Victor B2 - FF for Rapier Rocket

This is another new one for this year's comp season. It's a profile Rapier model of the Victor B1 for the Peterborough Club's Flying Aces and Charlie Newman's Oxford Club Scale meetings in September.

20 mins on the printer produced a three view with a span of about 14 inches and a half hour of wood selection and cutting produced the classic kit of parts:

It's now a Victor B2...I used the wrong 3-view!

Notwithstanding, 25 mins of sanding and gluing have produced a model ready for test glides. Then, with the C of G fixed, I can place the Rapier mount in an appropriate position and go make some smoke.....

Lovely simple model.
well built as usual.

goin to be a nice flier.

Last weekend's Old Warden event has, at last, allowed me to progress some of this year's projects. It was a bit windy, but I did manage a few test glides with the Victor on the Saturday, followed by a few more Sunday morning. The test showed that I'd got the C of G far too far forward, but with it as marked, the model flew stably with a smooth glide and good recoveries from launches with excessive pitch and/or bank. The motor tube was then fixed to the fus slightly further forward than I would have liked, but it still needed noseweight to balance at the new C of G.

The first flight under power was successful in that the rocket ran out of power in the air but the model turned rather steeply to the right. I breathed in a hint of left rudder, but it was too much and on the second flight, the model barrelled left, flicked on the second barrel and spiralled in. That's as far as I got as I broke the fin/tailplane off trying to twist in a little less rudder!

Anyway, I now have enough info to complete the model, so the airframe will be sealed and painted over the summer.

Where is the sequel Andy Do you think A swallow would suit one of these Rapier rockets ?

For the sequel, see above John :" ...the airframe will be sealed and painted over the summer."

I don't need it until September 6th when it'll compete in the Peterborough Club's Flying Aces event, Profile Scale Jetex/Rapier class. I've done little to it since the above post, just made a few repairs to the broken fin which is not worth posting....yet.

In respect of the Swallow (assuming you mean the DH 108), yes, it's ideal. So much so that someone has already doone it by modifying an AeroModeller Jetex plan for Rapier. It's been on my build list for some time, but I've not got around to it yet....

The Swallow plan is here: www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=3317

...and it's also worth looking at Mike Stuart's site, here: www.ffscale.co.uk/

his pages on Rapier model techniques run from here: www.ffscale.co.uk/page4d.htm

and his Rapier plans start here: www.ffscale.co.uk/jplans.htm

Mike's site comes with a health warning....you'll spend a lot of time going through his stuff, so allow for it!
...

Back in the model room at last!

I've added a few bits (Kouchman (sp?) Carrots on the wing and a bullet fairing on the fin) and given it a good sanding, doping, further sanding, and sanding sealing.




More sanding to come, then more sealing.

What engine and servos are you going to use?

Küchemann carrots. (German aerodynamicist who worked for the RAE after the war and discovered the principle of 'area rule' for transonic flight that was also developed by Whitcomb in the USA)
However I don't think with a cruciform cross section they would have the same drag reducing effect!

Old Fart wrote: What engine and servos are you going to use?

Ha Ha....the engine is Rapier Rocket, OF, and there are no servos. It will fly under what we call 'Free Flight'. It's an interesting concept, I know, and it'll never catch on....but someone has to do it.

Quorneng wrote: Küchemann carrots. (German aerodynamicist who worked for the RAE after the war and discovered the principle of 'area rule' for transonic flight that was also developed by Whitcomb in the USA)
However I don't think with a cruciform cross section they would have the same drag reducing effect!

Thanks for the correct spelling Q, I now see why I couldn't find it on the net. The Eastern Block used the Carrots quite a lot on their post war jets, so I'd assumed he was a Russian.

And you're quite right about the drag reducing qualities of said items on the model. However, as it was built as a profile design I had to maintain the theme.

The competition for which it was designed and built is tomorrow...so, I need to get my finger out on this one and get it finished!

I gave it 2 spray coats of anti-flash white yesterday and will be looking out and applying appropriate decals today, together with a drawn on cockpit and some control and panel lines.





It's now a Victor B2, btw.

I flew this one into second place in Profile Jet Scale at the Peterborough Club's annual Flying Aces event at Ferry Meadows yesterday. There were only two of us who managed a qualifying flight out of (I think) 4 entries, but hey....a kill's a kill, as we used to say in the trade!

The weather was good in that there was little wind, but it was humid. My Rapier motors lit quite readily for the first three attempts to fly, which all rolled in to the right, but after that lighting the motors became a real challenge. I eventually went through 8 motors in the afternoon before getting one to light up with a change of fuse (kindly donated by plane krazy), which led to the aircraft's only successful flight of the day and the last flight allowed for the competition. Luckily it was seen and scored by the judges, so with only one other qualifier, I was assured of a 'place' in the event.

The model stalled as the motor ran out and the glide was pitchy, so more nose weight is required, but otherwise it looked good. However, on the way to the successful flight, the tail broke off on three ground arrivals and I broke a wing tip trying to warp in some left twist. A stronger fin will be required on the mark 2, if I ever build it.

I had two days of pretty concentrated trimming at Old Warden this weekend which eventually sorted the Victor. I had the same issue with motors not lighting, but new batteries in the cauterising device solved that one. The C of G has remained the same, but I've reduced the wash-in (?!) slightly on the wings.





The numerous flights carried out have made a rather nice patina on the rear of the model from the rocket efflux.

I had a couple of good flights out of this one at the Peterborough Club's flying aces meeting last Sunday. She didn't place, but came in a creditable 4th!

The reason I'm posting is that a gust of wind blew the thing out of it's box and dashed it against my car leaving the tailplane in disarray!



Anyway, after judicious use of Roket Cyano, she's now as good as new....

This one's getting a bit tatty with lots of what I call battle damage - note state of fin, tailplane and starboard wing...



So it's time for a rebuild, which will be about 2" bigger. I'm considering either another B2 in all white colours or the prototype, which is in black and silver. Might even do both. I'm reluctant to do a camouflaged one as, although they look good, they can be the devil to find after a good flight.....

Watch this space for more details. Deadline is the Peterborough Flying Aces competition on 3rd September and Charlie Newman's Oxford Scale do on 1st October.

If profile (or 3D models of) jets interest you, both events include competitions for ducted fan powered models as well as Rapier and/or Jetex.