This is my Diamond Dust.
Actually, this is the first of three that I have built... more on that
later. Built to satisfy the "need for speed" during the winter of 2000/2001.
Motivated by a MVVS GRRT Pylon Racing Engine, this 2.5 pound plane reaches
speeds well in excess of 150mph. The primary purpose of this plane... was to
remove the ever-increasing demand on my models to "go fast" (see my
Contender that was built to take a 91FX instead
of a .46-.61).
This demand has been satisfied... and none of the models I build in the future will suffer from it. If I want to go fast... this is a cheap way to do it... and I don't have to way-over-power my other models.
My friend, and instructor, Carl Johnson flew it more than I did... as his flying skills
are well beyond mine. This model's life went by as quickly as it flew... a
victim of using the stock servo arms on the high-torque Hitec 605 servos. The
last picture shows the brunt of the impact. Of course, it was in front of
a couple hundred people at the 2001 Show-Me R/C Extravaganza. Carl had just
completed a high-speed pass, ending with a fast roll (several per second)
that was entered into by snapping the stick hard over (more violently than
usual), when it became obvious that something was wrong. The plane responded
to control inputs, but not with the response you expected (hard to control a
delta-wing plane with one elevon non-functional.) A second or so later, the model
hit the ground nose first at over 150mph! It was over so fast that there
wasn't even time to think about shutting down the engine.
Amazingly enough, the engine was not damaged... though had to be well
cleaned after being buried in the ground up to its glowplug.
Snapped the carbon-fiber spars like balsa sticks. The engine mount was
undamaged... even though the engine hit the ground first... but that wasn't
too surprising considering that I beefed it up with carbon fiber and kevlar.
Not to worry though... Carl kindly provided me with a new kit and within a
month I had a replacement plane flying again (with CNC-aluminum servo arms
this time). I also built Carl one for himself... he had a blast flying mine
and figured it would help hone his skill for a turbine waiver.
Notes about photos:
A "thanks!" to my then 14-year-old son for holding the model during these photos.
Finish is all Ultracote. Pearl-Yellow with Pearl-Charcoal on top, flourescent-red trim on the leading edge and fin, and Pearl-Blue with Pearl-Charcoal on the bottom.
Pictures of the bottom without the flourescent-red stripes, were taken
before flying it the first time. After the first flight, the stripes
were added... to improve visual-orientation in the air. (the blue was too similar to the grey and it was hard telling which way it was going when looking at the bottom.)
Replacement airplane was finished using flourescent-yellow instead of pearl yellow, and flourescent red instead of pearl blue on the bottom. Otherwise, same trim scheme. When something this small is going that fast... you need to be able to SEE it. Even if it hurts to look at it while isn't flying!
Carl's Dust looks exactly the same as this first one...
except the bottom has bigger flourescent-red stripes on a solid pearl-blue background. He also
added more decals than me. I have more pictures of it, and if I can locate them, I'll put
them up here.
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- Top of diamond dust. I tried to emulate
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- wings, fuse, & a tail with the trim.
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- Business end!
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Side view, not much of a profile.
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Fins and red edge help keep it visible
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Original bottom. Same trim idea.
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- Sitting in the PVC stand I built.
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- New bottom trim after first flight.
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- Custom made stand, works great!
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- In this position for fueling and starting
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- Weight carried by post between elevons
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- One more of the stand.
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- Bottom side of CF/Kevlar engine mount
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- MVVS GRRT Pylon Racing Engine.
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VERY LOUD tuned pipe.
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- A truckload! Trainer, Contender, Dust.
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After crash. Live fast... die FAST!
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