My Airbus A380 RC thread

Halcyon · 18-12-2011, 17:41

Hey all,

I thought some of you may be interested in reading about my new remote control plane I'm intending to get flying in the new year.

This thread will document the building of the kit and eventually getting it up in the air!

So to kick start here is a little background info on what I've got done so far...

Firstly I've got the wings and the wires going through to a servo at the end which will control the left and right ailerons.
The wings are made of poly foam so very light but reinforced with wood where they slide into each other.
I am also going to be glueing these two sections together and arrangng all cables neatly with cable ties.

The fuselage is also made out of a poly foam construction.
It is quite big at about 1 metre 45cm.

In the photo below you can see at the back the servo's that connect to the rods down to the elvator.
The rudder will also be installed eventualy.

A bunch of cables came with the fuselage for the wing and elevator servos and then a bunch of Speed controllers for the fans.
There are different ways of hooking them up but as I'm new to all this Im going to keep them as they are for the time being.

In the photo below the red, green, and black wires go to each ducted fan motor.
3 wires to each one and then into their speed controller.
We have 2 motors on each side and then a "Y" connector brings all motors together so that they can be controlled as one when connected to the receiver.
The power connectors feeding the sets of motors will also have a "Y" connector so that one battery runs everything.
I could have another battery but that is going to add more weight and I want to keep things simple.

Above you can see some of the electronic ducted fan motors.
These will be mounted under the wings and once the wiring is in place then I'l cover up the wing to hide the wires.
Im also trying to think of a way to add more strength so the motors dont fall off.

I'm still waiting for the receiver to arrive so that will connect up the throttle from the motors and if I understand things correctly there should be enough power to then go out to each Servo as well as the one for the steerable front wheels.

As I add more to it and get it up and ready for flight I will post here so if you have any questions, please feel free and if you have any tips or helpful advice then also feel free to comment.

I'm trying out something I've not done before so its a learning process and it probably won't fly until I'm 100% confident with it but watch this space if you'd like to see the plane progress.

**Kymmy** · 18-12-2011, 18:37

Looks good... What transmitter are you going to use with it? Also is it a single speed controller or pair/quad?

Personally I must get round to reskinning my montanna 1.8m Powered glider and also get some more fuel for the Ready2 trainer I fly.

DaiNasty · 18-12-2011, 19:22

What, no balsa wood and dope?

How on earth are you supposed to mount motors onto polyfoam wings? Surely you'd need some sort of insert to spread the load a bit.

I'm not sure, my airplane building days were in the age of wings build with ribs and spars but I'd guess at something like a glassfibre wrap around the motor mount area to add a rigid surface.

Halcyon · 18-12-2011, 19:54

Very good point about the way the motors are held on.

I have a type of cement glue that is intended for this so will be using that but I am also going to be drilling through and making some sort of holding pin but I'm still working on how that will work.

Kymmy, the receiver and Transmitter I am using are by Futaba.
It uses 2.4ghz to transmit and is 6 channels.

**Kymmy** · 18-12-2011, 20:12

I have an old 35Mhs Futuba Skysport6 been faultless over the last 10 years and I even use it via a USB converter on the Pheonix RC sim (great to practice on)

LSainsbury · 18-12-2011, 20:20

Wooow!!! Where did you buy that from??

**Kymmy** · 18-12-2011, 20:29

There's a few kits available..

Would love to get my hands on this one
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...64747414840994

Halcyon please keep the thread updated with pics

jb66 · 18-12-2011, 20:43

It looks huugee

Bulky · 18-12-2011, 20:46

Nice thread , make sure you keep it going

Halcyon · 18-12-2011, 20:54

Kymmy, Now that looks amazing!
With jet engines like that it must have cost a fortune!

I originally wanted to buy one from the U.S. as they have some amazing models that looked the best but the kit and importing it accross would have cost about £3000.
These are very well built:
http://www.edfmodel.com/

So with those models a dream and seeing that I have not much money, poly foam is the next best thing.
Mine comes from Marionville models in Edinburgh but you can get them in various places.
The good thing is the parts are cut for you.
What you have to add then are the receiver, install the motors on the wings, connect up the servos and wire it all up, and then finish off a few pieces, add a battery, and then glue here and there, hook up a few more pieces, and that should be it.
It still takes a bit of time and I'm not rushing it as I dont want to break it.

More pics coming soon.

---------- Post added at 20:54 ---------- Previous post was at 20:48 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by jb66

It looks huugee

It is big! I'm wondering how it will fit in the car.
I cant wait to see how it will look with the wings attached.

TheNorm · 18-12-2011, 21:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halcyon

... I'm wondering how it will fit in the car.
...

Strap it to the roof bars? Who knows, you might get a few more mpg.

DaiNasty · 18-12-2011, 23:03

1st gear, 2nd gear, rotate..

---------- Post added at 23:03 ---------- Previous post was at 22:59 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Very good point about the way the motors are held on.
I have a type of cement glue that is intended for this so will be using that but I am also going to be drilling through and making some sort of holding pin but I'm still working on how that will work.

You need to consider the stresses involved in a hard landing. One of my old power models ripped the whole mounting bulkhead and engine bearers loose when it bellyflopped down hard. I can see those engine pods tearing a chunk out of the wing quite easily.

alferret · 19-12-2011, 05:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halcyon

With jet engines like that it must have cost a fortune!

There is a guy near us who flies a jet engined delta wing 1/24 scale. Noisey bugger when he opens it up.

Defo keep this updated Halcyon, very interested in this. Who knows it might lead to a CF RC flying club!

Out of interest what would be the flight time on a model such as this?

Halcyon · 19-12-2011, 10:06

I'm trying to find a good battery with a high Mah.
People have told me they've got up to a maximum 10-15minutes of flight on a high powered battery.
I'm thinking more likely to be 6 - 10 minutes.

I'm looking at maybe putting in a battery indicator that could be hooked upto a bright LED for when voltage dips below a safe amount. But that will be in the future.

Halcyon · 19-12-2011, 17:46

Here is a quick pic of the radio transmitter and receiver.
It is a Futaba T6J - 6 channel transmitter.
More info here:
http://www.futaba-rc.com/systems/futk6000.html