Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build - Flight Test

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Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build (/authors/Rocketman1092)

by Rocketman1092 (/authors/Rocketman1092) | May 21, 2014 |  (116)  Posted in Projects (/types/projects)


Hey everyone,

This is my rst article on Flite Test. I generally post over on RCGroups, but gured that this community might be interested in seeing my latest project - an EDF
powered model of the X-47B UCAS. 

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Some background about myself - I'm a recent graduate of the aeronautical and astronautical engineering program at Purdue University and work at a major
aerospace company. I used many of the design and optimization tools I had learned in my studies to determine the important aspects of the aircraft, so sizing,
battery weight fraction, wing and power loading, airfoil, and wing twist distribution were all found mathematically. In addition, I perfomed some wind tunnel
testing after the build in order to assess the performance and control. I've done my best to document the entire process, and will update this post as ight
testing continues. Enjoy!

Weight Estimation
I needed to gure out how big the airplane would be before I could start CAD design and pick a power system. The rst step to sizing the model was estimating
the total weight and empty weight. I rst put together a ight pro le in order to determine how much total energy the batteries need to contain. It's pretty much
a big list of guesses and estimations, and it's usually repeated a few times over the course of the preliminary design. The pro le I came up with is:

- A 10 second takeo run to a speed of about 60 ft/s


- A 30 second climb at a speed of 75 ft/s
- 3 minutes of cruise ight at about 90 ft/s
- About a minute of turning ight at 90 ft/s (this needs to be accounted for separately than cruise, since the airplane produces more lift & drag while turning)

There are some performance approximations as well, such as:

- A lift-to-drag ratio of 16
- Speed controller e ciency of 98%
- Average motor e ciency of 60%
- Propulsive (fan) e ciency of 40%

My code then calculated the energy required for each phase of the ight pro le and then added them all up. The result is a fraction that represents how much
of the airplane's weight should be made up of battery. It comes out at 16% for the values listed above, which seems reasonable as a rst estimate.

Next, I made a plot in Excel that's just a straight line of payload weight plus battery weight versus total aircraft weight. In this case, "payload weight" is the

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Ardupilot along with all its sensors and wiring. I plotted another "historical data" line that represents average battery weight versus airplane weight for a list of
similar R/C models. The point where the two lines intersect indicates the AUW that I should design for. The result is between 5 and 5.5 lb. You'll see later that the
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actual AUW ended up around 6 lb, which fortunately was close enough to the design value to meet all of the performance constraints.

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Constraint Diagram
The next step in the process was generating the constraint diagram. This takes advantage of the fact that pretty much every performance parameter depends
on wing loading and power loading. It essentially produces a range of feasible wing and power loading combinations for my model. The inputs are:
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General Assumptions:
- Aspect
 ratio of 3.99
- Zero-lift
70 drag coe cient of 0.03
- 40% propulsive e ciency
- 60% motor  e ciency
- Oswald (span)
 e ciency factor of 0.60

Takeo Performance:
- Zero elevation (for air density)
- Maximum lift coe cient of 1.3
- 75 foot takeo run

Landing Performance:
- Zero elevation (for air density)
- Maximum lift coe cient of 1.3
- 75 foot takeo run
- Rolling friction coe cient of 0.2

Ceiling Constraint:
- 1000 ft ceiling (this constraint is almost never relevant for R/C models)

Rate of Climb Performance:


- 1000 ft/min

Maximum Speed Performance:


- 300 ft altitude
- 90 ft/s maximum speed

Turn Performance:
- 300 ft altitude
- 70 ft/s airspeed
- Load factor of 2 (sustained 60 degree bank)

The program solves the equations for each constraint in terms of power loading over a range of wing loading values. The design space is the area where all of
the constraints are satis ed, and it's marked out on the plot. From here, it seems like a 25 oz/sq.ft wing loading and about 150W/lb will t comfortably in the
design space. The active constraints are landing, rate of climb, and maximum speed, while the rest of the constraints are easily satis ed. However, a good rule of
thumb is to multiply wing loading for a ying wing by 0.7 since the twist causes the tips to be very lightly loaded. So, I'll be designing the airplane for a wing
loading of about 17.5 oz/sq.ft. For this planform, it'll end up around a 55" span.

