Ingenuity Coaxial Helicopter

Most RC pilots, especially us chopper heads will be aware that taken along with the Perceverance Mars Rover, the first extraplanetary RC aircraft is due to make its maiden flight today 11th April 2021, the incredible Ingenuity coaxial helicopter. History in the making!

Ingenuity's design has clearly been influenced and much of it derived from the recent advances in RC helicopters, including flybarless, electronically stabilised flight control mechanisms as well as various components that can be bought off the shelf. Surprisingly, many of the componets in Ingenuity have been purchased by NASA, and can be found in other applications such as our mobile phones.

Ingenuity has a rotor diameter of 1.2m, a height of 0.49m and a total mass (not its weight on Mars!) of 1.8Kg with 350 Watts power available for a 90s flight.


The Phoenix Model and further details can be downloaded here:

Model Tour

Ingenuity Tour (0 min 34 sec)

Pachisi Court located at Fatehpur Sikri near Agra in India holds very fond memories for me.

I visited as a seventeen year old young and idealistic hippy back in 1973. I remember sneaking in late at night during a full moon when it was officially closed until morning and having the whole place to myself, a mystical experience. Good job the guards didn't spot me!

Since that was nearly 50 years ago, I am planning to go back to India in 2023 if the Covid crisis is over and I am able too.


This is a work in progress and still needs some tidying up. As yet there are no collision surfaces.


It may get updated but in the mean time is posted "as is".

Hal Dhruv Sarang Display Team (1 min 15 sec)

The HAL Dhruv is a utility helicopter designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) from India. It has been named after an Indian mythological character, Dhruv, which in Sanskrit means 'unshakeable'.

The development of the Dhruv was announced in November 1984, and it was subsequently designed with assistance from Germany's Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) as a consultant and collaborative partner on the programme.

The helicopter first flew in 1992 and entered service in 2002. It is designed to meet the requirement of both military and civil operators, with military variants of the helicopter being developed for the Indian Armed Forces, while a variant for civilian/commercial use has also been developed. Military versions in production include transport, utility, reconnaissance and medical evacuation variants. Based on the Dhruv platform, the HAL Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) a dedicated attack helicopter and HAL Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), a utility and observation helicopter, are currently being developed.

As of October 2020, more than 300 HAL Dhruv have been produced for domestic and export markets. (Wikipedia)

Sarang ('Peacock') is the helicopter air display team of the Indian Air Force that flies four modified HAL Dhruv helicopters, also known as Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). The team was formed in October 2003 and their first performance was at the Asian Aerospace show, Singapore, in 2004. The name Sarang is symbolic; the peacock is...Continue Reading

I made a new flying site Clouds & Stars for the new Phoenix Model Albatross.

You can download the model of the Albatross here. Flying site can be downloaded below.

Video inspired by Poppy. Clearly a great artist, her work on her Flicker site is stunning.


Clouds and Stars

Clouds and Stars (0 min 53 sec)

RickP handed over a great Blender model and allowed me the pleasure of detailing and texturing her as well as getting her to fly.

The bomb bay and rocket bay doors open with the Gear channel.

Sound files are also available for the model and are included in the download.

You can download her here.

Texture modified from a picture by Poppy. Clearly a great artist. her work on her Flicker site is stunning.

I made new flying sites for the model, you can download Clouds & Stars here.


Video inspired by Poppy.

Backgound music by Les Baxter - Master of the World (1961)

Albatross (1 min 45 sec)

Oh no! Another flying Pig!

Having recently purchased a Spektrum iX12 Tx I was intrigued with the possibilities of Sequencers, especially those that self cycle repeatedly causing an outcome such as flashing a light or moving a widget.

For a long time I have wanted to make model ornithopters for Phoenix, but how to make the wings flap? I could put them on one of the normal control channels so they move with the ailerons or elevator for example, as I do to animate my pilots but that is not very satisfactory for wings. Then I realised I could use a Cyclic Sequencer to drive the flapping motion!

At that point I was looking for an ornithopter to experiment with and I suddenly realised we already have one; Miss Piggy!

