Dynasoar Mega Orbital Transporter

[sr205347d]

I finally got a round tuit, and finished it.



As I have done with my four prior kits from Frank, I covered the wings and tail with packing tape for stiffness and color. Black on the bottom and clear on the top for this one. I also substituted a milkshake straw launch lug for the rail buttons.

It has an Admiral gyro RX and a Spektrum 300 mAh 2S LiFe RX battery. I think that when using a gyro, it is best to give it enough voltage for good servo response. (2S LiPo would be too much voltage for most servos unless you are using a BEC.) The servos are Hitec HS-65HB, which have good speed and torque. Hot glue is good for securing the servos to the packing tape on the wings. In the event you need to remove a servo, the hot glue will release in just a few seconds with a few drops of denatured alcohol. I didn't bother cutting holes in the body tube to recess the servos. I am using the Admiral RX only because that is what I had in my spare parts drawer. If I was buying new, I would get a Spektrum AR630 for the SAFE mode which can keep it upright when I can't see the attitude clearly, like when high overhead.

The RX and battery are securely attached to a slide-out tray made from foamboard with velcro and zip ties. A gyro RX needs to be immovable in its mounting. The 19" long tray rests directly on the motor mount.



The CG came out right on, so no balance weight was necessary. It weighs 8.9 oz ready to fly except for the motor.

 

[burkefj]

Looks great, looking forward to the flight report! I always love it when the model comes out just as designed with CG right on without any extra nose weight. I've got a version here that I built with a slightly shorter single tube without coupler that got the weight down to 8.56 oz rtf, I'm running a 6601 rx in the nose so I can see what altitudes I'm getting.

 

[Rob Campbell]

Love the tail number!

 

[burkefj]

Love the tail number!

Yes I specified that with sticker shock when I designed these as a little homage for this kit

 

[burkefj]

Here is a photo George Barnes sent me of his son holding his christmas present a Mega Orbital Transporter ready to go! George's son flies these no problem at age 8.

 

[DeltaVee]

VERY nice!

 

[burkefj]

 

[sr205347d]

I would like to entertain the guys at the HPR launches with mine, but the "runway" would be a plowed field. Need to practice my full stall landings. But that won't be soon, with our Ohio winter weather.

Do you have any techniques for dropping it in at minimum speed? A good breeze would help, of course.

 

[burkefj]

I would like to entertain the guys at the HPR launches with mine, but the "runway" would be a plowed field. Need to practice my full stall landings. But that won't be soon, with our Ohio winter weather.

Do you have any techniques for dropping it in at minimum speed? A good breeze would help, of course.

Headwind is always good but basically just keep your air speed up and do a hard flare right at the end and it'll kind of Pop down these landed pretty slow speed anyway so even landing on a plowed field shouldn't be a big problem

 

[sr205347d]

Headwind is always good but basically just keep your air speed up and do a hard flare right at the end and it'll kind of Pop down these landed pretty slow speed anyway so even landing on a plowed field shouldn't be a big problem

What would the OT do if I tried to fly final as slow as possible? What is its behavior with full aft stick? Does it wing rock, roll off, or just mush in straight? If there is any low speed controllability issue, then your high flare and drop in would be the way to go.

My original 2.6" Aurora Clipper would start rocking its wings. I haven't tried slow flight with the Star Clipper, AC Mini, or X-15.

 

[burkefj]

What would the OT do if I tried to fly final as slow as possible? What is its behavior with full aft stick? Does it wing rock, roll off, or just mush in straight? If there is any low speed controllability issue, then your high flare and drop in would be the way to go.

My original 2.6" Aurora Clipper would start rocking its wings. I haven't tried slow flight with the Star Clipper, AC Mini, or X-15.

I don't know I've never pushed anything to the point where the wings Rock I mean I land my stuff pretty slow and I've never had to do anything bad but I don't do anything really stupid either the only one that really rocks the wings noticeably SR-71 you get a little bit too nose up and a little slow it starts to Rock back and forth and stops as soon as you push the nose forward I would not get the x-15 slow

 

[aerostadt]

I flew the DynaSoar 2.6" dia. Orbital Transport twice (E6 motor) last Saturday. I launched from the LPR pads. They look far away in the photo's, but they are a lot closer than the HPR pads. I got the OT to fly straight up with good altitude on both flights. Turning the D-switch flap control from "0" (boost) to "1" glide worked well. Again, after turning the D-switch on "1" , I started using the stick for correction and then I was stuck using the stick. I wondering if I should use trim first. I think the wind may have been deceptive. It seemed pretty calm on the ground where we were, but one time I saw a 5-foot diameter "dust devil" spinning about 60 feet away from us between the flight line and the first row of cars. A short time later I launched a small J & H Aerospace Wind Lance boost glider on an A-motor and it caught a thermal and I never saw it again.

 

[burkefj]

Again, you can't fly these on trims, too little and too slow to react.

 

[aerostadt]

Again, you can't fly these on trims, too little and too slow to react.

OK. I was hoping that maybe I was missing something basic. Perhaps, I am a little too heavy on the stick. Or maybe I could blame things on the winds at our club launching site. I think I had more fun with Orbital Transport on an E6 this past weekend than the Viper. For me the altitudes seemed to be higher and the glides were longer. Longer glide times have got to better for more practice time. I placed the igniter in the E6 at the pad on the first flight in the motor that was already basically assembled. The 24 mm wrench can in very handy and the warm weather was easy on my fingers.