Dave's X-planes X-36 RCPowers.com

More Super Designs of Dave Powers:

RC X-36 Tailless Research

Why the X-36 project?

1st Flights of the Tailless RC X-36!

X-36 Post Crash Analysis

World's First Tailless RC X-36!!!

A Summary of the Success

This has got to be my biggest RC accomplishment up to this point! My goal was to get this space aged X-36 to just fly a circle without crashing. It blasted through all of my expectations and aced every test we put it through in only 2 days of flight testing! It can do just about every trick and maneuver its vertical tail dependent ancestors can do, all under its own control! What excites me most is what this plane has now opened to us. There is now a whole uncharted tailless universe we can explore as we go into 2009.

THE X-36 POWER SYSTEM:

Motors/ESC:

(2) Welgard SUPER SONIC V2s with (2) 30A ESC

Props:

(1) 6x4 (1) 6x4 reverse rotation

Batteries:

(2) 11.1v 2200mAh 15C Lithium

Servos:

(11) Metal Gear Servos

Gyros:

(2) Esky Gyros (yaw and roll)

Receiver:

(2) Spectrum AR6000

Transmitter:

The Original DX6

Foam:

6mm Depron

More professional photos of the X-36 at: CoachPhilPhotos.com

The first flight was 11/24/08 and it did fly. It was pretty unstable and crashed pretty bad after 20 minutes of unstable flying due to an overactive pitch gyro. Four days later (Thanksgiving 11/27/08) we had it out again with some significant changes on the flight controls and big changes in the radio and gyro settings. Oh wow, did we calculate it right! It took right off and flew itself for the rest of the day, I just told it where to go. It's just amazing how such a ridiculously unstable plane can fly under absolute control with all of its systems working together. Which reminds me, with this kind of stuff, it's not "any one thing" that makes it work, rather it's many systems working together.

Areas of Focus that Contribute to its Unique YAW Stability:

- The "duckerons" on the wing tips. They create drag and slide the wing back giving it yaw movement.
- Thrust vectoring motors also give it yaw control at higher speeds (they don't work much at slower speeds).
- A forward CG helps keep the weight wanting to go forward.
- With the forward CG some "up trim" or "reflex" can be given to the rear elevons which creates drag in the rear of the plane which creates some yaw stability.
- A minimization of drag in front of the CG. The canards, cockpit, and air intakes create alot of drag up front that then needs to be compensated for in the back.
- The KF airfoil gives it lift, speed, and overall better tracking and stability.
- And everyone's favorite, the gyros then use all these features at digital speeds! They are given the authority and control to move the control surfaces, VT motors, and duckerons as they see fit to keep the plane stable. The plane is constantly going out of control, the gyros are sensing that and then sending a signal to the appropriate systems to regain control all in less than a second. All this happens faster than any human can process and react, all we see is a weird plane flying straight. It's when the plane flys by real slow and close can you see it making all these hundreds of tiny adjustments by itself. It's just amazing.

So you see, its not "any one thing" that is making this all work, its ALL of these systems working together. If anyone of them is off, even just a click as we found, the plane will flip right over and crash to the ground. To see it all working together is a symphony of the best RC technology. I just love it, this is why I fly RC!

* Our Friends! *

The Real X-36:			McDonnell Douglas JSF proposal and x-36:

	There is a real X-36 that the military is working on. Its a $17 million dollar, 1/4 scale, 19' long, 11' wingspan, 3' tall, 1300lb, radio controlled test model that was built in just 28 months!

	Reasons for losing a vertical tail:
		- Very Stealthy. - Very unstable which make the aircraft super maneuverable if you can control it. - Less weight and drag on the aircraft which means more range and speed with less cost. - Since it relies so heavily on computers to fly, it can take greater battle damage and the computers have more authority to think up new ways on the spot to make the plane fly off of the reaming control surfaces! CRAZY!



	We will all be seeing more tailless aircraft in the future now that the code has been cracked. Its a fascinating study, CLICK HERE for a great place to start.

How it Started for Us		X-36 Introduction:

	Keith and I talked about and some degree first designed this plane back in the summer of 2006, a good year and a half before it's first flight. In fact, most of our planes and even future planes were first planned in the summer of 2006. This gives you an idea how long all this actually takes.

	During the many months between then and it's first flight of November 2008, I was always storing away information that I was learning from all the other projects towards one day building this X-36. I knew it was going to be a very sophisticated project so I needed a good year and a half for my knowledge, skill, and experience to catch up with my dreams.

		This video has also been posted on our BLOG page.
	You can see many of my other designs in the X-36!

	- The emergency pop-up tail is from the Flying School Bus. - The understanding of the elevon configuration is from the F-117. - The thrust vectoring is from the F-22. - The duckerons were from a tailless B2 I built and flew in early 2007 (not documented). - The basic foundation of the unique wiring is from the SkyRider. - The ability to do canards is from the EuroFighter. - The fuselage construction is from the F1 Hydro. - The gyro programing and KF airfoil is from the SU-35. - The entire plane is designed around the 6x4 prop as I explain in our Power Systems Ebook.
			Now the X-36 has entered the hanger of successful designs. With this one of a kind break through its going to allow us to make some seriously space aged designs in the future! That's what excites me most!



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