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With the 1/45 Little Joe-II model pretty much done, I've started another sport project.
Well, SpaceX has been doing a lot of stuff with their Falcon that can land for re-use.
So Ive decided to build a Falcon. But I feel the need .
The need for .. WINGS!
An Estes Falcon B/G. When I got into the hobby for real in 1970, I had messed with attaching an engine directly to a Dime Store type balsa glider (Jetco wing thru slot in fuselage type IIRC). Spun 15 feet into the air and shredded.
Not sure if I tried anything else, but within a few months, I got an Estes Falcon (I think that was the first kit B/G I built). I flew it, it did a nice barrel roll up, ejected the motor, and death-dived down and broke. I fixed it, but it never worked out. It might have even shredded on a later flight. And that was my first and only Falcon. I had quite a bad star of luck with gliders. The first glider i had that worked, were twin gliders, the old MPC Lunar Patrol with two gliders (Looked like rounded-winged versions of the Orbital Transport glider), and that was in 1971, a year after Id been in the hobby. My first contest, in Atlanta in 1971, I used THAT in B B/G, but had to tape one glider on to not separate.
Now, 46 years later, I want to build another Falcon. I checked out the plans, and found the wing looks pretty skinny, a lot less chord than Rengers Sky Slash which it was based on (Estes did it so two wings could be cut from one standard 3 x 10 sheet of balsa). So, I checked out the Sky Slash and compared the wing. Yep, way more chord, more area. But the wing planform looks too different (And fuselage very different). What Ive ended up doing is increasing the Falcon wing root and tip chord a bit, but not as extreme as the Sky Slash.
So, itll look much the same, but glide better.
Now, this is for sport flying of course, but why would I want it to glide better?
Yeah, it would glide farther away and be more likely to get lost.
Or ..
Maybe not!
(24 ruler in above photo, and my own DX-8 Tx)
Yeah, just as I did for Astron Space Plane 2X and 4X R/C models in 2008, this is a 2.5X scale-up for R/C. I have a good stock of C6-0s that I can boost it with. Span will be about 28, wing area about 150 sq inches. The wing I ended up with, had its size based on what I could cut out from a 6 x 36 sheet of 1/8 balsa. For awhile I was considering 3X, which would have needed two of those sheets and a lot left over, but 3x would be more D sized, I was this to fly reasonably on C6 power.
Receiver and battery will go into the big engine pod. A Scale pod would be about 1.8. But Ill make it with a BT-55 pod which will have plenty of space for R/C payload.
Structural fuselage is a graphite boom (4mm square), with balsa added to make it look like the T fuselage of the Falcon and also make it stiffer. Part of the lower front section of the fuselage is reinforced.
Another reason is that last summer after NARAM, I flew the Space Plane 4X three times at a local launch. Flew great. Until flight #3, when the G12 hit a void in the propellant, increased the thrust like crazy, and shredded the model. So I no longer have an old Classic B/G model converted for R/C. And I had seriously planned to build a scaled-up R/C Falcon a few years ago. So with this, when I go to a launch to sport fly, I can take this to get in some simple easy R/C RBG flying, and launch it off a rod, no tower.
Well . I realized with the increase in wing chord versus the original Falcon wing, and making the stab a little bigger, and making the fuselage a bit longer ..I needed a good way to find out where the glide CG needed to be. So, I went ahead and built a 40% scale model of the 2.5X. In other words . a normal size model of the Falcon but reflecting the changes Ive made for the 2.5X. Below is picture taken of both, further along in the build, with the normal size Falcon, and the 2.5X with a simulated pod laying near it.
Took an hour or less to build the regular Falcon. So much different to build that one 46 years later, with CA and accelerator rather than Testors Wood Glue. And using a proper sanding block, and knowing how to airfoil. Its not exactly a great airfoil, but still better than what I made long ago.
And now I do have a F/F Falcon to play around with, after all. Will probably rig up a 13mm adapter to kick out and unroll a streamer, probably fly on 1/2A3s mostly.
So, this makes the first two Estes B/G kits Ive built, with the Space Plane. Among early Estes gliders, I have also done a Flying Jenny (was a DOM plan in MRN, not a kit), SkyDart (several in the 70s, plus the 2X R/C), and Orbital Transport. Not feeling the love for the Nighthawk. its OK, just never made one.
Latest update - Installed the servos and pushrods. image below, model upside down, showing the Dymond D-47 servos inline, glued into the vertical part of the "T" fuselage
Taped the dummy pod on (No pylon), and taped the receiver and battery pack to the outside of the pod.
And here is a view of the tail section, showing the rudder pushrod and control horn.
Took it outside and did some trim test throws. It pulls a little left, and is a bit tail heavy. Well, the BT-55 pod will be a bit longer and mounted a bit more forward when the pylon is added. Pulling a bit to the left there may be a warp. Also the 1/8 wing is more flexible than I expected it to be. So I may cover the wings with a model plane covering, perhaps Coverite, to make them stiffer. And if the pulling to the left is due to a wing warp, I can fix the warp using the covering iron
Theres a club launch Saturday, so Im planning to fly it then. Although I might try to get in a test flight boost or two on Friday.
