Foam RC Jet

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DISCLAIMER: This video is purely for entertainment value. Personal use of video content is at your own risk. Recreations of experiments, activities and projects are the sole legal responsibility of the person(s) involved in replicating them. I can not be liable for any information or misinformation, wrongful use, damage to personal property, death or any circumstances that result from replication of any projects seen. Be safe!

[wolfganghorn]

I don't know if others already commented, but instead of a solid fuel tank you could use a fuel bag. You can fill the bag completly, so that there is no air inside, and the bag simply shrinks as the engine consumes the fuel. I have seen this type of tank used in several other rc-jets.
Anyway keep up the good work :D

[DAD_ROS_]

For the first prototype bro didn’t even have landing gears and still buttered that better than Ryanair

[TheMachInitiative]

Thanks for inviting us to get involved in the project! It was super exciting seeing the design evolve so quickly and we had great fun working with you!

[loleklolkowski]

I think the RF signal issue is most likely caused by the use of a less robust protocol. I would recommend moving to crossfire (either TBS crossfire or ELRS) to ensure that you dont loose the signal. Both of those are capable of reaching tens up to hundreds od kilometres range. Spektrum i made for LoS flying and its just not stable enough.

[jacekgrzybowski]

One of the reasons of shorter signal range than typical might be caused by all the foil and metal (and carbon fiber) in the airplane. Also maybe some components of jet engine (pump which stalled for ex) sparks and cause radio interference. Best solution is to keep your RX antennas as far as possible from the metal parts etc. (end of the wing is a good spot). Also DSM2 is an old technology, as other have said ERLS is great solution and should guarantee range measured in kilometres. But if you would go for ERLS I think 2.4ghz is better than sub ghz versions, as these lower frequencies can have issues with bouncing from metal/carbon parts.

[spookydonkey]

Great project! As others have said, ELRS for the win. Super strong and cheap control link. Hopeful for part 2!

[matthewsmith]

Really glad that you show us the whole process, including when things don't go to plan :)

Could the foil tape have blocked the signal from your transmitter?

[tomtiny]

Maybe a satellite or two on the wingtips away from the foil would have helped.

Also: Do not use dsm2/x on anything else than UMX planes and little park flyers! I used to have Spektrum gear as well and had about 1-2 signal losses per year.
I switched to a 4in1 modul transmitter with open/Edge TX using mostly an external ELRS module or the internal frsky. Not had a problem since and you can still use your dsm2/x receivers on little planes with the 4in1 module.

[testpilotian]

You should really switch to ELRS for your control link, even at 10mw it will far out perform the other protocols like DSMX, FRSky etc. for this project though I’d seriously consider crossfire or elrs 868mhz for simple redundancy.

[allenstratton]

Afterburner we need one of these micro turbines with an afterburner!!!! You can make this
Thank you again for all your hard work

[vanoskoll]

Why not use long-range receivers/transmitters? Such as ELRS or Crossfire?

[MrJoshr]

I honestly feel like the air bubble was a blessing in disguise.. if you lost controls whilst the engine was still on it could of hit the ground a lot harder or carried on (unsure if failsafe off was implemented)

[BorisFelix-up]

The truest greatness lies in being kind, the truest wisdom in a happy mind.

[PatGilliland]

My bet is that a 1/16 Mosquito took it out - you've basically built a V1. ;)

Great project - looking forward to version two.

[acomingextinction]

the fact the camera survived that wicked crash speaks pretty well of your sponsor's product

[AdilErt]

If the signal had not been lost, you could have glided down very easily.
Don’t use spektrum.

[nacorti]

Great work dude! I'm always impressed by how open you are with sharing your process, even the failures

As for the signal strength: if I were you and you were me, I'd be flying something like this with FPV and an on-screen display enabled within the FPV view. That way you can see signal strength degrade in real time and compensate for it, since radios are finicky. I think it'll add negligible weight to your airframe and save you plenty of trouble in the long run

[detroxx]

Lesson of the day: Don't use Spektrum radios.
A friend and I had a very similar experience recently. It wasn't a jet and luckily the plane mostly survived, but these crashes could be completely avoided by using a better radio link like ELRS or TBS Crossfire.

[josephmorelli]

You did a great job. I feel bad about the crash. You are a very talented & highly motivated young man. You should be proud. Always look forward to your videos.

[RaynerGS]

I am looking forward to version 2. I have given up the Spectrum a long time ago. I use ExpressLRS much more reliably - greetings from Brazil.