RC Bomarc rocket glider

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No problem...I was busy this week anyway, had to pick up one of these:
An upscale w/ RC on this would be neato...waiting for Tom to tell us about that exercise...
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https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...stes-Shuttle-and-Stack)&p=1602264#post1602264

I have several ideas about the new Shuttle. I am likely going to clone it at normal size in all Depron to see how light I can make it, with and without the tiny Ar6400 class RC brick.

Still considering the upscale RC options for it.

Also thnking about a free flight small Bomarc, like the old Estes Citation series, but Depron and carbon and lighter.
 
Finally had a chance to assemble an E12, put it in the Bomarc and balance for the boost CG.

Looks like the weight on the pad will be right at 15.3-15.4 oz.

By the way, I used 2x HTX900 9gr servos, a Lemon 6ch DSM2 Spektrum compatible Rx and a 1 cell 500 mah lipo, all controlled by my Spektrum DX9 tx.
 
That's great Tom, my prototype was built to be modular so had an extra coupler, screws and some other bits so was about 16.5 oz rtf, maybe slightly more, so I was hoping the kit would come out at 16, at your weight, you should have an even better boost/glide. One thing to watch, I did have a lot of throw for low speed flight, so it makes boost a bit twitchy unless you are light on the sticks, you may consider dual rate for boost after the first flight to tone it down if you think it's a problem.

Finally had a chance to assemble an E12, put it in the Bomarc and balance for the boost CG.

Looks like the weight on the pad will be right at 15.3-15.4 oz.

By the way, I used 2x HTX900 9gr servos, a Lemon 6ch DSM2 Spektrum compatible Rx and a 1 cell 500 mah lipo, all controlled by my Spektrum DX9 tx.
 
That's great Tom, my prototype was built to be modular so had an extra coupler, screws and some other bits so was about 16.5 oz rtf, maybe slightly more, so I was hoping the kit would come out at 16, at your weight, you should have an even better boost/glide. One thing to watch, I did have a lot of throw for low speed flight, so it makes boost a bit twitchy unless you are light on the sticks, you may consider dual rate for boost after the first flight to tone it down if you think it's a problem.

A good point to make. I was already planning on a fairly substantial amount of expo on the tailerons so it would be soft near center and still have plenty of throw left for the glide.

All of my RC RGs have some expo in them for a milder response in boost phase.

I am thinking about a mod for the Bomarc in the future. Planning on putting the nose ballast on a little tray on a light weight plastic rail device that will allow the ballast to zip via an elastic cord to the middle of the model after burnout. Part of the ballast will become a 9 gram servo that pulls the pin to allow the ballast to move to the rear....:) Gets you a better glide CG in an interesting and fun manner. I think it can be done for a net weight gain of under an ounce.

Getting rid of some of the trim drag will not make a huge difference in the glide of the Bomarc, but it will be fun to try. Might be able to get the up trim for glide to 1/4" instead of 5/8". Tougher to implement on a profile model, but not impossible.

Posting this from the highway, in the wilds of OK in route to NARAM. Fun to be a passenger for a change...:)
 
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Tom, will be interesting to see how that works. On mine I'm only using about 1/2 ounce of nose weight, so moving balast won't do a whole lot plus you add the weight of the servo and slide mechanism, but could be a good proving mechanism for models that can benefit even more. Good luck at Naram on all of your flights! Just flew my Valhalla and it flies great, sort of XB-70 inspired....
 
Tom, will be interesting to see how that works. On mine I'm only using about 1/2 ounce of nose weight, so moving balast won't do a whole lot plus you add the weight of the servo and slide mechanism, but could be a good proving mechanism for models that can benefit even more. Good luck at Naram on all of your flights! Just flew my Valhalla and it flies great, sort of XB-70 inspired....

I am at 14grams of nose weight as well. Remember, the 9gr servo will ride with the other bit of ballast down the track, so the added weight would only be the track and the slider and the elastic and the servo extension. Might get a reasonable CG adjustment if it moves far enough to the rear.
 
Yeah, that's right if you use the servo as part of the balast that would work. I think if your flight weight is really 15.3 ounces, it might fly ok on the E-6 motors...I remember my first test flights used those, and then I rebuilt it with some modifications and it got too heavy....I'd still try the E-12 for the first flight.

Frank

I am at 14grams of nose weight as well. Remember, the 9gr servo will ride with the other bit of ballast down the track, so the added weight would only be the track and the slider and the elastic and the servo extension. Might get a reasonable CG adjustment if it moves far enough to the rear.
 
