Eurofighter FPV build

[Funky Diver]

Very nice, very very nice.

Looking forwards to the vids on this bad boy :)

[Zeeflyboy]

thanks as ever guys!

Anyway - another not very exciting mini-update:

I made my "spinal cord" this evening.... the conduit that carries the PPM signal up the aircraft to the OSD pro and the decoder up front. Since it passes nearby the ESC and is quite a long cable I decided to go shielded as per my diagram. One small difference however - I used firewire cable as I couldn't get hold of any shielded cat 6 at the store.

Here is what the cable looks like broken up... you have an outer braid, a foil wrap, then inside two "heavy guage" power lines, and two pairs of thin gauge wire individually wrapped in foil and surrounded by yet more wire strands. I used the power for power obviously, and then used one shielded pair together for the signal.






Put it all together in a way that fits in the aircraft and I ended up with this... all exposed servo wire is braided to reduce possible interference, there is a 4th wire wrapped around the servo wires between the two sections to carry the shield ground across, and as you can see an extra wire at the end with a 2mm bullet to connect the shielding to battery ground.






I also mounted my vertical stabiliser today as a removable piece. I also used the same idea with the connectors as the cockpit so it all plugs itself in for the rudder when you fit it. I can't take pics because my camera has run out of juice... tomorrow I'll upload it.

[Funky Diver]

For the quick connect canopy doof, what did you use for the connection part?

[Coyote]

Super sleek wiring :)

[Zeeflyboy]

For the quick connect canopy doof, what did you use for the connection part?

I used these http://www.fast-lad.co.uk/store/quantum_plug_q-he-0001-p-16778.html

Quite good because they have a small chamfer and countersink which helps to guide the pin in if it's slightly out of line... very small too.

I then just sandwiched them between two pieces of plywood to create a plug.... the glue one into one part, cut a slightly oversized hole in the opposite part. Connect the plug together and then apply some glue (carefully - you don't want parts not plugs getting glued together!) to the oversized hole. Put the pieces together and allow to dry - et voila, alignment is taken care of. Now just finish off by adding some glue if necessary to fully hold the other plug in position.

I'm using the same method on all the detachable bits - the rudder, the wings and the canopy.

Coyote - cheers! still a bit messy at the moment though. I just hacked apart my canopy too because I wanted to redo the lighting  :o

[Zeeflyboy]

so, I almost horrified myself with the mere thought, but I just hacked apart my cockpit because I wanted to re-do the lighting.

Same number of LEDs but each screen area now has it's own led a bit closer providing better lighting, and the 4th led has been relocated into the upper pod to provide better illumination up there and also much stronger output towards the HUD. it may require a second led to get the level of illumination I require though.

I also made a new HUD out of lexan, as the old one wasn't very clear, had a bit of white from super glue on it, and not very shiny. I want it as reflective as possible to return any light.

you can also see I re-did the led board and moved it closer in (allowed by the fact that I cut apart the cockpit) and covered it in foil for a reflective surface which should hopefully result in more uniform lighting. you can also see the small mount I made for the upper unit LED. I'm about to remake this with a dual LED up there to hopefully make the HUD glow more visible in daylight.

[SouthPawPaul]

I love the effort that you're putting into the small details on this build. It looks stunning and the workmanship is just great.

When this flies, I reckon it'll be a build/flight that people will be referring to for years :)

[FPVSteve]

Have to agree there, everything that I see on this just screams awesome.

[Zeeflyboy]

Far too kind! Nothing I've done here is particularly difficult, if I can manage it then for sure anyone else here can... they probably just have better things to do with their time lol.

Here's an additional photo of the now boxed up cockpit. I made three more "mirror panels" as per the main one at the back using plastic card and aluminium foil, cut to size and then boxed it all in. Now just needs the glue to dry and a spot of filler/paint to make it all perfect....  I also added the second led for HUD so I now have a pair projecting light up there. Certainly shows up a bit better but still more or less invisible in direct sunlight. Shows up nicely as you hit the shade though and in early evening.






And here's the removable tail plane mod I've been working on.... I apologise if it's all looking a bit rough and ready but I just wanted functional for now, then I can tidy up later!

I would have used carbon, but the EZUHF antenna is located right in amongst it and aligned in the same plane so I had to come up with another plan. Of course, nature has an answer for most problems, so I used wood! It's an Ecofighter...

As you can see from the pics, there are two main struts set into the tail which do the job of holding it straight.... There are then three neodymium magnets which hold it down with some surprising force. I then repeated the same idea with the hot plug style connection so that the rudder servo automatically hooks itself up when the tail plane is fitted. The combination results in a quick pull off/snap on tail that is very rigid and as you can see I think the alignment is pretty much spot on. Let me know what you think!


The two parts next to each other:




The pins on the plug aligning before snapping in - I had to put a foam block to wedge the tail open here because the magnets are pulling quite hard at this distance:






The tail fitted:

[Zeeflyboy]

Sorry for the update flood today (what is that, 4 updates now in one day?) but I'm just getting caught up on some bits and bobs I've been working on when I have a spare moment here and there.

In that vein, here's another....

Work has begun on the wings! The main spars are still MIA, but that doesn't mean I can't get on with stuff... bare in mind this is all a bit DIY style and I'm just inventing my methods as I go along!

Here you can see the wing with two 5mm "mini-spars" inserted and glued in alongside their neodymium magnets... they extend a fair depth into the wing and are very solidly mounted using gorilla glue. The servo has been treated to the same hot plug style connector system as the tail and the cockpit. You can also see the markings for the main spars when my materials eventually arrive (or I give up and order more). I also used some plastic card and epoxy to build the leading edge tip by the wing root into a sharp edge. The whole front slats area will be glassed with light weight 25gm tissue and PU.





And here we start building their counterparts in the fuselage... some aluminium tube cut to length and inserted into an oversize hole. The wing is offered up and held in alignment, while gorilla glue foams up and sets the tube into position, all nicely aligned.... we then end up with this:





Next I poured in some epoxy resin to the square cut out around the tube to act as a bulkhead giving much more strength to the tube set into the foam.






Then used a countersink to bevel the edges to make inserting the wing much easier and smoother. It also helps when removing the wing as the edges don't catch if you pull the wing at a slight angle.






rinse and repeat at the rear, and then take a picture





And here is the wing being inserted into place:







So, that's that for now. I need to do the same with the other wing of course, and then I need to wait for my big carbon weave spars to arrive.

[Zeeflyboy]

so, yet another mini update lol

I didn't like how dexter's legs were stuffed right up against the dash - didn't look quite right to me. I took advantage of the dashboard being out to make amens and give him some less weird looking legs... I also adjusted my pan tilt mechanism which moves the camera another cm or so backwards to give an even greater field of view.




and here you can see his legs look much better now and less like a toy that's been stuffed in there. I also used a lighter tone grey on the screen area to give the two tone dash of the real thing... still got some small paint details to tidy up, the side panels to do, and some more general tidying work to do but there aren't enough hours in the day....




Now I'm really done for the updates for a little while. Maybe.

[FPVSteve]

Update as much as you like mate, this is class :)

[Zeeflyboy]

Hah, don't want you all getting bored too quickly! Got to keep the suspense up... lol

I know I said I was done for the updates but I just tested the rudder and thought I'd post a quick vid with the thrust vectoring as well... the led tail light is actually white not blue... that's an iPhone camera for you...


Freewing eurofighter rudder & thrust vector

[Funky Diver]

Mebbe some flight suit details :P



Looking really good fella, and thanks for the link to those connectors, much obliged.

[6lennn]

Im quickly running out of superlatives

love this build, keep it coming