Flight Test Airsoft Vs Rc Plane

Airsoft A-10 Warthog VS. Tank! - Behind the Scenes

A behemothic foam airplane, a giant cream tank, an awesome airsoft setup - what's not to love?

Sometimes, working towards a goal tin bring people together through joint problem solving and hard piece of work. This latest Flite Test challenge saw the FT Team blueprint and build a behemothic A-ten Warthog ground attack aircraft and behemoth RC tank to go head-to-head in combat.

This article will testify you a picayune of what happened behind the scenes to (quite literally) get this project off the ground!

Video

Here's the video of the ballsy airsoft battle!

Disclaimer - We are trained professionals. This may look like fun and games but a lot has gone into making sure this video has been done properly and safely. We are flight over our own individual property with everyone present made aware of potential risks. Airsoft in Ohio is classified as a toy, not a weapon. Delight enjoy this video, but practise not endeavour to recreate it.

Structural Issues

So what sort of obstacles did we have to overcome to pull this affair off? Well, one of them was weight increase. The original A-10 was 7lbs but the final version weighed in at 28lbs - that's four times heavier!

The A-ten was designed with airsoft in mind, only Jeremy, Josh, and Andres didn't know whether the pattern would actually be able to accept the added weight of the equipment, cameras, lights and extra batteries needed to shoot the episode. Although non shown in the episode, there were some problems with the fly loading and the fly began to fold on our star A-10.

Often in RC scratch edifice we similar to use wooden spars to reinforce wings. In that regard this build was no different to the smaller builds although nosotros did beef it up a little. This detail structure is chosen a box spar. Information technology is a traditional method of making wings stronger often used in total-scale aircraft. This box spar only ran part of the way into the fuselage, however, and was used to make the wings removable.

The eye section of the wing also has a box spar that receives the outer department. When locked together, they create a unified structure.

This was quite an like shooting fish in a barrel retrofit. The plywood box spar and extra reinforcement strips could be installed just behind the original foam counterpart designed to piece of work with the first version of the plane. As we hope to produce a kit of the A-10 sometime in the hereafter, it's great to iron out issues similar this at an early stage.

Building the wings with removable outer sections like this made the A-x far easier to transport to the flying field. For big builds similar this, nosotros highly recommend that y'all include a feature similar this. If you desire to know how to build a reliable removable wing organisation, check out this commodity and video on monster sized aeroplane builds tips!

Motor Upgrade

Some other issue we had to overcome concerned power. Originally, on the paradigm A-ten, we used four of our C pack motors within the jet nacelles at the rear of the airplane. 4.2lbs of thrust had been sufficient to wing the model when information technology weighed just 7lbs, merely with the increased AUW another propulsion solution was needed.

Instead of using four smaller motors in the rear, Jeremy and Josh decided to mount two larger motors upwards front nether the wings. These are new motors we're testing for our upcoming giant scale kits. More than info before long!

Tail mods

I last modification that was needed was tail reinforcement. The start flights of the paradigm had resulted in the layered stabilizers delaminating which, every bit you tin can imagine, wasn't ideal. We took the opportunity to build the new tail from our new thick foam. It worked a care for!

Plywood panels were as well added to make sure the tail would concur up during a abdomen landing. Landing is ane of the main causes of airframe deposition on models. Taking steps to ensure your aeroplane is adequately protected is always worth it, so make sure you consider factors like this when designing your own planes.

Finishing the MK.three

Decorating to give it the terminal touch.

To brand the rounded canopy, with its compound curves, a donor was establish. This Trojan hanging up in the function had exactly the right shape for the job.

To make the HUD (Heads Upward Display), Jeremy cut up an sometime pop bottle to make apply of that appropriate transparent green color. All yous need is a picayune out-of-the-box thinking.

The instrument panel was found online, scaled to size and printed. It was found here, only in case you wanted to impress 1 out too.

The result turned out looking simply great! Information technology actually adds to the sense of immersion.

We had a lot of fun creating this projection for you to enjoy. Although it was at times testing, the concluding result was the culmination of a cracking joint effort in the course of a spectacular performance. This hobby is all about working together, challenging yourself and creating amazing experiences and memories.

Nosotros practise these projects then you lot don't take to. Don't put airsoft on RC aircraft. Be prophylactic, exist responsible and have fun.

Evike

Cream board airplane kits

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Commodity by James Whomsley

Editor of FliteTest.com

Contact: james@flitetest.com

YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/projectairaviation