Talk to me about large scale RC turbin powered Jets!!
Talk to me about large scale RC turbin powered Jets!!
Author
Discussion

Streetrod

Original Poster:

6,480 posts

230 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
Now this is a bit of a fantasy retirement project but how difficult is it to build and fly one of these things. I know the capital investment is huge but if you decided to try and get into it what is the best way of doing it? Should you join a club, buy a small trainer first or is it possible with the right training and the monetary wherewithall to jump right in at the deep end and build one of these truly wonderful A-10's from Skymaster?

http://www.skymasterjet.com/a10.htm







And yes this is a model and not the real thing smokin





Edited by Streetrod on Sunday 27th January 15:29

maturin23

599 posts

246 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
Impressive piece of kit, but surely if you're an aviation fan who's able to spend thousands and thousands on a model plane would it not make more sense just to get your PPL and do it for real?

No matter how fancy the model is, you'll stick be stuck firmly on the ground clutching a plastic box surrounded by bearded socially-subnormals (of both sexes). wink

OldJohnnyYen

1,455 posts

173 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
Can't see how owning an A10 and a model A10 could even come close in terms of cost biggrin

SystemParanoia

14,343 posts

222 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
FPV + Paintball gun evil for strafing runs

IanMorewood

4,309 posts

272 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
You would cry when you crashed it. Basic trainer/Aerobatic/Multi engine/Ducted Fan/Jet/This, would be basic competence I would expect before you got to have a go if I had one.

Streetrod

Original Poster:

6,480 posts

230 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
maturin23 said:
Impressive piece of kit, but surely if you're an aviation fan who's able to spend thousands and thousands on a model plane would it not make more sense just to get your PPL and do it for real?

No matter how fancy the model is, you'll stick be stuck firmly on the ground clutching a plastic box surrounded by bearded socially-subnormals (of both sexes). wink
You may have a point but to continue to fly a real plane is going to be a hell of a lot more expensive.

Anyway having watched a number of videos of these A-10's they look so realist in their flying characteristics what’s not to love. Also I have loved building stuff all my like from Airfix kits to my own award winning hotrods. The idea of playing with real jet engines in one of these things just appeals. Not only but check out the noise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSein_5yz4Q&fea...

SystemParanoia

14,343 posts

222 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
www.heli-chair.com




with FPV goggles and moving the throttle to a conventional aircraft location instead of a collective position

could be the closest thing you can get to actually flying smile

warm too if you keep it in the back of the van lol

The_Jackal

4,854 posts

221 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
Work out how much it would cost to actual get it in the air (guessing you need a license for the jets and an actual runway to fly it on too).
Then work out if you can spend that much again after you crash it on your first take off.
I think most people here would agree that you would be stupid to just think you can run and fly one of those with no previous experience, even with money to burn.

Streetrod

Original Poster:

6,480 posts

230 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
Don’t worry mate even I am not that daft. My thinking was that I would join a club and learn to fly with them. If I remember rightly from the days when I used to build planes they had buddy RC control systems back then so I suspect they still do now. So the idea would be to learn to fly using a trainer whilst having an experienced club member help you build the big one. Then again allow a buddy hook up help you learn to fly it.

Look this is all pie in the sky at the moment; I was just wondering how practical it would be to go down this route

The_Jackal

4,854 posts

221 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
Yeah that would be the best way.
The hard bit will be finding a local club with the specialist knowledge required to build and actually fly such a technical model. Build quality would be of the utmost importance, as you are basically flying around quite a large explosive device.

Either way make sure you do a detailed build log for us all to drool over.

IanMorewood

4,309 posts

272 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
CAA are going to be very interested too given its size and weight;
[i]bmaf.org
UNDER THE ANO, THE PILOT OF ANY MODEL OVER 7 kg IS NOW DIRECTLY LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FLIGHT HE MAKES.
Models weighing over 20 kg
Flyers of models over 20 kg are not flying a model at all; As far as the CAA and the law is concerned you are flying an aircraft (and not a ‘small aircraft’ either).
All such aircraft will need a CAA exemption certificate and the CAA will not issue a certificate unless airframe checks etc. have been completed and signed off by a competent individual whilst the aircraft is in the building stage.
If you are building or contemplating building a model over 20 kg then please contact the BMFA Leicester office for details of the inspection scheme.[/i]

tr7v8

7,553 posts

252 months

Sunday 27th January 2013
quotequote all
Large models are signed off by the Large Model Assoc. LMA Google them, they are authorised to assess for the CAA & they aren't part of the BMFA.
A lot of clubs don't fly any Gas turbines, A. Because they don't have the facilities (runway length etc.) And B. because of the noise.
I was over in North Carolina a couple of years ago & visited a few clubs. Despite stunning facilities such as tarmac runways & lovely club houses few were flying turbines.

Streetrod

Original Poster:

6,480 posts

230 months

Tuesday 29th January 2013
quotequote all
I spoke to the guys that supply the above Skymaster A-10 kit today at http://alshobbies.com/ they were very helpful. As I suspected the actual build is not actually that difficult if you have built RC planes in the past as the kit is pretty comprehensive and is almost ready to fly once you have installed the electronics and engines etc.

As has been said above you will need to be certified to fly a jet over 20kg which this is, plus you really need to have at least a years decent flying time on a jet trainer before stepping up to a kit like this.

Also at £13k - £14k for a complete set up including full electronics and engines, these bad boys are not for the faint of hear, but god do I want one badlycloud9

hman

7,497 posts

218 months

Tuesday 29th January 2013
quotequote all
I used to fly a lot of RC planes, and a few of my chums have turbine powered aircraft.

Insurance can be an issue for turbines both for the club and for the individual - thats the tip of the iceberg.

If you want to start flying turbines quickly then your learning curve will be steep and expensive,

Alternatively you can fly sims on the PC such as Phoenix RC which use your transmitter through a USB interface which is dead cheap and a great way to learn without the expensive crashes!!!

Personally I prefer fixed wing IC (or turbo prop such as the turbo raven) as the speeds are lower and aerobatics are much tighter especially 3d prop hanging etc.

Having flown turbines on PhoenixRC I think they seem lame by comparison to fly as they are all about speed and jet noise. Bored in under 5 mins.

Do your research on RCME website and others and good luck in your queust to fly the warthog!

My chum Dave Wilshere can help you with anythiing RC plane wise at

http://www.motorsandrotors.co/index.php?main_page=...