Building a HIGH SPEED Rocket Plane

I've been upgrading this RC SR-71 Blackbird to fly as fast as possible. Check out PCBWay at pcbway.com/g/9cfi7a for our one-stop solution for PCB prototype services and more.
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👉🏼 More info about projects projectair.co.uk/
👉🏼 Follow me on Instagram / jameswhomsley
Thanks to E-Flite for sending me this plane www.horizonhobby.com/product/...
Thank you also to TSP for providing the rocket motors / piotrtenderarocketmotors
Thanks to these artists for providing some of the music in the video:
Andrew Applepie for the music used in this video - / andrewapplepie
DISCLAIMER: This video is purely for entertainment value. Personal use of video content is at your own risk. Recreations of experiments, activities and projects are the sole legal responsibility of the person(s) involved in replicating them. I can not be liable for any information or misinformation, wrongful use, damage to personal property, death or any circumstances that result from replication of any projects seen. Be safe!

[@Ingo3112]

you need to stop mounting the rocket engines to the top of the plane . they need to put in the back like the fans but in the middle . desing the same plane model but with the option to put in the rocket engines in the back like a fighter jet . and put 2 rocket engines in the back not one .

[@BragizTheCocaineAttractor]

I agree with this cuz if it will be sitting on top, it kinda disturbs the aerodynamics

[@Ingo3112]

@@BragizTheCocaineAttractor not only that, it pushes the perfect in line thrust point from the normal engines way higher wich causes the plane to pitch down and generate even more drag .

[@alek002]

Cool

[@TheZombieSaints]

You can can rocket motors that are essentially just multi stage boosters, you literally cellophane tape them together and when the flames hit the tape, it melts, drops off the dead Booster while igniting the second stage. More boost with less weight. Mounted underneath it with 2 boosters then the final motor with recovery chute.

[@Avio_x]

That is true, but it is really hard to squish all of the electronic and also balance the cg with such modifications

[@martin2250]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="324">5:24</a> small correction: you need 8 times the power for twice the speed. Force increases with speed², but power is force × speed

[@christopherleveck6835]

And restrictive exhaust nozzles would be a great idea too...

[@brucebaxter6923]

@@christopherleveck68355” drone motors actually, greater disk area and same efflux

[@SubToRussertlogPlease]

plz be my teacher

[@surfcello]

Was just about to comment the same.

[@sidecarbod1441]

I though it went up by the square, i.e. double the speed requires 4 times that power. please enlighten me!

[@ryguy81538]

Someone may have already commented on this and it might be obvious to you, but a big reason the plane is so unstable during the motor burn is it's not pushing through the center-of-mass. It's strapped haphazardly to the top of the craft causing it to nose dive down as soon as it's ignited. Placing it centrally in the back or adding another motor underneath is a possible way to correct this. Always love your uploads though. Keep up the good work.

[@Erth]

Job Well done! 👍 interesting and inspiring video!

[@MonroeSwift]

I was on my way to comment the same thing! also mounting the rocket motor further back on the plane will help.

[@avialexander]

Or, you could angle the rocket to point back and up, so that the thrust vector passes through the CG. It will also push the plane down, but if it's already moving through the air all you need to do is increase your angle of attack to get a little more lift. Or you could do what JATO's do, and hang the rocket underneath or to the sides, pointing it back and down but still through the CG.

[@baudouindesaintroman6337]

I don't do avionics, only pyrotechnics and solid booster engineering, but yes it seemed to me that it would be much more stabilizing to put the booster under the wing level... Also he modified the balance and weight of that plane way to randomly 😂

[@avialexander]

@@baudouindesaintroman6337 Rockets are one of those things that mess up the whole "if it looks like it will fly, it probably will" heuristic. I think that's what we're seeing here, the complicated dynamics of rocket thrust and mass are hard to optimize around, so most people just slap a rocket on top of the plane since it feels correct. I blame 50's-70's pop sci artwork for this misconception.

[@kenselleck2414]

You succeeded in making the SR71 exceed mach 3.2 in scale. I call that a win! Mach 3.2 is 2400 ish mph and your plane did 2800 scale mph. Bravo!!

[@Soldo66666]

How do you scale speed and sizes?

[@Rydog20]

By ratio of size Say if you had a model 1/59 the scale you'd need about 1/59 the power for scale speeds

[@Soldo66666]

@@Rydog20 oh... That was simpler than I thought.