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Weight & Balance


I planned to use XFLR5 to analyze aerodynamic performance and dynamic stability, but I needed inertia properties rst. This is kinda like the "chicken and the
egg" paradox, since I couldn't build the detailed CAD model until after the analysis is done but I needed the detailed inertia properties in order to run the
analysis. The best I could do to start is to let XFLR5 calculate the inertia for the wing structure itself, then approximate everything else as point masses. I used a
ying wing CG calculator to nd a baseline center of gravity location, and then I found weights for all of the components and distributed them around the
model. I tweaked some things at the end so that the actual CG would be close to where it's supposed to be. This should be accurate enough for the analysis, and
it also helped me to locate components when I start the CAD process.

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Aerodynamic Analysis
To choose the airfoil for this model, I started with the NACA 64(1)-212 and added twist and refex to control the lift distribution, which is important for tailless
models. I elected to go for a bell-shaped lift distribution that's essentially a sine curve to the power of 2.5. I believe this approach was pioneered by the Horten
brothers, and it not only creates longitudinal stability but some lateral stability as well. The design ended up with a range of twist from zero degrees at the root
to -3.6 degrees at the tip. The resulting lift distribution in level ight matches the "ideal" distribution quite nicely, and the airplane is both statically stable and
trimmed in pitch. 

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CAD Design
After I knew the wing span and airfoil, I could get started with the CAD design in CATIA V5. I imported a 3-view of the full scale aircraft, and used it to outline the
model. This process took several months, but it's pretty well summarized from start to nish in the set of renderings below.

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Mold Fabrication
I started manufacturing molds right after the CAD design was completed. They're made from MDF, which was cut with a 5-axis CNC mill and sealed with Feather
Fill primer. This method is durable enough to produce a few airframes, but not too expensive. 

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Skin Layups
The composite skins are a sandwitch of berglass cloth with a thin foam core. It took some experimenting to determine that this method was best for sti ness
and weight. Everything was done using a wet layup and a vacuum bag.

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Internal Structure
The internal structural parts were cut by laser from some 1/8" plywood. They were assembled rst, then glued inside the skins during the joining process. Much
clamping ensured a tight t.

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Removal from Molds


De-molding composite parts for the rst time always feels like Christmas morning. Here are the X-47B parts fresh from their molds.

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Gear & Doors


It was easiest to install the landing gear and doors next, while the model could still be rested inside the molds. All of the hinges are laser cut plywood, and no
two are identical. This is because the many complex curves mean that the hinge geometry must be precisly controlled. Each gear door has it's own small servo,
and an Arduino controls the sequence of motions.

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Ducting & Fan Mounting


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are made from berglass, shaped using a positive plug. A hatch in the electronics
mounting plate allows access to the fan after the model is assembled.

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Control Surfaces & Wing Mounting


The control surfaces, servos, and remaining electronics were the last to add. Pin hinges were used for elevators and ailerons, while tape hinges were used for
drag spoilers. The outer wings slide on with a carbon joiner tube and are retained by a thumb nut inside each landing gear bay.

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Wind Tunnel Testing


When assembly was complete, the entire airplane was mounted into a large subsonic wind tunnel. This let me gather lift, drag, and pitching moment data and
allso allowed me to trim the model before it ever left the ground.

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First Flight
Finally, the model was ready to y! I installed some vertical tails for initial ights that will stay until the ArduPilot's yaw controller is tuned. The plane ew great,
and looks awesome in the air. No trimming was required.

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That's it for now, thanks for reading! I'll be doing some more ight testing over the next couple of weeks, and will also be painting and detailing the model. Stay
tuned!
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Update: 6/7/2014: 

Got the model painted and nished! Paint is Testors Neutral Gray, and decals were custom made by Callie Graphics. I'm very happy with the result! Hopefully
the solid color won't cause any orientation troubles while ying. 

