inspired by goldguys nutball, i am here to introduce to you the MEGA BALL !!!!
the mega ball is a 42" nutball made out of blue FFF and pink FFF also.
it has a kf step, and we are gonna fiberglass some of it.
i think just the edges and maybe the control surfaces.
it is gonna have two motors but the mounts are still in progress,
i am working on those
really... i am still working on the whole thing and i still have improvements and phlat codes to make.
it should be really awesome and i figured i would share it with the whole phlat world!
constructive criticism is welcomed, and encouraged.
my dad and i have been working on this drawing for about a week making minor changes and constructing it in general.
i would love to see someone else also build it !
well, i am very excited to see what you all come up with, as well as what my dad and i are gonna be able to do.
have fun with the skp. file,
here it is Attached files mega ball pink foam.skp (245.8 KB)Â

 

I must admit and give the credit where it is due, Alex (swim93) has done all the sketchup work and most of the design work. I just work out dimensions and make suggestions. When it is all done, I think it will be fair to say its his plane and he let me copy it He really has come a long way quickly, I am still having some issues converting my head from ACAD to SU.

Yes Mark, diff thrust is going to be used, along with landing gear. There is still some layout stuff to be done like servo mounts and hatches, but he has the airframe down I think

 

Looks good. I really like the nutball and this looks like it would be a great flyer too. looking forward to seeing the completed plans. Will definitly be on my build list.

 

i will most likely have the electronics installed tomorrow or the next day.
then i will have the landing gear hopefully by the weekend, it depends on when my dad and i are able to get together so i can get all the parts for making her fly Attached files

 

WOW! Where'd you get that micro DX7?

 

actually yes,
it is ready for the maiden.
my dad, our friend justin, and i made motor mounts for some motors that had very odd mounts. we made them out of aluminium on ethel (dads cnc machine) and they came out awesome.
also we made landing gear out of foam which is really awesome.
i got all of the electronics mounted all i have to do it secure the push rods so they are more stable and the mega will be ready to maiden
i will post pictures later on this week, right now i am haveing computer issues
my fan failed and now it wont even turn on

 

well here are a few pictures!
i got my computer working for right this second.
i should prolly turn it off cause eventually i am going to fry the cpu and that would be no good at all
but here they are just let me know if you want any more views or want to see something else
btw she drives on the ground but im not to sure about the air yet Attached files

 

thanks im gonna need the luck lol.
it has differental thrust which i think is gonna kill me but it will turn so well with it i am just gonna go for it
the landing gear struts did turn out awesome.
this will be my second plane with lanking gear and the first one did not land so well.
but that was for many issues i think.
anyways i will try to get video and post it, im sure you alll would love to see it.

 

Thought I would help out here with an update. The megaball was tried last thursday, with limited success. She flew for a good 5-10 seconds! I think she is a bit under powered, but not so much she couldn't lift off.

As she rolled down the runway, tail lifted in about 20 feet, then about 10 more feet and she was in the air! Gracefully she flew about 5 feet off the deck, only to start a right bank (prolly the heavy winds helping with that). Alex gave her a bit of left and up roared the ugly head of differential thrust! something to remember about that, when you are underpowered and at almost WOT left or right commands cause one motor to slow down but the other has no way to speed up.

And so the madien ended with a beautiful cartwheel after falling from the sky (yes at 5 feet). I am happy to report the landing gear worked as we had planned, it broke off first helping to minimize the damage.

I think the next plan is to switch off the DT at takeoff and use it as ground control for now. New struts and some hot glue will have her back up, if we ever get rid of these 15-20 mph winds we are having here.

BTW she is heavy, 20 oz of foam and glue, 10 oz of electronics, and (2) 2200mAh 3s batteries at 7 oz each. for a total of 44oz AUW. 2 batteries are used just to get the COG right, everything is mounted in the nose and we are barely able to balance her.

 

Bert, I don't know if you can set it up on your TX, but if you can, set it up so that the throttle will be only at about 80% when it's at WOT. That way, when you give rudder input, there is still some room for it to increase, rather than decrease the RPMs.