Previously I could make her flap her wings and run by moving the aileron and elevator rhythmically during take off. Now I could drive those motions with a Cyclic Sequencer. How cool is that?

To make this version of Miss Piggy flap her wings and run autonomously, the movements are not intrinsic to Phoenix but are driven by the Spektrum sequencer.

Pigasus originally made by Rick. Much help from both Aelflyer and Rick to implement the ornithopter concept.

You can download the model here.

Pigasus (1 min 3 sec)

The Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" (Russian: Чёрная акула, NATO reporting name: Hokum A) is a Russian single-seat attack helicopter with the distinctive coaxial rotor system of the Kamov design bureau.

It was designed in the 1980s and adopted for service in the Russian army in 1995. It is manufactured by the Progress company in Arsenyev. It is used as a heavily armed scout helicopter. It is the world's first operational helicopter with a rescue ejection system. (Wikipedia)

Nine different colour schemes are included as shown below.

Model originally by helijah.

You can download here:...Continue Reading

The Coandă-1910, designed by Romanian inventor Henri Coandă was an unconventional aircraft powered by a 50 hp inline water-cooled Clerget internal combustion engine driving a ducted fan through a 1:4 gearbox which turned the 50cm compressor at 4,000 rpm. Coandă called it a "turbo-propulseur".

The exhaust from the piston engine was additionally vented into the duct via heat exchangers in contact with the central air flow to add heat and mass. Aviation reporters from The Aero and La Technique Aeronautique at that time were doubtful that the engine could provide sufficient thrust for flight.

The unusual aircraft attracted attention at the Second International Aeronautical Exhibition in Paris in October 1910, being the only exhibit without a propeller.

It is doubtful that the aircraft ever actually flew and is mired in controversy.

However, Coandă claims the aircraft did achieve a single short flight while ground testing the engine at Issy-les-Moulineaux, outside Paris in 1910, the powerplant forcing the plane airborne for a short time. As Coandă himself was not a pilot, he quickly lost control of the aircraft and crashed it to the ground throwing him clear of the burning wreckage with some slight injuries.

Despite the loss of the machine, Coandă noted how the expelled gases seemed to conform to the sides of his aircraft as it burned. This observation would lead Coandă to research the phenomenon culminating as the &...Continue Reading

After the successful Phoenix CH-53 Stallion models, Rick was looking for the next copter to make and so I suggested the Sikorsky S-97 Raider. While Rick developed the model in Blender, I was working on the flight capabilities in Builder so a great collaboration. It has been a pleasure, thanks for the honour of working with you Rick and of posting the finished models.


Phoenix Models

Three versions are available for download here:

1) Sikorsky Raider Prototype P1 with side mounted gun pod and rockets.

2) Canadian Search and Rescue (SAR) with drop tanks.

3) Indian Air Force Sarang Demonstration Team.


The Sikorsky S-97 Raider is a high-speed scout and attack compound helicopter (main rotors and pusher prop) with a coaxial rotor system under development by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky planned to offer it for the United States Army's Armed Aerial Scout program, along with other possible uses including civilian applications such as Search and Rescue.

The S-97 made its maiden flight on 22 May 2015 and is a continuation of the experimental coaxial S-69 from the 1970s and the more recent X2 technology demonstrator of 2010. Construction of two prototypes began in October 2012, the first prototype (P1) was revealed in 2014 and has been used for flight testing while the second (P2) is for use as a demonstrator. The S-97 Raider is wholly funded by private investment with Sikorsky providing 75 percent of the costs and 53 principal suppliers providing the rest.

...Continue Reading

The Eurocopter EC655 Tiger is a four-bladed, twin-engine, stealthed multirole attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003.

It is currently flown by Germany, France, Spain and Australia.

The Phoenix model is derived from the work of Helijah and is available in four colour schemes for each of those countries.

You can download the model here.

The Mil Mi-24 (Russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) called the Crocodile by the Russians is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passenger. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been operated since 1972 by the Soviet Air Force and its successors, along with 48 other nations (Wikipedia).

Model by Helijah for the sim FlightGear.

Twenty different colour schemes are available, some examples below. These will be available via Dropbox as the zip file is too large to post here.

