Star Trek is a series I've long since loved from being a kid, in fact most of my family and friends like it also. The idea of a RC Enterprise is exciting as a designer simply due to it's aerodynamic shape being that of an upside down plane!
To be clear there are many Enterprise builds out there that failed and didn't fly (Most of the time being too tail heavy), however to bring a ray of light there are a couple that did fly. One I've seen is a Glider with no power which would be easier to balance COG (Centre Of Gravity) and only 1 with a nitro engine which did very well.
So it seems I'm following a long line of attempts although I do have some different idea's on the design. The majority of designs I've seen have the typical saucer shape but then have a flat fuselage (body) like an additional wing. This means the only tail like surface is that of the warp engines being upright. I personally feel this type of design leads to huge instability creating excessive roll.
For this prototype build I'm being very rough on design, I've used:
- 6MM Depron
- UHU Por glue
- 2MM carbon fibre rod
- Over head projector sheet as hinges
- Compass for the saucer (the NCC-1701-A is round!)
- Piano wire for control lines
- 2 micro servos, Receiver, 2500 KV motor, 2S 650mha lipo battery, channel mixer to mix elevator + ailerons.
For impact resistance I felt it'd be best to make the saucer and body out of 12MM Depron by sandwiching 2 sheets of 6MM together using UHU spray adhesive glue LIGHTLY. (You only need a film of glue any puddles with eat Depron/EPP/foam)
To increase structural integrity between the body and saucer I used a 2MM Carbon Fibre rod between the 2 pieces which runs the length of the saucer.
The rod was glued into place with UHU polystyrene glue prior to the 2 pieces sandwiching it in the middle.
The 2 saucer disks are 39.5CM in diameter with an area cut for the body to slot in-between, the carbon fibre rod goes between the saucer disks locking the saucer too the body.
The control surfaces where cut out as best guesses and not really planned, there cut with a pointed inner area so it can move up/down with ease. This is where I cut OPH sheet into small pieces, pierced a few holes in them to give a bonding area then glued them into place.
The "warp engines" and support arms are just sketched out too look like the design as there primary purpose is to provide a fin area. This is where my build varies having a fin body rather than a wing area.
The COG at this point is very near the back of the saucer which is perfect, with this being 12MM thick I have plenty of area to mount electronics anywhere I want to balance COG further forward.
The motor mount is the same as for the Bulldog project, with the depron already being 12MM thick I added an extra 6MM slice to each side. The total of 24MM was perfect for the engine mount.
The servos holes cut out with the servos themselves only 12MM its a perfect flush fit. The receiver and ESC have area's cut out for them to sit in using the carbon fibre rod through the middle of the disk to keep things in place.
Now you can see the control horns are in place and control lines are made from 2MM piano wire. The total build weight at this point is 206 Grams. The battery is held in place with an elastic strip held by 2 carbon rod pieces which is finally hot glued into place.
All components are either on the center line or like the servos counter balance each other being the same weight and distance from the center.
With flying disks normally having a center of gravity much more forward I suspect it's still tail heavy and may need some extra weight up front.
To gain the 1/4 COG (front) required I had to add 48 grams in weight too the front, the test flight was a total failure and I'm not prepared to invest further time in this project. I may one-day revisit it but for now I have many other projects still going.