Heinkel HE 162 scratch build EDF

by tomh | January 11, 2019 | (7) Posted in Projects

Hello, I started flying RC again after a long absence, about 20 years. 

Soon after buying and flying a Dynam T-28 last year I discovered Flitetest. After building the Bushwacker, I was hooked! I started experimenting with Bushwacker # 2, adding dihedral, extra wing area, lights, etc! It was so much fun and quite successful in the air that I had to try building a Twin, even though I had never built let alone flown a twin! And that is why I love the Flite Test way, so quick to just play around with designing vs. trying to build it in balsa. But, after only limited success with a 55" Shorts Skyvan, I spent the rest of spring and summer flying a lot of different foam planes.


Jets were soon my favorite, and before long I was into 6  cell 80 MM EDF jets. When winter began, I knew it was time to scratch build an EDF jet. Having always been enamored with the old WW2 jets, my first jet was a 4 cell 70mm vampire. Ultimately That fan unit and ESC went into an FT Viggen,  and what a great plane! It was retired after a crash when the battery came loose from the velcro. So keeping with the old jet theme, I decided to build a HE 162 recycling the fan and ESC again.

9 gram servo for elevator and bamboo skewers to strengthen the stabilizer.

My geometry skills are not the best, so I figured the HE 162 was a fairly simple build if just went with "boxy" vs trying to make it scale. I regret that I did not make any plans or take build pictures to share. Honestly, I don't know how to make plans or use CAD, Correl Draw, etc. I simply find a good 3 view plan and just measure in CM on my computer screen, make a sketch in a notebook and convert everything to inches. Then just cut foam and make it up as I go. I recycled the vampire canopy, as it was similar to the 162. 

photo of intake duct- duct is posterboard with packing tape wrapped for extra stiffness. Bamboo skwewers to cross brace duct intake to prevent collapse from negative air pressure. 


photo of inside- elevated battery tray, xt60 connector glued in for easy battery connection, lots of room for 3ooo 4s battery.


Initially, I assumed that with a 32" wingspan, 38" length and AUW of 29 oz with a 4s 2800 MAH battery, it might be hard to hand launch fast enough. So, I built a simple take-off dolly from the landing gear I used on the Skyvan build. This worked pretty well, but after one flight I realized it could be hand launched. Much to my surprise, this ended up being a very stable and easy to fly plane! 


It is just aileron and elevator only. It rolls and loops nicely, and landing is pretty much a non-event. The thrust tube (which is just poster board with a cross brace to keep it from collapsing) was angled up a bit more than I wanted, so it does have a tendency to climb a bit at full power. Thrust to weight is better than 1:1- it will hang on the tail, then mush forward. Stall recovery is nice, no real bad habits. Hopefully, in the future, I may try to scale this design up to 80 mm 6S, and polish up the details a bit more. 

Thanks for reading!

COMMENTS

FliteTest on January 15, 2019
Awesome build! We're looking forward to seeing more of your magnificent flying machines come to life in the future. Keep up the great work!
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tomh on January 14, 2019
Ok, thanks for input- fair point. Yes, I will take some more pics tonight, and if I add some text under each one maybe you can paste that in as well? Sadly I didn't take build pics, as I only half expected this thing to actually fly! Is this James Wholmsley? I love your FPV articles, in particular the creative things you do to add detail to the planes you make.
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tomh on January 15, 2019
Thank you James! Nice work with the editing, appreciate it. I'm working on a 56" span Citabria now, and it is a challenge going that big with DTFB, but I hope to have in done in a few weeks. The motor mount box has passed it's power up test, and I have mock ups of the wing and fuselage section completed and am working out the details of locking in the wing lead edge with dowels and bolts at the trailing edge. Taking pics as I go! Look forward to posting again, take care. Tom
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capt C.R. Ashe on January 15, 2019
Nice job! Have. Often thought of doing a 162. Glad it worked for ya, any plans in the works?
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tomh on January 15, 2019
Thanks capt CR! Yes, I love the 162, and because no one in the US sells one (hobby king did at one point, as did starmax) I just had to make one. Not sure about doing plans, but I can tell you it's a 32" wing, 38 " long fuselage, horizontal stab is 16x4.5" vertical stabs are 7x4.25" . Oh, and the wing is 9.5" at the root, and 4" at the point it starts rounding out. Just use the p-51 wing as as a guide so far as thickness, the crease measurent, under camber, spar size, etc. It's pretty similar. The duct is about 14" long, and the fan is in the middle (i just used 2tube sections 7" long and glued with hot glue right to the fan unit. I made one fuselage side, then used it as a template for the second side. no complicated folding and digging out a foam channel for me! use a couple of foam formers to stiffen it up a bit. That's pretty much it, just find a nice 3 view print and scale it up, and go for it!
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Heinkel HE 162 scratch build EDF