How to Build a R/C 4D Aircraft

Intro: How to Build a R/C 4D Aircraft

4D aircraft is fun and challenging to fly, its VPP(variable pitch propeller) controls the direction of airflow, and enables the flyer to 
do many 4D manoeuvres on a single transmitter. Meaning that you can fly your plane nose down and the pitch of the propeller can change to make it fly straight up. Here is what you will need to build a fully functional 4D aircraft. Be the first one to build it in your group, and wait for the oos and the ahs from your fellow R/C plane flyers.

What you will need:
-hobbyking hkt6a 6 channel receiver and transmitter
- Foam board or cardboard , card board is very cheap and extremely light
-pushrod, the type that can fit in your servo arm usually 1mm-1.5mm
-Control horn
-hingetape or plastic hinges
-Special 9"various pitch propeller with 1300KV motor set
-4 of the  9 gram micro servos
-hobbyking redbrick 30amp ESC
-Hobbyking HKT6A 6channel transmitter data cable
-CA glue
-epoxy
-3cell lipo battery 

STEP 1: The Plans

The plans you can get from anywhere, the most suitable ones are :
-extra 330 from hanger 9
-extra 300 from hanger 9
-e-flite tribute 3d
-arrow v3 4d plane(already on the market)
These planes can be easily modified to fit the vpp motor&prop system.

STEP 2: The Wings and the Fuselage

Firstly, i cut the wing and the fuselage out of cardboard, then the horitzontal stabilizer. When i have done that , i use a hobbyknife to cut off the rudder, elevator and the two ailerons, i made sure that the control surfaces are large enough, because if you are flying inverted with the props close to the ground, you will need to pull out of a dive quickly.
Next, i cut out and then hinge the control surfaces with light weight tape.
I used a hobby knife to cut out a slot for the vertical stabilizer and glued it in place with hot glue and CA. and then reinforced the bottom of the fuselage with bamboo skewers.
Then i cut out the slot for the wing, and permanently glued it in place with CA and hot glue. That was definitely a very strong bond.

STEP 3: The Electronics

I cut out lots for the servos, and CA them in place. Then i made my own control horn, and screwed them in from the bottom.
The pushrods are made out of the steel wire. They are lighter than pushrods and have the same characteristics.
After that, i checked the movements with a receiver battery pack. They are proven very good.
The aileron servo was hard to install because the top of the servo was accidentally stuck to the fuselage, so i had to pull the servo out, clean it and glue it back in place.

STEP 4: The Power Source

I finally received the package from the Hobbyking Singapore warehouse. Every thing came in a pristine condition which was surprising. because somethings  from hobbyking are usually either broken from the shipping or they are already broken. I hurried and unboxed the stuff. And then i connected the motor to the esc and soldered it in place. And did this process again with the battery. The motor was spinning at an incredible speed and had a lot of thrust to it. I had to hold it with my two hands. Then i realised i should have used he 2 cell battery, the 3 cell battery was too strong for the motor.
Then i connected the pitch control pushrod from the motor to a 9 gram servo. Which had worked perfectly.
I charged the battery and connected every thing together. 
But the weather is so bad, it will be raining for a while and its freezing outside, it would do some damage to the prop, so i decided to postponed the flying date till the weather get better, and the wind is smaller.
I reprogrammed the transmitter for extra movement, now it really gives extra throw.

Comments

[Aditya M]

nice

[scofieldirpan]

briliant!

[dani0l]

phoda

[AndyGadget]

I'm really baffled here.  You are either a very experienced RC pilot or are you a total beginner who has put this together and is going to be seriously disappointed.

That cardboard plane you've made looks like it's going to be totally unflyable : The prop is too large for the wingspan meaning you're going to get all sorts of torque problems, the wings are too flimsy and will fold at the first high G manoeuvre and that's if it gets airborne at all as the gear looks way too heavy for the wing area.  But, there again,  you can get just about anything to fly. 4D goes something like THIS.

I'm no expert - I've made and flown a couple of small foamies from scratch (Nutball and Drenalyn) but from my experience, there are serious issues with your design.  However I'm quite happy to be proven wrong when I see the video.

[erwxyz]

I have to agree with AndyGadget here, though if you can throw up a Video of this Bird in action, it would be brilliant... btw, check my plane out...

Drone 0.1

Hope you like it!

[stevenzhang]

i am not going to fly this plane, and yes i know the torque will be too great on this 1600kv motor.
I am planning to fit this power source onto the arrow the foam plane, and i am going to use a smaller prop about 8"diameter.
This plane is like a "make it up as i go along" plane, it is only to show the concept of the 4d planes.
I ordered a kit of the arrow from ebay, but it has't arrived yet, in a hurry, i built this small plane.

[Dia1Up]

Hmm 4D? Time Traveling plane?! Just kidding but it's defiantly a good tutorial!

[stevenzhang]

4d means that the plane can fly inverted with the nose down and still the prop will push the plane up, but time travelling plane, i've never heard of that???????????

[Dia1Up]

Heh, don't worry I get it, Like a robot with 18 servos has 18 dimensions of movment ;)

[ve2vfd]

Don't be silly, you know only DeLorean cars can travel thru time! =D

[stevenzhang]

Watch my video instructables

[Bongmaster]

got vid?

[stevenzhang]

i am posting a video on youtube right now.