RC Concorde

[guitarphil]

I know there are a few RC enthusiasts among our members and I think they will enjoy seeing this massive Radio Control model of the Concorde.

Phil.

[ecca]

Brilliant !

[Foot Tapper]

Good on you Phil

Amazing!!!! to see this take of the flying and the landing it looks 
a great fun and  enjoyable hobby but expensive I would imagine.

Pete

[sixchannel]

Absolutely superb!!
Back in the 80s when I owned Skyway Models, we designed and made kits of the Concorde.
Much smaller at c8ft, of course, than this Big Boy, it was made entirely of veneers foam sections glued to a ply centre box. Flew wonderfully well on a pair of .40 two strokes.
Was always a big favourite at the Model Aircraft Shows.
Thanks for putting this up and the memory.
Cheers
Ian
PS - I would loop and roll OUR Concorde during our Display!!!!

[Recycled Rock Chick]

Thats very impressive Phil, I watched a TV program many years back that was attempting to fly what I think they said was the biggest RC plane in Britain at that time, it was a Lancaster Bomber with something like a 20 foot wingspan and it took 6 people to get it airbourne.
Unfortunately they had to abandon it as the wind was too strong and apart from starting the engines, quite a feat in itself, it only did a few taxi runs

I bet the guys flying those Reaper drones in the middle east wouldn't be that impressed by the size of that Concorde though

[Deleted]

I have never been an RC enthusiast but, I did admire that aircraft and,the superb flying skills of that guy. A great video.

Cheers
R oger

[Recycled Rock Chick]

Loving the new sig R oger  

[Deleted]

I would be absolutely terrified of putting it in ,

[sixchannel]

Dec 24, 2014 19:12:58 GMT @davedroug said:

I would be absolutely terrified of putting it in ,

These guys are at the highest level of competency. Club flyers they are not! Lol
And these pure jet model aircraft have many systems on board to ensure safety of the public (and the plane, of course).
Several thousands of pounds worth of aircraft there, by the way.
Ian

[ecca]

What would constitute a 'turbine engine' at this level ?

[sixchannel]

Hi Ecca
These are "real" pure jet jet engines, engineered on a miniature scale. They use laptops to fire 'em up and have on board computer systems to run them. They run on gas not aviation kerosene and safety is a paramount concern at all times. The aircraft carry multiple failsafe systems too. Ah, Technology!!
Happy Christmas, Ecca
Ian

[Deleted]

Dec 25, 2014 8:41:43 GMT sixchannel said:

Hi Ecca
These are "real" pure jet jet engines, engineered on a miniature scale. They use laptops to fire 'em up and have on board computer systems to run them. They run on gas not aviation kerosene and safety is a paramount concern at all times. The aircraft carry multiple failsafe systems too. Ah, Technology!!
Happy Christmas, Ecca
Ian

 look at these mini jet engines

[sixchannel]

Ain't these the Dogs Danglies?!!!!
Awesome!
Ian

[peterv]

Just amazing, parts to withstand high temperatures produced in miniature, a metallurgic wonder, I wonder how the lathe would look like (with tolerance to be at least a factor 10 better to produce this) very impressive. Piet

[Deleted]

they cost from around £500 each for a small cheap one to up to 5 grand plus for a fully top engineered larger model turbine ,eek

[scmitche]

Sounds good value for money to me when you consider that full scale turbine blades are grown as a single crystal to prevent any atomic scale defects, thus each blade costs more than this whole model engine. Would love to know what alloys they've chosen as these model engines must be pushing even modern metallurgical engineering close to the limit.

Steve

[Recycled Rock Chick]

I read something recently that ceramics are the latest thing for the blades Steve, I would have thought that they would be too brittle but it seems not and they can stand higher temperatures than most metals or alloys.

[Deleted]

i was watching a TV program a few years ago , it was about one of the rolls Royce engines and how it was built , they actually showed how they make the blades, if memory serves me right they use a special alloy, then coated with a top-secret coating ,then put in an oven to bake on , all this was done under a guard of security men, the cost was around £12000 for each blade, the tolerance on each blade was less than 1000,inch, and to fit them in the slots they froze them ,fitted them in and when they thawed they where permanently fixed

[Recycled Rock Chick]

I think I saw the same programme Dave, I think it was part of a series of programmes on great British engineering or something like that.

Have a look at this about the ceramic blades :

Ceramic Turbine Blade pdf

While looking for this article I came across a few references for ceramic coatings being applied to metal alloy blades as well in order for even higher temperatures to be achieved.

