The Imp - EPP Indoor Combat Plane

[Aidan]

If you were at the CMAC Indoor fly-in at Middleton last October you might have seen the little orange EPP delta I was flying. I designed it with indoor combat, pylon racing and general messing about in mind. It flew well but needed some tweaking to make it as crash-proof and practical as I wanted.

I got time to sort it out and do some testing over Christmas and now it's working very well. I think I'll call it the Imp but any better suggestions will be gratefully considered :?: !
We had 4 of them in the air together on Monday for some combat (with and without streamers) and we're all agreed it's great fun! Lots of collisions, lots of streamer cuts, lots of fun and no significant damage (nicks from enemy props is about all we've seen).

It's built entirely from 6mm EPP (grade 20L – this is the soft stuff) and a little 3x0.5mm carbon strip. The prop's in the middle and it's got a big, blunt, bouncy nose.
It's virtually immune to head on collisions with walls, floors and roof beams (we've tested this several times now!). There's no landing gear or other breakable bits sticking out (but it can still take off easily from a smooth floor due to the new fuselage shape).

I'll post some photos in a couple of hours and maybe some video if I have anything suitable on the camera. I lost the CAD file for the latest version  :!:  so I'll need to re-draw it before producing a plan and then I'll post it here.

Technical specs, photos and plans coming soon!

Aidan


P.S.
This is my excuse for not making progress on the Index 4......

[Aidan]

All finished: AUW is 130g


All the bits cut out and the 4 pieces of carbon glued in place


Cut outs in nose centre lamination. This isn't intended for weight saving. The idea is  idea is to add some flexibility and bounce to the nose. Hard to tell but I think it works. It does no harm either way.


Assembled inverted using Uhu Por


Top half and rudder added. Ready for the radio gear and power system. The hinges are done with Uhu Por - easy, tidy and strong.


The "chin" is designed for skidding take-offs but it's also the perfect shape for a toothy paint job! Especially suitable if it's called the Imp


Radio installation is easy. We glued the servos flat to the foam on the early ones but they were a little vulnerable to getting knocked loose. Now I'm putting a 2nd layer of EPP where the servos go and cutting a slightly undersize hole. Push fit servos! No need for pushrod guides if you use 1.5mm carbon rods. I used 1.2mm rods with supports on earlier versions.


The only slightly inconvenient part of the build is that you may need to extend your rudder servo lead. It only takes a few minutes though.


Video to come!

Aidan

[Fred]

Me like it Aidan !  :clap:
And really original on top of that!  :clap:  :clap:

Is it like the Sumos "concept" for combat ?  :?:

Let's see what Mr Boyle think of that!  

[billscottni]

yes very sumo'ish
think you mean Boyd Fred

[Aidan]

No, it's definitely an Imp.

Sumo - Pah! :wink:

The video is still processing on Vimeo. Hopefully I'll be able to post it shortly.


Aidan

[Aidan]

Here's the video.
This is from the start of our Monday session before we cracked out the streamers. Eanna's flying the purple-ish one, Stu in Red, Paul unpainted. These 3 are all the previous version which has a slightly more swept delta. I think the new one holds speed a little better when looping.
They will happily slow down to a crawl but it's mostly fast-ish flying in this video. They're a little noisy because of the slot but not as loud as the camera makes them seem.

No video of some of the more lively stuff later in the session - I was too busy flying!
[youtube]http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=18470882[/youtube]

[Richard Boyd]

Hi Aidan,very cool design and I love the sound !!!!!
Busy bees buzzing around the gym  :clap:
Your Dad, is having fun !
Happy New Year to you both.

Richard

[Happy Days]

I’ve just come accross this topic............ :roll:

That’s a very neat little flyier Aiden.  Looks good fun and, very nimble yet robust. :clap:

Alas, I’ve rather given up on indoor flying or else I think I’d have made myself one of those. I like the idea of a bit of combat. :twisted:

Keith

[billscottni]

Redrawn the plans yet Aidan?

[Aidan]

I haven't re-drawn the version shown above. However I did re-draw the version before that (the one shown in the video) and I'm now thinking this version is the best all rounder. Eanna, Stu and Paul have been flying these regularly and are having a ball with them. I'm told their F3P airframes have been sidelined by the Imp chaos. I haven't had much opportunity myself unfortunately, just not managing to get to many indoor sessions   .
I'm told there's been plenty combat action and to date no serious damage to any of them so it seems the crashproof plan was pretty successful!

You can find the plan for the Pre-Imp here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17027477&postcount=14
The modifications made between this version and the one pictured above are described here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17027490&postcount=15

These plans are for printing on A0 which most people probably can't do (not at home anyway!) so if you need it set up for printing on several A4 sheets let me know.

If you decide to try one, have fun, and let me know what you think or if you have any constructive criticism.

I'm using the following hardware and it's a perfect match to the airframe:

Hardware
Motor: Infinite A1705-2250 or Hyperion Z1705-11 (17gr)
Battery: 2s Rhino 360mAh lipos (21g)
Prop: GWS 6x3DD
Servos: Waypoint W-060BB (6.6g)

Sorry for the delay producing a plan.
If anyone's interested I might look at throwing together some basic kits for next season.

Aidan

[billscottni]

Thanks Aidan

[Aidan]

I headed down to the indoor fly-in at Midleton yesterday and had a great day's flying. Thanks Ralph!

There were 4 Imps there and we had several frenzied and hilarious sessions of streamer shredding. I got the distinct impression there might be more of these turning up in the near future!

We had what I think is the first structural damage to one of these to date, when Eanna's Imp somehow got a wing torn half off. Still an easy repair though. These can take a lot of abuse!

[rogallo]

it wasn't me

 :oops:

[Aidan]

it wasn't me

 :oops:

Nope - I think it was the one he was flying himself. It was an easy repair anyway.

[Fred]

Looks like you had fun last week end!  :clap:  :clap:

Any photos / videos?