Eurofighter FPV build

[Zeeflyboy]

So, another day another little update...

This euro doesn't come with a functioning rudder, which is a shame. They rely on the fact that you have thrust vectoring for yaw I assume, but I like to had a rudder for co-ordinating turns and slight cross wind landings. Plus it's supposed to have a rudder... so lets make one!

The easy option would be to cut a space for a servo, cut out the rudder and hook it up.

I don't really love the look of the servo horns sticking out the rudder however, and I want aerodynamic!

As it happens, a chap on regroups discovered the servo for the yaw thrust vectoring is almost perfectly positioned to allow a rod straight down past it from the rudder above. This means you can run both the rudder and yaw vectoring off a single servo... lovely! I had to move the servo backwards ever so slightly and will post pics of that along with the linkages at a later date as I still need to buy some bits for that.

Here's the rudder mod though so far. Obviously will be needing a lick of grey paint too!






 

And a little more work on the cockpit... I've managed to move the camera a little further down, the view is now better to my taste... I Printed out some real eurofighter screens on photo paper, cut to size and then stuck them in place of the blank screens. No one wants to see a blank screen while they are flying! The little one for the standby AHI in the top right was a bit tricky to get right because it's so small! Still need to get some paint and just do some scale touches, but it's already looking much better to me.

I've also modded the control stick to move with aileron, but just waiting on some 3.7g servos which will be doing the moving. You can see in the second pic the control stick extending down through the floor. This will then be hooked up to the 3.7g servo which will be wired up with the aileron output on the rx. Next up I need to make some arms and legs, and find some hands the right size.








So, baby steps but it keeps on moving! Now considering using a LRS as well though and switching to 2.4ghz video.... It would allow me to fly lower and closer to trees etc which is where the fun's to be had. Plus of course I can use it on any future long range fpv platforms... and it means I can fly without too much fear of going out of range. Despite the limited duration, due to the speed of this thing I could happily fly a 6+ mile round trip too if I so wanted, so perhaps it's not so crazy. Decisions decisions...

[FPVSteve]

Seeing the work thats gone into this I really, really, really, really, really really hope it doesn't end up a crater.

[Zeeflyboy]

Unfortunately the work has only just begun!

Yes, there will definitely be some tears at bed time if it all goes horribly wrong... but I'm willing to accept it's a possibility. Hopefully not until I've had many enjoyable hours of flying out of it but you never know!

I'm doing my best to make sure all the kit is reliable, the install will be thoroughly gone over and tested many times before going FPV, so hopefully that just leaves muggins here as the weak link.

[Zeeflyboy]

Thanks guys...

Been a busy few days with too much work for my liking, but I have made a bit more progress!

So here are the Eagletree Altimeter and ASI installed. Anyone know why eagle tree stopped using the shared static source like they did on the v3 altimeter? I was planning on hooking it up to the same static source but I see now you can't on the v4. I hope there isn't enough airflow through the "cabin" to affect it when the fan is pulling hard, but time will tell. You can also see some cut outs in the foam that make space for the movement of throttle levers and control stick...






I also installed the Guardian stabiliser here... It's installed so that the unit is level at about 4-5 degrees nose up, which should be a good starting point for cruise attitude on a delta wing. It's fairly close to the CG as well, as close as I can reasonably get it anyway!






And the most time consuming - making all the cables and figuring out where to put everything! the bulk of the equipment (OSD Pro, eLogger, vTX) has been installed very close to the CG point so as to have minimal impact on balancing. I also installed 2mm plywood braces to keep the structure strong where it's been cut, and installed my new EZUHF 8chlite RX.... The "spine" then just sits over the top of the central part and covers it all up. I still need to make a couple of covers for the eLogger USB access bay and the vTX bay. I'll be incorporating a cooling duct into the one with the vTX as I know that likes to get hot!








While I have gone with the EZUHF for control, I'm currently going to stick with my 5.8GHz vTX to save some dosh! I will later get an immersionrc 2.4ghz and I can then have it modularly replaceable - If I want to fly with friends on 2.4GHz I can plug in the 5.4GHZ unit, if I want to fly further I can plug in the 2.4GHz unit and setup a 2.4ghz ground station with a 5.4ghz repeater to my goggles... Should be a nice solution, and quick to swap over.

Following advice from Sander (much appreciated chap!) antenna for the EZUHF Lite receiver will be a "sander style" dipole, the top half will be installed inside the tail fin, the negative will just be a loose wire free to dangle.

[6lennn]

i have to say Zee, I love your plane, looking forward to seeing it cut through the air

[TinUK74]

Like everyone else, I love this build!

One question what is that 5-lobed vtx antenna?  some form of skew?

[Zeeflyboy]

Cheers!

It's a fan antenna, I just popped it on there for testing because I couldn't find my windmill antenna and I had this one lying around spare. I'm using a turbine on the vrx.

Just been playing around with the OSD Pro, it's my first OSD and I must say so far it looks brilliant! I love the speed and alt ladders and artificial horizon from the guardian...

[Pasty]

Its a shame you've had to cut into the top of the fuz, is that being covered by the turtle deck again? I wouldnt have been worried about putting the smaller bits of gear on the cofg, they wont have that impact on the cofg as their weight is almost negligible, getting them tucked away without spoiling the airframe with cables running nicely would have been my priority.

[Zeeflyboy]

You'd be surprised... Every little bit makes a difference! For ease of access I really needed to do some cutting too.

Have a little faith though, I don't think the airframe will be spoiled in the end ;)

[Pasty]

You'd be surprised...

I doubt it, been flying and building (scratch building my own designs mainly) for many years, theres not a lot that surprises me these days ;)

[Coyote]

This build is looking really good, I really like it :)

[Zeeflyboy]

Well i promise you it does make a difference in this build, the euro is already tending towards nose heavy as standard and removing the gear shifts that CG even further forward. There's limited space to move batteries back even with a split pack, and the cockpit with camera is well forward of the CG giving it quite a large moment arm.

The eLogger, OSD and VTX + antenna make up the bulk of the weight of the FPV system and clock in at close to 100g all said and done. The last thing I needed was all that in the cockpit area along with the camera pulling the CG yet further forward.

As I say though, have a little faith ;)

[Pasty]

Not doubting ya buddy, just having a little chat :)

Theres many ways to skin a cat ;)

[g.collins]

I would FPV the Habu, but 3 to 4 minutes flight doesn't seem worth it.
this build is looking good tho.
;) G

[Zeeflyboy]

here's a sneak peek especially for you pasty ;)

I just need to make up two of the white plastic covers for the VTX and eLogger as well, then obviously all will be painted to match the body. the only thing that will stand out is the vTX antenna, but there's not much I can do about that really I guess!

Indeed there are many ways to skin the poor old cat, and I do appreciate the input so keep it coming!






Coyote/G - cheers! Yeah the one thing I wanted was to make sure I had a little bit longer flight time than the typical EDF. Should be good for 5-6mins minimum and hopefully able to stretch it out another minute or so depending on flying style... short but sweet! Cruise speed should be around 60mph at a reasonable throttle setting, which in theory would mean you could cover around 5-6 miles in that short little time window.

In other news, looks like I might have just picked up a second hand Futaba 10C for my EZUHF... whoop!