The first Rhino production aircraft has been fitted with a FTP camera. The video 'We're Going to Crash... Crash Testing the Rhino' was shot entirely using this system.
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Aerotuff - Aluminium RC Aircraft Built to Survive
Aerotuff Charger Canard Airborne
The latest aircraft designed and built using the Aerotuff aluminium concepts is the Aerotuff Charger Canard. This new rear driven canard was designed around the Aerotuff Delta wing design. A new technique incorporated in these designs is the bent tube nose thanks some window shopping at our local Aldi supermarket. I spotted a tube bender among their 'reduced price' items and immediately saw the potential. They say that window shopping is good therapy but I think it's much more than that. By perusing the shelves of hardware, haberdasheries, electronics and discount stores you can get so many ideas. Often, you can find me standing in a store isle, a blank look, staring at nothing as I visualize the way I will incorporate my latest find into a project. I may look vacant minded but I don't care, it works for me. Anyway, where was I, yes the Canard.
This aircraft was designed with a full flying nose plane and no rudder control. Large wing tip fins are incorporated to provide lateral stability. Completed, the Canard passed its first important test... the 'Sexy' test, the general consensus was, 'That looks hot.' This test is important because I believe in the old adage 'if it looks good it will fly well', but more to the point, who wants to fly an ugly airplane :).
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First Adodized Rhino
After several months of design and building, the new anodizer has been put to the test, successfully. To clarify, the results weren’t as good as I hope to achieve but considering that it was the first fuselage and it was not originally built with anodizing in mind (not pre-polished), I’m pleased with the results. I am in the middle of producing a video that will take you through the process. If you’re interested, please subscribe to our youtube channel and you can join Anodize DIY on Facebook.
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The Rhino, much more than a RC aircraft.
Developer and manufacturer of the aluminium Rhino range of RC Aircraft.
The Rhinos are unique in several ways.
1/ They can be stripped down to travel in a suitcase.
2/ They fly like a balsa model but are far stronger.
3/ In the event of damage, such as a bent fuselage spar(s), the rivets can be drilled out and the damaged components replaced.
4/ The airframe can be configured as a Aerobatic Sport Trainer, a Low Wing Aircraft (not yet tested), a Parasol Basic Trainer (proven), a Biplane (not yet tested), an Auto-gyro (still under development) and, with the addition of a second airframe, the mighty Siamese Twin Rhino (proven).
RHINO PRODUCTION
With each week that passes I get closer to being able to offer Aerotuff Rhinos to enthusiasts that are keen on getting one of these very different aircraft. Gearing up to produce the Rhinos has and still is quite a challenge. First I need room so my Pegasus Trike has to go.
I bought the trike 9 years ago with dreams of flying holidays and adventures but unfortunately, a cancer diagnosis put an end to that. It has taken me all that time to bury that dream a find a new one. Thank goodness for radio control. My cancer is stable at the moment and my prospect are encouraging thanks to the new Immune Therapy treatments and, regardless, I have never let it stand in the way of my plans for the future.
So, now I’m turning my 2 meter x 5 meter garage into a Rhino factory. Over the past 2 weeks I’ve taken delivery of two pieces of equipment that really excite me, a laser cutter and a 3d printer.
The main purpose for the laser cutter will be to cut the 1/8 ply wing formers. These are glued to each end of the foam billet as guides for hot wire cutting the of the wing cord. The 3D printer is here to print the specialized hinges I’ve designed for the ailerons. Aside from these tasks I’m sure I’ll find plenty of other jobs for these two.
Hopefully, the Trike will be gone in the next few weeks and I can get serious about painting the floor, building benches and setting up for the first production aircraft.
The other process that I am incorporating into the production is the anodizing of the airframes. As I set this up I will post articles so those who are interested can follow my progress.
Twin Rhino (Siamese Rhino) Airborne
OK, so I finally got serious about building the Twin Rhino (which I now decided to call the Siamese Rhino). Of course, this is just the start. I previously tried to build the centre plane using foam core and hot wire but the wing is to complicated. So, built up balsa is the way to go. I gave the centre wing (the wing connecting the two fuselages) the same span as the other wings.
My concerns are that I have two aircraft together, with one centre plane and I have lost 25% of my lift area. My reaction has been to increase the overall cord of the centre span by about 10%. This won’t totally compensate for the extra wing loading but I have added a decent centre span flap to reduce the landing speed. (Of course… lousy pilot skills have not been factored)
Everything in both aircraft that are to be married match, so I believe this odd aircraft will fly…. And fly well. We’ll see.
After writing the above I took the aircraft to my club for some ground testing. During a high speed taxi run the Twin Rhino rotated and looked quite comfortable in the air. I backed off and she settle back down on the ground,she was comfortable it's just that I wasn't, the wind was a bit fickled so now we just wait for the right day.
9/2/18 The Twin flew today. It was perfect, right from the takeoff roll. It took to the air like an eagle and it felt comfortable right from the beginning. This aircraft gets full marks... :)
If you are wondering about the he Autogyro in the following articles... All I can say is that it is a rotary aircraft and as such its hard work... it will happen but I need to do a lot more work. At the end of the day I ill have developed an aircraft that can be configured as a monoplane (parasol, high wing or low wing), biplane or twin... and tuff as nails.
Crash Testing__
ApologyI have just discovered that the site had stopped sending emails from the contact page. A quirky problem with the platform I’m using. The problem has been fixed and I hope you’ll forgive me for not contacting you and ask that you resend any emails.
My Sincere Apologies, Neville
Flight Testing
Flight Testing__
Aerotuff Video
Aerotuff__
Making It Tuff__
FPV Rhino__
Plans
Once the SF1 Rhino has been fully tested, Plans will be made available through this site.