Planes > Indoor

The Imp - EPP Indoor Combat Plane

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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!  :P

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

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