I want a FPV plane that is easy to transport inside an aluminium case. The only way to truly get what you want is to make it yourself so I am! Note this is part 1, I am still waiting on parts arriving and now winter is here and weather is pretty bad. So don't forget to check back for part 2.
My design utilises a wing construction design called the
"Armin wing" named after the designers
(ExperimentalAir) own son. This wing is normally fixed together or similar but I've took it a step further. Because the plane is designed to come apart it's pretty important there is not so many wires to unplug so I wanted all my primary components INSIDE the wing instead
Featuring a carbon fibre fuselage boom and a 1.3 meter wingspan this plane should stay in the air for a long while. The plane dimensions and component locations I designed using my
BETA Plane size and configuration designer software (this actual design is included in the FREE program download 
)First of all I cut out my wing and spars, the wing has a 7inch/17.8CM CORD and is 65CM in length
To stop the Depron from snapping as it will naturally do I apply 3 strips of transparent duck-tape on the bend line each over lapping. While the Depron will deform it will be strong and also prevent against dents and knocks during transport etc.
The 1st spar is in place and now mocking up for the 6MM carbon fibre rod to slide in/out.
Not yet trimmed checking the Carbon Fibre rod can slide in and out correctly.
Can see the profile is very nice.
To install components in the wings I decided to use 1MM plywood which I soaked in red hot water until the wood fibres became soft enough to manipulate over. Once bent its a case of clamping (or pegs in my case lol) the wood in place until fully dried.
When dry the wood will retain it's shape, you can see the top surface did split a little but a little epoxy and sanding will fix that.
I used UHU Por glue to bond the wood to the wing and you can see it overlaps at the trailing edge to meet level with the ailerons but also house components.
Now I can mock up where the fuselage rod will sit, as the rod has a cross beam level with the tail when inserted into the wing it will stop the fuselage from twisting.
Can see the general idea now.
In order to fly the wings need pinned together, I'm doing this using panels across each wing. I drilled through the wings and inserted aluminium collars for nylon bolts to pass through, also the aluminium collar will take the load leaving the nylon bolt to simple keep things in place.
Now to create easy access to install components in the wings by cutting a hatch in the plywood in the same location in each wing.
Each hatch is 10CM * 8CM in size so it's not exactly small.
Remember the overlapping wood? Now there are servos for rudder and elevator in place.
Above you can see each aileron servo both sit totally flush on the wing so only the control horns actually passes the wing surface.
The servo leads run to the access hatches. Note the hatch panels are now pin-hinged.
I knew before starting the build I wanted lights in the wings for night-time FPV flying. So I made a series of 4 DayLight LEDs so it can be directly ran on a 11.1V source (The balance lead on a Lipo for example)
Now the bulbs have been insulated and wired in. Only using UHU Por glue to hold in place which is plenty enough.
The Rubber bands are just temporary while I mocked up, what you should see is the carbon fibre rod spar for the wing now has aluminium jackets to slide past. Preventing wear damage to the wing over time.
Few people know what this is, those that do I call friends. For everyone else it's my tattoo which has meaning to me, I wanted this on the wing ends so when the lights are on it shows.
Many people questioned if you could use Solar-Film on Depron, the answer is yes you can if you start at a low heat until it begins working, once you find the right point don't change it! Using different heats on different area's will cause warping on the surface!
Here I made 4 carbon fibre lengths of 1MM carbon fibre doubled up and epoxied together.
Now you can see the lights in effect where the cut out illuminates red!
The tail is removable as is the tails vertical stabiliser. The tail uses 2 3MM carbon fibre rods slotted into the fuselage boom to prevent twisting. You can see I've bonded 2 plywood pieces into place then mounted 2 aluminium collars on top. The thing was then secured using Beli-Zell glue.
You can see here how it slots into place.
The tail is also made from Depron and was glued onto the Carbon fibre insert.
I used 2MM carbon fibre strip inserted into the tail and elevator to provide additional support.
Note how the vertical tail fin has 2 nylon bolts which slots through the horizontal tail section.
Finally the whole tail was covered in the same translucent red solar-film while I used blue on the elevator and rudder.
This is a Turnigy 2210A - 1650KV brushless out-runner providing LOTS of thrust!!! However... it won't fit on the rod!
The carbon fibre rod is 6MM solid, using a 7MM aluminium sleeve with 8MM brass section spliced to provide 2 engine mount points. This was seriously not easy with a junior hack-saw!
Drilled mount points and another mock-up test. To bond the mount I used UHU 300 Epoxy and applied a thick layer over the brass where its split. The whole mount (all metal) was put in the oven at 150 degrees C for 8 minutes then left to cool. The final result is a really solid engine mount weighing only 7 grams!
A total mock-up of the progress so far, a view from the back with the access panels open to show some scale.
From the front I can already tell you'll be able to see this thing from miles away!
Now you really see how the model comes apart for transport preventing any major damage (normally in tail area).
Nicely fits in the aluminium case even with transmitter on the side. The FPV receiver , access panels, antenna etc will be built into the case lid so when finished the case will contain EVERYTHING to go FPV flying.
