You know you want one. F117. Yes its a swappable.

by jupakos79 | May 15, 2013 | (9) Posted in Projects

I decided I wanted to try something different and challenging, and it was a challenge. I decided I would build a fighter jet and make it a swappable plane. My hat goes of to all the guys at flight test, its not an easy thing to create. Here is what I have been working on for the last month or so and its not quite ready yet but I wanted to see what you all thought so far.

This is one half of the wing section.

Top view of the 2 wing section joined together.

Top view of the wing section. I used the same medthods to build this plane that were taught in the swappable series plane builds. Both halves hot glued together and joined with extreme packing tape.

Added the nose section. The over all length of this section is 36 inches by 28 inches so i needed to section the wing since the dollar tree foam board isnt big enough for the entire thing.

I decided to start coating the plane as I built it to make it easier to coat. There are a lot of weird angles and I wanted to try to make it a little simpler to do. i used color packing tape that I purchsed online.

Half of the fuselage.

Views of the fuselage and the tail end of the fueslage (had to add on since the foam board was to short). You can see the opening for the propellar(6x4), the servos will be laid of their sides, and the setback for the power pod to sit against.

Coating added to the fuselage. Left a strip bare so when I glue of the some of the other parts it will be foam on foam and not pull away the coating.

The next 3 images are of the fuselage with the power pod fitted. Decided to move the components of the pod to the outside with the reciever on the top stuck to where the battery usually gets strapped and the speed controller on the side near where one of the vents will be to keep the esc cool.

 

The fuselage and the the wing section joined together. The fuselage/cockpit are being added on. Have the nose of the plane and one side of the outer wall of the intake.

More coating being added. Had to angle some of the cuts to get the pieces to fit tight together.

More coating added. Also the top hatch is installed and the over look of the plane is coming together.

Back view of the plane with the hatch down and power pod in place. Had to and an extended piece to the top of the hatch to accomidate for the power pod. Was able to use the velcro that normally holds the battery to the power pod and added velcro to the unside of the hatch to help hold it shut along with magnets and will tape it during flight as well, JB pointed out how those dont like to stay on and this one folds open so who knows how that will react in flight if it does open.

Above are a few views of the rear of the plane with the hatch open and most of the stuff installed, well mostly installed. The servos and the tubes for the control rod will be strapped down using zip ties incase I have the need to replace any of those parts. The underside will be renforced with popsicle sticks to keep the zip ties from pulling trough the foam board.

 

The next few pic are of the nearly completed plane. Have a few odds and ends to finish up. Need to finish with securing the power pod, add popsicle sticks to the underside, add the control rods, and fasten everything down. I wont finish coating the underside of the plane until I have maidened it just in case I need to add a carbon rod if I get any flexing in the wings. The plane is tail heavy right now, I did add some skewers to the front for a little weight and cosmetics as antenae. I have a 3 1500 mah in it now and the weight is still to the rear, so I plan on buying a bigger battery to help the offset and will give me more power and flight time. To break up some of the black i added some color to the underside and tail of the plane. It adds as a seperate function as well for orientation and really pops against the black. I plan on addin som decals also to give it a more detailed look. I am open to any suggestions and since its not finished yet iI might be able to use some. So thanks for viewing and let me know what you think.

 

COMMENTS

flyingwingsforever on May 23, 2013
Awesome! Would love to see a video of it in action :)
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potluriakhil on May 29, 2013
its awesome man keep it up
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KoekieMonster on May 23, 2013
looks awesome, would like to see a flight vid. just think those points at the front might be a bit dangerous xD
And is it me or is your prop the wrong way around on these pictures?
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rcspaceflight on May 23, 2013
Maybe he is going to fly it backwards. The points would be less dangerous that way.

Seriously though, I'm sure he reused a powerpod and took the photos before flipping the prop around. At least that is the excuse I would use.
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jupakos79 on May 23, 2013
The power pod is from a bloody wonder that i built. Haven't switched anything around yet. Still have a lot of loose ends to get it complete but moving is getting in the way. Still need to attach popsicle stick on the underside for the zipties on the servos, make push rods, finish the attachment points for the power pod and balance the cg after all thats done since its tail heavy. Once all thats done I plan on doing a video of a hopefully succesful maiden, i say hopefully because this is the most difficult plane i have done so far and have no idea how well it will fly.
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oneiwily on May 23, 2013
Looks real nice , I really wander how it handle in the air , if it handle badly you can always use flight stabilization :-)

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RoyBro on May 23, 2013
Yeah, I'd remove the skewers unless you're doing a balloon pop challenge.
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notsane on May 23, 2013
Really? This things coming at you at 100mph and those itty, bitty toothpicks are what you're worried about? :-)
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jupakos79 on May 23, 2013
Added them for scale look and to add some weight to the front. Scewers cant be much worse than a prop coming at you right? I guess i'll find out, I might add some foam over them and blunt the ends, still need more weight up front so it cant hurt, to bad lol.

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jupakos79 on May 23, 2013
The scewers seemed like a better idea before I put them on. I really dont plan on flying into people to often though.

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FlyingSloth on May 23, 2013
Love to see plans for this when you finally get it finished and maidened :) Looks great!
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slav on May 24, 2013
yes plans please awesome job thumbs up!
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jupakos79 on May 24, 2013
Once I get this one maidened i will more than likely make some changes to simplify the build and address the tail heavy issue so i don't have to counter weight it so much, the solution I have for it at this point is a bigger battery. But even with that, the way the power pod is set, there is a lot of room to move the battery around for cg. i will have to see what i can come up with for a remedy on that. Maybe a different hatch design also. I should just post the raw plans I have now and see what you all can come up with. All will have to wait though, have a move in my future, yay fun.


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CStence on May 26, 2013
Very cool! I hope you'll have printable plans available after you've flown and tweaked it. This is just too cool to keep to yourself :D
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rcspaceflight on May 26, 2013
I think the easiest way for you to fix the tail heavy problem would be to move the power pod forward all the way, putting the motor at about the middle of the plane. You would need either cheater holes on the sides and/or to not have the hatch, but it would save a lot on weight. The heavier it is, the faster it'll have to go to fly. But moving the motor to the middle might completely ruin the look and it is a great looking plane. It's just a thought.
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jupakos79 on May 26, 2013
Not sure how a mid mounted motor affect it. Could try it if this isnt working to well. I am thinking of doing a hatch on the bottom of the plane instead of the top. Also from looking at other f117's online I have seen some with smaller tail sections, that would help a little as well. I will have to experiment on a few things to get it just right. I think the best thing about flitetest is all the knowledge being shared on this site, so if there is something i havent thought of someone else may have the answer. Good sugestions though, I cant wait to maiden it, and if it fails there will be a v2 of this, I will get it to work at some point.

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xjjosh on May 29, 2013
super cool! Flight video please!

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RCairforce on May 31, 2013
Awesome! Can't wait to see it fly!
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CStence on September 17, 2013
Any updates?
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You know you want one. F117. Yes its a swappable.