First a picture of the current prototypes:
Went down to Sunset yesterday and had a great time getting a few more hours of flight time and tuning the prototypes of the Bam Bam flying wings. They are a bit more refined from when I maidened them 1 month ago at our big Sunset event. A refined fin for less weight and even quicker recovery, refined CG and refined aileron throws all resulted in even better performance. But first a bit more about the design.
I started with good DNA. They are heavily influenced by the Boomerang flying wings from the '90s. I had one back in the day and loved it and have missed it ever since I donated it to a local kid. When they were produced, the Boomerang was the most winning wing in combat competitions, and to my knowledge no wing has been able to best them. My goal was to match the Bommerang's performance. What set the boomerang apart from the others was the basic flying qualities, it can fly in less wind, heck I used to thermal mine! I think this quality alone is what allowed the plane so much success in combat, the plane is eager to fly.
With the new Bam Bam there are some large changes in build methods. This results in a tougher and lighter model. These are built specifically for Sunset and have a single ribbon spar on the bottom and 5 mil DI laminating film wrapped around the 1.9 lb EPP cores. The cores have a few tricks and the two prototypes are a bit different. The red one is rather docile and maybe a bit quicker to recover, but the blue one is what our production will be, it is more efficient in low lift and a bit faster as a result of some tweaks to the design. (trade secret)
(I may take what I learned from the red one and offer it in an electric form where I think it makes more sense, I have somethings I would like to do to make a whisper quiet electric pusher setup.)
They fly when an Alula is struggling, they take a hit great, and they have very FAST recoveries. I love that I can typically out fly other flying wings in combat, most can only do one or two evasive maneuvers and then are struggling to find some lift again, but this one just keeps going, and while they struggle I can come in for a quick hit.
I have a couple of more "tricks" I would like to try, but already these are performing great.
We had a great time smashing and bashing these the last couple of outings. They taking a beating! Even had a pretty new pilot flying slope for the first time flying them yesterday. He inflicted the only damage when he nailed the rusty fence and ripped a bit of covering on the bottom of one wing. All good!
Getting closer to production on these.
Went down to Sunset yesterday and had a great time getting a few more hours of flight time and tuning the prototypes of the Bam Bam flying wings. They are a bit more refined from when I maidened them 1 month ago at our big Sunset event. A refined fin for less weight and even quicker recovery, refined CG and refined aileron throws all resulted in even better performance. But first a bit more about the design.
I started with good DNA. They are heavily influenced by the Boomerang flying wings from the '90s. I had one back in the day and loved it and have missed it ever since I donated it to a local kid. When they were produced, the Boomerang was the most winning wing in combat competitions, and to my knowledge no wing has been able to best them. My goal was to match the Bommerang's performance. What set the boomerang apart from the others was the basic flying qualities, it can fly in less wind, heck I used to thermal mine! I think this quality alone is what allowed the plane so much success in combat, the plane is eager to fly.
With the new Bam Bam there are some large changes in build methods. This results in a tougher and lighter model. These are built specifically for Sunset and have a single ribbon spar on the bottom and 5 mil DI laminating film wrapped around the 1.9 lb EPP cores. The cores have a few tricks and the two prototypes are a bit different. The red one is rather docile and maybe a bit quicker to recover, but the blue one is what our production will be, it is more efficient in low lift and a bit faster as a result of some tweaks to the design. (trade secret)
(I may take what I learned from the red one and offer it in an electric form where I think it makes more sense, I have somethings I would like to do to make a whisper quiet electric pusher setup.)
They fly when an Alula is struggling, they take a hit great, and they have very FAST recoveries. I love that I can typically out fly other flying wings in combat, most can only do one or two evasive maneuvers and then are struggling to find some lift again, but this one just keeps going, and while they struggle I can come in for a quick hit.
I have a couple of more "tricks" I would like to try, but already these are performing great.
We had a great time smashing and bashing these the last couple of outings. They taking a beating! Even had a pretty new pilot flying slope for the first time flying them yesterday. He inflicted the only damage when he nailed the rusty fence and ripped a bit of covering on the bottom of one wing. All good!
Getting closer to production on these.