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Update: Here is some additional ight video from the 4th and 5th ights.

Update 2: I've only own the X-47B a few times recently, as I'm not making much progress on tailless ight. Debating a switch from APM to AS3X, as I only need
stabilization and I think it might be an easier approach. Here are some more ight photos.

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()

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COMMENTS
Buddah (/authors/Buddah) on May 23, 2014
()

Just Wow.
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ShaunMartin (/authors/ShaunMartin) on May 23, 2014


()

Holy moly. This looks like it should be classi ed. :)


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jhummel (/authors/jhummel) on August 10, 2014


()

X1
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mcwalkman (/authors/mcwalkman) on May 23, 2014


()

How many sheets of Dollar Tree foam board?


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Good Kebo (/authors/Good Kebo) on May 24, 2014


()

;)
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Drbudd (/authors/Drbudd) on September 5, 2017


()

https://www.flitetest.com/articles/northrop-grumman-x-47b-design-build 38/46
29/04/2018 Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build | Flite Test

Lmao
 (/articles/mf-x36-jepson-free-plans)
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TehMaxwell (/authors/TehMaxwell) on May 23, 2014


()

That is.....awesome! How much? XD


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Willsonman (/authors/Willsonman) on May 23, 2014


()

(/authors/Rocketman1092)
Epic composite building. Love it.
Log In (/me/login) to reply

apnewton (/authors/apnewton) on May 23, 2014


()

Six stars. Superior article


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Battershell (/authors/Battershell) on May 23, 2014


()
Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build
Simply put....... WOW!
 (/articles/my-hometown)
Log In (/me/login) to reply

70

LordVader (/authors/LordVader) on May 23, 2014
() 


This blows my mind, so cool. I would love to see the plans for a DTFB build. I can't wait to see what else you have in mind. Thanks for sharing.

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Rocketman1092 (/authors/Rocketman1092) on May 23, 2014


()

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the article!

I actually built a simple at foam version of this airplane last year so that I could test the control layout. Uses a typical pusher jet power system and
doesn't need a ight stabilizer, though some rudder input is needed here and there to keep it pointed straight. I'll put some plans together and add them
to the article.
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engineer (/authors/engineer) on May 23, 2014


()

Amazing. Great job! Looking forward to more articles from you!


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MT Alex (/authors/MT Alex) on May 23, 2014


()

Absolutely fantastic! Looks like all of the money spent on your higher education wasn't in vain. :) Good luck with your new job.
Log In (/me/login) to reply

spetnazer (/authors/spetnazer) on May 23, 2014


()

Waoooowwwww....really...really fantastic...awesome.....Your technique is very professional


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Yogenh (/authors/Yogenh) on May 23, 2014


()

I love it you did a really great job with it. hehehehe could make me one????
You did great!!!!!!!!!!!

https://www.flitetest.com/articles/northrop-grumman-x-47b-design-build 39/46
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 (/articles/mf-x36-jepson-free-plans)

#3 (/authors/#3) on May 23, 2014


()

nished product is fantastic pictures great if you ever sell a kit i would like to get one. the parts of your article that have charts and any words were way
over my head ,but not the way my rc planes are over my head lol thanks for sharing
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FPVAdventures (/authors/FPVAdventures) on May 23, 2014


()

(/authors/Rocketman1092)
Wow, and here I am thinking I'm cool for using a ruler to cut my foamboard in a straight line. That is an incredible build and I can't wait to see it y without
the vertical stabilizers.
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Carmatious (/authors/Carmatious) on May 24, 2014


()

Sir, this piece of work is professional, hence fabulous.


