IAD

[insert Beethoven's Fifth Symphony theme here...] I just got back from thrust-testing. I'm going to be doing some serious modifications to the ducting. I'm getting 4.5 oz. of thrust... TOTAL. :0 I tried the cheater-hole idea, which actually reduced thrust. I'm speculating it introduced a large amount of turbulence in the duct, reducing the effective intake area... Obviously, not good. This means I have to pop the bottom off most of the plane, fiddle with the ducting, and then put it all back together. I'm hoping it's something simple. (Right now, the prime culprit is the intake side is starving the fans.) I'll probably end up refinishing the ductwork, as well. I'll shoot for glass-like surfacing. Anyhow, that's a bit of a setback. ~Luke

Things were a bit busy for me this week, so I haven't gotten much done. I'm going to install the fans today, and do some thrust-testing, comparing the results to a reference fan running in free air. My research suggests I should see a loss of about one ounce of thrust per fan, installed in the ducting. (~8 oz. total thrust, after ducting losses.) If I see a considerably more than that, I may need to cut 'cheater holes' just forwards of the fan, to improve air feed. These would be placed in the inner sides of the intake boxes, to minimize damage to the scale appearance. ~Luke

Surprisingly productive day. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...7&postcount=391 I really like the Tamiya gold..! ~Luke

NOW I've tested the airbrush. Definitely a good deal easier than brush-painting... (!) http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...8&postcount=390 ~Luke

Actually, not. That's from before I got the airbrush, and I needed to verify that the different surface finishes didn't look too strange. ~Luke

Oh, now I feel dumb. Just found some, right here on the forums, to boot. ~Luke

Has anybody got a scan of the painting guide or some sort of three-view of the VF-0D they'd be willing to post? I've got a nice top view from the Unofficial Paint Schemes thread, but can't find a side-view anywhere. (Checked the MW models page, etc.) Thanks in advance! ~Luke

Here are the latest photos. You can see the new thrust-vector hinging solution, with 1/32" dia. steel pivots replacing the all-too-prone-to-deform 1/16" dia. aluminum tube, as used last time. The 1/64" ply bearing plates extend about 0.5" back into the nacelle, distributing the load, so the installation is very strong. The bottom paddles are almost finished, they should be installed by tomorrow. Then I can work on interlinking the upper and lower sets. ~Luke

You're back! (Or did the mil-servers let you though?) Yes, things are going quite well. I'll be posting some pictures of the thrust-vector paddle hinges tonight, or tomorrow. They look/work great! (+/-45 deg throws!) ~Luke

Well, I've been working on the finish. Polished Japanese tissue is the name of game, it would appear: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...3&postcount=384 I also purchased an airbrush today, along with some Tamiya paints, so I can finally get rid of the faded pink look. ~Luke

Rant warning! First off, I don't see what your problem is... This isn't real life, this is a movie, and it is accepted fact that deaths of bad guys in non-serious movies are not lamented. They are BAD GUYS. (Personally, I prefer 'high-lethality' solutions to bad guys in movies. Ideally one inflicted by the good guys, and not a Batman Begins 'I won't intervene' solution. Thus, I enjoyed the end of the Incredibles quite a bit.) Aside from that, I'd list any casualties inflicted on the goggle-guys as self-defense. It wasn't even a case of Mr. Incredible trying to hunt down a long-time criminal. They brought him there, and tried to kill him. He (shame on him) was determined to stay alive. To do so, he engaged the goggle-guys with lethal force. Because the movie was never meant to be 'serious' the good guys were not required to have any regrets for enemy casualties. (Did anybody here think that Peter Pan and the Lost Boys should have wrung their hands and wept bitter tears when Cpt. Hook was eaten by the crocodile at the end of 'Hook'?) Second, and (in terms of 'age suitability') more importantly, from what I saw, even the non-supers were quite durable, as it were. The the film was executed in such a way as to definitely allow for almost all of the goggle-guys to survive their various encounters with the Incredibles. (Even the guys who got hit by the thrown monorail pod apparently survived.) Granted, the Viper pilots fared a lot worse, but generally, their deaths were a result of their own ineptitude, and not some violent act by one of the Incredibles. Crashing into your wingmate is stupidity. (The only exceptions to this is when Mr. Incredible fireballs the Viper in the clearing, and one could argue likewise, when Dash hits one with a tree.) In any case, their deaths should still be attributed to self-defense. Notice who was doing the chasing/shooting. If you want to talk about disturbing: How about the number of implicit casualties inflicted on the innocent population of (judging by accent) an American city, by Syndrome's weapon-system? Casualties inflicted the tank crews? Why this concern only with the [very few] deaths caused by the Incredibles? Lastly, on an interesting historical sidenote, you speak of comic-book crime-fighting. In the 1940s, that included The Bat-Man kicking a murdering executive into an acid vat, and throwing his accomplice off the roof of a three-story building, all in the name of justice. (Of course, personally, I think that this was a better serving of justice than the non-lethal turn-them-over-to-the-corrupt-police tactics used in Batman Begins.) Bat-Man wasn't shown in the next frame trembling with fear and horror. Instead, he hunts down the last of the bad guys, and eliminates them. Capt. America likewise terminates sniveling Neo-Nazis with maximum prejudice. It would seem that the implying that 'real death-dealing' and 'comic book crime fighting' are opposites isn't a very accurate assessment. ~Luke

