IAD

Another 'real-world' SV-51, this time in Israeli 109th Squadron colors... ~Luke

It isn't that good........... It'll look fine zipping by at ~30 MPH, 20' off the ground, but at point-blank........ Anyhow, here's a few new pictures: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...3&postcount=336 ~Luke

Here's an update: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...7&postcount=335 ~Luke

Oh, so sorry! I thought I had turned on e-mail notification for new posts... Yes, just yesterday, I finished facing the back half of the hatch... Tedious process, involving balsa, sandpaper, and slow-drying glue. I'll get some pictures up later today. Also, the pushrod material finally arrived, so I've started installing that, the thrust-vector feed is in place... Just need to add the elevon and elevator feeds, and the control system will be in place. ~Luke

I managed to get both wing roots installed, and the lifting body rough-sanded. Looking good, in my opinion. (Better than last time, definitely. Also, much lighter. 3.5 oz, so far. The balsa one was up at 5+ oz. by this stage.) http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...5&postcount=313 ~Luke

Thanks, those are great..! ~Luke

More work... Starting to loose the blocky look. (Thank goodness!) http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...8&postcount=312 ~Luke

Hello... I'm in search of some photographs of finished/partially finished SV-51s... I'm scratch-building a flying R/C version, and I can't find any good pictures of exactly how the wings interface into the lifting body/fuselage. (Transitional sections, etc.) If anybody could snap a few pictures of the area highlighted and post them here, I'd be very grateful. I think a shot or two taken from directly behind the wing root, and one from underneath and behind would be enough. (A photo of the root of the wing before it's attached would be even better.) Thanks! ~Luke

A little. Here's the latest post on RC-G: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread....=21#post4414113 ~Luke

Well, I was working on a scheme for my SV-51 RC job, and experimentally came up with this... If you're hoping for a story behind the USAF markings, I have to disappoint, there isn't one, except 'I like it that way.' No squadron/pilot markings yet, though I may change that. All the same, I thought it came out good enough to post here, so... ~Luke <Edit> Changed the canopy a bit.

Some new pictures. As you can see, the level of detail will be at least a bit higher on this one. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...6&postcount=280 ~Luke

Yes, I'm planning on installing the active stealth array this time. Hey, I even want to put the big wingtip pods on it this time! ~Luke

I've started cutting the ductwork. So far, 66%+ of the ducting is cut, and one fan is installed. Pictures can be seen here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...3&postcount=274 ~Luke

Definitely the hair. With his helmet on, he looks fine. I guess I'll still use his colors on the second SV. ~Luke

Oh, by the way... Is this really what Ivanov looks like? A guy with a face like that gets to fly an SV-51 Gamma? I can see it in real life, but in a movie? Good thing he wears that snazzy helmet. ~Luke (Or maybe it's his hair... He looks sort of comical, somehow.)

Worked on sanding off the corners on the fowards fuselage... A couple pictures of the first rough-sanding can be found here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.ph...8&postcount=273 (Still working on how to do the final shaping on the canopy. Strange-shaped thing, that...) ~Luke

Well, I got some work done on the foam/fiberglass version. Coming along nicely now. Can't wait to start shaping the cross-sections... ~Luke

Yes, me too. (Hoping for a flight.) I still want to pin down the CG on the balsa version, before I launch my freshly-fiberglassed-super-scale-foam version.... This weekend is shaping up badly for getting the time, though. Thanks again for the info on the 21/22S..! ~Luke

Thanks for the info..! Looks like the VF-22S has a pair of internally mounted cannon, whereas the YF-21 has the gunpod mount? I'm sort of drawn to the YF, though... A bit cleaner, with fewer bumps to model. On the less real-world side of things: Where do the legs fit/hide on the 21/22S? I've seen it in Gerwalk mode, and it looks like they just 'magically' sprout from the bottom somewhere? ~Luke

The VF-22 is the same as the YF, except for the canopy is different, correct? (Obviously the VF doesn't have the BDI, etc., but from a modeling point of view....) Anyhow, I started rough-cutting the foam today for the new SV... Unfortunately, I blew the fuse in the hot-wire cutting transformer... I did get the upper nacelle components cut, though... They look good, and are quite light. Didn't get any flight testing in, due to poor weather... (Too gusty.) ~Luke <<Edit: Doi. I meant VF-22, not VF-21.>>

Just a quick update. More testing tomorrow (hopefully, if time allows) and some work on a new SV airframe... All foam and fiberglass, to make it stronger, and save weight... (Plus it will look much more scale. Some shots of the CAD work have been posted on the RC-Groups thread.) Also, I just finished the first couple episodes of the M+ OVA. (My first Macross... ) Now I have to build a YF-21 after the SV-51. (The 21 is just begging for being made into a flying model... Nice simple airframe, with lots of wing.) ~Luke

~Luke

This is a cross-post from RCG, but pretty much covers all the latest flight-data: Well, got quite a bit of testing in, the canards really get the control to a point where I can LAND without damaging anything. Unfortunately, as a side-effect, they also make the airframe nose-light. (I did remove the reflex in the fins after a couple tests, to zero in on the issue.) On every flight, it basically came down to the same thing: On launch, the nose would go up a bit. Naturally, I'd give a down elevator command. After that, it would fly straight, gaining speed, and the control was perfect (though I'd have to hold the down elevator.) On the first turn, it would balloon up a bit and stop in mid-air. (Classic nose-light behavior.) The thrust-vector would get the nose back down enough to putter in and land. (The fans couldn't get the airframe back up on step in time, after the mid-air stop.) After more than an hour of short hops, the airframe was still in one piece, however. This is a big step forwards, and is testimony to the much-improved control system. Towards the end of testing, one of the motors started making a 'click' sound as it was throttled down to 'off'. Sounded like a blade of grass caught in the fan, but I didn't see anything. The last flight went a bit off-course, and I crashed into a fence, while flying at 75 deg. alpha...(!!!) Thrust-vector + canard + nose-light make for very interesting capabilities, it would seem. Very minor damage, but I decided to stop while I was ahead. So, looks like the profile job may have given me the proper CG location after all. The active canards did the trick, all my control headaches are gone, and aside from the motor noise, things are looking good. Could have been better, but could have been a lot worse, too. More modifications coming up. ~Luke

A turbulator is a thin strip of material raised above the surface of the wing, running spanwise, about 1/3 back along the top surface of the wing. It helps to prevent the airflow from 'detaching' from the back of the airfoil, improving stall characteristics, and the effectiveness of any control surfaces behind it. I'd like to try some different mixing strategies on the canards, but because this is a very small model, I can't afford the weight of extra servos. (I'm using two servos, with linkages to the various control systems.) Sounds like non-functional canards are not a good idea, eh? I've got the canards working now, so the next flight should be pretty different... Anyway, it's been misting all day, so no flight to report. Sunday is suppose to clear up though, so hopefully I'll do some testing then. ~Luke

Indeed, crashes are nasty things. Yes the APHOS would be a pretty neat thing... Maybe a bit hard to get to work, though. What I really want are a few CF VF-0As to shoot down. ~Luke