Radio
Control Model Aircraft: Free Plans and Free Software
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De Havilland DH-84 Dragon-2, RC
electric scale 94.7" wingspan, 1/6 scale "RIAMA"
I am so sorry to report that RIAMA,
owned
by Desmond Porter in Caboolture Australia, crashed on Oct 1st, 2012. This clip
from Australian news: "The deceased have been identified as the pilot
and his wife - Desmond and Cath Porter - and two couples. Mr Porter,
who had been raising funds for charity at an airshow before the crash,
survived a crash in a plane of the same model in 1954 that killed his
father and brother. He rebuilt the current plane 50 years later using
parts from one that crashed at Archerfield aerodrome 6 months prior to
his father's crash." As I understand it he flew into heavy cloud
that topped out above 10,000 ft, and RIAMA could not climb over.
There are only 3 Dragons left flying in the world
now. This is a terrible loss for the 6 people who died and the
beautiful vintage biplane that will now only fly as a model.
Terry Hicks of Caloundra Australia told me the story of how RIAMA
got
its name: "Des Porter's Father had a business of carrying newspapers
from Brisbane to areas north and west of here on contract many years
ago. One morning the plane was so overloaded it failed to get airborn,
so it clipped a fence and burnt out. As he was still obligated to
fill the contract of paper delivery he needed a plane and fast, so he
approached a friend and the replacement plane was purchased. That
friend was Adrian Mair. The plane was named in honour of the fact
he helped a mate in need, A. Mair spelt backward or as we
know it RIAMA".
I love that story.
Breaking News! My model of RIAMA will have a new home in
Caboolture Australia. The plane comes in 3 sections, and the
crate for the plane was about 2 feet x 4 feet x 6 feet, 150 lbs total.
Des Porter and his 2nd love, RIAMA.
Crated and ready for its new home in Australia
The Dragon gets a new pilot!
DH-84 Dragon-2 electric-powered radio
control model
On this page you can download the design & construction article and
the plans for this unique radio control flying model, the DH-84 Dragon.
I fly it at the club field in Laurel Maryland (FreeState Aeromodelers).
The outer wing panels (28" each) come off without any fuss by removing
4 connection pins per side. There is no hard attachment for the aileron
controls (done with a push-push system of pin-in-socket), and the wing
wires are permanent and do not need adjustment or re-attachment. This
makes for a very easy set-up and take-down, only a few minutes total.
The wing wires are functional and very much part of the structure, just
like the real aircraft. Indeed, much of the model structure is very
similar to the actual aircraft in both configuration and
function.
See
a youtube video of the Dragon Riama flying
This
is another better quality video
Short video clip of 1/6 scale RIAMA flyby
APL here stands for "Aircrafts Party Limited", an Australian designation
A 12" GI-Joe makes a perfect 1/6 scale pilot, especially if you need a
little nose weight!
Now with wheel pants!!
Only one other person
(that I know of) has made this model from my plans; Dan Schmidt.
See his beautiful model below (also an
Australian bird, "Taniwha")
Click here to see
a youtube of Dan's model flying
Specifications of DH-84 1/6 scale
electric model:
Wingspan = 94.66 inches, airfoil = 10.3% flat-bottomed with slight
re-flexed trailing edge
Length = 68.6 inches
Wing area = 1700 square inches
Weight = 14.5 lbs take-off weight, 12.5 lbs without motor or batteries
Wing loading = 19.6 oz/ square foot
Static thrust ~ 10 lbs; Static thrust / weight ratio ~ 0.7
Power System:
Motors = Two AXI 2826-10 brushless out-runners, 35-40 amps current each
Props = APC 11x5.5 props
Batteries = Two Poly-Quest TW 4350XP-45 Li-Po batteries (14.8 volt 4350
milli-amp-hour)
Controllers: = Two Jeti Advance 77 Opto plus controllers. These were
oversized to guarantee that there will never be a single-engine
situation at takeoff due to one controller slightly going over the
current limit.
