Giant RC Rocket Plane

Thank you also to the Vintage Model Company for the balsa wood used in this project!

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!

[Project-Air]

For anyone who doesn’t already know, Emma is the first full-time hire at Project Air 🙌 She’s an incredibly capable engineer and actually much more qualified than myself, who basically self-learned everything.

Over the years I’ve had many friends appearing in my videos, including Sam, Mike and Hannah, who were always keen to lend a hand with building and filming when they were available. 🎥 What a really needed, though, was someone to help design, build and test things full-time.

Emma originally worked in the same engineering company as Sam, who recommended her. I saw she was the ideal sort of engineer to come and help out with Project Air operations day-to-day. I’m really excited about all of the more complicated projects we’ll now be able to take on with her versatile skill set in electronics, CAD and other areas, and I’m also very pleased to highlight a woman in STEM through this channel, something that is still lacking on YouTube (and in general).

I’d like Emma to be treated with respect as it’s hard enough to appear on camera without inappropriate comments about her appearance or relationship to myself. She is a valued member of the team and I’m very much looking forward to all the future projects she is going to be helping with.

Looking forward to the next project!
James

[bsod]

Im so glad u dont have to do these things alone anymore...shes a keeper

[DIYPerks]

What a result!!! Well done James and Emma!

[PurpleTT]

As a 60yr old I really appreciated seeing you take Jetex & balsa structures to the limit. I had many, and if fact although you mentioned the 50s my last was in 1985, although Jetex parts were a little hard to find by then. It was a tissue & dope plane that immediately burst into flames. Dope was still off-gassing! I dropped it immediately and it sat on the ground leaving, within 30s, a black skeleton of failure. Gutted.

[dejongdon]

16:25 How satisfying was it to see it gently rise when the first rocket was ignited!?! Well done!

[HanZie]

That ended up being one beautiful plane.
I would NOT be upset to see it again with maybe another form of propulsion.
It flies so nice.

[denyscpoyner]

I once walked into a hobby store and saw a rocket powered twin tail glider already pre built and hanging from the ceiling. Long story short, I bought it and a pack of rocket motors, took it to the park the next day and 3. 2. 1. 💥🔥 Exploded on ignition. 😢 I should have sued Estes for the motor failure, 150 bucks right out the window.

[raymondborkowski]

Emma makes a great addition to the channel 😜

[MeriaDuck]

10:30 the quite hard edge of the field entering the view is quite scary... The efficiency of such a glider with ground effect makes that they can get pretty far 😂

[bravelyHomoSapien]

19:04
“With many ups and downs”…
Well played, sir😂

[magicaardvark]

More Emma please. She is a legend! Also: who's in the Dalek?

[BrettMontgomery-ygcd]

Great job to both James and Emma. Nice that you mentioned Jetex. I'm 70 and it brings back good memories.

[banalpedant]

As you can see high aspect ratio wings have pretty good performance. Having the Center of gravity proper is likely the most important aspect.
Love your assistance's hair. She is gorgeous. Lol

[liammorantz]

8:09 : still better than Boeing though

[Jetstreamer]

Cool!! I like you and Emma's dynamic❤

[thefantasyforge]

Nice to see you revisit retro planes with modern tech. I'd love to seem more of these. Emma is also absolutely right about it looking like a kid's drawing, but it glides nicely.

[cedhome]

Tip - as the rocket will get lighter as it burns putting it as close to the centre of gravity as possible will help.so above or below the wing would be better. Great fun all the same 👍

[AlexOnABoat]

That was fun, but here's the challenge for you before you tuck this plane away for a happy retirement.

Multiple rocket motors triggered one after the other.

I feel we need more height.

[lowtecMachina]

Such a cool project. After seeing the table go whoosh i had my doubts but the first testflight with the smaller rocket motor had me smiling. Good job 👍

[johntate]

Super impressive engineering skills and glad you finally went with the box frame. I have seen some larger motors that have about 20 seconds of lower thrust, which may be more suitable for a longer flight (Apogee Components, Aero Tech G18+, 19.8seconds). You have a nice looking Dalek in your workshop!