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...4&postcount=371 That pretty much finishes up the cutting/shaping stage. ~Luke

There, two drop-tank/micro-missile pods..! ~Luke

Ok, thanks! This is all pretty new to me, so your advise is much appreciated. ~Luke

Oh, would you look at that! Thanks! ~Luke

Thanks guys! Check out the roughed wingtip pod: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...8&postcount=365 ~Luke

Does anybody have a scan of the painting guide for Ivanov's SV-51 they'd be willing to post? I'm not too sure what the actual colors used are... I've been told that NATO Black (Grey?) is supposed to be a good match for the overall dark grey, but besides that, I'm at a loss. Thanks! ~Luke

Thanks..! Spent some time today gluing things together... Slowly getting closer to flight-ready. ~Luke

Finished up the thrust-vector vanes, control surface cutting, and control-cable installation. A couple other pictures can be found here... ~Luke

Merry Christmas! By way of a small present to you all, I have posted an update... I finished four thrust-vector paddles today! (Unfortunately, half of them have to be redone due to an inaccuracy... But....) http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...4&postcount=356 ~Luke

Ok, uploading as I speak.... http://home.comcast.net/~we-shoppe/SV-513tries.avi Two really bad 'flights' and a not-so-bad flight. http://home.comcast.net/~we-shoppe/SV-51-CrashCompressed.avi The first footage, in which the SV executes a kamakazi on a rose-bush... Note that the canards were not activated for any of these flights... Once I did that, things went a bit better, but the plane had gained too much weight from all the repairs... So it didn't crash, but it didn't really fly, either. (In short, really boring stuff to watch.) You know, it's interesting you mention the MAVE... I've been eyeing that thing, trying to imagine how to stabilize it in yaw... SEFF is a long way from here... (CT) I'd dare say you can't get there from here. I'm just hoping it flies at all, much less in front of large crowds. ~Luke

Sure, I'll need to free up some webspace, and re-upload them... Give me a day, and I'll get some new links up. ~Luke

Well, I now have the controls for the elevators, elevons and thrust-vector on the left side of the ship installed... One more side to go. Once I have the right side finished, I'll be making a jig to properly align the upper vertical stabilizers, to help avoid a repeat of ~last time~... ~Luke

Oh yes, I definitely plan to put the wingtip tanks on... The hard part there isn't getting it to fly with them, it's keeping them from breaking off when it lands. They should only weigh about ~0.35 oz. for the pair, if I'm [very] careful. I'll attach them to the pylons with tape, or a friction-fit setup... Should minimize the chance of breaking something, if they catch on the grass. ~Luke

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...4&postcount=346 A few more... I'm reworking the wings, and have finally added the fins/canards. In my opinion, an exact replica of the SV would be very flyable... It's just dashed hard to build said exact replica strong enough to land in one piece........ Getting closer, though. Next come the thrust-vector vanes. ~Luke