You have further shed light into my pursuit into the eld of
aerospace engineering; marvelous Sir. Thank You.
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Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build


Carmatious (/authors/Carmatious) on May 24, 2014
 (/articles/my-hometown)
()

70this an independent project? If you don't mind could you include your RCGroups pro le.
Was

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Carmatious (/authors/Carmatious) on May 24, 2014
() 

What "code" did you use and did you program Arduino yourself? Sorry, a lot of questions.
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Rocketman1092 (/authors/Rocketman1092) on May 24, 2014


()

I have a MATLAB script that I wrote back during my senior design course that constructs the constraint diagram plot. Regarding the Arduino, I found some
code online that someone else wrote for a landing gear sequencer, then I just modi ed it to suit my needs.
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MT Alex (/authors/MT Alex) on May 24, 2014


()

What kind of troll would give this article less than ve stars?
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gmyers2112 (/authors/gmyers2112) on May 24, 2014


()

so this took a couple of days then?

It looked like it needed the whole runway. Was there power enough or do you think you'll up it a bit? Everything else was pretty much way past anything
I'll ever be able to do and really cool. Are you going to mount a camera for FPV (or classi ed recon missions)?
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Rocketman1092 (/authors/Rocketman1092) on May 24, 2014


()

Power is ne, it's just di cult for the model to rotate because the main landing gear is a good distance behind the CG. It's in the scale location, but the CG
on the full size aircraft is pretty far aft, like many ghter jets. I'm hoping that I can get a shorter takeo roll by lengthening the nosegear so that the model
sits at a positive angle of attack.

No plans for FPV, though I'd like to add a GPS module, airspeed sensor, and LIDAR Lite as soon as it's available for Ardupilot. That way I can do
autonomous ight, including takeo and landing.
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Force5 (/authors/Force5) on May 24, 2014


(/articles/mf-x36-jepson-free-plans)
()

WOW !! Congratulations! Where did you build it? That's a nice facility.

Great article, thanks for sharing. Looking forward to future reports.


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Kurt0326 (/authors/Kurt0326) on May 24, 2014


()

Good job! With a professional shop like yours you could design anything I'm sure. Now will the next upgrade feature the folding wings?
Log In (/me/login) to reply (/authors/Rocketman1092)

gremlin88 (/authors/gremlin88) on May 24, 2014


()

That is the most amazing plane I've ever seen! I would be cool if you worked with the FliteTest guys to make a small foam board version.
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gremlin88 (/authors/gremlin88) on May 24, 2014


()

Also, do the wings fold?


Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build
Log In (/me/login) to reply
 (/articles/my-hometown)

Rocketman1092
70 (/authors/Rocketman1092) on May 24, 2014
() 

I'm working
 on plans for a foam board version and will post them soon! The wings are removable, but do not fold.
Log In (/me/login)
 to reply

FTDude (/authors/FTDude) on May 24, 2014


()

WOW! Beautiful build. Completely amazing.


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earthsciteach (/authors/earthsciteach) on May 24, 2014


()

Fantastic project! Its great to see something other than DTFB on here! You have access to some amazing tools!

Are you performing the constraint analysis using a software package or did you set up and Excel spreadsheet to do that?

How much of the analysis were you able to do in XFLR5 and how accurate did it turn out to be?

LOVE THIS!
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Rocketman1092 (/authors/Rocketman1092) on May 24, 2014


()

It was done in MATLAB, but the equations aren't overly complicated so I think Excel would be capable enough to do it. Now that you mention it, maybe I'll
put together a constraint analysis spreadsheet and post it somewhere. Might help scratch-builders determine the right wing and power loadings to get the
performance they want.

