Klima ME-163

[tab28682]

I have thought about a tractor rocket that would allow the 163 to be carried as a parasite. Tricky, as you would have to bifurcate the aft end so that you could attach it to the wings of the 163, to keep the center of the weight and drag of the 163 as close to the booster as possible. Might be iffy to get a reliable release from the two hang points, one on each wing.

I might be over thinking launching this whole thing, though. The 163 weighs about 10.5oz ready to go. The D2.3 has a momentary peak thrust spike of about 10n (35oz) before it goes to about 2n (7oz) for the rest of the burn. It might do fine on a (allowed by the safety code) 45 degree ramp. Go level for a moment off the ramp to build up a little more speed and then pull into a climb.

Have the ramp up off the ground so that the model starts about waist high on the ramp and is about 5 feet high as it leaves the ramp.

I think I will give this a shot before going to more complicated methods.

 

[burkefj]

Hoping it works, 10 oz is pretty heavy for that motor, seems like an E-6 would be a better modification if you could get CG and elevon effectiveness worked out, that's normally what I like to set for my liftoff weight on the E-6 around 10 oz, in fact if you use an E-6, you gain about another 3/4 ounce, plus additional nose weight, you'll probably be closer to 12 rtf, still it's a small model....I've watched a few videos and it lands at high speed and glides aren't terribly long even on the klima motors...

Frank

I have thought about a tractor rocket that would allow the 163 to be carried as a parasite. Tricky, as you would have to bifurcate the aft end so that you could attach it to the wings of the 163, to keep the center of the weight and drag of the 163 as close to the booster as possible. Might be iffy to get a reliable release from the two hang points, one on each wing.

I might be over thinking launching this whole thing, though. The 163 weighs about 10.5oz ready to go. The D2.3 has a momentary peak thrust spike of about 10n (35oz) before it goes to about 2n (7oz) for the rest of the burn. It might do fine on a (allowed by the safety code) 45 degree ramp. Go level for a moment off the ramp to build up a little more speed and then pull into a climb.

Have the ramp up off the ground so that the model starts about waist high on the ramp and is about 5 feet high as it leaves the ramp.

I think I will give this a shot before going to more complicated methods.

 

[tab28682]

Hoping it works, 10 oz is pretty heavy for that motor

Frank

True, but going off at 45 degrees will allow faster acceleration as opposed to a vertical boost. The wings start helping right away. I agree it would be extremely iffy if a vertical launch is used.

I have flown the Klima 163 airframe as a pure electric, when it was offered by Hacker. It is a very nice flying model in the glide, even carrying the weight of the outrunner, ESC and 3S lipo.

Will give it try soon and report back.

 

[Gregory A Stewart]

Got one of these last fall, slowly fitting it in alongside other projects.

I am a long-time RC & RC rocket glider flier, seeing the thrust line angled with the motor nozzle about 3-4 degrees up from the model centerline rang alarm bells for me! A vertical launch with that setup is a loop into the ground waiting to happen.

That seems about right for the intended horizontal launch with a long-burn low-thrust motor, it would provide some inherent pitch-up that would help keep it from going into the ground, especially right after leaving the launch stand. And give a good upward trajectory that would be fairly easy to control for a safe flight path.

But very hard to pre-compensate with down-elevon with a higher-thrust near vertical launch & even harder to fly out of the loop into the ground as it pitches up over your head & out of sight behind you!

Best for an NAR compliance launch with a stock one on a D13 reload would be to angle the launcher nose-down to the 30 degree max from vertical, that would give you a fighting chance.

I just used the included aluminum motor tube to re-cut the top side of the motor-tube hole to line up with the centerline along with making the hole all the way into the body cavity to move the motor as far forward as I can to help the CG.

I'll glue in a light balsa or EPP foam shim under the bottom of the motor-tube hold to help maintain alignment when I glue it in. And a balsa or EPP circle to cap the front of the hole to keep glue out of the body cavity.

I'll put in the shim & cap & glue the fuselage sides together 1st. Then to glue in the motor-tube I'll use polyurethane glue for & cause it to foam to fill the gaps.

Before I glue it in I'll mount the motor-tube on a straight dowel to allow me to hold it in alignment as the glue hardens. Of course I'll wrap the dowel with waxed-paper & seal the motor-tube to dowel joint with tape beforehand so it won't get glued into the motor-tube.

Then lightly dampen the inside of the motor-tube cavity, apply polyurethane glue on the motor-tube & inside of the cavity, insert the dowel-mounted motor-tube, & hold it both in-place & alignment as the glue hardens.

Pray for me!

Will let y'all know how it goes!

Greg in Missi

 

[Gregory A Stewart]

LOL, was wondering how long a post was allowed, almost got it all in except for the end of my signature!

Greg in Mississippi

 

[burkefj]

LOL, was wondering how long a post was allowed, almost got it all in except for the end of my signature!

Greg in Mississippi

For RC rocket gliders you can go down to 45° as well on launch

 

[Richard N]

The Klima Me-163 flies very well as designed: An airplane powered by a rocket instead of an airplane trying to be made into a rocket.

 

[burkefj]

The Klima Me-163 flies very well as designed: An airplane powered by a rocket instead of an airplane trying to be made into a rocket.

Agreed if you could get the clima motors here with the right thrust profile unfortunately you can't the d 2.3's or two wimpy and the d13 is pretty hard especially with the thrust angle they're using

 

[Richard N]

Sierra Fox in Italy has Klimas and may ship them to the US.

I set up an account and put them in the cart and they did not get kicked out up to payment. I have tried to order Klimas from other vendors before and have gotten a message that they cannot be shipped to the US. Shipping is very expensive at 49 Euros for 1 or more packs.

https://www.sierrafoxhobbies.com/en/4-model-rocket-motors?q=Brand-Klima

 

[Daddyisabar]

If I see blue bellied airplane rockets lauched at 45 degrees or less with Balkankruz and Hackenkruz painted on them, my inner one quarter Englishman has much fear. The fuse adds an additional layer of sheer terror. One with a buzzing pulse jet will put me over the top and when that motor cuts out...it's to the Bunker in a hurry! YIKES!

Luckily I am three quarters German so that wins out and I think it is cool.

 

[burkefj]

Sierra Fox in Italy has Klimas and may ship them to the US.

I set up an account and put them in the cart and they did not get kicked out up to payment. I have tried to order Klimas from other vendors before and have gotten a message that they cannot be shipped to the US. Shipping is very expensive at 49 Euros for 1 or more packs.

https://www.sierrafoxhobbies.com/en/4-model-rocket-motors?q=Brand-Klima

Yeah that's not a legal way to import the motors they may send them to you and you may get lucky but I wouldn't want to do it.