Switchblade WIP

[dhk79]

Switchblade (a flying motorcycle) WIP

Last night I got a wild hair... and started poking around on the web looking for a new oddball project. What I came up with was the Samson Switchblade, a three-wheeled Flying Motorcycle that leads the field as the first of Samson's new line of Multi-Mode Vehicles to meet the growing demand for flying cars and roadable aircraft.

Well there are no three-views available (just a few artist rendered pictures), so this one will be a real challenge. But it should be entertaining in any case.

 

[willsonman]

Please... you could model that in your sleep! Looks interesting.

3 words... high lift coefficient.

 

[dhk79]

LOL, thanks for the vote of confidence Josh. But I do sort of agree in that while parts may be a bit tricky, I don't anticipate too much trouble with the 3D model.

I think the real challenge will be when I get to the physics. Even with the fuselage being a lifting body, the total wing area is low for its weight. This will make for a high wing loading and a pretty high stall speed. Even with its flaps, I expect that the landings will be on the hot side.

Guess this will make for another low-rater, because 60% of those that download it won't be able to handle it. Oh well, I should be used to it by now.

Progress - I got the main air duct roughed out, before I packed it in last night.

 

[mwilson914]

Cool project Doug. I look forward to fliying it. Hot landings are always a plus for me-- the only part of flying that scares me.

 

[willsonman]

Progress - I got the main air duct roughed out, before I packed it in last night.

You mean its not on the swaps yet? ahh reminiscing.

 

[dhk79]

You mean its not on the swaps yet? ahh reminiscing.

Funny, funny man

Would move faster, but I am actually working on another that takes priority. This is just to fill in the gaps.

 

[willsonman]

I have a feeling I know what it is given some of your recent travels and activities in these said travels.

 

[dhk79]

Well let's make this fun then.

You are more than welcome to take a guess. The only limitation is that I have agreed not to post any pictures or design specs until the real aircraft makes its debut at AirVenture, Oshkosh.

There that was your first clue.

 

[twoeleven]

I got it...But I will PM it as to not spoil the fun!

Griff
twoeleven

***EDIT: I don't have it...Thought I did but it has already been unveiled...Whoops***

 

[dhk79]

The Switchblade's air ducts, which I had anticipated as being the biggest pain-in-the-neck, have been completed.

 

[willsonman]

Well let's make this fun then.

You are more than welcome to take a guess. The only limitation is that I have agreed not to post any pictures or design specs until the real aircraft makes its debut at AirVenture, Oshkosh.

There that was your first clue.

LOL, It must be nice to have the first official NDA on a custom RF EA. I'll keep it to myself for the sake of not making myself look totally stupid.

 

[dhk79]

I got a lot done on the Switchblade last night. Wing with control surfaces, WingDoor (now there's a phrase I never expected to utter about a plane), WingWell, Fuselage, Windows, & Door are all completed (at least 1/2 of each).

Before taking time to clean up the 3D model; I'm going to add the wheels, canard, and tail feathers and then see if I can get this pig to fly.

 

[td9cowboy]

Nice piece of work. I wouldn't want to be the test pilot for this thing either in the real or virtual world I did have one of your lift blocks flying as an airplane last night as an experiment and it flew pretty good!

 

[dhk79]

LOL. Like I tell some of my club members - put a big enough engine on it and you can make anything fly (now getting it back down in one piece is another story).

 

[dhk79]

OK, its still going to need some work. The good news is that with just basic geometry applied in the physics, it did get off the ground. Of course getting it to do much of anything useful at that point was out of the question, but it shows promise.

 

[dhk79]

All part animation is setup & working correctly.

 

[Junkboy999]

I'm glad you got yours flying. My Modified A-Team Van never got off the ground.

 

[dhk79]

Thanks Junkboy,
The Switchblade is flying, but still fairly poorly. It has a tendency to turn turtle as it seems more stable inverted than right-side up. Matt will be happy though as it is a hot one and takes a good roll out to get up to speed before you can break ground.

But then I've only been playing with the physics for an evening (while I was watching TV, and not really giving it my full attention), so I'm not ready to cry uncle.
Doug

 

[flexible]

Just an observation, the lift on the fuse looks greater than that of the wings and spollers. And as such, would be higher placement than that of the wing lift. If i'm corect, that would make it want to invert. If I were trying to cure this in the sim, I would turn down the lift on the fuse, and turn up the lift on the wings and spollers. I would try to find a way to incorparate conards on the wings and spollers. I would allso change the angle of attack on the wing, so it would start flying at a slower speed.

 

[dhk79]

Jimmie,
Those would indeed be RF programmatic solutions, however, in keeping with the scale nature of this endeavor any modifications made must fit the model. Actual changes to airfoils (i.e. picking a new one) are acceptable, modifying the aerodynamic performance of an existing airfoil without sound engineering reason is not. Also the wing's angle of attack may be adjusted slightly, however, it must still fit into the bays when folded and a high angle of attack will be more prone to a lower and more abrupt stall (so that can be a double-edged sword).

By the way, the aircraft is a true canard with an aft non-moving rear stabilizer.

Here's a prelim. Anyone else who is good with aerodynamics, please feel free to play with it. But remember, I'm a purest when it comes to aerodynamics and any modifications must be reasonable.
Doug

Edit (7/17/2010): Aircraft has been posted to the swaps, so I removed the preliminary test file.