How about this for an electric ducted fan Me163. I think it is 1.350m wingspan and powered by a 12s Lipo set up. Not sure of the speed, but pretty quick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=GfCeEkJdM_E

There are a selection of fully moulded Me163 of various scales from Sunshine Wega

http://shop.wega-sunshine.com/index....enmodelle.html


Not sure but think this may in fact be a prop driven Me163

John

That one is fast all right ! The camera work is amazing. Really nailed it.

Kent

Pulling a canopy over a form is probably the only time I've built something that can be repeated, as in, I could make dozen of these in a half an hour. Kinda of nice.

It took a couple of attempts to refine the procedures and settings to get a good pull. Sadly I STARTED with the good material, .060" PET-G. Very thick. Makes a nice product but in this case, ruined. Final product was a very thin PET-G. (.020").

The first pull was apparently over heated at 350F and broke out in little air bubbles. It also had a crease in the plastic. The form needs to be raise up from the vacuum table on a base that extends all the way down to the table. Otherwise you'll get a blow out as I did with this one.

Kent

Pulling a Canopy (0 min 0 sec)

Nice work!
I've got to make a vac box,the canopy on mine was plastic bottle,form blocked against the neck slope,vac and heat gun.
Whats the frame,thin ply?
Stuart

The frame is 1/8" masonite.

I've found that the Pop bottle canopies are far more durable than any out of my Vac former.
Water bottles are my current favorite material, although 2 litre Pop bottles make for an indestructible canopy.. should you need it.
Ohhhh. Electronics shop fiberglass 'Perf Board' makes for a Excellent vacu former platten

Thanks Bare. I've heard of the pop bottle approach, but have never seen it done. This canopy may be a little too large for a pop bottle approach, but I'd like to see the process. Do you have a link to an example somewhere?

My ruined bubbly version from .060" PET-G is quite strong. No complaints there. I doubt that it would ever break in service.

Kent

Originally Posted by Knoll53

Thanks Bare. I've heard of the pop bottle approach, but have never seen it done. This canopy may be a little too large for a pop bottle approach, but I'd like to see the process. Do you have a link to an example somewhere?

My ruined bubbly version from .060" PET-G is quite strong. No complaints there. I doubt that it would ever break in service.

Kent

you looking for something like this - http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1313427

I like to form these with boiling water instead of a heat gun (because I don't HAVE a heat gun). Now that i have the CNC router, milling out a real nice form from scrap 2x4 cutoffs should make for some real nice forms. If all goes well with the POP, I would like to do a nice canopy for the new fuse. The green bottles make for a nice tinted look.

Mark

Capt. Eric 'Winkle' Brown talks about flying Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet (4 min 46 sec)

If you are flying a Me-163 you have to listen to that video!

Heiner

Good one Heiner! I'll be sure to not have even a cupful of fuel remaining on board when I attempt a landing. There has got to be a price for all of that acceleration.

Kent

Originally Posted by Quick61

If all goes well with the POP, I would like to do a nice canopy for the new fuse. The green bottles make for a nice tinted look.
Mark

Thanks for the link Mark. That's exactly what I was looking for. I would think that no matter how hard you try, there will always be some artifacts in the surface of the plastic when using this method.

I need to get the plastic to 285F before it sags enough to vacuum form. At 212F the pop bottle approach seems unlikely to work, but of course you and others have been successful.

I look forward to seeing your POP canopy.

Kent

Ahh someone has posted a pop bottle 'method'.. Good.
IF one can fit the wood or Plaster? form into a bottle then there's good chance of success.
PS: don't use a foam plug.. don't ask :-)
Also when vacu forming one can obtain perfect final surfaces by simply forming the "next' Canopy over the blemished First one.. which is left as a buffer on the plug... try it :-).

Fun to see other Komets in work.

I have been having a blast flying the little Hobby King Me-163 lately. A very nice turn of speed and a good flyer.

I have two of the old ACT Me-163 foamies that I never got around to building that would be awesome today with a modern very hot park jet outrunner and a 3S 1600 lipo, as opposed to the original Speed 400 and 8 round cells...

Getting close.

Without trying too hard, balanced just aft of last known flyable CG. Good to go.

Kent

What the total flying weight and wing loading? And cubic wing loading?

Thanks