Eurofighter FPV build

[Zeeflyboy]

edit - for those with a short attention span, or just without the time to wade through this massive post, here is a link to the first flight

Eurofighter FPV maiden


Weeeeell...


here's the start of a build log of my current big project! I'm quite excited about this one, hopefully you guys will like it! Apologies if it's too long a read... Hopefully if you're reading this anyway it'll all be of interest to you.

I think the French term "vol en immersion" best sums up my goals here. I want an aircraft with scale cockpit for not just an FPV experience, but a fully immersive experience. It won't offer the best unobstructed view, it won't be the easiest to fly, but it should be a great experience and an absolute blast... If I'm not buzzing after flying it I will have failed!

So first, I started with the design brief:

- Must be big enough to cope with a full array of FPV gear, pan tilt, OSD etc etc
- Must be a Foamy to mitigate damage to property or person should the worst happen! I must point out that I have no intention of flying near either, but you just never know.
- Must be able to belly land, and preferably also be able to take gear in case I find somewhere suitable to fly with a hard runway!
- Must be fun and challenging to fly both short range FPV and LOS as I intend to use it in both roles
- Must be fast and aerobatic to keep my inner speed freak happy!
- Must use high quality components for reliability
- Must be easy to store and transport
- Must have that special something that gets my heart going and offers me a challenge...

Not asking for much....

So after much thought and research I settled on the Freewing 90mm EDF Eurofighter. It fills almost every criteria except for being easy to store and transport... But I have plans for that! I went with the airframe only version (includes servos and retracts too) so I could install my choice of electronics. And boy it's a pretty big birdy! Around 1.4m long and 0.96m span...





So now as for the setup... Here's what I'm going with

- Wemotech 90mm midifan
- Arc 36-55-2 motor
- Kontronik 80+ HV ESC
- 2x Flightpower 4S 3300mah 30c nano in series for one 8S pack.
- HS-85 servo's for the primary flight controls (elevons and canards)

This is not the normal setup, which would be a 6S 4000ish mah based system. This higher voltage setup does however allow me to run around 3Kg of thrust (well in excess of 1:1) very efficiently with the arc motor, with a max amp pull in the mid 60's. All that with almost no change in weight when compared to stock). I am hoping the kontronik's efficiency at partial loads will also be an asset, but the proof will be in the pudding.... The reliability and load coping ability of its BEC was another big reason for the choice. One of the big drawbacks of EDFs is the short flight times, so I'm doing everything I can to extend that here. I am hoping for a good 5-6 mins of mixed flying which should be sufficient for my needs.

Now, one thing I've learned over the years is that you can't beat low weight when you are trying to get the most out of your airframe... To that end this will be an exercise in trying to maintain a relatively weight-neutral outcome! Since I will primarily be belling landing I will be removing the retracts, a total saving of some 250g I believe - that's a big help already. I can also save a little additional weight by removing the lighting system, and by switching to a single servo canard arrangement (apparently it flies better with canards only in pitch anyway).

So Far I've got the below removed:

Main gears (nose gear is yet to be extracted!) - 144g including screws
LED light controller - 4.g
Drop Tanks - 32g (for the pair)
Pilot - 15g
Seat - 16g

So already up at 211g... Assuming the nose gear is around the same weight as the mains that's another 70g or so bringing me up to 281g saved... then i have some wiring to remove, maybe servos for the gear door and steering although i may leave those in for times that I want the gear. Hoping to get to around 300g before I then start adding weight again!

I must say its a shame I'm not using the landing gear as it looks blooming awesome! Suspension all round and proper struts. Surprisingly light actually given they are fully contained electric retracts and have the full strut leg too.



This is the FPV load out:

- Eagle Tree OSD Pro
- Eagle Tree eLogger v4
- Eagletree Guardian stabilisation unit
- Eagletree Alt v4, ASI v3, GPS v4
- Immersion RC 5.4ghz vTX with CP antenna on TX and RX
- Fat Shark RCV922 camera
- Fat Shark Predator goggles with integrated head tracking


Total weight for the FPV gear comes in at approximately 160g, which is quite incredible when you consider what's there!

Of course nothing is perfect out of the box when you have such a specific goals, so to that end there will be some modding here! The mods will cover 3 main areas:

1 - Durability (specifically for belly landing)

I intend to do some mods to protect the leading edges of the wings and canards, and the belly. The most vulnerable part will be the intake at the font, and this will require some thought. Minimal weight gain is key, and rules out glassing IMO... In addition, to protect the overall finish I will be coating it with a few layers of thinned minwax polycrylic.