I used XFLR5 primarily to gure out how much twist and re ex I needed to achieve the bell shaped lift distribution that's desirable for tailless aircraft. I also
did a stability analysis to see how the model would behave. I haven't yet tried to verify these things, but I suppose I could use the Ardupilot's data logging
to try and look at the dynamic stability. At some point, I'll also get the lift, drag, and pitching moment plots from my XFLR5 model and see how close they
are to the wind tunnel data.
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earthsciteach (/authors/earthsciteach) on May 24, 2014


()

Also, can you elaborate on the skin molding? What weight cloth did you use and did you use DTFB? What resin system?

https://www.flitetest.com/articles/northrop-grumman-x-47b-design-build 41/46
29/04/2018 Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build | Flite Test
Thanks!
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 (/articles/mf-x36-jepson-free-plans)

Rocketman1092 (/authors/Rocketman1092) on May 24, 2014


()

The skins are made up of two layers of 2oz glass cloth, followed by a ~2mm sheet of XPS foam and nally a third layer of 2oz glass on the back side. I
imagine that Depron or DTFB would work as well if it were sliced to the proper thickness - the pink foam is just what I had available. I initially tried some
layups without the foam sandwich core, but couldn't get an acceptable amount of rigidity.
Log In (/me/login) to reply

itssean95 (/authors/itssean95) on May 24, 2014


()
(/authors/Rocketman1092)
i've never seen so much precision put into an RC plane
Log In (/me/login) to reply

Chad (/authors/Chad) on May 25, 2014


()

Great work!
Log In (/me/login) to reply

spoonerisms (/authors/spoonerisms) on May 25, 2014


()
Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build
 (/articles/my-hometown)
Holy @$#%! Never seen so much research and work put into a plane! Great job!

Log In (/me/login) to reply
70


val0production (/authors/val0production) on May 25, 2014

()


Catia is so beautiful ^^ !
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Non Action Man (/authors/Non Action Man) on May 26, 2014


()

superb! absolutely amazing work!


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bigrocketnerd (/authors/bigrocketnerd) on May 26, 2014


()

Holy Cra*. Way to throw the technology at the problem. Impressive for sure! I can't wait for the Wave Rider.
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carsonpauli (/authors/carsonpauli) on May 27, 2014


()

Just wow is all can say. Great work


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danallen82 (/authors/danallen82) on May 27, 2014


()

Mind Blown! You just raised the bar too high for this site ;). You made the best use of the CNC, laser cutter, and ber glass molding that I have ever seen.
Bravo! I can't wait to see more, and what you do with ArduPilot, great choice btw.
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Skipp2Maloo (/authors/Skipp2Maloo) on May 27, 2014


()

NASA is looking for you! That's Awesome!!!!


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PetterKien (/authors/PetterKien) on May 27, 2014

https://www.flitetest.com/articles/northrop-grumman-x-47b-design-build 42/46
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()

 (/articles/mf-x36-jepson-free-plans)
People already said it, but just wanted to add my: Wowww...
Crazy job, congratulation!
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3DMad5 (/authors/3DMad5) on May 27, 2014


()

Wow! Very impressive!


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JulietKiloMike (/authors/JulietKiloMike) on May 28, 2014


(/authors/Rocketman1092)
()

I created a FliteTest account just to rate your article and compliment you on your build; it's absolutely amazing...wonderful job! You blew my mind :o
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ndcappa (/authors/ndcappa) on August 1, 2014


()

x2
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jhummel (/authors/jhummel)
Northrop Grumman X-47B on Design
August 10,
&2014
Build
()
 (/articles/my-hometown)

X3
70
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hursto75 (/authors/hursto75) on May 28, 2014

()

Your shop is amazing and your work is better!! Love when graphs are included. Thanks so much, more videos.
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Ron (/authors/Ron) on May 29, 2014


()

Great job in creating this. I had thought about making a RC model of this aircraft but don't have the tools or talent. Obviously you do though. I would love
to see a longer video of this in ight.
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rc yer729 (/authors/rc yer729) on May 29, 2014


()

that is so cool great job


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Rocketman1092 (/authors/Rocketman1092) on May 30, 2014


()

At some point, I'll de nitely put a longer ight video up. I'm up to 4 ights now, and have mostly been working on tuning the gains for the Ardupilot. I can't
decide whether to use stabilization on all 3 axes or on yaw only. Pitch and roll are pretty stable as is.
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11-Nov-11 (/authors/11-Nov-11) on June 4, 2014


()

All is well !
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vw at4 (/authors/vw at4) on June 5, 2014


()

Rocketman - Podcast 029 - you are mentioned at about 35 min in.