- George Gassaway
Well, SpaceX has been doing a lot of stuff with their Falcon that can land for re-use.
So Ive decided to build a Falcon. But I feel the need .
The need for .. WINGS!
An Estes Falcon B/G. When I got into the hobby for real in 1970, I had messed with attaching an engine directly to a Dime Store type balsa glider (Jetco wing thru slot in fuselage type IIRC). Spun 15 feet into the air and shredded.
Not sure if I tried anything else, but within a few months, I got an Estes Falcon (I think that was the first kit B/G I built). I flew it, it did a nice barrel roll up, ejected the motor, and death-dived down and broke. I fixed it, but it never worked out. It might have even shredded on a later flight. And that was my first and only Falcon. I had quite a bad star of luck with gliders. The first glider i had that worked, were twin gliders, the old MPC Lunar Patrol with two gliders (Looked like rounded-winged versions of the Orbital Transport glider), and that was in 1971, a year after Id been in the hobby. My first contest, in Atlanta in 1971, I used THAT in B B/G, but had to tape one glider on to not separate.
Now, 46 years later, I want to build another Falcon. I checked out the plans, and found the wing looks pretty skinny, a lot less chord than Rengers Sky Slash which it was based on (Estes did it so two wings could be cut from one standard 3 x 10 sheet of balsa). So, I checked out the Sky Slash and compared the wing. Yep, way more chord, more area. But the wing planform looks too different (And fuselage very different). What Ive ended up doing is increasing the Falcon wing root and tip chord a bit, but not as extreme as the Sky Slash.
So, itll look much the same, but glide better.
Now, this is for sport flying of course, but why would I want it to glide better?
Yeah, it would glide farther away and be more likely to get lost.
Or ..
Maybe not!
(24 ruler in above photo, and my own DX-8 Tx)
Yeah, just as I did for Astron Space Plane 2X and 4X R/C models in 2008, this is a 2.5X scale-up for R/C. I have a good stock of C6-0s that I can boost it with. Span will be about 28, wing area about 150 sq inches. The wing I ended up with, had its size based on what I could cut out from a 6 x 36 sheet of 1/8 balsa. For awhile I was considering 3X, which would have needed two of those sheets and a lot left over, but 3x would be more D sized, I was this to fly reasonably on C6 power.
Receiver and battery will go into the big engine pod. A Scale pod would be about 1.8. But Ill make it with a BT-55 pod which will have plenty of space for R/C payload.
Structural fuselage is a graphite boom (4mm square), with balsa added to make it look like the T fuselage of the Falcon and also make it stiffer. Part of the lower front section of the fuselage is reinforced.
Another reason is that last summer after NARAM, I flew the Space Plane 4X three times at a local launch. Flew great. Until flight #3, when the G12 hit a void in the propellant, increased the thrust like crazy, and shredded the model. So I no longer have an old Classic B/G model converted for R/C. And I had seriously planned to build a scaled-up R/C Falcon a few years ago. So with this, when I go to a launch to sport fly, I can take this to get in some simple easy R/C RBG flying, and launch it off a rod, no tower.
Well . I realized with the increase in wing chord versus the original Falcon wing, and making the stab a little bigger, and making the fuselage a bit longer ..I needed a good way to find out where the glide CG needed to be. So, I went ahead and built a 40% scale model of the 2.5X. In other words . a normal size model of the Falcon but reflecting the changes Ive made for the 2.5X. Below is picture taken of both, further along in the build, with the normal size Falcon, and the 2.5X with a simulated pod laying near it.
Took an hour or less to build the regular Falcon. So much different to build that one 46 years later, with CA and accelerator rather than Testors Wood Glue. And using a proper sanding block, and knowing how to airfoil. Its not exactly a great airfoil, but still better than what I made long ago.
And now I do have a F/F Falcon to play around with, after all. Will probably rig up a 13mm adapter to kick out and unroll a streamer, probably fly on 1/2A3s mostly.
So, this makes the first two Estes B/G kits Ive built, with the Space Plane. Among early Estes gliders, I have also done a Flying Jenny (was a DOM plan in MRN, not a kit), SkyDart (several in the 70s, plus the 2X R/C), and Orbital Transport. Not feeling the love for the Nighthawk. its OK, just never made one.
Latest update - Installed the servos and pushrods. image below, model upside down, showing the Dymond D-47 servos inline, glued into the vertical part of the "T" fuselage
Taped the dummy pod on (No pylon), and taped the receiver and battery pack to the outside of the pod.
And here is a view of the tail section, showing the rudder pushrod and control horn.
Took it outside and did some trim test throws. It pulls a little left, and is a bit tail heavy. Well, the BT-55 pod will be a bit longer and mounted a bit more forward when the pylon is added. Pulling a bit to the left there may be a warp. Also the 1/8 wing is more flexible than I expected it to be. So I may cover the wings with a model plane covering, perhaps Coverite, to make them stiffer. And if the pulling to the left is due to a wing warp, I can fix the warp using the covering iron
Theres a club launch Saturday, so Im planning to fly it then. Although I might try to get in a test flight boost or two on Friday.
- George Gassaway