X-15 Delta

[vahpr]

Some history - this model (now owned by Neil M) was built by Charlie Loveday several years ago. From what I recall looking at the construction photos he shared, the wings are carbon-spar reinforced and carbon sheeted marine foam. The tubing is carbon wrapped (inside & out) PML phenolic, nose cone is a standard 6" PML 4:1 ogive. It appears very solidly built. Charlie made fiberglass servo covers & hatch (the latter I relieved for a look-ahead camera). It has an altimeter/electronics bay mid-body, which I opted not to use due to potential rf interference. Motor mount can accommodate a 75/6000. It's flown once on a 54/1700 commercial motor with Bill Davidson on the radio, but didn't get into a glide as the chute prematurely deployed. Minor damage was sustained on landing.

I'm setting it up for flight in a couple weeks at URRF on a 54/2550 white research motor. I'm guessing it'll get about 2600' which I hope will allow some time to get a handle on the CG and handling while still being visible. I'll use a couple rate gyros to assist in a straight boost and to damp some expected roll twitchiness coming down. An RDAS will be along for data only, maybe a GPS too if I get time to install it. Given wing loading and flat airfoil I expect it to be moving pretty fast, probably not landable in a rough field without a $6,000,000-Man type tumble so the plan is to get it into a glide then try to get it somewhat vertical to lose energy and deploy the chute via a Transolve TripleFire.

It's been fun and challenging to work on, I really hope it works!!

 

[vahpr]

The last 2 below are without the vertical winglets

 

[vahpr]

Couple more, no winglets yet

 

[vahpr]

Oops, sorry bout the dupe..

1st one is the back side of the sled, the 2 gyros are forward, set at 60 deg to provide a little more roll vs pitch correction. Normally with an rc planne you'd get as many flights as needed to dial this in, but I think this will be close. The amount of correction is controlled in the radio and it's set fairly conservatively.

2nd is the Triplefire and Spektrum AR7000 rx. No switches here, just 2 JST connectors, 1 for the TF/rx, one for the RDAS.

3rd is the quick and dirty Contour cam mount.

 

[vahpr]

Nose cone interior and bulkplate, ready to go

 

[vahpr]

Couple shots of the hatch area.

 

[vahpr]

I added some Monocote stripes, hope that helps with orientation. The booster section chute, servo and ejection leads. Pilot will be located in the nose cone recess.

 

[bobkrech]

Looking forward to seeing it at URRF.

 

[TheAviator]

Shiny! What kind of all-up weight (before and after burnout) are you looking at? What sort of wing area does this beast have?

And, of course, the most important question of all, will there be video?

 

[dixontj93060]

Wow! Outstanding!

I have a 6" dia. X-15 (normal, not Delta-wing) in process. I hope it looks half as nice.

 

[vahpr]

Charlie did a nice job on the build but it's a bit heavy, ~35lbs at b/o (3lbs propellant), 1460 squares so appx 58oz/sq'. Actually on the lower end of many rc turbine models, but of course there's no throttle to get outta trouble....Humm........I wonder, strap-on turbines? ..............)).

It'll have 2 cams - one looking forward, one looking back, maybe I can get Utley to let me borrow any ground video he gets....and hopefully someone will man my video camera.

Dixontj93060, is yours rc?

 

[dixontj93060]

Dixontj93060, is yours rc?

Oh no, you're way ahead of me. I have a couple of R/C planes and tons of R/C cars and trucks, but rockets, no.

 

[TheAviator]

Charlie did a nice job on the build but it's a bit heavy, ~35lbs at b/o (3lbs propellant), 1460 squares so appx 58oz/sq'. Actually on the lower end of many rc turbine models, but of course there's no throttle to get outta trouble....Humm........I wonder, strap-on turbines? ..............)).

It'll have 2 cams - one looking forward, one looking back, maybe I can get Utley to let me borrow any ground video he gets....and hopefully someone will man my video camera.

Dixontj93060, is yours rc?

That doesn't sound too bad as far as weight goes, though 20-25 pounds would probably be closer to ideal. Just be careful, if you land too hard, it might crack in half like the real one!

 

[vahpr]

HAHAHAHA, just like the real one.

You're right tho, before I got involved with this one I was working on a similar sized sport-delta model for up-to M impulse and keeping it under 25 is the (very reachable I think) goal. Need to get some more FPV practice for that one though, it'll easily do 5k. But first things first

That doesn't sound too bad as far as weight goes, though 20-25 pounds would probably be closer to ideal. Just be careful, if you land too hard, it might crack in half like the real one!

 

[Daddyisabar]

BIG TIME super cool!

 

[shrox]

Big beefy bad.

 

[burkefj]

I wish you luck on the flight. Hope it works out. That seems extremely heavy for something with no thrust to keep the speed up, but I have not flown any heavy turbine type of planes to know how their glide profile looks like. It will be pretty small at 2600 feet to see orientation. Hope you get good video. Mine is on the other end of the scale, 60" long but only 13 ounces

Frank

 

[vahpr]

Hi Frank,

Thanks for the sentiment. I've seen your stuff, very nice work with the profiles. Although this thing has no thrust coming down it'll have gravity and I have a feeling that whatever happens, it'll be cool I'll admit though, I'm as nervous as I'd be had I built the thing myself! Good to have a little trepidation, keeps you on your toes and makes things a little more interesting.

Jerry

Hope you get good video. Mine is on the other end of the scale, 60" long but only 13 ounces

Frank

 

[Daddyisabar]

What Stonewall Jackson said about fightin' Yankees is also true about launchin' silly airplane rockets. Y'all gotta keep up the SCARE!

 

[MaxQ]

Great project Jerry....did I miss the post-flight debrief?
How did it go?

 

[brianc]

Always cool to see rockets thru the ages...

Here's a shot I just happened to take at the 2007 Florida WinterNats where Charlie had it on display...

 

[vahpr]

Nah, you didn't miss anything - I had a transmitter problem. It's been back to Horizon for repair and upgrade (DSMX) and the project will fly at Higgs either as a stand-alone or Red Glare. I'll share the pics, video here. Working on a new project (which is actually a re-build of an old project with some new tweaks) right now. What was once old is new again - or something like that

Great project Jerry....did I miss the post-flight debrief?
How did it go?

 

[degreaser]

What a gorgeous model!

What are the overall dimensions? What servos are you using?

Also - you mentioned FPV. Are you flying this FPV? If so, what tx/rx/camera/goggles?

 

[46u]

I would love to see a video of it in action.

 

[burkefj]

Here's some motivation while you wait for your xmitter to get fixed, this was one of my flights last weekend, thanks to Gary Goncher for taking the photos.

Frank