RC Space Shuttle?

[@TomStantonEngineering]

Awesome project idea mate! It's not going to be easy, but you've obviously done your research and I'm super excited to see how it goes!!

[@Project-Air]

Thanks for all the suggestions chaps! Keep them coming. Great to hear you’re all onboard with this epic project! 🚀🤙 Oh, and yes, I noticed the plans are the CCCP Buran. 👌

[@BPSspace]

This is so cool, James! Can't wait to see how it turns out, best of luck!

[@IamSaud_YT]

Great to see you here, Barnard!

[@FliteTest]

yay for the pen tool:) -Alex

[@omneypixel9522]

Hey

[@RamyRC]

looking great James!

[@air-headedaviator1805]

Hey James I’m a rocket scientist in training and I know of a editing software called Open Rocket that you could use to design a propelled vehicle aerodynamically. Its a free software too so if you wanted to use that to help you desgin your shuttle system you could.

[@Project-Air]

Air-headed Aviator awesome! Thanks for sharing, I’ve downloaded it and it looks very helpful.

[@skippyfpvexperimentalrc6755]

All and All awesome project I’m going to make one and try it out for myself

[@arturoalejandrodiazacevedo8641]

The aerodynamics of the real shuttle are that of a brick, you might want to design your own that is based of the shuttle to make it more manageable. The video I recommend is “how to land the space shuttle... from space” by Bret Copeland. It’s very insightful and I hope it helps a lot! Keep up the great work!

[@James.O]

It’s true the shuttle had a terrible glide ratio, but that was the real shuttle which had real shuttle mass, this is foam board so the glide ratio will be increased drastically but the battery will have to go further forward if you’re popping a rocket motor in the tail.

[@arturoalejandrodiazacevedo8641]

James H everything scales down and the flight characteristics are virtually the same. The only other plane that resembles the shuttle was the concord and that thing was awful at low speeds and had to change the wing characteristics at low speeds.

[@James.O]

Concorde isn’t a great example as it had to shift fuel to maintain a correct centre of lift at low speed. Delta wings tend to use vortex lift which allows you to maintain a high angle of attack but the trade off is a high amount of drag, they are great for a plane sporting a nice engine but not so great for a glider. Keeping this as light as possible will help.

[@nathanordowski718]

The Estes motors need to be ignited simulataneously, which is very difficult. Consider using one bigger rocket motor. The success of your trajectory will depend on your cg and cp for aerodynamic stability, not an angled motor.

[@matterwiz1689]

You could also use some j´kind of hold down and release clamp that only goes off once all 3 motors are lit

[@nathanordowski718]

You also have the same problem at burnout, in which case the problem cannot be avoided.

[@MichaelTeeuw]

Looking forward to the next episode already!

[@johnnyllooddte3415]

looks good.. tape on a bigger wing surface if necessary and slowly trim it back to size.. does 3 things.. gives more stability, gives you practice and gives you a final wing size

[@SofieBrink]

Your plans used the Buran shuttle diagrams!!! Yes finally someone who gives it attention

[@antonyo7531]

You should drop it out of an airplane. I just found your channel today, and I would like to thank you for putting so much time, effort, and thought into your videos. Keep up the great work.

[@skippyfpvexperimentalrc6755]

You should have propulsion to get it in the air and then on a switch another booster on the shuttle to go back up when you back up when you lose altitude so you could fly at least 1pattern then land

[@ianwalker6546]

Great project - couple of suggestions: 1) Plan to make the release mechanism from metal (aluminium) from the get go. The forces going through that part are going to be huge 2) Consider a launch clamp of some sort to overcome the problem of the engines not all starting up/ramping up identically - for C6-3 engines you want around a 0.3s delay . Or a launch rail of course, but that doesn't seem in the spirit of the project

[@Project-Air]

Ian Walker thanks! I like that idea of the launch clamp. Could deffo help to solve the non-simultaneous cluster engine ignition problem. 👌

[@nachocortizo3321]

For the separation mechanism, you could simply "friction mount" it. The booster motors will fire up first then the main motor. This way the booster will "carry" the weight of the glider. Once the boosters run out, the glider will still have some power, hence separating from the boosters! !!