Tom, your AUW got me all excited, so I stripped the gear off my prototype, cleaned up the ramjets so I could re-use them, and built another one stock just like the kit. Needed just a bit over 1/2 ounce of balast but I'm using 11 gram servos. My AUW came in at 15 ounces with no paint on the nose, so should be very close to your weight. I just went out with stock settings, zero boost trim, and the normal recommened glide setting. Flew it on both an E-12 and an E-6 for great flights, things were spot on. My wing foam was a bit curved and I didn't get things perfectly straight on the ramjet tubes in my rush and the stab is angled ever so slightly so even with that if I can get a perfect flight, I'm sure yours will be great.

At this lighter weight the E-6 is an ok, motor, I had about 5-6mph winds and it handled it nicely nice slow boost, maybe a hair less high than on the E-12 but more relaxing.

Frank
 
Tom, your AUW got me all excited, so I stripped the gear off my prototype, cleaned up the ramjets so I could re-use them, and built another one stock just like the kit. Needed just a bit over 1/2 ounce of balast but I'm using 11 gram servos. My AUW came in at 15 ounces with no paint on the nose, so should be very close to your weight. I just went out with stock settings, zero boost trim, and the normal recommened glide setting. Flew it on both an E-12 and an E-6 for great flights, things were spot on. My wing foam was a bit curved and I didn't get things perfectly straight on the ramjet tubes in my rush and the stab is angled ever so slightly so even with that if I can get a perfect flight, I'm sure yours will be great.

At this lighter weight the E-6 is an ok, motor, I had about 5-6mph winds and it handled it nicely nice slow boost, maybe a hair less high than on the E-12 but more relaxing.

Frank

Good deal. I plan on launching the Bomarc tomorrow morning and Richard will be getting some photos for sure. Will report from the launch.

By the way, I ended up using some leftover HobbyLab SR-71 inlet shock cones for my ramjet shock cones. They are thin vac formed plastic and weigh nearly nothing. After squaring up the bases, my cones are only about 3/16" less in diameter than the front ramjet nacelle plugs. Quite oversize for scale, but more streamlined and ought to faintly reduce the overall drag.
 
Tom, I got one of the bt-5 nosecone packs, they come with some small conicals and if you take off the shoulder, they wind up about half the diameter of the bt-60 and it looks pretty good. They aren't very heavy.

Frank



Good deal. I plan on launching the Bomarc tomorrow morning and Richard will be getting some photos for sure. Will report from the launch.

By the way, I ended up using some leftover HobbyLab SR-71 inlet shock cones for my ramjet shock cones. They are thin vac formed plastic and weigh nearly nothing. After squaring up the bases, my cones are only about 3/16" less in diameter than the front ramjet nacelle plugs. Quite oversize for scale, but more streamlined and ought to faintly reduce the overall drag.
 
The Bomarc has flown and flown well. Pictures and video later.

Slow ignition of the E12RC, but a very nice boost. Easy to fly in boost. Lost it for a bit in the sun near burnout, but it was easy to require. Glide trim was good with Franks suggestions. I did stall it for a moment when I attempted a turn that was a little too tight in order to land back near me. My fault. Probably stalled one of the elevons for a moment. Decided to land straight ahead out into the field. Landed beautifully, easily and slowly with no damage to the ramjet pods. Applause!

Control in boost and glide was nice, with about 50% expo on both pitch and roll. Might revisit my throws a little.

Will report back soon on flight number 2. Sun will be out of the way and will plan a better flight path, now I know how it flies first hand.
 
Very cool, how'd the second flight go?

Did not get a second flight in yesterday. Flew the XB-70 (had a flutter event and broke it, interesting details to follow in the XB-70 thread) the InteR/Ceptor, the Bomarc and the Black Horse, plus an AT Strong Arm with my RC Chute Sled. We were all moving kind of slow and easy with the heat index being 108 degrees.

Definitely flying the Bomarc again this morning.
 
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Flight number two on the Bomarc today was perfect!

Nice boost on the E12RC, not near the sun this time. Needed one little correction on boost. Easy transition, trim was good. This time I kept the glide speed up a bit and made one nice circle of the launch area, made the approach along the crowd line, safely far enough out, and flared to a perfect landing.

Pics still in Richards camera, so will get them and post them in the next few days. Another gent did a video of both Bomarc flights. I will arrange to get copies of the video

Frank, I completely agree with you that a reasonably competent RC pilot can handle the Bomarc. Not for a beginner, but not hard to fly. I hope you do kit it.... I may have to get a spare one!
 