Click here to download the DH-84
construction pdf document
Click here to download more
DH-84 construction details
Click here to download the Assembly, Balancing, and Handling instructions
The drawings for the DH-84 rc model are in a .dwg vector format.
Programs such as Autocad or Intellicad can be used to open it. The
drawings are not complete in every detail, and this project is best
tackled by an expert scratch builder. Also, the prototype model has no
shock absorption, and from the experience of flying this model, it
would do to incorporate Robart shock struts into the main landing gear.
This aircraft loves wheel landings, but 3-point landings must be done
slow. One must fly it right down to the ground.
Click here to download a zip file of the
DH-84 plans in Autocad14 format
Click here to download a pdf file of the DH-84
plans pg 1
Click here to download a pdf file of the DH-84
plans pg 2
Click here to download a pdf file of the DH-84
plans pg 3
Click here to download a pdf file of the DH-84
plans pg 4
Click here to download a pdf file of the DH-84
plans pg 5
Click here to download a pdf file of the DH-84
plans pg 6
Kinko's and other print shops can print these plans. They will use
their "large format" printer. Each drawing is approximately 72" x 34".
You can also email the pdf files directly to Kinko's, or you can write
them to a CD and physically give it to them.
GAL ST-25 Monospar "Universal"
This is a rare bird indeed from 1935. Only one
example exists today, and that one was a rebuild after a crash and no
longer flies. It was used mainly as a flying
ambulance to transport prone patients to hospitals. The
Universal extension to the name ment it was twin tailed, as opposed to
the single tail "Jubilee" model. I am still developing the plans,
but if you look closely at the photo and 3-view you will see the root
chord thinning out with a seperate horizontal beam/strut protruding
from the side to the engine nacelle. Very unusual, but the wings
folded outboard of the nacelles with an upper hinge connected to this
spar. It has excellent visibility for the pilot.
There are still details left out of the plans, so it is a project for
the experienced scratch builder. The wing root still needs
carry-thru reinforcements to stiffen up that load path, but the
experienced hand will know what to do. I've designed this to be
very light weight, as the fuselage is like a big stick & tissue
truss model structure. There are already 2 people that I know of
that are going to build this model, even though I haven't yet built
one! I would anticipate using the same motors/batteries/props as
I did in the DH-84, and that the flying weight would be in the 15 lb
range if you keep to the build-light mantra.
Click here to download a zip file of the
Monospar 25 pdf drawings. Six 72" x 36" drawings define this bird
The zip file also includes the best photos I could find on the internet
for the Monospar 25. Also, Jens B. Kristensen went to the trouble
of making an MS Flight Simulator X model of the Monospar which flies
nicely (I recommend you get it if you like to fly MS FS-X at
FlightSim.com). I made some screen shots which are also included
in the zip file.
S-40a Flying Boat
The S-40 was the first Pan Am Clipper ship, dubbed
the "Flying Forest" by Lindbergh. We tend to forget, but flying
boats were the pinnacle of aviation technology in their day when
passenger service was reaching across the oceans. Airframe
construction advances, powerplant, navigation, radio, all were being
pushed to meet the civil, then military demands. This aircraft is
an interesting mixture of the "new" and the old. Starting in
1931, 3 were built that also had heavy landing gear. This one I
am designing is the S-40a from 1935 which removed the landing gear and
had more powerful engines. The outer wing panels will be
removable at the dihedral break.
DH-90 Dragonfly
This next project was in the works, a de Havilland DH-90
Dragonfly, 1/5 scale with a 103" wingspan and twin 0.70 4-cyc
engines. The real aircraft is a challenge to land (the tail would
be shadowed by the fuselage during a 3-point landing and ground loop),
and there were tip stall problems. It is however a very beautiful
looking aircraft, but demands respect.
This is an ACTUAL aircraft, not the model!!
Click here to download the incomplete plans
as they stand now
Traplet plans has an 86" wingspan 1/6 scale version for those who have
grown
tired waiting for me to finish the 1/5 scale (I might never...).
Just go to trapletshop.com and search DH.90 DRAGONFLY.