2 - FPV gear bays and cockpit

All this "avionics" gear needs to go somewhere, and the cockpit area needs to be brought up to snuff... I will probably be making custom covers for the turtle deck so that most of the equipment can be placed there for good CG balance. I'm going to experiment with vacuum forming I think for this. I may also then make my own canopy replacement if I think it's feasible and within my abilities!

3 - Transportability.

It's a big plane and will be awkward to store or transport in one piece. I will be working on a method of using detachable wings that must be as strong or stronger than the epoxy joint that would normally be used. Inspiration partly comes from an old GWS J10 (also a canard + delta wing design) I used to have which had removable wings.... But I'll be trying to use a better implementation. The trick will be keeping everything aligned and adding minimal weight while I'm at it.

So, that's the plan... We'll see how it works out! It's quite a big undertaking and I won't be rushing along so it may take a while to get it all done. I also intended to have a camera capable of HD recording whilst also providing video out, but there's nothing that fits the size constraints or weight targets. I do have an inside track on an upcoming product that might provide just what I'm looking for, but it won't be available until early summer at best. When it becomes available I'll probably fit that instead of the RCV922.

Please feel free to chirp in with any suggestions along the way, I'm very much open to input and criticism (preferably constructive, but beggars can't be choosers!).

Well done for making it to the end of this post, and heres some pics of the euro in question to reward you for making it this far. Let's ding dang do it....

[Pasty]

dude thats a lovely looking model...

[dogzilla]

wow... this is a big project. Looks awesome. can't wait to see some in flight footage :)

[Zeeflyboy]

You and me both! Unfortunately it's not going to be flying for a good while yet.... Still need batteries, fan, motor and to put it all together! this removable wing project might take up some good time too.

Thanks Pasty - unfortunately I can't take credit for that, it was all freewing's doing!

A little update already:

Bit more modest progress this afternoon....

I took a knife to the turtle deck and carefully separated it from the fuselage.... gives so much more room to work on the wiring and will make installation of all my bits and bobs much easier. A little tip if you are cutting foam - wet the blade and keep it wet while you cut.... makes for a much cleaner slice.

Very tempted to add a working speed brake here as per the real thing, but I have to be mindful of adding weight. Might be worth it though!





Next up I installed my pitot tube for the ASI.... I know its not a scale location but practicality won out here - it's just the best place for it to go. I coloured it black, so as to not make it too prominent, using a black permanent marker. I wouldn't recommend paint here unless you are very careful as you could block the static holes, or worse get paint inside the outer static tube.

To install I cut two small discs of balsa, and drilled a hole for the pitot to pass through. I then used a hot metal rod to melt a hole through the foam.... inserted the construction and used gorilla glue (really good foaming glue) to seal it all in there.

Notice that the pitot has a downwards angle - this is to make up for the angle of attack during normal flight and especially slow flight. At this angle I calculate it should be a good middle value between low and high speed AOA, so providing the best possible readings at both ends of the spectrum.







And finally, I've been playing with camera positioning... It's a compromise at the moment between good field of view above the dash, good level of immersion in the plane, and height before the pan servo hits the battery underneath. I would like it just a smidgen lower but can't currently do that without a lower pan/tilt mount as I have no room to go lower with the servo. I quickly hooked it up to a transmitter and tested the view through the goggles - I think it'll probably do but I'll have to wait and see once I have it all done up. Should be easy enough to make some slightly lower A frames for the sides.





So that's that for now...

[skyscraper]

Looks great.


Only thing is ... if you remove the undercarriage... how are you going to takeoff.. handlaunch? looks like it'll need some ...oomf!

Great project anyay. I'll watch with inetrest.

Sets me thinking.. maybe I could do an immersive fpv microlite or even a hang glider ... hmm not quite sure how  tho  :)

regards
Andy

[Zeeflyboy]

Courtesy of 8S power and some pretty nice kit, it should be capable of a good 3Kg of thrust....

Projected all up weight without gear should come in at under 2.3kg and hopefully more like 2.2kg. That will be a thrust to weight of 1.3:1 - enough not only to hover but actually climb out vertically.

