DMJ-14S Hawk Mk.II
Aircraft Information:
An update for the DMJ-14 platform, with drag reduction and improved stability during extreme maneuvers.
Design principle of the aircraft is extreme agility and speed, regardless of altitude, without sacrificing too much fuel capacity. The result is an extremely fast and nimble multirole aircraft with long flight range and all-weather + all-terrain operation capability, allowing participation in even the most extreme of endurance races.
Fighter variant for military use can be found here.
Technical details:
Max speed: 900 mph (fully loaded, sea level), 1550 mph (30K ft)
Takeoff speed: ~150 mph (Calm wind)
Stall speed: 120 mph
Minimum maneuvering speed: ~230 mph
Service ceiling: 68,000 ft
Activation groups:
AG1: Parachutes
AG2-4: Unassigned
AG5: Landing lights
AG6: Navigation lights
AG7: Strobe lights
AG8: Anti-collision beacon
Enjoy!
Specifications
General Characteristics
- Successors 1 airplane(s) +7 bonus
- Created On Windows
- Wingspan 53.9ft (16.4m)
- Length 43.7ft (13.3m)
- Height 14.8ft (4.5m)
- Empty Weight 13,683lbs (6,206kg)
- Loaded Weight 24,384lbs (11,060kg)
Performance
- Power/Weight Ratio 2.764
- Wing Loading 42.3lbs/ft2 (206.4kg/m2)
- Wing Area 576.8ft2 (53.6m2)
- Drag Points 3254
Parts
- Number of Parts 60
- Control Surfaces 6
- Performance Cost 446
@Carguyfromriga No worries, I can take weeks to build something! I can wait. :)
@Deiaa Thanks for letting me use your design. I will try to resolve the problems and will let you know when my version is ready, but I think I will end up heavily modifying your plane. Just keep in mind that I 'm not a fast builder, cause I like to tweak all the little details. I think I will get the plane ready in a few days.
Hope my rocket box will help you design something cool :)
@Carguyfromriga Thanks! I'd love to see your version in action, go ahead and upload it.
Indeed, the aircraft is wobbly when initiating the autopilot, and it's indeed due to oversized control surfaces. I figured it was because the autopilot couldn't exactly enter commands smoothly enough, which was required for such big control surfaces, so I didn't pay much attention to it and instead used pitch trim to make the aircraft level off a bit before initiating autopilot. I'd love to see it resolved without compromising agility too much.
So, to clarify about that 'nudging' part: I actually managed to reduce drag while completely getting rid of parts overriding in the front and not changing your design drastically. If you want, I can publish that version of your plane on my profile, so you can compare them and further improve it.
As of the plane itself: I LOVE the fuel economy of this thing, speed is also pretty good for such engines (fastest plane with these engines I have ever encountered).
In fact, there is only 1 minor issue I have encountered: when flying on autopilot on high speeds, the plane wobbles A LOT. In my designs, I combat this issue by making pitch control surface as small as possible, achieving agility by good mass distribution, not by big control surfaces.
Overall, the design is really cool, love it!
@Carguyfromriga Thanks a lot! This is actually my all-time favourite design right now.
Thanks for the feedback, too, although could you please clarify what you mean by 'less nudging'? If you are referring to the front end and how the air intakes are placed, this is actually intentional to reduce drag by making the air a bit turbulent as it runs along the rest of the fuselage. I know it's a little blocky and unrealistic, but that's the best I could do at the time to offer high performance as well as decent looks - you usually have to compromise on one or the other without the help of XML modding. If this plane is to be constructed IRL, there'd be a lot of changes to that section.
This plane is sure cool even now as it is, but I think you can do better. Less nudging for more realistic construction, even more aero improvement. Will update my review after I fly it for a little longer. Anyways, this plane is interesting enough for me to write my first comment on SP in a YEAR, so you can be proud :) Also, you are the first person I will follow.
@FlakBus Thanks! I forgot the nudge controls even existed. I've reuploaded both variants of the plane with the wing placement fixed.