[@mikeking1951]

Maybe you could try a weekish bungee type launch, just for testing etc, hot glue a little hook on and let er rip (hopefully not literally) Excited for this build ;-)

[@anti-popfpv4638]

Whats up James, glad I found your channel, can't wait for that vector thrust concord! Keep it up mate

[@DoRC]

Oh man. It must be my birthday. I'm laid up sick today and all my favorite channels are releasing videos. Yaaaay!

[@imaewpwane8353]

Looks great can’t wait for pt 2

[@MrZeek101]

bunjee cord launcher for test flight and looks great James

[@TheRandomTurtleOfficial]

Use an vacuum chamber and put the shuttle in once you let the air out from the bottom that will already lift the shuttle about 100 ft. Also have extra engine s at the beginning and when they do their part after the vacuum, the top engines will blast of of the top of the bottom engines instead of just air giving it more power.

[@pauldudey1296]

If you use a much lighter lipo the Shuttle will glide much better. Use a 1 or 2 cell 250mah lipo👍🏻 But all in all a very cool Project

[@isaacpearson1634]

You should test its CG so that you can balance future models faster, also have you thought of using thrust vectoring on the ascent so you can control it.

[@starshot5172]

Awesome! Me and a couple of friends are working on a balloon-rocket hybrid currently. Would love to see your space shuttle work!

[@PBoogerwood]

Great project! Looking forward to following along.

[@aviationist1018]

2:48 Your Partially Correct, Yes the RS-25’s were angled but they were angled because of the weird set up / configuration of the launch vehicle, what was happening is you have alot of mass on one side, so the Liquid Hydrogen and Oxygen for the Liquid Engines, and then Solid Rocket Boosters, and so thats symmetrical, then you add this big and bulky shuttle with its own engines, Carries Astronauts and Cargo, that disrupts the CG, so to counter that, The Liquid Engines were Angled into the CG, making the center of thrust go through the CG. Since the CG would change after the External Tank and SRB’s Were Separated, the Engines Could Gimbal and put itself back into the CG, and since it was angled, the shuttle was oriented when it was burning to have the RS-25’s Oriented to push, and since it was angled, the shuttle was oriented having a pitch to it. After the ET was almost empty, because you couldn’t starve the Engines, the ET was Separated, then they Resorted to the OMS, aka, the Orbital Maneuvering System. They were Mono-Prop I believe or Hypergolic, they were the little engines above the Big Liquid Engines. They had their own fuel and that allowed the Shuttle to Raise, Lower, De-Orbit, or Complete Orbital Insertion Burns.

Hey this is a very interesting project! The combination of two vehicles flying together adds more complexity and interest to this! The extra drag of the space shuttle may be an issue in the dynamic stability of the total rocket-shuttle composition, so it's going to be interesting to see it flying. Maybe that passive correction of the thrust angle for the space shuttle nozzle could be enough, but getting the right angle may by tricky. Perhaps some ground test to correct the angle could help? Really looking forward for the advancements. All the best!

[@captainmizo5217]

CAN YOU MAKE A VID WERE YOU SHOW US HOW TO BUIILD IT BECAUSE I DOWNT KNOW

[@donfredo8013]

I love your drawings - so cute.

[@angelreading5098]

Interesting project,once the shuttle is up it will be fine,looking at the glider version a bit of power and she will be away,the glider angle on the full sized was pretty steep anyway.

[@kdobson83]

Wait, what is this valspar sealer sorcery? I always used oil based minwax to waterproof my foam but that spray can looks WAY easier and less messy!