Click here to
link you to a youtube of the Traplet design model
Modified Stolp Starlet
Another set of plans in the works is from a home built aircraft of
the 1960's, a modified Stolp Starlet parasol. I would say the strictly
scale plans have a too-small horizontal tail to give steady pitch
control. You may want to scale it up just a tad... I never built this model but I believe it has been built
Click here to download plans in pdf
format for the Modified Stolp Starlet model
Eagle
Eye twin electric glider photographic platform
The next project is an aerial photographic platform for small
point-and-shoot cameras. I want it to be hand launchable and have an
unobstructed view that can be tilted from straight down to full forward
(thus twin motors). I call it the Eagle-Eye1, with 120" wingspan and
1100 sq inch of area. I have as yet to produce viable plans...
for the future!
Wilga
80, 55" electric model
This is my Wilga 80, 55" wingspan which is electric. It has a 39.3"
length, 400 sq inch area, and weighs 39 oz full up with an 11V LiPo
2100 mAhr. The motor in the prototype was a Mega 16-15-4 with a 3.6:1
reduction, swinging a 12x6E APC prop. Turns are definitely coordinated
with rudder!
Click here to download plans for the Wilga in
Autocad dwg format
1936 Monocoupe 110 Special
Next project is one I recently finished, a 1936 Monocoupe 110 Special,
"Spirit of Dynamite", 1/4 scale. It stands at 69" of stubby wing span,
10 lbs flying weight,and ~ 915 sq inches of wing area (25 oz/ft^2).
Scratch built from Jack Swift plans, slightly modified (of course). I
use a Saito 125 4-cycle which gives it all the power it needs.
This is a fantastic flying model!! Very scale-like in flight, handling
and landing. A little quirky in the handling, but it is a gem of a
design!!
This is the way I accomplished aileron differential without separate
servos or biased bell cranks in the wings. I put the bias in the servo
arm itself, with servo pushrod connectors on both sides of the servo
arm as shown, going to flex-wire pushrods. The spacers allow motion
without running into the center arm connection. There is about twice as
much up aileron as there is down.
Software
I used to have many
more design programs available for download, but unfortunately this is
a very dangerous world now. Innocent aircraft design programs
that were for the experimental aircraft hobbist can be misused by
nefarious misguided individuals, organizations, and countries (you know who you are).
Too bad because I can't share it with the EAA or other hobby
organizations.
Next is a simple to use V-n
diagram application. V-n is of course
velocity vs. g-load, the structural constraints of flight (without the
additional factors of safety). It makes doing preliminary aircraft
trade studies easier. Download the zip file and unzip it. Then double
click the Setup.exe file and follow the instructions. Try it, you'll
like it! All created in VisualBasic5. Version 1.5 March 2012
Click here to download setup program for
the V-n diagram software
Next my latest is a helicopter
performance program in vertical flight mainly to be used by radio
control helicopter pilots. The head speed, pitch angles, and resultant
performance can be shown in graph form. This should help with the
programming of computerized radio controls (throttle and pitch curves)
so that settings can be measured and tested "in the lab" to have the
desired flight performance. Version 1.10 Aug 15, 2011. Note: since I am
a new RC helicopter pilot, the example files that go with the software
are rather thin. This is where you the experienced pilot can save files
of your own successful settings (throttle and pitch curves, pitch
ranges), and use them to figure your next helicopter of a different
size. Also I would appreciate it if you could email me some interesting
examples so I could fill out the sample files.
Click here to download
RCHelicopterPerformance zip file
Next is an aid to gyrocopter
(autogiro) design. Equations and graphs from very old NACA
reports have been internalized in this software, so, it is what it is
(still better than nothing).
Click here to download the setup
program for Gyrocopter Design
Interesting
Links
FreeCAD, a 3D
computer aided design tool
XFLR5: an analysis tool for
airfoils, wings in model scale
UIUC airfoil
data site
Airfoils for gliders
3-view plan
drawings
ALL THESE RESOURCES ARE FOR
EDUCATIONAL USES ONLY! ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED
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Navigation
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Stuff <<< Click on these
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