Zepto Eagleworks - Z-51 "Cobra" V/STOL

[Giggleplex777]

I calculate a 99% chance that it is a swivel VTOL.

I never did download this. The hinge is your standard ant engine hinge with docking ports right? I will test it out when you launch it. I've really been enjoying testing peoples craft recently.

Oh yeah.

I built it (almost) from scratch in less than an hour and it flies better than the Wasp III.

Holy mother of Kraken. I warned you guys, before this happened: when Giggle gets his 1.0 legs, be prepared for some witchcraft. When are we getting a craft file with that awesome-looking hinge?

Rune. SSTO on top of VTOL by any chance?

Hmm... An SSTO would be very hard with the current configuration. With a RAPIER installed it's probably too heavy to takeoff vertically, and that's without any addition fuel and oxidizer onboard.

Edited August 30, 2015 by Giggleplex777

[selfish_meme]

I've done a non hinged SSTO VTOL, the weight is the main concern, I tried to go all liquid (or very little oxidiser) with a nuke though (for range), with just Rapiers it might be better.

[Giggleplex777]

[Giggleplex777]

Updated the Z-50 with new parts to make it compatible with 1.0.5. Works great but it's not ready for release yet.

3000th post!

[Giggleplex777]

Fitted the Z-51 with variable-sweep wings as an experiment:

Less swept:

More swept:

There's only LV-1R per hinge in this case, making them stiffer than the those on the ZF-31 and ZF-32 (which had 3 per hinge IIRC). Doesn't do much performance-wise other than shift the CoL.

 

Here's a heavily-modified version with a similar variable-sweep wing setup and a Whiplash engine:

I like the look of this one more but it's not as agile as the original Z-51due to the fact that it's quite heavy at 14t fueled and the Whiplash only has 2 degrees of gimbal. Nevertheless, I might release this version as the Z-60.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Giggleplex777

[Giggleplex777]

Added the "Future Projects" section to the front page. One (actually two) of the things I've been working on are variable-geometry oblique wing aircraft. One is landing strut powered and doesn't have much rotation while the other has a rocket-powered hinge to rotate the wing 90 degrees.

The first aircraft with wings perpendicular to the fuselage:

And angled:

 

The second aircraft is much sleeker and is designed for supersonic flight. The hinge is also much more unreliable:

Takeoff/Landing/low-speed configuration:

Supersonic configuration:

 

Not sure if there is any benefit of rotating the wings but at least they look cool.

[Fearless Son]

On 1/26/2016 at 5:05 PM, Giggleplex777 said:

Not sure if there is any benefit of rotating the wings but at least they look cool.

Storage?  Fit a larger wingspan in a smaller hanger.  Great concept for things like carrier-based aircraft.