[@aldenhauser9555]

Yes! I am curious about this too. I would love a link to this stuff. I can only find non spray cans of it on amazon

[@Project-Air]

I made a video about it (actually my first proper video on this channel) - here's the link! kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6rZeIOEnduHZ6c&t

[@mitchmo5000]

Any links to this? Looking on amazon but can find the same stuff

[@stratos2]

Well I use Depron, no problems with water at all

[@aidanbilger5753]

Those drawings had CCCP on them. Are you sure that they aren't Buran's, which was the Soviet equivalent

[@hrhodes2768]

Probably get a flight controller in the shuttle for stability on ascent and descent

[@antonblebann6823]

Try a Bungee for Take off, it's obiously Tailhavy, You need to find the right CG, then You could fly a few Turns with a good Bungee, Best of Luck for Your Project 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic job, dude! 😃 Two suggestions: first, try to drop it from a drone/quadcopter and try to land it. That way you can discover any issue easily. 😉 Second, make a few launch tests before risking to destroy it. 😊 Oh, and congrats for the 6k subscribers! 😃

[@Project-Air]

Good idea! I'm thinking of recreating the original Space Shuttle Enterprise + Boeing 747 drop tests with an RC plane for the next video - and thank you!

[@MCsCreations]

@@Project-Air Dude! That would be awesome!!! 😃 Definitely, do it!!! 😃

[@engineeredlifeform]

I was thinking quad ride,.... but then KISS kicked in, and I thought simple bungee launch would work.

[@engineermecanico9300]

Consider how you are actually generating lift which I think your intuitively familiar with. It will be different when you get high wind speeds as opposed to just tossing it in the air since the speed is significantly different especially in the scenario where you've got a high impulse thus higher wind speeds.I'm a mechanical engineer and I'm starting a channel, in the plan stage right now, it would be awesome to collaborate with you in the future if your interested. Just an idea but consider looking into functional airfoils "airplane wings" and try and replicate the wing cross section with maybe plywood or something of the like and attach that to your shuttle instead of just flat pieces, that may sound easier said then done but just an idea. CP and CM (center of pressure and center of mass) are also very important. Open rocket may help in determine these as the air-headed guy mentioned

[@Project-Air]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@knighthawkfpv]

Looking forward to this!

[@rickcarter4686]

You used the Russian version of the shuttle as a base model by the look of it . The CCCP on the drawings .... As for launching with three rocket motors : probably best if they are arranged as an equilateral triangle . That way the only other thing to account for is the slight extra drag on one side of the vehicle as it launches . .

[@wernerpretorius5354]

Retractable lifting surfaces/wings maybe? Use a thicker airfoil to produce more lift, much larger control surfaces too, it's moving at 40 km/h max where as the actual shuttle went well over 1000km/h You don't have as much authority going that slow, canards also sound cool tbh.

[@joesphvansickle8288]

I love the space shuttle

[@fpvkernow2652]

When it comes to releasing the Orbiter from the External Tank it may be beneficial to have the nose release first rather than the whole thing at once. Releasing the nose first will cause the orbiter to pitch upwards away from the ET; similar to the side boosters aboard Falcon Heavy. Both the Buran and Space Transportation Systems had horrible lift/drag ratios at around 1:5 L/D where modern sailplanes can exceed 1:60 L/D. Rctestflight did a good video on drop tests of a shuttle style glider and found during the round out before landing having a large momentum helps carry the energy during the landing. Also as you mentioned controlling the pitch of the whole vehicle during accent will most likely be the biggest challenge, thrust imbalance from the Solid Rocket Boosters could cause a large pitching motion to be induced so including thrust vectoring with a servo linked to the elevators may compensate with it. I’m sure it will go better than the shuttle Top Gear made a few years ago with a Robbin Reliant which berried itself into the ground. If there is any further help you would like dm me and I’ll see how I can help out!

[@d1rcwill]

Could make it so that when the nose detaches from the booster, aerodynamic forces cause the rest of the separation to occur.

[@fpvkernow2652]

d1rcwill Exactly! Could have hooks or pins on the ET which insert into a receptacle on the Orbiter

[@Project-Air]

Great idea! I might just have to try that

[@BillyBag2]

Use the trust to hold the booster to the shuttle. Delay the burn of the shuttle engine buy only a few seconds. The shuttle engine will be burning when the boost stops and the drag of the booster will cause separation. Just need to simply hook the booster to the shuttle. No separation hardware required.

[@AKElectroDIY]

The plan isn't available now. Can you share the link again?

[@mariasirona1622]

Heeeeey, you were accidentally basing it on the Buran!

