You are in for a real treat. My dad and I just about only go to blackrock now because it is hands down the best place to fly. I am sure you will be back and I am sure we will meet up there one of these years. Right now we are shooting for 2014 to launch the O rocket.

Originally Posted by X30PILOT

I just couldn’t go out to Black Rock without punching a hole in the sky, hopefully not the playa.

I have done some of that. The last flight of my little IQSY Tomahawk at Balls 2010 was with a CTI M2045 blue streak. 660 lbf initial thrust in a 24lb rocket. It went up at Mach 2.7 and impacted the playa at just under the speed of sound from 30,000 ft. 60" rocket and only 6 inches was sticking out. We now only fly with CO2 ejection. It’s such a great hobby. If you look at my blog there are some pictured of my Tomahawk on the M650 and my dad’s 14' D-Region on our pad with the same O-6000.

Work and Spring break got in the way of my construction, but here of some shots of completed basic fuselage structure. In the up coming weeks I hope to get the foam cores cut for the wings

X30

I got a little more work done on the X-2 this weekend.
You can see the top strips in place and I put together some patterns to make a 1/3-scale profile model to test.

X30

Awesome! Keep it coming.

I got a little more work done the last few days. I had the templates made out of Formica laser cut to hot wire shape the foam wing and tail cores. Then with some generous help from some of my good friends at the North Dallas Radio Control Club, we cut all of the cores. As a result of the size of the wing, we did the wing cores in two pieces.
Below are some photos of the templates, wing cores and tail cores.

X30

Awesome Dave! Wish I could make it to BALLS this year.

BTW, My RC-RG did fly about two months ago. Pat flew it at his ranch (I wasn't there) and said it was perfect. I was suprised I hit the nail on the CG. He said he flew it on a long burn 29mm, can't remember what motor. Landed it in one piece.
Most folks don't know Pat is an old RC flyer.

Keep us posted on the X2 project. I would sure love to be present when it flies!

Jim

Hey Jim,

Delighted to hear the test flight on your R/G went well. Did Pat forward you any pictures? I would certainly like to see that thing fly as it looked great.
BTW here is the preliminary C/G data on the X-2. At a 35-pound empty weight it looks like a full K to low L would be good for the first flight so I made the C/G calculations for a 2772ns Cesaroni L 640.
I placed the datum at the first bulkhead.

X-2 weight and balance estimate.
Estimated weight 35 pounds. = 560 ounces
Aft C/G limit with a 5% stability= 52.8 inches aft of the datum.
Weight of loaded L-640 = 78.54 ounces.
Weight of fired L-640 = 27.62 ounces.
Change in motor weight = 51.04 ounces.
Combined weight of X-2 and loaded motor = 638.54
Center of motor located at 81 inches aft of the datum.

W X A = M
638.54 X 52.8 = 33714.912 X-2 Loaded
51.04 X 81= 4134.24 change of weight from motor firing
29580.672 new moment/ 587.5 new weight = 50.35008 new C/G
52.8 C/G at liftoff.
50.35 C/G at burnout.
2.45 Change in C/G

I can live with the C/G only moving forward by 2.44 inches.




Dave

That CG shift looks very reasonable and easily trimmable. I'm interested to see what kind of altitude you get with that motor/thrust curve..looks like a 10:1 push for a second and then two seconds of 3:1... what do your sims show?

Frank

Hi Frank,

I used the Cesaroni L640 in my balance calculations, from a weight standpoint it is similar to many of the motors that I am considering. Using a variety of motors the sims show somewhere in the 1300 to 2000 ft. range. I am certainly open to suggestions.

Thanks

Dave

That sounds like a reasonable boost altitude.

Frank

Originally Posted by X30PILOT

Hi Frank,

I used the Cesaroni L640 in my balance calculations, from a weight standpoint it is similar to many of the motors that I am considering. Using a variety of motors the sims show somewhere in the 1300 to 2000 ft. range. I am certainly open to suggestions.

Thanks

Dave

I have managed to get a little more work done on the X2.
The photos below show the tail support assembly and the tail support box.
As a practical matter I have only 3 months remaining to get this done in time for Balls so I need to pick up the pace.
Currently I’m considering one of the following motors for the first flight.

AeroTech K270, K375, K480, K560, and K780
Cesaroni L820, L585 and L640

I am missing anything?

Thanks

X30

More progress this past week. The photos below show the fuselage with all of the top stringers in place. I don’t expect to make a lot of progress this week, as there is a big Warbird event just east of Denton that I’m involved with that will occupy most of my time.

X30

I have managed to get some more work done on the X-2. I now have the basic main wing panels completed.
The first picture shows a partially completed wing skin. Joining several sheets of balsa together to make the wing skins was a time consuming experience.
The second photo looks like a stack of old junk.
Once the skins are applied to the foam core, a lot of weight needs to be stacked on top to insure that the skins fit tightly around the shape of the foam until the glue sets.
From the third shot you can see just how the wing is built, with the core, spruce spars and balsa sheeting.
The forth photo shows the wing prior to the installation of the leading edge.
The fifth picture gives you an idea of the size of the right wing panel.

I have a lot of work to do to get this ready for Balls.

X30

This weekend I got some more work done on the X-2
The first picture is of one of the skins for the vertical stabilizer. The lines draw on the skin is where I put carbon fiber tow. The fin is now skinned and ready for trimming. The second photo is of the almost completed profile test model.

X-30

Very Nice! Great Picture.