gpoehlein wrote:
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I can't imagine that one couldn't scale this thing up for an awsome RCBG!
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Mark Bundick replied:
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Given that the principal designer is Bob "Parky" Parks, formerly of the MIT Rockety Society, a former NAR National Team Champion, US International Rocketry Team member, ace RCRG pilot and all around "hail thee, well met, goodly fellow", who's surprised? (grin)
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Bob Parks built and flew an R/C RG model (It was something like 3-4 years ago, maybe longer). It was an early proof of concept model, around 6 feet wingspan or so, carried atop a R/C model airplane to a few hundred feet, then released. After release, a special 32mm Reloadable engine was ignited to provide thrust for a few seconds of horizontal flight (I dont recall if it burned for over 10 seconds or less than 10, but it was not a G12). Got to see a nice printed photo of the model during powered flight (whatever the propellant was, it produced some smoke, and I think some notable flame, unlike Blue Thunder G12 reloads). Unfortunately no public photos of that model exist.
Nerull wrote:
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One quirk of flying on mars is the increased speed needed to sustain lift, due to the thin atmosphere.
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IIRC, Bob said it would fly at over 300 mph just to maintain altitude. And after the liquid propellants were used up, it would glide to a crash-landing at around 300 mph (since the plane's stall speed in the Martian atmosphere is around 300 mph).
Its supposed to be able to fly for around an hour. The engine will have a bit more thrust than needed for horizontal flight, so it will be cycled on and off repeatedly. Even if it had the perfect thrust level at first, as the plane got lighter due to fuel burnoff then theyd need to cycle the engine on/off anyway for efficiency. That was seen as more practical for efficiency and reliability (and also cost) than trying to throttle the engine.
- George Gassaway