my head will control the movement of the an and tilt base of the camera throguh a gyroscopic control.

With that many things added in the coockpit of the plane I will minimize the amount of the lead required in the front for balancing. Also a challange is how to install the camera such to be protected (covered) by the top of the plane but still to be a see-through solution.

Anyway construction pictures here. The second page has pictures about the nearly finished craft:

[link=http://www.ngctech.com/photoalbum/thumbnails.php?album=51&page=1]Northstar Construction[/link]

Thanks, Ox.

I never built one but most of the guys around here streched the nose by about 7" and said it improved the way it flew. Can you improve the flying characteristics of a lawn dart?

Hey Dave... there is a very enthusiastic group of Northstar pilots up this way that have figured it out. I have seen a couple of them fly, and they fly very decently...not the Northdarts that you and I are used to seeing......

Here's a picture taken a couple of years ago at a float fly in Michigan with the designer, Laddie Mikulasko. The plane on the far left (silver) had retracts on it but the owner has removed them since he felt the weight wasn't worth it. It did look cool taxiing to and from the water though.

I'm also attaching a list of modifications that I sent to a friend that was in the process of building one a couple of years ago, based on my experiences with the four I have built. The other pictures are referred to in the list.

Sorry guys it took me so long to post some pics.,I had some trouble uploading the pics.
-Well actually I'm further along than the pics show,but I wanted to show the size of this
bird.I'll post more pics soon to show where I am with the build.

Here are the pics-Jeffo

Here is mine

Here is the ultimate Northstar. Please see the pictures below.

Not even a comment on this one ? Oxyfx, PLEASE give details about that onboard cam /sensors setup !! I want it too

I have had three Northstars over the years, though all were built by other people. Great fun models, all since sold on in working condition.
On my latest model I made a few changes, well a lot really. It's hard to say because I never built one so I don't know exactly how they go together.
But I changed the wing section from symmetrical to a slightly thinner NACA 5 digit with just a little camber.
I increased the span a little, and cut it from foam covered with obeche veneer.
I changed the nose shape, by making it longer, and made up my own structure for the tail with a bolt-on tailplane.
I put in a cockpit with a pilot and added a rear decking
But the main change was adding foreplanes. They are coupled to the elevator, and aslo act as airbrakes on approach. (second photo)
Power is an Irvine 53
I changed it so much I now call it a "Lochstar" but its derivation is obvious.

Very interesting mods : can you tell us if pitch control was improved to any extent in addition to those (scary) airbrakes ?

Very nice Alasdair! And yes, please tell us how the foreplanes work.

Jim

On my Lochstar I have the elevator working like a Northstar, plus I have the ailerons set up as elevons, plus I have the foreplanes all moving, pivoted about 22% mean chord and moving about +/- 6 degrees for pitch control, and about +45 degrees for airbrake. That gives a nose up pitch which needs some down mixed in on the other controls. They may not be necessary but certainly give a steeper descent angle.
Pitch control is very positive and the model will loop and bunt quite tightly. I can't say exactly how much of that is due to the foreplanes. They probably do not contribute a vast amount as their area is only about 5% of gross wing area. My last 2 Northstars had elevons as well as elevators and were also quite lively in pitch.
The main reason for trying to use foreplanes as airbrakes was to asses their usefulness in a jet seaplane I am designing.

Cool [8D]. Any preview ?

It is some time off yet, but will be based loosely on the shape of the Composite-ARF New Rookie (the big one in the photo) a 70" span sport jet with a JetCat P-80.
The smaller one is the Phase 3 Fantom, a 35" ARF foamie EDF to which I have added a foreplane (to make it like a half size New Rookie) and a hull, and a colour scheme to match the Rookie. In that guise it performs very well off water, even without the foreplane!!! It even taxies under control using the elevons (no rudder added). Since this first photo it has aquired bigger tip floats. (see photo of underside).
That's the experimentation done, now I need to finish 3 or 4 other projects and start on the detail. I have already bought a Wren MW44 for it.

Keep us posted on this one