I am thinking about making a version of the FF-117V2 with a 70mm or 50mm EDF... Has anyone else made an EDF FF-117V2 on their own yet? If so, how did it work out for you?
I tested fly the 50mm and 64mm FF-117 RC planes after I made some Cheater Hole Air Intake modifications. A Cheater Hole is another Air Inlet other than the scale sized air intakes. The 50mm version did fly OK without the Cheater Mod, but I wanted to try it anyway. The 64mm plane did seem to struggle to get enough air to the EDF in the previous test flight. So on the 64mm plane I added top and bottom Cheater holes to see if it would fly better. One other note, I noticed the 64mm EDF was way down on power from the manufacturer's spec's. So I may try and swap it out later.
So the next step in this FF-117 EDF Experiment was moving on to making the fully revised models. I ended up making 50mm and 64mm EDF versions to test out. My thinking was the 50mm would be a nice, lighter plane and was hoping the 64m version would be a little better performer. I got to take both planes out to Hermann Airport for some test flights and see how the revised models performed. The first test flights went pretty good, though both had some crazy close call launches. The smaller, lighter 50mm version actually seemed to perform better than the larger 64mm version. I think this was mainly because the air intake ducts are restricting the flow of air to the 64mm EDF more than it does for the 50mm EDF. So after these discovery flights I will go back and make a few more alterations to the designs. I think the 50mm is pretty close to good. The 64mm version I think will need some cheater hole vents to allow more air to get to the EDF more efficiently. I am thinking of making some 3D printed insert vents for the top lid and bottom of the plane. Stay tuned, more to come!
Here is Part 4 of the FF-117V2 EDF Experiment. In this video I made a new bottom plate for the plane to hopefully help fight back against the downward push of the nose. I looked at some photos of the real F-117 and saw they have some angled surfaces on the bottom of the plane. I tried to make my new bottom plate somewhat mimic what I saw on the real plane. Seemed to work out pretty good.
Below are some videos of more revisions I made for the FF-117V2 experiment. I modified the 64mmEDF Version and also made a 50mm EDF version with the other old test model I had laying around in the workshop.
After the test flights I decided to do more quick modifications to the EDF FF-117V2. Again just a reminder this is just a super rough cut experiment to get an idea of how the FF-117V2 will fly with an EDF and to get some ideas on how I will need to modify an official EDF version of the plane. The Mods are done and just waiting on some time and good weather so I can test fly it.
I decided to do a quick FF-117V2 EDF experiment. I had a couple old FF-117V2 models I made for test fitting the original plans. I decided to hack the airframe and convert the model to use a 64mm EDF instead of prop as originally designed. The tail end of the plane I knew was not efficient the way it was, but just wanted to see if it would fly. The plane flew, but was pretty wonky and had weird flight characteristics. I will try and make a new and better design specifically for one or two EDF's sometime in the future.
I tested fly the 50mm and 64mm FF-117 RC planes after I made some Cheater Hole Air Intake modifications. A Cheater Hole is another Air Inlet other than the scale sized air intakes. The 50mm version did fly OK without the Cheater Mod, but I wanted to try it anyway. The 64mm plane did seem to struggle to get enough air to the EDF in the previous test flight. So on the 64mm plane I added top and bottom Cheater holes to see if it would fly better. One other note, I noticed the 64mm EDF was way down on power from the manufacturer's spec's. So I may try and swap it out later.
So the next step in this FF-117 EDF Experiment was moving on to making the fully revised models. I ended up making 50mm and 64mm EDF versions to test out. My thinking was the 50mm would be a nice, lighter plane and was hoping the 64m version would be a little better performer. I got to take both planes out to Hermann Airport for some test flights and see how the revised models performed. The first test flights went pretty good, though both had some crazy close call launches. The smaller, lighter 50mm version actually seemed to perform better than the larger 64mm version. I think this was mainly because the air intake ducts are restricting the flow of air to the 64mm EDF more than it does for the 50mm EDF. So after these discovery flights I will go back and make a few more alterations to the designs. I think the 50mm is pretty close to good. The 64mm version I think will need some cheater hole vents to allow more air to get to the EDF more efficiently. I am thinking of making some 3D printed insert vents for the top lid and bottom of the plane. Stay tuned, more to come!
I ended up rebuilding a 50mm version of the EDF FF-117V2. Here is a quick video with some details.
Here is Part 4 of the FF-117V2 EDF Experiment. In this video I made a new bottom plate for the plane to hopefully help fight back against the downward push of the nose. I looked at some photos of the real F-117 and saw they have some angled surfaces on the bottom of the plane. I tried to make my new bottom plate somewhat mimic what I saw on the real plane. Seemed to work out pretty good.
Below are some videos of more revisions I made for the FF-117V2 experiment. I modified the 64mmEDF Version and also made a 50mm EDF version with the other old test model I had laying around in the workshop.
After the test flights I decided to do more quick modifications to the EDF FF-117V2. Again just a reminder this is just a super rough cut experiment to get an idea of how the FF-117V2 will fly with an EDF and to get some ideas on how I will need to modify an official EDF version of the plane. The Mods are done and just waiting on some time and good weather so I can test fly it.
I decided to do a quick FF-117V2 EDF experiment. I had a couple old FF-117V2 models I made for test fitting the original plans. I decided to hack the airframe and convert the model to use a 64mm EDF instead of prop as originally designed. The tail end of the plane I knew was not efficient the way it was, but just wanted to see if it would fly. The plane flew, but was pretty wonky and had weird flight characteristics. I will try and make a new and better design specifically for one or two EDF's sometime in the future.