I am wanting to build one of these (lots of time on my hands) but after cutting out I cannot figure out what the deal is with the elevator/rudder. One of them is slotted to allow movement but the the other has a simple straight cut in it and this will not allow the other surface to move inside. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Chuck
...somewhere in Indiana...

 

Mark, it looks like I could take a knife and cut a "v" shape on the one elevator/aileron, then both could work. Am I correct that one was hooked up as elevator and the other as rudder or aileron?
How's you shop going?
Thanks for the reply.

Chuck
..."if it weren't for global warming, it would be REALLY cold in Indiana"...

 

Oh Frak this is so funny Chuck and Mark! Would you believe I just literally built the Nite Owl last night in about 4 hours and flew it this morning, BUT I built it with elevons! No wonder it was so weird flying it! Now I get on and see you guys talking about it being elevator and runner only.

Anyway here are some photos of the finished build, exciting video of the first flight to follow soon.

By the way can you guys take a look at the motor and battery placement below? I think that the motor should be more centered, or is it supposed to be offset?

Dan
Attached files

 

Dan, looking at the pieces on a test fit it looks like this was designed to utilize a stick mount which would fit almost dead center. The cut out space is, I suppose, for the RX, but I am not sure. I see you cut the v shape as I thought about and Mark seems to think that will work okay. The question I have now is high torque or high rpm motor? You have the battery up pretty high and I would have though it needed to be down lower for CG issues. If yours works out well where it is then that is where I will put it. Great photos, thanx.

Chuck
...somewhere in Indiana...

 

At the indoor flyin today, one of the members from another club dropped in to check out our facilities and he mentioned he was looking for a vertical takeoff something like a Sumo and asked if I had ever built anything like that.

By coincidence, the night owl subject came up later in the afternoon when I got home from flying.

I decided this would probably fit the bill nicely so I grabbed the su file and hacked it up for some 2mm Depron foam I have on hand.

I have a 5g brushless cd rom style motor, an AR6300 Spektrum receiver, a couple of digital servos which should work well for this size. A 5x3 GWS prop should fit nicely and I have some very small 2 cell LIPOs that should power all this and keep the weight down to a minimum.

I modified the elevator to fix the problem pointed out by Chuck. Now I see Meistertek has built a full sized one last night. How cool!

I am not using a stick mount in mine, so I made a few changes to allow a firewall mount to be used.

So anyway, here is my SU file for 2mm Depron Micro version in case anyone is interested. I got mine cutout this evening, but ran out of time and will have to assemble it after tomorrows flyin.
I would have loved to had it ready for tomorrow but I got started too late. Attached files MicroNightOwl.skp (355.6 KB)Â

 

Chuck,

My Nite Owl flew pretty well and now that I think of it it would have been perfect if I had the controls as elevator and rudder only. With the battery in the position as shown in the photos above it would right itself and slowly fly along in high alpha at about half throttle hands off (once it was trimmed). My motor is low KV with a 11x4.7 GWS EP (slow fly) prop I think you want a low pitch prop to help reduce the amount of spinning of the body when in vertical flight.

My Park 450 Brushless Outrunner Motor, 890Kv motor is a little over kill in my opinion now that I have flow the Nite Owl, but here are the specs:

I think that the motor is supposed to be centered, not offset like you noticed, we'll see if Mark can verify this, but I am guessing that it would fly better with the motor in the center.

I am actually thinking of moving the battery to the center to see if I can fly with the current elevon and rudder setup.

Dan

 

Larry,

Your micro nite owl is sweet! what's really cool is that I have a setup just sitting around that would be perfect for your micro redesign! I only have 3mm depron, but I might give it a try! Not sure if you noticed, but Mark desinged a Micro NiteOwl too: http://www.phlatforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=1383 maybe you could call yours a SuperMirco NiteOwl

Dan

 

I also just noticed in Marks first NiteOwl video that he has the elevator control surfaces connected by a rod on the two trailing edges spanning the V cutout.

 

I missed the micro nite owl thread somehow... Thanks for pointing it out. Actually I do sort of remember it cause Mark mentions he used parts from a micro flying truck. I didn't have one of the trucks so I might have glossed over it at the time.

I had both 2 and 3mm Depron in the shop and could have saved some time had I realized their was already an SU file for the 3mm.