That's great Tom. As for kits, in order to keep the price low, I have to order in batches of four, for the tubes and 5-6 for the cones. Right now I have parts for two more. I'd rather have people contact me for info first, so I can explain the kit to them as opposed to just putting it up for general ordering.

Frank
 
That's great Tom. As for kits, in order to keep the price low, I have to order in batches of four, for the tubes and 5-6 for the cones. Right now I have parts for two more. I'd rather have people contact me for info first, so I can explain the kit to them as opposed to just putting it up for general ordering.

Frank

Sounds like a good way to proceed. There was some definite interest at NARAM.
 
Cool, it is now listed on my site on the main page, along with my new Valhalla.....

BTW, I found if you order the bnc-20y from bms or semroc, or do a search for pnc-20 on Sirius rocketry they have a pnc-20y version, it is a .7" by 1" long conical that if you remove the shoulder makes a perfect inlet cone for the ramjets.

Frank


Sounds like a good way to proceed. There was some definite interest at NARAM.
 
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Here is some video of the first and second Bomarc flights at NARAM.

You can see in the first video where the Bomarc departed a little not long after transition when I tried to turn a little too sharp to the left while airspeed was too low. It recovered nicely as soon as I eased up on the turn. Pay no attention up what the videographer said. ...:) That stall had zero to do with the vertical tail being blanketed out by the wing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLzdBQL1k_NRh5vkQI2NhzqsuD02NqRxv0&v=QahdqzIA76s

Second flight was very nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLzdBQL1k_NRh5vkQI2NhzqsuD02NqRxv0&v=vyyZl4-NHRc
 
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Nice Tom!

I've uploaded a template in the instruction photos for some paper intake cones. Also have a comment about bnc20y cones you can use from semroc/bms or the plastic cones from the estes pnc-20 pack can be used. I think the paper cones once saturated with CA will be the lightest/best alternative.

Frank
 
Nice Tom!

I've uploaded a template in the instruction photos for some paper intake cones. Also have a comment about bnc20y cones you can use from semroc/bms or the plastic cones from the estes pnc-20 pack can be used. I think the paper cones once saturated with CA will be the lightest/best alternative.

Frank

Sounds like a couple of excellent options.

The only other place I ventured away from your instructions was to Velcro my RX and battery to the inside of the nose one. I used some 18" servo extensions that I had available. Were long enough to reach into the nose cone Had hoped to get by with a touch less nose weight doing that, but still needed about 14gr.
 
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If I could have found a lightweight set of servo extensions at the lhs that were longer I would have done the same, but they only had long heavy duty or short lightweight, the weight of the servo extensions in the heavy style is not insignificant so I went with the 18" lightweight, my hs-65's have a few inch shorter wires as well so I couldn't pull the receiver any further forward.

Frank


Sounds like a couple of excellent options.

The only other place I ventured away from your instructions was to Velcro my RX and battery to the inside of the nose one. Had hoped to get by with a touch less nose weight doing that, but still needed about 14gr.
 
Tom, found some great photos of your flights on the naramlive web site, all copyright and credit to him....

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Nice, btw on the second flight it looks like it pitched and rolled just off the rail, unlike the first flight, was there wind or ?
 
Thinking about doing something so that the Bomarc could be lobbed higher from time to time.

Easiest way would be to hang it on a strap on booster of some sort. Thinking about something around BT-60 size with a 29mm low impulse at motor, perhaps an F22 AT reload. Could rig the Bomarc for an air start, also.

Would be fun to lob the Bomarc up to about 600-800 feet.
 
That might work I you balast it enough so you don't push The speed too fast.

That would be the plan. Could use some slightly heavier duty airframe tubing to gain some robustness instead of just using ballast. Would set it up to make it go around the same overall speed as an e15 single use in the Bomarc, or about 10% faster at most.
 
Had another great Bomarc flight yesterday at the DARS launch down at Prairie Hill, TX.

Wind was up a little at 12-15, but the Bomarc on the E12 easily shrugged it off. I did tilt the rail about 10 degrees into the wind and kept that boost angle into the wind. Worked nicely with those conditions.

Landed right back by the pad with almost no groundspeed, thanks to the headwind. Makes it easy on the ramjet pods.

Hope to get more flights in now that DARS appears to have a good launch site that will be available on a regular basis.
 
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