On a related but slightly different topic I remember many years back some boffin type guys coming around the factory I worked in where we did thermo plastic mouldings, looking into the possibility of making components including pistons for petrol and diesel engines out of some of the plastics that were then being developed and possibly even whole engines eventually being made out of plastics as they were saying that they could soon be having plastics that could withstand very high temperatures too, maybe they were even thinking back then along the lines of ceramic coatings

[scmitche]

You are both correct. There have been many applications in the last 5 years of ceramic plasma or sinter diffused coatings for heat resistance and anti-oxidation on components like turbine and turbocharger blades. Volkwagen experimented with plastics for piston engine valves etc. Some diesel engine pistons have coatings on the combustion bowls to improve thermal fatigue resistance etc. I spent 40 years as a metallurgist/materials scientist working on all sorts of problems and solutions like this before I retired. I feel really lucky in that I didn't have many days when I was bored at work.
The all ceramic piston engine was a disaster though, if you kept it running it was fine but if heat cycled it broke catastrophically.

Happy days,
Steve

[Recycled Rock Chick]

Interesting info Steve, I am pleased that I had not just imagined the plastic pistons as it was so long ago that I sometimes wonder if I remember things correctly

[scmitche]

So what's your background Sandra? It's so unusual in the UK to see people interested in advanced technology, sadly most find it a bit daunting and a complete turn-off.

Steve

[Recycled Rock Chick]

I was out of work for a few weeks when I was 18 and ended up in a switchgear manufaturing factory, Lucas Electrical, intending to stay for a few weeks until I found a better job but ended up staying there for 12 years

I worked in inspection and quality control and at that time there was a lot developments going on in plastics and composites so that made things interesting. We had a machine that fascinated me that appeared to chrome plate plastic, it was a massive cylindrical chamber about 10 feet in diameter and maybe 12 feet long that the components were placed in along with lots of racks carrying strips of magnesium. The door was closed then a vacuum was created in the chamber and I think it must have been an electric charge flashed through the magnesium strips and the strips were instantly vaporised and the plastic appeared to have been chrome plated as they looked to have a bright shiny silver finish.

[Deleted]

hi all... The Concorde is awesome.......
some of the turbine jet engines I run, price wise start at £1,500 for a starter low thrust turbine and £3000/4000+ for a larger high thrust one's. I built from kits 2 turbines supplied by Wren Turbines.
they work on the same principal as full size turbines, suck sqeeze bang and blow.
the early ones I have start up on butane gas,then the on board ecu computer monitors the heat
on the temp probe in the thrust nozzle once that hits 100degrees C,and runs up to start up speed, the ecu then shuts down the gas solenoid and opens up the kerosene solenoid the fuel is then via a pump under high pressure
delivered to the turbines injectors (like very small hypodermic needles in the combustion chamber)and also to the ceramic bearings on the turbine shaft to lubricate them.The latest Turbines now have kero start systems on them so doing away with the butane gas start. The very early days of the turbine engines were spooled up by compressed air to get them started.
the fuel lines have to be spotless and air tight as the slightest air bubble will cause a flame out and the engine will stop. The one's I have built run on full throttle at 160,000 rpm and idle at 45,000 rpm. As Ian says in his post they are not Toys and the strictest safety has to be taken into account not only when putting a turbine jet together but also flying them.
this is the last one I have put together and they do cost a lot of money so you have to make sure it is built to the highest standards, because loosing one in a crash is sole destroying
here is the F15 I have just finished .. I will say that flying model aircraft is great fun and can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be.
Hope I have not bored you all
Thanks ian H
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pme3DTNPhBQ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y6Qztvwvww
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qj8w6xkuy0
click on this links for a video into turbine engines at wren turbines.and the large model Vulcan turbine jet

[Recycled Rock Chick]

How does the thrust to weight ratio compare of the model engines to the full sized ones Ian ?

I bet the smaller ones are more powerful, pound for pound and also that some of the multi engined models probably have more combined horse power than Sir Frank Whittle's engine that powered the Gloster E28/39 that first flew on 15 May 1941

[Deleted]

Hi Sandra
the idea is to build a model as light as possible. the ratio would be say you have a jet weight
of 15ibs and a turbine thrust of 15ibs then it is a 1:1 ratio. some turbines are rated at 22ibs of thrust and larger ones between 39/40Ibs of thrust
ian