[@mike1261]

Back in 1980, in a time before computer aided design, I build a SR-71 Estes-type rocket from scratch. I referenced photos from a magazine and used balsa wood & paper tubes for most of the materials. It was about the size of yours. Being a fairly heavy rocket, it had two D-size solid propellant motors, one in each engine. I was quite fascinated by the Blackbird at the time, but extremely inexperienced at building rockets. Needless to say, it flew, but not very straight!

[@ninkd0311]

I bet you used a slide ruler

[@mike1261]

@@ninkd0311 🤣 If I was only that smart... it might have flown straighter. 🤣

[@gkoshinsky]

I made mine in about 1990. I even followed the guide to paint it with different black paints, some flat, some gloss, to simulate the different surfaces. It was maybe my 3rd rocket. I never actually flew it. I spent so much time on it that I was afraid to launch it. Years went by, got interested in girls, and it hung in my room for years. My mom probably threw it out at some point after I moved out. It was beautiful though. I spent so much time on it. After spending months staring at it at the hardware store. Wish I would have launched it.

[@mike1261]

@@gkoshinsky Sounds cool! I don't know what happened to mine either. I know I carried it home after the launch (more than I can say for some of my rockets! LOL)

[@charlesyoung8600]

It's not a project air build without rocket motors. Brilliant!!!

[@leomathguy]

Next step - design and strap on a full flow staged combustion rocket engine on it

[@TomleyRC]

The Insta360 rear facing shots are beautiful! Such a versatile camera. I'm just replacing my original one after a good few years of hard use! Oh..and rocket projects are always a good watch 🤘

[@Project-Air]

Totally agree! Thanks man

[@fustigate314159]

Props to the original manufacturer for making the landing gear accurate!

[@gafrers]

You can never go wrong with an SR-71 Love these flight videos a lot more than the boat ones

[@garrittpwl]

Your video quality is taking massive leaps forward. This video was that of nearly an educational video on a mainstream media station. Keep it up!

[@richardm.newlands2417]

Ah James, this is your best one yet, brought a tear to my eye! Brilliant idea brilliantly executed! Just a few minor thoughts: Agree with everyone else who's suggesting a bungee-launch. FYI these incredibly low Aspect ratio deltas are a bitch in roll, because the stubby wings provide damn-all roll damping. And at higher angle of attack, the vortices spiralling off the leading edges tend to bang into each other over the aircraft centreline, causing a roll oscillation. So if you can shoe-horn a rate gyro into the roll channel it'll make life so much easier. I so just love this video!

[@pioneerAv]

James Bond: The Man with the Golden Plane

[@adilsongoliveira]

As I said in another video, you really need to change your radio to use ExpressLRS. The receivers are very small, even the ones with PWM outputs and the range and reliance are excelent.

[@sakfpv8444]

I agree, I switched all my fpv drones to ELRS and fell in love. Even my Arrma rc truck has it now

[@chrisbrook6656]

Yep....ill never look back.

[@TheRattleSnake3145]

You get over 2 km range with standard orange relievers, why would you need more than that unless you are flying fpv illegally?

[@jordanliszewski6549]

But then he could fit a gyro

[@jordanliszewski6549]

@@TheRattleSnake3145 Kind of a silly comment. ELRS wins over older control links like spectrum in basically everything, it's cheaper, receivers are smaller, it's range and link stability is insane and it's open source and always improving further. People have gotten over 100km of range with 2.4 GHz ELRS, basically for a normal usecase you never have to think about range ever again with ELRS. Additionally it comes with lots of additional features, adjustable data rates, model match, the ability to access settings on the flight controller flashing over WiFi. You don't have to switch to a different control link if what you have is working fine for you but for controlling things that fly, especially fpv, having a long range, high performance control link that never failsaves is a very good idea.

[@craighyattusa]

That video was the most (vicarious) fun I’ve had in a long time. Some excellent research and engineering skills on display. Look forward to the next project.

[@ADjasonTplayz]

The plane🔥 The neighbors reaction🗿

[@Aero-100]

Removing the engine cone was a good idea because it's used to compress air, but if you wanted more power you should add a compressor stage (from the turbofan engines) and put a primary fan in the front to suck all of the air in, and by that, where you put the rocket engines you should put in the front a intake because air sticks into a body when moving, then connect it after the primary fan. You could also have heaters inside of the engine so cold weather heats and you get more force. If you did that with only 1 engine vs 4 old ones you'll get even better power.

[@game-f-un-limitedgamer8958]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="119">1:59</a> is when the black bird breaks the sound barrier :)

[@Fortnite-ClipsYT]

No

[@robertstark3326]

Great project. That was a spectacular flight. The way you led up to the rocket engine flight was just so impressive and all the work you did to pull it off. You had a well-deserved success. Keep up the great work.

