This is the first version of the plane I call The Trainer. It's called that because it trains your endurance and also it looks like a trainer (sneaker/tennis shoe). It is based on the MIT Daedalus human powered plane. It is basically a flying bicycle. I made two versions because this one, the more realistic one (still very unrealistic) is punitively slow. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it's boring, but I did fall asleep once while flight testing it. So... there's that. It's a nifty build but you may tire of it quickly, which is why it's a novelty. Anyway, flight controls are standard. No AG controls. VTOL for flaps, which are virtual, but helpful for getting off the ground. There's a lot of tail slip while banking, so don't forget your rudder. And because of the lack of power and the very slow roll rate, you'll lose a lot of altitude in turns so watch out for that. But one cool thing this plane can do is you can do tight 360 deg. turns with the inside wing tip resting on the ground in one spot. Try and do that with your F-16! haha. I hope you guys think this plane is cool, I had a lot of trouble building it...
Flight instructions as previously stated;
Flight controls standard
No AG controls
VTOL flaps
Trim for trim
Throttle to 100 and go.
When you throttle back to zero, the prop will reverse direction but still provide forward thrust. And it will continue spinning for as long as you had the throttle up. So plan accordingly if you want to land and come to rest.
Enjoy :)
Specifications
Spotlights
- Hayhayjam664 6.2 years ago
- LiamW 6.3 years ago
- RodWan 6.3 years ago
General Characteristics
- Created On Windows
- Wingspan 249.5ft (76.1m)
- Length 60.3ft (18.4m)
- Height 20.8ft (6.3m)
- Empty Weight 4,999lbs (2,267kg)
- Loaded Weight 4,999lbs (2,267kg)
Performance
- Wing Loading 1.2lbs/ft2 (5.7kg/m2)
- Wing Area 4,305.5ft2 (400.0m2)
- Drag Points 2799
Parts
- Number of Parts 291
- Control Surfaces 14
- Performance Cost 1,309
Haha! Thank you :) @WarHawk95
@Hyattorama already upvoted 😂
@Hyattorama happy to help wherever I can :)
That’s a great idea, thanks for the advice. I definitely struggle with patience... I get it in my head I want something and sometimes I trip on my own feet trying to get there fast. Also, thank you for the assistance and the words of encouragement and the spotlight! It’s people like you who make SP such a fantastic experience/community. @RodWan
@Hyattorama I think it turned out pretty good. Just do what I did with my XF14. This is your first version, give yourself 6months to work on other projects and hone your skill, then revisit this at that time. We can only grow our skill so fast after all. -cheers and good job on sticking with it.
I asked @RodWan for help and he definitely helped; I probably would have scrapped the project without his help. But still, I couldn’t get size and weight down very far. @randomusername
Either lots of spontaneous self destruct, or unmanageable torque from the rotator, or not enough thrust, or runaway acceleration, or inability to take off. Also uncontrollable flight characteristics. @randomusername
@WarHawk95
@RodWan
I tried to get the weight and the scale down, I was going to use the real planes wingspan as reference point for scale. But I couldn’t get it to function when I scaled size and weight. I tried forever and couldn’t get it so I just left it big and heavy... :( @randomusername
Haha you’re right I meant to put “more realistic” since I posted another version with more power. I will make that correction now. @randomusername