Great Article by the way - absolutely Wonderful. I look forward to seeing more.
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Rocketman1092 (/authors/Rocketman1092) on June 7, 2014


(/articles/mf-x36-jepson-free-plans)
()

Thanks for the heads up, the podcast mention was pretty cool.

I painted the model and updated the article with some new pics. I do have more ight video as promised, but haven't gotten around to editing and
publishing it yet. Sorry about that!
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Nathan_116 (/authors/Nathan_116) on June 10, 2014


()

Speaking of he podcast, I just listened to it and I heard something about (/authors/Rocketman1092)


Northrup Grumman. Good luck on that as that is the company that I dream of
working for one day.

Also, when you were designing and doing calculations for you model, did you use he scale airfoil in your design or did you alter it. I have this thing for he
P-40 Warhark and am in the middle of designing it. I have done boatloads of research on and and want to build a scale model (or as close to scale as you
can get with foam and a limited income as you can get) and was winding if I should use the scale airfoil or if I should modify it. A lot of the other designers
here on FliteTest just stick win the simple under amber or at bottom airfoil, bu with me wantin to make it scale I was honking about using something
di erent. Also, what design program did you use, and how much does it cost? Do you think someone could do it in a free program like SketchUp?

Thanks, Nathan
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Rocketman1092 (/authors/Rocketman1092) on June 11, 2014


Northrop
()
Grumman X-47B Design & Build
 (/articles/my-hometown)
I
made some changes to the airfoil, but mostly for pitch stability. For a conventional model like the P-40, the scale airfoils should do just ne. It'd also be a
safe
70bet to go with a common model airplane airfoil like the Clark-Y, NACA4415, or SD7062.

As far as design software goes, I had access to CATIA v5 at college. A license is on the order of $30k from what I've heard, so I'll need to gure out
something
 else now that I've graduated. I've seen people do some pretty elaborate things in SketchUp, but I haven't used it much. There's an open-source
program called FreeCAD that also looks promising. http://freecadweb.org/
Log
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sergey300c (/authors/sergey300c) on November 13, 2017


()

hi
i have some questions on this project
i have some questions on drawing
so i would be happy to get answer from you
sergey_top_1@mail.ru
friends from Russia
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BuckE67 (/authors/BuckE67) on June 9, 2014


()

WOW. You have done an incredible job!


Respect!
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GB-air (/authors/GB-air) on June 12, 2014


()

Great Article!
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theteeheeguy123 (/authors/theteeheeguy123) on June 19, 2014


()

test it for it's stealth capabilities XD


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spidal3 (/authors/spidal3) on July 2, 2014


()

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Crazy Good!!!
 (/articles/mf-x36-jepson-free-plans)
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Flying Fox (/authors/Flying Fox) on November 23, 2014


()

Holy Smokes awesome design


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Frankenfoamy (/authors/Frankenfoamy) on October 23, 2015


()

(/authors/Rocketman1092)
That plane has been on my back burner to build. I was not con dent that a ducted fan could pull it o . Great job!
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mhmod2222 (/authors/mhmod2222) on August 5, 2016


()

can you provide the link for model you used to make your plane or even your model

because I am interested in building one like this

Thanks in advance
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Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build


 (/articles/my-hometown)
Ian Legend (/authors/Ian Legend) on August 24, 2016

()
70

Two years later and your creation is still impressive! Great job Rocketman1092.

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wanabeRCexpert (/authors/wanabeRCexpert) on December 4, 2016
()

that is probably the best looking scratch-build i have ever seen


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andy2096 (/authors/andy2096) on July 12, 2017


()

Can you provide an article showing us how your wind tunnel is set up?
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(/authors/Rocketman1092)

(/authors/Rocketman1092)

Rocketman1092 (/authors/Rocketman1092)
(76)
Northrop Grumman X-47B Design & Build
 (/articles/my-hometown)

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