[@3D_printer_guy]

Thank you for another great video. I got a tip for line of sight flying, paint the plane with different colors over and under. Makes it easier to see which side of the plane is facing you.

[@impiggybro]

WOW SUCH A GOOD AND CREATIVE VIDEO!! KEEP up the amazing WORK :)

[@dfgaJK]

plz get an ExpressLRS controller so you don't lose signal at long range again

[@jas-FPV]

Where did he loose signal ?

[@FarmerFpv]

@@jas-FPV His Turbine video. What he needs to do is just add a proper receiver and a satellite or since he is running Spektrum he can just mount TBS Crossfire lite as it is plug and play with his Spektrum radio. That is what I use with my Spektrum radio and I can fly miles with my FPV planes.

[@dfgaJK]

@@jas-FPV in the "Foam RC jet" video

[@dfgaJK]

@@FarmerFpv or an elrs module bay transmitter....

[@jas-FPV]

@@FarmerFpv I haven’t heard that. And he ises a TD Tandem receiver that uses 2.4 and 900 in parallel. So as long as he didn’t make errors installing it, this thing has the same range as crossfire or Elrs.

[@adventuresforlife165]

I want to share my idea with everyone here. Currently i am building a popsicle stick airplane. It is painted red and costs roughly 40 dollers for parts it is almost complete! I really cant wait and i am able to build a second one but i am deciding how big and what model. This channel has helped a lot and these plane i plan to have no flaps because the motors have gyros. Thanks for the inspiration!

[@eliotmauries9712]

always a good evening when project air drops a rocket plane video

[@Project-Air]

Thanks for watching!

[@Planetery_Dragon]

Who loves ProjectAir videos😊

[@MsTatakai]

videos*

[@daandolfijn2749]

Who doesn't

[@PleaseSubscribeSoICanGet100K]

What was it befoore​@@MsTatakai

[@hughjanus5518]

That's why we watch

[@partiallycertifiedpilot6557]

✋ 😁

[@TheIronHeadRat]

Great job 👍, how about a catapult launcher build 🚀

[@NicktheMedic]

That is one really cool plane. golden, rocket-powered, SR-71, 200kph, great footage and video so I'd call that a win.

[@TheActionBastard]

Long range FPV would be amazing with this project. Imagine the feeling of speed...

[@_tyrannus]

Long range and electric ducted fans are like water and oil.

[@shitbox170]

Get a Strix Goblin cruises around at 120mph and is fpv

[@ameynaik5966]

yooo !!amazing! this has been my dream, i wanted to do it but never really had the rescources to , and now it is sooooo good to see someone do this. thanks🙃

[@alwaysflying6540]

Just found this channel. I personally really like doing projects like this so for me it was very enjoyable to watch

[@BPBomber]

Your projects always look like such fun.

[@intotheuniverse9170]

I appreciate your efforts 😊 For making these videos

[@kenh6096]

That takes me back, My farther made me a rocket powered SR-71 as a kid.

[@nigelhutt9921]

I know nothing about RC planes but found this a thoroughly compelling snd informative video.

[@ymemag9861]

I love how you put your RC SR71 into your RC car and drove it to test!

[@jordancoleman2402]

What was he supposed to do with it?

[@Alan_Hans__]

The planes top speed potential was dramatically reduced by bolting on an un-aerodynamic camera and rocket. If these had been shrouded in there could easily have been a further 50kmh.

[@ravanjock]

It probably would not get 50kmh more, probably only about 20kmh:

[@Project-Air]

We needed to capture the flight from the air, so it was a compromise I had to make

[@islam1337simo]

​@@Project-Air Nah it's okay. 100% increase in speed is amazing already. The camera shape might have made the rocket aerodynamics less significant by shielding it. Keep that aerodynamic optimization for a crazier project (2 stage rocket plane weight balancing when)

[@FloridaMeng]

​@@islam1337simoAgreed.

[@ameynaik5966]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="241">4:01</a> nice car

[@SgtMars]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="240">4:00</a> that’s a gorgeous Mini Cooper!😮❤

[@vne5195]

A standard planform airplane designed for subsonic flight would be more easily controlled, easier to see the orientation and easier to launch. Perhaps you could try a small diameter folding prop with a motor brake to stop rotation of the prop when the rocket is ignited. Having the rocket pointing out of the tail cone should make it easier to keep the center of thrust aligned with the center of drag.

[@willjhcave]

You’re going to find that high speed aircraft have poor low speed performance. And “low speed” is going to get commensurately faster. You may need to look at non-hand launched options.