Also for the first time, proper chopper sounds are available for copters in Phoenix. I just love that "wap wap" sound they make!

The files can be downloaded here.

Based on a glider airframe, the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet was a German rocket-powered interceptor aircraft. Designed by Alexander Lippisch, it is the only rocket-powered fighter aircraft ever to have been operational and the first piloted aircraft of any type to exceed 1000 km/h (621 mph) in level flight.

Over 300 Komets were built, but the aircraft proved lacklustre as an interceptor it only destroyed between 9 and 18 Allied aircraft against 10 losses. Aside from combat losses many pilots were killed during testing and training (Wikipedia).

To reduce weight, a pair of front wheels were attached to a dolly that would be ejected after takeoff. Once the Komet had run out of rocket fuel after the attack, it would glide back to base at high speed and land on a skid.

Flaps were introduced on the production model (B) in an attempt to reduce speed prior to touchdown.

The Phoenix version is based on a SketchUp model that seems no longer available.

The model an be downloaded here.

Me 163 Komet (comet) Luftwaffe rocket fighter (6 min 30 sec)

"Tranquiity base; the Eagle has landed."

"One giant leap for mankind".

July 16th 1969, I was just approaching 15 years old. A group of young lads from school went around to a friend's house who was only one with a colour TV to watch the launch of the mighty Saturn V.

I begged my father to be allowed to watch the moon landing live on our TV on July 20th. The program was scheduled for 03:00 in the morning in the UK and needing to get up for work a few hours later he refused, telling me I could watch it on the news later that day. I was obsessed with the moon race and never forgave him for denying me the chance to watch it live, even ribbing him about it to this day!

Here in commemoration of that historic event 50 years ago is the Eagle.

Landing gear is retractable, radio dishes and antenna respond to the controls.

Derived from a SketchUp model by Fort Opus.

You can download the model here.

Slave I was a modified Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft used by the infamous bounty hunter Jango Fett before the Clone Wars and later by his cloned "son" Boba Fett.

In the movie "Attack of the Clones " while under Jango's ownership, the ship was in a dogfight in an asteroid field with young Obi-Wan Kenobi who flew a Jedi starfighter.

Later in "The Empire Strikes Back" during the Galactic Civil War, the adult Boba Fett used Slave I to transport Han Solo who had been carbon-frozen by Darth Vadar from Cloud City to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine.

Adapted from a SketchUp model by trino.

You can download the model here:

This Tilt-Engine aircraft was a collaboration between RickP and myself.

Available in two versions:Canadian Force Rescue and US Marine..

Derived from a model created by Helijah and posted on Sketchfab.

Further details to follow.

The model can be downloaded here.

One of the first RC models I built was my Star Wars Imperial Speeder as seen in The Empire Stikes Back during the speeder chase on Endor. It was based on a Hasbro model that I fitted quad parts to. It just flies great and gets so much attention.

Once I started making models for Phoenix it was obvious that I need one of these too.

Having finished the Imperial Scout version I then needed a protagonist too so I made the Luke Skywalker version. OK, his body is really that of Anakin Skywalker but still looks the part.

Then of course, I needed both of them together with Luke chasing the Scout Trooper, Light Sabre drawn and ready for action! Luke is not messing around this time! No matter how the Trooper twists and turns, Luke is always right on his tail and tries to cut him off but no avail. That is controlled by the rudder.

On the individual models, Luke and the Imperial Scout also respond to the controls. Heads turn, arms either work the control panel or wave. The legs are articulated and depress the pedals which control the rear engine flaps.

The control panel was constructed as a separate item in Blender and is then applied as a texture to reduce rendering overheads. Well, I had to do something to live upto my new nickname: Dr Detail! (Thanks for that Armin)

Derived from SketchUp models as follows: Star Wars Speeder by ap-alexander, Imperial Trooper by abdyla, Skywalker by Carl U. and Brian W.

Each are available to download here.

In 1910, the same year the Bristol Aircraft Company started their Bristol Boxkite twenty year old Anton Fokker, a Dutchman studying in Mainz, Germany was experimenting with a radically new design of aircraft and learning how to fly to get his pilot's license. This was only seven years after the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903 in the Wright Flyer.

