S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier (With a Twist).

I don't see why it wouldn't be doable. Having never worked with quadrotors before, I'd imagine, based on the design, that the nose would be a bit heavy, so perhaps the front rotors would need to put out more thrust than the rear ones.

Security Bard said:

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The only comments I won't listen to are the ones that say I can't without telling me why.

That's a great start: who needs naysayers? I still wonder how many people told Edison thart there's no way he'd make an electric light!

This project almost sounds like a Mythbusters project. Just don't do what those dolts did when they tried to make a flying harness with fans. I can't remember the details now, but they were using the wrong type of fans from the get-go. I kept yelling at them on tv, to no avail.

You could use one of those electric quadcopters as a base, I'm sure you'd have to build the actual details out of something light like foam.

This would be do'able, and from an ex model helicopter plane builder here's my thoughts.

Frame I would go with carbon fibre tube, ends butted and stuck together. I would then cover the fuselage in thin carbon fibre sheet which would be bonded at the edges and to the frame giving you a very solid structure to start with. I would also make the frame to an as is outside shape, oppose to having an inner frame then cosmetic outer shell as this is heavier. If you make the frame the proper shape you can then just add the detail to the outer skin. Likewise with the main tower, make this from thin carbon fibre sheet so it's not overly heavy.

As for visible parts I would try kit bashing so they are styrene and light, as the less weight the better.

Size I would aim at about 4ft long, because as odd as it sounds the bigger this is within reason the easier it will be to balance. If it's too small you have to much stuff to fit into a small space and won't have the room to move it around to balance it.

As for detail as I said try kit bashing and if you go the carbon fibre tube frame with skin stuck to it, it will be far stronger than you need.

As for power I would say electric because you want the versatility of electric motors as in the giros can then adjust each one to keep it flat, but your have to go li-ion route or the batteries will just be too heavy. As it is you will need one for each side fan, and one for each rear thrusters. The rear thrusters would be fed air via the gap between the upper and lower deck to avoid cutting holes in the hull. Haven't seen the film and can only find limited pictures, but to make this work the four main fans need to be fixed and then your need two ducted fans at the back to provide forward thrust. The main fans would need to be giro controlled only because there is no way you would be able to sense which way it was tilting before it was too late. You would have control over the power so you could raise and lower it and the same with the main rear ducted fans. Speed wise you only want it to go walking pace at most.

Landing gear I would not bother with, I would use the hull of the ship as the actual bottom, which will be far more stable and durable than extending or fixed gear.

As for fans you will just have to see what you can get when you've scaled it. I would base that on Nimitz class carrier and overlay the two pictures and then size from that.

A test bed would be a simple plywood frame with fans attached built to the scale your building it. That way to you will find out if the size fans scale wise are powerful enough to lift it.

As for cameras worry about those later, most nowadays are the size of a 2p coin so not enough weight to worry about.

Your first job would be to scale it then build a simple test bed, and take it from there.

Thanks for the great answer Don. I looked up some prices on carbon fiber tubes and sheets, and while I was surprised at how cheap they were, if you or anybody else knows the best place to get bulk stuff for a reasonable price, I'd love to know. I'll be doing my own research, but I'll take suggestions on what kind of parts to use pretty much anywhere.

Hopefully sometime within the next couple paychecks I can look at some engines. I think I have some plywood sitting around, Ill just need to find a place to cut it. I'll try and post pics as I go, so you guys can tell me if I've completely ruined something.

I would love to see a build up of this flying. Need lots of pics to get it right. I was actually at a yard sale just a couple days ago and saw some kids once expensive aircraft carrier toy being sold and this popped up in my head and tempted to buy it. But I figured I could make it in balsa and foam more accurately so passed on it. But still to see it flying would be a feat. What size are you thinking of doing it in ?. And you might want to check in at some radio control flyer forums to see if you can get some more feedback. As for scale on CG model why don't you scale it off the f22's on deck since it would be easy to get there dimensions.

Hi m8

Pending where you are to the tube enquiry, I know a good place in the uk but if you're not here then it's no help.

As for your test model, it needs to be scaled as per what the finished one will be, but just a flat shape because you might find as the front sticks out way past the front engines it will need to be empty to balance it. Also anchor it to the ground with a nice hefty metal stake and 6ft tether to the centre of gravity underneath and use something like 3mm nylon cord because I have seen guys testing home made helicopters and then running for cover when it didn't go as planned.

I'm keeping my eye on this one

C


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I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?bnaovi

I am not sure if this helps, but I remembered seeing a video were someone created a flying Dragon Assaultship from Avatar, which also has 4 rotors.

Dragon Assault Ship C-21 from the movie AVATAR FINAL - YouTube

Hi m8

Being in the US I don't know of any, but while some stuff like the tubing is a good price they seem really expensive for just carbon fibre sheet.

So I would use the hollow square tube as you will be able to join them together, as in removed a section of top and bottom from one piece and side to side of another so it slots together.

Next you're not going to know roughly how much it will cost till you do some planning so I would scale it as mentioned, then work out the frame which will let you know how much it's going to cost for just the frame tubing.

As for that film on youtube it's great but you're going to have the added problem of not having a fan in each corner because the front and back stick out past the fans. Its just a shame the site it's like to is in Russian as it would be good to ask him what stuff he used, which would cut down on trial and error on your build.

As for the workspace and being rich, well workspace is always nice, but if you're rich, nothing is much fun because you can just go and do or buy it. Part of the fun of scratch building on a budget is watching it come together and saving up for the next part, plus its hugely rewarding when done and some stranger see it and says how good it looks.

After finding a REALLY good source for info on quad-rotors, I've fond the the bulk of my money is gonna be sunk into electronics and engines. The "firmware" that the craft will need to make it possible to keep in the air comes in a range of abilities, so eventually it could be made semi-autonomous. Another problem I've run into is the rotors. Most any rotor you can get for model aircraft that don't come from a replica kit are two blade, which is perfectly suitable for most applications. This project, as you may have noticed, is not most applications. I'd prefer a four or possibly six blade, but I don't know how feasible that is.

I for one welcome our flying cyborg dead cat overlords!

nick daring said:

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If this can fly-


CatCopter - YouTube

anything can be made to fly.

Nick

I guess you're lucky the carrier looks like what it does. I'd hate to think of getting the old comic book version to fly.....

And just because i loved the cover in my youth....

I've been doing a bit of thinking, and a foam sculpt might help me scale. It'd be cheaper, so if i mess up on a scaling, it should be easy to fix. So that's another thing. For anybody watching this closely (yes, both of you), this might take quite awhile. Sorry if anybody was expecting pics of a started build.

Security Bard said:

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I've been doing a bit of thinking, and a foam sculpt might help me scale. It'd be cheaper, so if i mess up on a scaling, it should be easy to fix. So that's another thing. For anybody watching this closely (yes, both of you), this might take quite awhile. Sorry if anybody was expecting pics of a started build.

don't worry about getting pics up. if you want to do something right, the planning phase is the longest... especially if you are doing something new. Trust me on this one, the more quality you put into your plan, the less cussing and swearing that will be done in the end.

Sounds like a very intense project. I am also interested in building a replica of the helicarrier, but I am interested in a static model. I am thinking about using a current model of an aircraft carrier like the U.S.S. Nimitz or U.S.S. America or the Forrestal. My problem is the hull and the outboard anti gravity propellers. Anybody got any ideas.