[@sarapiper2978]

Please make a flying bullet😮😅 Hahaha 🎉

[@user-xf2mg2ou9g]

You really should try to launch your next rocketplane from another airplane

[@Dragontamer7866]

Yes please

[@vonknorring09]

X-15

[@BarrettCharlebois]

I always get so excited when I see you drop a new video, especially if it has rocket motors.

[@Destructor429]

You need to build a proper High start. 10 meters of surgical rubber tube and a release. Lots of 3D printed options out there. your hand launches are pretty sketchy! Using a High start lets you keep both hands on the controller. I like your builds! Excited to see the next one!

[@fkthe9to556]

Your problem is you need to learn to fly fpv

[@KeplarDesign]

I agree

[@HamrazAbdullah]

And also adding rockets into the middle ​@@KeplarDesign

[@FinalGateway]

Flying FPV with the rockets doubled seated around about the middle on either side… you’d get Ukranian level results…

[@kengel2]

LOLZ

[@td23asus]

You should definitely try building a plane on your own from scratch. 3D printing has advanced a lot and can make som pretty strong, lightweight parts, and it'd allow you to start with a theoretical goal in mind of what speeds you want, and work backwards. It would also let you design in a spot for a camera (behind the windshield?), allow you to hide mechanical parts within the airframe, you could make it modular to test out different wingshapes, etc, build in a place inside the fuselage for the motor to sit so the thrust is inline, and you would probably get an overall better, sleeker exterior, especially since with all the hacks you made to the plane, the skin looked pretty beat up. Also, I'd imagine the aerodynamics the SR71 was designed for are probably different on the models scale. It would be a hell of a lot of work, but I personally would love to see your whole design process. Could make for a cool series! Anyway, awesome vid as always, this series of you trying to push for higher speeds is awesome and makes me think of what it must have been like for the engineers in real life whose job it was to do this stuff.

[@thefantasyforge5015]

This is your coolest plane yet. Good job!

[@zacharywalters8139]

Phenomenal channel man! Just stumbled onto it.

[@nauhaan1604]

I love your videos! I am a Maldivian drone pilot and my drone pro E88 crashed recently. I really love RC vehicles

[@chrisduna6483]

Great job ! I’m terrible at rc airplanes but love to watch them my father use to scratch build them really enjoyed watching your video keep up the great work !

[@vosechu]

I hope that you try your hand at it again later in life! It’s a wonderful way to connect with parents (whether they’re still with us or not)

[@chrisduna6483]

@@vosechu I agree but no I always enjoyed RC Cars and trucks and were more my speed lol and have quite an collection of them that I really enjoy . 😁

[@Harvey-the-black-goo]

You teach me what to do in rc I saw the original rocket plane video when it first came out!

[@brianswille]

Cool project! Cant wait to the the next... Gigga... sized project you have coming!

[@advaitbhore]

The best and most entertaining diy plane channel everr!!

[@DavidRJones82]

Bloody brilliant!

[@001snapshot]

Absolutely LOVE the Corsair in the background....

[@snezzles278]

thing looked awesome in the air 👍

[@FarmerDrew]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="870">14:30</a> kudos to you for maintaining a decent flight profile, that's a crazy acceleration for the scale

[@JCtheMusicMan_]

I would love to see you 3D scan the A/C and scale it up! Give yourself enough room to cram in more rockets into the form factor. Love this project!❤

[@comedianfiftysix3775]

That was Absolutely amazing; I really want to pick up the E-Flite Blackbird in the future; soon as I quit bending the landing gear on my Cirrus 1.5🤣

[@gflorey1975]

Love your videos - I know it's not about this but you should use a flight controler and ELRS - the recievers are tiny and have huge range - also give you upto 16 channels!

[@virajmankar4882]

man you mske such a nice videos i always enjoy your vids..keep making such type of projects

[@robsbeta21]

Need to see a build video for your mini!

[@RvB_Fan_since_8]

Thanks for including the freedom units for us :D

[@DanleyTonkin]

I love the stone walls and green fields.!

[@Hayden_Wheels]

I would recommend going towards FPV so you can continue with the 8 second F sized motors

[@rcman4.2flyboy]

I got the same blackbird from eflite thats a awesome mod you did there dude 👏 makes me wanna mod mine

[@PKS5Official]

Love ur vids, I’m currently getting into building rc planes

[@umranrc]

Use the drone to lift the aircraft high in the air. Install a cable release servo onboard the aircraft and with enough altitude, the aircraft may gain enough airspeed during the drop to start flying properly and you may discharge the rocket then...