That, combined with low speed manoeuvring courtesy of thrust vectoring, plus perhaps launching in the stabilised mode of the guardian, should make launching very easy. I actually really want to try out the method in this video below

Seb Art Mig29 triple flip, harriers and hovers

Theoretically mine should due capable of all that.... even with the FPV gear, as they both have the same thrust to weight and thrust vectoring.... theoretically. Of course I'm not suggesting flying like that is possible FPV style, but the launch should due simple enough.

[papa_lazerous]

Could be a cool project, just watched the youtube video. It's amazing what you can do when over powered, with thrust vectoring and gyro stabalised  :o

[micarus]

Super looking build and very cool plane, why not use a catapult like I do on the" Crow" as using high alpha takeoff and flight leaves you with no visibility! <ask me how I know! :o> . Hope you get her flying, the cockpit veiw will be great.
Will you use gyros on the canards?

         Good luck    MIKE. :P :P
                   

[g.collins]

 :thumbsup: Great plane, cant what to see this one going.
;) G

[phibin]

ooohhh.... Nice!  ;D

[Zeeflyboy]

mic - thanks, just looked up your stuff on that.

I must admit I've always been sceptical of bungee launching ever since I had a hook fail to release and it utterly obliterated one of my planes when I was a kid lol. It may be worth looking at but if I can get away without it I'd prefer to for simplicity. No problem with the takeoff being in high alpha as long as I point it in a sensible direction... shortly after takeoff I can transition to normal flight and see where i'm going again! The AHI and stabilisation of the eagle tree with guardian would be quite helpful on that front I think during the initial climb out....

The canards won't be hooked to the gyro, and I will actually be rigging them up so they only operate in pitch like the real one. The roll aspect to the canards adds unneeded complication and makes the rolls less axial. Plus it means I can run off a single servo.... only the elevons and thrust vectoring will be gyro controlled.

Cheers guys... just about to order the bits I need to embark upon the removable wing project - that's the scariest aspect of this build because it has the potential to totally screw up the airframe lol.

[skyscraper]

I must admit I've always been sceptical of bungee launching ever since I had a hook fail to release and it utterly obliterated one of my planes when I was a kid lol. It may be worth looking at but if I can get away without it I'd prefer to for simplicity. No problem with the takeoff being in high alpha as long as I point it in a sensible direction... shortly after takeoff I can transition to normal flight and see where i'm going again! The AHI and stabilisation of the eagle tree with guardian would be quite helpful on that front I think during the initial climb out....

Thats all very well but what about the dreaded "first launch"? Surely you not planning to fly off a propped up door for that ?

How about a takeoff dolly and a runway first time out?  :)

regards
Andy

[Pasty]

with that kinda thrust using the ground is a waste of energy. hold plane in one hand, point generally towards the sky, give it full beans and let go.... easy.

I hand launch a 2kg wing with alot less power to weight than that, a simple side arm launch and it its away everytime.

[Zeeflyboy]

As pasty says I'm expecting it to be a very easy hand launcher... The guys that have launched this say it almost floats out your hands with a gentle nudge, so with the extra thrust it should be even easier. Hand launched quite a few models in the past and never had a problem.

Needless to say the first few flights won't be FPV anyway, but I'll probably get a friend to hand launch for the maiden just so I'm in a good position to correct any tendencies.

I think a dolly would be more trouble than it's worth, and I lack anywhere with a good runway anyway, hence the removal of the retracts. Thanks for the suggestion though - I appreciate all input!

[Zeeflyboy]

So another update - today I made my first "avionics" bay... This one for the GPS unit. The problem with the euro always seems to be getting the CG far back enough, and to help counter the weight in the nose with the camera and what-not I've installed the GPS unit fairly far back.

I thought if I'm going to be adding panels, they may as well follow the existing panel lines on the body. Little bit more tricky shape wise but not too bad.... once painted I think it'll be nigh on invisible.

So I hogged out the bay using a dremel, then coated it in a very thin layer of epoxy just to help replace any strength that may have been lost due to the foam removal (although it's pretty chunky here, so I doubt it mattered... better safe than sorry).





I then made a hole through to the spine where the wires will all run up and down and popped the GPS in to test fit.





And then finally made a panel out of thin plasticard, glued in some small wood struts and installed the panel... here's how it looks all buttoned up.





Quite chuffed with how it came out. Weight of the panel with screws is about 2g.... probably not much more than the weight of the foam that was hogged out. Total weight added including epoxy and wood is around 5g. I'm not sure if the GPS unit gets hot as I haven't fired it up yet, but if so I will mould a small air intake into the panel, there's a channel through down into the main duct (pre EDF) too so it will draw air out through there.