The "Flightless Birds", a series of FAR fighter jets

[Shazbot]

At some point like a week ago or so, I decided to have a bash at making some FAR jets. I downloaded just about every aviation related mod I could find, and after some trial and error I came up with these designs.

Because of the way the planes usually crash and burn spectacularly on their maiden flights (and the following dozen), I decided to name all my planes after flightless birds.

I posted them in the FAR craft thread, but I thought I should give them their own one because they've become this series of sorts.

Anyway, here are the noteworthy ones so far:

F-1 Kakapo

Named after a flightless parrot with the face of a Victorian gentleman, the F-1 Kakapo is inspired by light fighters such as the F-5 Tiger II. The rather simple design makes it decently sleek, and the single F100 engine nicked from an F-16 (thanks to the Advanced Jet Engine mod) gives it plenty of oomph. Handling was a priority, the plane is very manageable while still capable of some wacky stuff.

Note the leading edge control surfaces (slats?): They move automatically depending on the AoA of the plane, which helps maintain stability during sharp turns and stuff. It's a feature that all subsequent jets also have.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

F-3 Ostrich

After the F-2 crashed so many times on takeoff that I decided it doesn't deserve to fly, I moved on to the F-3. The Ostrich is a delta-canard plane inspired by the "eurocanards", the Typhoon, Rafale and Gripen. While it is ugly as sin, the plane is surprisingly aerodynamic.

The delta-canard design seems to have some pretty funny (murderous) properties. Like, rather than just cobra maneuvers, this thing does backflips (and then explodes, usually). While it can fly with a modicum of stability, the slightest mistake will make it want to kill the pilot. The upshot is that if wrangled properly, it can pull off some really crazy stuff.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

The F-4 was an attempt at changing the F-3's wing configuration to something more conventional. It was awful. And fiery. Very fiery.

F-5 Rhea

Having discovered the fabulous versatility of procedural parts, I decided to revisit the F-1's concept. Aside from the procedural parts, I also changed the difficulty settings in FAR to the strictest possible area ruling for added masochism.

The F-5 Rhea is somewhat inspired by the Mirage F1. In fact, thanks again to AJE it actually uses the same engine. The plane is all around decent, with no major bad habits and a handling that lets idiots like me fly it with some proficiency.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

F-6 Cassowary

Notable for being the first even-numbered jet in the series that actually flies, the Cassowary looks like some weird mix of MiG-25 and F-15. It's an all-around improvement on the F-5 that turns harder, goes faster, and is easier to fly.

The most notable aspect of this jet aside from the insane power of its dual F100 engines, is the sheer stability of it. No matter if you're going sub-100ms or mach 2, this thing is always very responsive and forgiving even at high angles of attack. Capable of holding just over 30° of AoA, "bouncing" up to 40° for short moments and pulling over 10g at high speed, this thing is an absolute joy to fly.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

That's all for now, more to come maybe. If people are interested I'll upload the .craft files, but the modset I'm using (at least for the first two) is pretty wacky.

[Yaeah]

Interesting. I really like the F-5b Rhea! It almost seems like a cross between a Mirage 2000 and an F-16

[VR_Dev]

Nice craft dude. Things in FAR always impress me. The cassowary is my favorite.

[Shazbot]

After Ferram4 gave me some tips on Reddit, I had a bash at improving the F-6. Here are two additional variants, the B and C:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Gfycat! http://gfycat.com/MaleRelievedIrishterrier

Edited August 6, 2015 by Shazbot

[ThorBeorn]

Very cool. I even had to stalk your discussion with ferram4 on reddit

You can never learn too much.

[Shazbot]

I'm baaack~

Got some more jets to show off. The imgur thing also contains webm links, so check them out!

Javascript is disabled. View full album