[@thewatersavior]

Check out the Seahawk foam.. No need to hand launch and you can turbo charge the rocket if you swap to metal blades 🙂

[@raphi142]

I really love your projects❤. Very cool video.

[@jackmorris2758]

Well done man great video!!!

[@RaynerGS]

One suggestion is to remove the fan and fan battery. In place of the engines, two rockets, one on each side. Use the drone or a balloon to raise it, and then a remote hook system makes it detach and fall, then turn on the rockets. Perhaps, lighter, it could reach 200 km/h. Salute from Brazil.

[@PortedBricksYT1200]

THANK YOU FOR UPLOADING!!!

[@michellegomez5118]

bro should start his own bizz where he builds his own OP planes , cars etc

[@stewpadasso297]

Dude cool mini! I built and flew a model SR71 Estes rocket kit when I was a kid. I still have it and it hangs with my other model planes in my home office. Cool video sir.

[@barbecuebenny]

Love the vids I wish I could actually fly a rc jet/plane

[@antitheist9976]

Outstanding, cannot wait for the next one ❤🙂

[@travisolander4749]

That Mini is beautiful.

[@ianjones7266]

Just amazing! Another airplane experiment I don't have to devise!

[@nickcoppack4685]

Well done James yet another video I cannot stop watching until the end.

[@Kodgaming-oh4qu]

Good looking plane

[@MyCreatorSpace]

This is awesome. wathced the whole thing. feel like it would've been turned into a 5 pt build. first rocket powered test could've been a whole episode on its own.

[@aidanperkins3456]

That was sick keep up the good work my guy ❤❤❤

[@edutaimentcartoys]

amazing rc

[@businessraptor127]

Top notch with the wind tunnel testing!

[@OphobbyYT]

That was awesome. I can't wait to see your next rocket plane video!

[@100luk]

your vids never cease to amaze me.

[@generalgamermoments7512]

HES BACK!

[@daddy765]

I dont know how you do it but you make videos with such high quality but in a timely manner!

[@rogerburner3577]

Love all your videos and especially your Mini, I have always wanted one of those cars. I live in the US and they are pricey here.

[@The_Second_greatest_ever]

I had an Estes model rocket kit as a kid that was the SR-71 blackbird. It was fun.

[@torrentsofrc]

So cool!!! You are my inspiration and hero!

[@zaidayman441]

Great video, very fun to watch. Few tips though, don't do high speed runs without a gyro because not only you were losing speed going right, but also losing speed going up and down. For that though, you will need better avionics and custom code depending on the airplane's characteristics. i think doing that first is better than hastily slapping on a rocket motor. Also, there is no problem going a little bigger and doing the aircraft shape yourself.

[@LJvids-wk6jb]

Literally my favorite plane! Thanks project air!

[@darreno9874]

Back in the 80s there was a rc plane called the bullet it easily reached 100mph according to the manufacturer and having seen it fly it was so much faster than anything else. Great job😁✈️

[@slingerssecretlaboratory]

Impressive as usual my friend

[@mikelschuyler748]

Ok so that was INSANE CANT belive you did that coolest EVERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@retrorampage484]

Chaps messing about with things is how the world moves forward. Keep up the good work.

[@nakul3424]

Hey man! Try using a very stable platform for your rocket plane.. I think you are selecting Jets with very tiny wings span and the smaller they are the twichier they are. Try the multiplex Funjet ultra 2, this is small for high speed but highly stable! It has a cult follwing in rc community for cheap speed. People have flown this over 200mph with 6s electric motors. It flies straight like an arrow and easy to manoeuvre. It needs very tiny single quad motor on even a 4s to go very fast, go far away and choose a very straight full throttle pass, once your plane is locked in and wings are steady fire up the rocket, i promise you wont regret!

[@spamspam4117]

A question for philosophers: is it still a blackbird if it's gold?

[@Random_npc9]

Goodnight

[@VoidVR64]

Goldbird

[@batisphere1168]

Depends on wether you mean plane itself or a color specifically

[@Ezeystreet]

Its whoopie goldbird

[@MohammadMosa-dw5ye]

It is

[@ericwillis777]

Great fun, a pleasure to watch, reminds me of my APS Folland Gnat jetex model, which only managed a smoky ballistic trajectory after a very energetic hand launch, - far too heavy, cut up postcard is not a substitute for a bristol board skin !

[@sral2482]

Really nice video. I just thought it would be really helpful if you add for example a DJI O3 or some Walksnail system to your planes. You would have HD transmission and onboard 4K recording. On top of that you can use the gyro data from the O3 to stabilize the Video. And with up to 10 km of range you could easily test long burn rocket motors without having to turn around. Overall the handling would be much easier.