Looking at Marks micro, I see it has quite a few more bells and whistles added. I need to pick up some more carbon fiber anyway, so maybe I will build one of each.

I am going to use the parts I had put in the Micro Divinity II. I seem to tire easily once I have built something and flown it awhile and am always looking for something that I can build with parts I already have on hand or can steal from something else that I am no longer flying.

Don't you just love the stuff Mark dreams up! There is never a dull moment here.

 

I considered the micro NiteOWL until some mention was made of "helicopter parts" (of which I have none). Guess I will take another look at that project also. I have plenty of 3mm depron on hand if that will work. I have to get this larger version going first. It is too cold to do anything else around here anyhow! You are right, Flash, never a dull moment and I too have the habit of scavenging parts from perfectly good aircraft to try something new. I suppose that is the fun of it.

Chuck
...somewhere in Indiana...

 

Cool Thanks Mark!.... you guys are right never a dull moment around here! Now to fly or build!

 

Dang! That was fast work on the revision. Thank you Mark, now I will begin again, scavange some stuff and build the "Frankenfoam" NiteOWL!

Chuck
...somewhere in INdiana...

 

I put on the finishing touches to my 2mm Depron Mini Nite Owl this morning .

I cut out both the 2mm and 3mm versions but the 3mm was too small for the electronics I planned on using so I went with the 2mm version for this build.

I cut some triangle stock from some 9mm Depron I had in stock and used it for gussets to strengthen the joints where the two halves join.

The receiver used is an AR6300 with 2 micro digital servos and the power is supplied by a 10g CD ROM style brushless motor and 5x3 GWS prop and a 6A DualSky ESC hooked to an 2 cell 250mah pack.

CG seems VERY critical. AWG is 2.45oz which is really too heavy. The 5x3 prop will not lift off on its own. I tried a longer prop but it will cut the foam if I should land like I have been doing so far with the 5x3 prop so I am hesitant to fly with it.

I was able to toss and fly for a few feet before it crash lands. Experimenting with battery placement but all and all I think this one is probably destined to be just an experiment judging from the results thus far.

It might fare better with an AR6400 with the built in micro servos, but I don't have another one to experiment with right now. I suspect if I could use the parts from another Sukhoi, this thing might stand a chance at flying as it would be soooo much lighter.

But anyway, it has been fun experimenting with it. Attached files

 

Update... Found a lightweight 3 cell pack, maybe 250 mah that I had made up from some single cell lipos and plugged it in. What a difference! Just needed some more RPM!

The little jewel flys!!!!

Now I just gotta do something to mark the orientation because it quickly becomes disorienting with everything being symmetrical!

 

Cool! Glad to hear it worked with the 3 cell Flash!

 

This one is a little larger than your 3mm micro. In fact, quite a bit larger. I scaled down the one you had posted here before I realized you had a micro version.

I cut out both, but decided to go with my 2mm version because of the components I had on hand would not fit into the smaller 3mm size.

It may still be very sensitive to fly, I have not had an opportunity as yet to find out.

The one time I had it in the air, it was hovering and did a roll which caused me to loose orientation. I think I had the battery too low. I went back and watched your video and realized I need to move the battery but have not had an opportunity since then to fly again.

I fly a PBF a lot, so I think once I get this dialed in, it should fly very similar to the PBF, high alpha forward flight.

It is too windy to fly outdoors right now and our next indoor meet is not till the weekend so I will probably not get another chance to fly it till then.

I splashed a bit of paint on one side to help me keep tabs on which side is up. Attached files

 

Just wanted to say I phinished my NiteOWL. Too nasty outside to try to test anything so I tried to lift it in the garage just to sense how it would do. I kept increasing power until it betan to lift and then it just shot off sideways. A little damage (I think I hit the car). I tried it again and it did the same thing. I cannot be sure which way it it darting as the entire aircraft tries to spin like a top. If I knew where the horizontal CG would be be when in that position I think I would have a better chance of success. Anyone have an idea where that spot is? I may have too much motor or prop or both. I have a Hacker 20-20L clone and a orange GWS 10" prop. More than enoug power, but like I said, maybe too much. This think could be tons of fun so I have to get it going.

Chuck
...somewhere in Indiana...