Originally Posted by Aerogance

Increased the wingspan to 75 feet, here is the almost completed fuselage

What The!!!???
Is that one of the X prize planes?

Originally Posted by Ralph Walton

What The!!!???
Is that one of the X prize planes?

Nice guess Ralph. That is the tail assembly from the VMS Eve.

I printed a full scale plan to see exactly what I was getting in to. Check out the photo below showing an Opus in comparison.

Originally Posted by Aerogance

I printed a full scale plan to see exactly what I was getting in to. Check out the photo below showing an Opus in comparison.

Set yourself aside $1000 (maybe more) to build those molds. They won't be cheap.

Looks good. I like the lines.

Adam

Originally Posted by wyowindworks

Set yourself aside $1000 (maybe more) to build those molds. They won't be cheap.

Looks good. I like the lines.

Adam

Yeah,
Good molds would be worth the price. First prototype(s) will be bagged wings, moulded tail and fuse. I plan to use a universal wing saddle so I can make several wings for one fuse/tail to test certain configurations. Moulded wing will come later when I have it dialed.

Aaron

I cut up the full-scale plans and mocked it up on the floor. The fuselage is massive and I am tempted to shorten it or make the wing much bigger. I really want to test this initial configuration before making any other modifications.

Still refining tail surfaces. Decided to reduce fuselage size rather than increase wing for practical reasons.

Like the planform, should be able to get most of the spar at right angles to the fuz axis. However that nose still looks awfully short - might nead a lot of lead to balance it.

Watching with interest,

S

For what its worth I agree with Shedofdread re the nose length. I also like the lack of sweep in the wing shape, which will help to produce a stronger spar and less wing twist when it bends.

However I feel you may have shortened the Fuselage too much, although this will depend on what Tail Area and hence tail volume you have already.

Anyway good luck and keep going with this, it looks great in the 3d pics.

cheers
John

"However I feel you may have shortened the Fuselage too much, although this will depend on what Tail Area and hence tail volume you have already."

Can this part of my comments - what you show should work well. I have found that my efforts (F3B) give a fus length of close to half the wingspan for tail area of around a nominal 10% of the wing. I still believe however that the nose could be a bit longer with the same tail moment.

cheers
John

Excellent comments. I am recalc'ing the tail tonight and will be drawing a more accurate planform. The nose was to be 16 inches but in my haste came up a bit short of target. Fuse diameter is 3 inches at the wing area and will be 1.25 inches at the middle of the tail.

I "ran the numbers" again and will need a few days to redraw everything. Spent some time comparing airfoils again and it looks like the old-school, off-the-shelf, tried-and-tested, cold-war-era foil I plan to use for the bagged wing is much better than expected. I am still settling on the tail sections, if anyone has a suggestion I am all ears.

I'd try the Ayers tail sections he posted in the slope section, and just pick which ever section you need thickness wise for structural reasons.
Or just use a thin section, and put a spar in it.

Target,
Interested in the cold war era foil selected.

Have a look at HD8000 on XFOIL - 8% thick. This was designed by Hannes Delago of Aerianne F5E fame. It has a good lift slope - especially around Zero CL.

I was going to use it with an elevator on a F3B model.

Originally Posted by OZPAF

Have a look at HD8000 on XFOIL - 8% thick. This was designed by Hannes Delago of Aerianne F5E fame. It has a good lift slope - especially around Zero CL.

I was going to use it with an elevator on a F3B model.

Thanks John, I will pull that section up tonight.

By the way, does anyone know what section is used on the wizard Compact' vertical tail? It is quite unusual looking compared to your typical moldie.

Aaron