Small X-15 R/C rocket glider kit?

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burkefj

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I'm considering doing a short run of these 2.6" diameter R/C controlled X-15 rocket glider models in 1/21 scale. 29" length, 14" wingspan, 7.5 oz rtf for 18mm reloadable D-13 or D-24 motors. For advanced fliers as boost and glide time are faster than my other kits. I have three commits, looking for a couple more that are definitely interested before I commit to buying the special parts I need. Please pm me with your email if you are really interested and can build/fly the model. Instructions are done and prototype has flown, waiting for decals to finish off the model. This is under 250 grams so does not need an FAA drone registration number to fly. Price will be in the $75 range or less including priority shipping in the US, decals are separately available from stickershock for $15.50 and are very high quality. It boosts very fast but nice and straight. Instructions are here... https://dynasoarrocketry.com/?page_id=7001

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Very cool. Love seeing your projects and products. I'm not willing to dive into the RC end of the pool myself, but I always perk up when one flies at a launch.
 
I added the chine covers and profiled them, I didn't get any video from the flights yesterday because it boosts so fast and it's pretty small with the LCD viewfinder it'll be really hard to capture. close enough to really see it well but we'll try.IMG_20201116_083515436.jpg
 
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As an aside: burkefj, do you have a kit that would make for a decent flight trainer? I flew R/C back when analog was still king of the airwaves and never advanced enough to solo... :( --->>> Sig Kadet MKII w/Webra T4-40 and a Circus Hobbies 8ch rig. I still have the radio set, but I'm sure it is no longer legal to use.
 
It's really not feasible to learn how to fly RC with a rocket glider, the boost speeds on my kits aren't that fast but it's still much faster than a beginner can handle, and you can't turn the motor off so if you make a mistake it just destroys the model. And the glide times aren't terribly long so you don't have a large amount of time to learn during the glide phase either. There's no good shortcut you just need to practice on a simulator and then get a trainer and get comfortable with that so you have your left and right under control and you don't get confused and then get something that flies a little bit faster with ailerons and once you're at that level you can fly any of my kits. If you have a club nearby that has an instructor you can learn with an instructor and skip the flight simulator portion but I will say that people that I've instructed would usually come back with more skills when they were practicing with a simulator than if they just flew the actual airplane when I was teaching them.

As an aside: burkefj, do you have a kit that would make for a decent flight trainer? I flew R/C back when analog was still king of the airwaves and never advanced enough to solo... :( --->>> Sig Kadet MKII w/Webra T4-40 and a Circus Hobbies 8ch rig. I still have the radio set, but I'm sure it is no longer legal to use.
 
I continue to be amazed that you can get these things with such relatively little surface area, and that so far back from the geometric center of the rocket’s length, to fly. But anyone who can glide a Klingon Battle Cruiser Just has the gift.
 
Thank you, that means a lot, really.

Frank

I continue to be amazed that you can get these things with such relatively little surface area, and that so far back from the geometric center of the rocket’s length, to fly. But anyone who can glide a Klingon Battle Cruiser Just has the gift.
 
Frank I now have and flown two of your kits the F-105 and the F-102 and have purchased the Vulcan and started building that also. I hope we can get three more guys interested so you will be able to produce the kits of the 2.6 x15. Thank you for putting the fun back of my two favorite hobbies Rockets & RC😃👍
 
Updated the thread above, I'm considering doing a short run of these 2.6" diameter R/C controlled X-15 rocket glider models in 1/21 scale. 29" length, 14" wingspan, 7.5 oz rtf for 18mm reloadable D-13 or D-24 motors. For advanced fliers as boost and glide time are faster than my other kits. I have three commits, looking for a couple more that are definitely interested before I commit to buying the special parts I need. Please pm me with your email if you are really interested and can build/fly the model. Instructions are done and prototype has flown, waiting for decals to finish off the model. This is under 250 grams so does not need an FAA drone registration number to fly. Price will be in the $75 range or less including priority shipping in the US, decals are separately available from stickershock for $15.50 and are very high quality. Instructions are here... https://dynasoarrocketry.com/?page_id=7001
 
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Frank I can’t wait to get this one that is so sweet!!!! That is AWESOME!!!! You weren’t kidding that thing is fast in all aspects of flight. I love it!!
 
Right, it was a pop and you can see a black puff, but there was nothing wrong, The three flights over the weekend and these four flights it only happened once on the same reload as the rest, I asked Karl at Aerotech and he said maybe a small void right at the end of the grain, these all used the solid plugged forward closure so no ejection charge and I greased the liner and forward end of the delay pretty well, in any case, didn't seem to be anything he was worried about. I was worried if it spit it out for some reason to try to watch the casing fall and see where it landed, but again that didn't happen and it wasn't nose heavy as you said. It's funny, the delay tracking smoke seems to get sucked back into the open rear of the model, when I pull the nose cone off to disconnect the flight battery there was smoke wisping about.

What was the “chuff” just before apogee on flight 2?

I figured it wasn’t the case, as I would think it would be hard to keep the nose up if it lost all that tail weight,
What was the “chuff” just before apogee on flight 2?

I figured it wasn’t the case, as I would think it would be hard to keep the nose up if it lost all that tail weight,
 
Do you use a paint pen for the white panel lines? If so what kind?

I feel like this may have been asked before, but I can't recall the details.
 
Hey guys finally got a chance to fly my x-15 and it was AWSOME !! It is very fast going up an the glide is fast also but very smooth. Boost was very straight forward I had no trim it came off the rail straight as an arrow. Glide added 4 clicks of up trim. The first flight I started the flare to soon landed flat but very hard touch down which took off the lower stab fin so I glued it back on second flight I carried more speed and had a very soft landing. Very pleased with this RG Frank nailed it on this one as he always does 👍😃
 
The kits I’m flying are from Dyanasoar Rocketry designed by Frank B. I have built 8 of his RG’s and they all fly Great!! You check out his website easy to navigate. 😃
Likewise, I also have a small fleet of DynaSoar rocket gliders. I have found that the D-switch on my Spectrum DX6e for turning on a little bit up-flap at apogee has greatly improved my flying skills. I will think twice about going to some other kind of rocket glider or boost glider.
 
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