My Flying Wing Tensor V2

Thought I would share some info on my flying wing Tensor V2.

Tensor Flying

I have been using a Arduplane V1 in the plane for a while and recently got a MinimOSD which I think is great.

FPVing Tensor V2 with minimOSD

The main thing that is different about Tensor is that it has flaps...

Tensor Flap landing

They also come in handy for takeoff. I use a HLG style but with flaps down takeoff speed is quite low

Tensor HLG takeoff

I hacked the Arduplane source code quite a bit to get stuff to work.

I decided to decouple input variables (Roll, Pitch, Yaw, throttle, Flap) from the servo outputs. In other words these are sorta abstract values. The AHRS code seems quite happy with that. It actually does work on abstract values to begin with.

Then I take the abstract values Roll, Pitch, Yaw, Throttle, Flap and use them to mix in to the real servo outputs. This way I can add some opposite up elevon to the down flap to balance for down flaps.

I think this approach of decoupling the attitude variable might have some merits anyway for other planes. Think of the X47B and X48B where the relationship between the control surface and the control inputs is complicated. It could also be used to apply different rates dependent on airspeed.

The other thing I modified was the multi way switch as I dont have it on my Futaba 6EXA
. So I used a switch to differentiate between Auto and manual.

Once in auto the mode can be changed by toggling the rudder control one way or the other(I dont have a rudder). So you can start in say stabilize, then a right toggle gets you into circle, then another right toggle for return to launch. To go back toggle left.The current mode can be seen in the MinimOSD.

I did some other mods too so unfortunately I dont think my code is suitable for putting back in. Its just for discussion only really!

Now planning a antenna tracker..

Flegling Antenna tracker

Thanks for the Arduplane and MinimOSD. They are great :-)

regrads

Andy

There are two versions so far. I kept to the same planform for both, but changed the wing sections and twist.

V2 is much heavier than V1 at around 1400 g ready to fly, while V1 was only around 900 g. V2 airframe was heavier, but also has more stuff in it.

Due to the diferent wing section V2 can carry more volume, but whether due to the extra weight or the change in sections or both she is less manouvrable than V1.

The wingspan on both is 1200 mm.

The section changes are spaced so that if cut at the second section you would have three equal length bits. (therefore the second section is 200 mm out from the centre-line .)

The intent is that the plane could be built with detachable outer sections around 400 mm long and could then fit in a suitcase etc.

Here is Tensor V1...

And with V2.

V2 is a major improvement over v1 because it has a large central equipment bay, with easy access to everything...

Both V1 and V2 started as white EPS cores.

For V1 I made some mylars and vacuum bagged thing glass cloth direct on the wings, however the thin cloth developed stress wrinkles. It was tooo thin.Despite that she is still flying though. I just glassed over the wrinkles with some gf tape.

For V2, I went to a 0.8 mm balsa skin, covered with glass cloth, but I also incorporated an I-beam spar.

I started with a model cut from depron

After that I used xflr5 http://www.xflr5.com/xflr5.htm to try out different configurations

I hope to put some more details up on my website www.softpainter.org soon.

regards

Andy

Replies

Developer

Andy Little November 3, 2012 at 4:38pm

There are two versions so far. I kept to the same planform for both, but changed the wing sections and twist.

V2 is much heavier than V1 at around 1400 g ready to fly, while V1 was only around 900 g. V2 airframe was heavier, but also has more stuff in it.

Due to the diferent wing section V2 can carry more volume, but whether due to the extra weight or the change in sections or both she is less manouvrable than V1.

The wingspan on both is 1200 mm.

The section changes are spaced so that if cut at the second section you would have three equal length bits. (therefore the second section is 200 mm out from the centre-line .)

The intent is that the plane could be built with detachable outer sections around 400 mm long and could then fit in a suitcase etc.

Here is Tensor V1...

And with V2.

V2 is a major improvement over v1 because it has a large central equipment bay, with easy access to everything...

Both V1 and V2 started as white EPS cores.

For V1 I made some mylars and vacuum bagged thing glass cloth direct on the wings, however the thin cloth developed stress wrinkles. It was tooo thin.Despite that she is still flying though. I just glassed over the wrinkles with some gf tape.

For V2, I went to a 0.8 mm balsa skin, covered with glass cloth, but I also incorporated an I-beam spar.

I started with a model cut from depron

After that I used xflr5 http://www.xflr5.com/xflr5.htm to try out different configurations

I hope to put some more details up on my website www.softpainter.org soon.

regards

Andy
Andrew Rabbitt November 2, 2012 at 6:55am

Nice work Andy!

Can you share any specs on the airframe? Wingspan, aerofoil section, construction, pictures etc?

How did you arrive at your design and what analysis tools did you use to arrive at the final version?

This reply was deleted.

Discussions

My Flying Wing Tensor V2

Replies

Activity