Spinne means "spider" in German as it looked like a spider in it's web due to all the bracing wires. It was a monoplane with swept wings, dihedral and a tail that must have been inspired, as was Leonardo da Vinci, by the shape of birds in flight.

This model is based on Fokker's third version; the first two were destroyed by his "business partner" Franz von Daum who supplied the four cylinder Argus 100 hp water cooled engine. After von Daum crashed and destroyed the second version, Fokker discontinued the relationship although the Argus engine survived for the third version.

This Phoenix model is all scratch built in Blender, apart from the wheels and prop which I stole from the Boxkite model. No point in reinventing the wheel is there? Also, Anton Fokker is derived from a SketchUp model of Chuck Yeager by Max Grueter after considerable modification. However the rest of the aircraft is my own work.

It was the first model I attempted in Blender and was only recently finished as I needed to develop my Blender skills. When I started it over two years ago Rick thought it was a very ambitious first...Continue Reading

The Wright Flyer was the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard. It was designed and built by the Wright brothers who were bicycle makers. They flew it four times on December 17, 1903, near Kill Devil Hills, about four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, US.

As usual, the pilot is fully articulated and responds to the controls.

Derived from a Sketchup model by [email protected]

You can download the model here.

When I was a child, I saw the movie "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" (1963). One of the aircraft was the Bristol Boxkite, nicknamed "The Phoenix Flyer" and inaccurately referred to as a Curtiss. Three flying replicas were built for the movie.

Since the original Boxkite had been built at Filton, Bristol in the U.K. (near where I grew up) one of those replicas was donated to Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery where it hangs in the main hall on display.Every Saturday I would catch the bus into town, stand on the balcony and gaze at it in awe dreaming of building and flying one.

Another of the replicas from the movie was donated to the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire, where it is still flown during displays (video below), and the third to the Museum of Australian Army Flying in Queensland.


History

A highly successful aircraft, the Boxkite (officially the Bristol Biplane) was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company) at Filton where Concorde was later developed and Rolls Royce aircraft engines are still made.

After unsuccessful attempts to build licensed copies of the Zodiac biplane due to its unsatisfactory wing section and underpowered engine, the founder and chairman of Bristol Aircraft, Sir George White was advised to acquire rights to build copies of the successful Farman biplane. This proved impossible since George Holt Thomas was...Continue Reading

History

The P.215 was an advanced jet night fighter project by Blohm & Voss during WWII. With a crew of three including the pilot, a navigator and radar/radio operator/rear gunner, it would have been powered by twin Heinkel HeS 011 jet engines set low to the rear, had a tailless swept-wing layout and heavy armament. An order for three prototypes was received in 1945 just weeks before the war ended before any significant detail design work could be begun.

Highly advanced, it would have featured a comprehensive all-weather radio navigation suite and the advanced FuG 244 target acquisition and gun-laying radar.

The P.215 featured a main wing of constant chord and moderate sweep, with small landing flaps forming rear root fillets. Stub tailbooms at the wing tips supported tapered outboard tail surfaces. The horizontal stabilisers and attached elevators were angled downwards both in incidence and, more sharply, in anhedral. The neutral or negative angle of incidence provided longitudinal stability and, in conjunction with the anhedral, contributed to directional stability. Small vertical fins added to the directional stability and supported rudders.

Several armament options were proposed, with the main armament clustered around the nose intake and comprising a mix of heavy 30 mm or cannon with or without rockets. An unusual feature was a further pair of 30 mm cannon set either side of the rear fuselage and pivoting more than 90° to fire either rearwards or upwards. Provision was also made behind the cockpit for a single rearward-facing 20 mm gun with up to 50° elevation, and for two 500 kg bombs beneath the fuselage.

This aircraft would have been formidable with a prospective speed of 860 km/h (534 mph) at 6,000m, a range of 2,200 km (1,367 miles) and a service ceiling of 11,000 m (36,000 ft)!


The Phoenix Model.

Derived from a SketchUp model by Matias G.

you can download the model here.