Black Horse spaceplane RC RG for 18mm AT D2.3 power

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tab28682

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Have had a 12 pack of D2.3 reloads for a while and wanted to do something a little different and fun for this interesting 18mm reload.

Have always liked the Black Horse spaceplane concept from a few years ago and decided to size a model for the 18mm D2.3. This model is very much semi scale and not a detailed model of the concept. (In the RC world, we call this sport scale or fun scale)

The 3-view drawing attached is easy to find on the internet, as are several articles about Black Horse, which has more or less morphed into the Pioneer Rocketplane.

Started it a couple of weeks back and decided last week to finish up for the NARAM sport launch.

Picked a length of 20.5" and a span of about 19.5". After doing a lot of profile models lately, I wanted to do a full fuselage. Flat sides and rectangular formers were sketched up. After cutting out the cranked delta wing from 6mm Depron, the fuse plan was laid out on the wing center section and built up on top of the wing with 3mm Depron fuse sides and 6mm formers. Wing spar is 1x6mm flat carbon strip.

Laminated 2 layers of 1mm Depron around a BT60 tube so that it would take a curve. Hit it lightly with a heat gun to set the Depron and speed the glue cure.

Just about complete. Still need to add the ballast, attach the curved upper fuse panels, do some foam block work for the nose and canopy area

Current weight is 3.4 oz, with the 18mm case and radio gear, but without the nose weight, nose blocks, pushrods and decals. Goal weight is 6.5oz or so.

Even though 6mm Depron is no longer available, I think this model could be built with the other softer foam sheet options out there, adding a touch of reinforcement here and there.

More as it develops!

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Have you burned a d2.3 yet in a test mule? I can't quite get my head around the build instructions, interested if you ran into any trouble.
 
Have you burned a d2.3 yet in a test mule? I can't quite get my head around the build instructions, interested if you ran into any trouble.

Have not burned one yet. The Black Horse might get the first one. I also have that Mini Popwing conversion ready to go and it might get the very first one.

What weirded you out about the motor build instructions?
 
Have not burned one yet. The Black Horse might get the first one. I also have that Mini Popwing conversion ready to go and it might get the very first one.

What weirded you out about the motor build instructions?

Actually on review it makes perfect sense. Plug the closure; lube rings, threads, & solid end of propellant; stuff propellant in liner ungreased/slotted first; meet it there with the spacer.

For whatever reason I couldn't put it together in my head before, thanks for jogging my thinker :)
 
I've flown about 12 of these reloads, they go together really easily, my scratch built models were about 5 to 5.5 oz rtf and performance was ok, but I still prefer the E-6 and slightly larger models for overall altitude, flight time and weight, this wing Tom is using has more area than mine had so it may give a bit better glide time, even if it does wind up heavier.
 
I've flown about 12 of these reloads, they go together really easily, my scratch built models were about 5 to 5.5 oz rtf and performance was ok, but I still prefer the E-6 and slightly larger models for overall altitude, flight time and weight, this wing Tom is using has more area than mine had so it may give a bit better glide time, even if it does wind up heavier.

I might end up a little lighter. Weigh is currently a guesstimate. In the pictures with all radio gear and the motor case, missing the reload, the nose ballast and a few grams of pushrods and decals, the weight is 3.5 oz. Wing loading is looking pretty decent.
 
The little Black Horse is finished except for balancing for boost. Just finished tests glides in the yard to confirm CG.

Current gliding weight with the 18mm case, but with no reload or additional nose weight to offset the reload, weight is 4 oz. Looks like final launch weight will be more like 5.2-5.3 oz.

One trick to match the color of the Depron when you need to add some foam blocks to a model to make a shape is to use white extruded polystyrene foam. I had some scrap Gatorboard that was 1" thick that has extruded PS foam as a core. I removed the hard shell outer coating to get some 1" thick block material to create the nose and cockpit area. Very hard ard to find this exact kind of foam in white as it comes in pink or blue these days.

Was short on time to decorate it this week, but added a few things to break up the whiteness. Will probably add some red trim to the bottom to aid in orientation.

Launch report and photos after NARAM.

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Thanks. It certainly glided nicely across the yard.

By the way, for radio gear I used 2x HTX500 5gr servos (actually more like 6 plus a little), a Lemon DSM2 RX and a one cell 400 mah lipo, plus my Spektrum DX9 TX.
 
Besides doing the first flight on the Bomarc today, I also maidened the little Black Horse spaceplane. Could not be happier! Pics to follow soon. Still at the range packing up.

Everything went perfectly. Excellent stable boost to a higher than I expected altitude. Easy transition and excellent hang time. As easy to fly as any elevon controlled model that I have ever seen. I had time to do 4 large slow circles of the launch area and land very near the takeoff point.

The RCO thought it was in a thermal....:)

This one is a keeper!
 
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Finally had a moment to get with my photographer and flying buddy Richard Ng and get copies of the NARAM pics.

Here is the first and so far only flight of the little Black Horse shuttle. A great flyer. Really looking forward to flying it again!

These pics cover the boost to a little past the burnout and into the glide.

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The small Black Horse did so well that I am scaling it up by a factor of 1.41 for E6 RC power. Wingspan and length will go to about 28". That will give a wing area of about double the small one and a wing loading about the same as the small one.

Will still use 6mm Depron for the flying surfaces and a combination of 6, 3 and laminated 1mm for the fuselage.

Will add some additional carbon to the wings and to the vertical tails to prevent flutter issues, since the area has doubled and the material thickness remains the same.

Ought to be an excellent flyer on the 24mm E6RC.
 
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