[@BramoHD]

Oh this is going to be great, I remember when I once tried to make an R/C space shuttle. Only mine had a push prop (spoiler: it flew a grand total of 10 meters, 5 meters on the first try and 5 meters after a rebuild... The torque roll was just too much to counter even from an 1806 with a 5040 :( ... )

[@SharkyMoto]

the technical drawing you used is from a buran spaceship, thats not a space shuttle!! they look very similar though but i'd use the space shuttle drawing since shuttle is way cooler than a buran. also the aerodynamics of the space shuttle were terrible in real life and i think this translates also to a smaller scale, so i think you might need to cheat and use an ducted motor inside it to give it some power for "gliding" - this also would be beneficial during launch since you could adjust the thrust of the engine during ascend, much like the original did with the LH/LOX Main engines!

[@ichbaumalwas5615]

The buran is cooler

[@Project-Air]

Yep, I was aware it was a Buran, but seeing as though the Buran was based almost exactly on the Shuttle I thought it didn't matter. The drawing was the best I could find! ;)

[@tomatwalden]

@@Project-Air The Buran was pretty much what came about after Russia photo-copied the space shuttle anyway! :)

[@matterwiz1689]

@@tomatwalden Well they copied the airframe so they could save the resources on researching the aerodynamics but pretty much everything else was different and often superior to the shuttle. For example it was way safer as it was completely computer controlled and therefore wasn't relying on humans who make mistakes. It's a shame really that the USSR collapsed before it could be used.

[@matterwiz1689]

The Buran is a space shuttle it's just not THE space shuttle which is (with the boosters and tank) the space transport system. A space shuttle really just is something that can transport things to space repeadedly which the Buran definitely could, arguably in a safer and more efficient way than the STS. Also look into Energia 2/Uragan, it's god damn beautiful and makes me cry because it's never going to exist, probably.

[@JNinMC]

You might want to look into vectoring solid rocket engines. Look at BPS KZbin channel for more details. It you want it to fly strait there must be some course correction, whether it be vector engines or aerodynamic control surfaces.

[@635-n1u]

Love the concept of this project. Can’t wait to see this come to fruition. Also may I ask what microphone you’re using for these videos?

[@Tony770jr]

Try using a sling shot to launch the craft, it will give you move speed and more time to control it...

[@antonyo7531]

If this project works, then maybe you should make a reusable rocket (like the Space X rocket). Probably impossible? What are your thoughts?

[@tomheetderks9997]

perhaps you could sling shot it vertically- maybe with some surgical tubing, to get some longer flight time for testing.

[@sufysprojects2689]

You may make it a normal rc plane with an electric motor simply to feel how it's going to handle with some more airflow around it

[@matterwiz1689]

But as it's going to fall anyways without any thrust just throwing it simulates it more accurately

[@sufysprojects2689]

@@matterwiz1689 thrust would allow the plane to climb , at a certain altitude the throttle would be cut and the glide-test can be done ! Launching it by hand , standing on flat ground means that you can't really tell precisely how it's going to glide because of the very short glide time

[@matterwiz1689]

@@sufysprojects2689 fair enough

[@flyingark173]

Nicely done, looking forward to seeing more of this project. What was the waterproofing spray that you used?

[@mircoheitmann]

that's a really cool project. and for testing, why not throw it off a quad? that should get it up to speed so you can properly try the controls or something. (and it looks really cool)

[@knight907]

This is a bold project. The real Shuttle didn’t fly very well, and the side-mounted tank and booster design was inefficient and risky. A rocket boosted glider would be tricky enough. Good luck with this. I’ll be interested to see how you proceed.

[@oddzc]

This may be stupid, but how hard would it be to get something like this into space?

[@loodwich]

Try to make the analysis of the shuttle in Kerbal Space Program (Angles of the motors and weight balance). And also for the free flight, you can tow the shuttle with another plane to have more velocity and height to see its behavior. CCCP, Are you using the model of the Buran? That space ship is similar to the shuttle, but have a different design and flying philosophies.

[@Project-Air]

I was going to try that, but unfortunately KSP no longer opens on my computer - doh! Going to be dropping the shuttle from a flying airplane in the next video. :)

[@loodwich]

@@Project-Air Your computer for KSP is a mac?

[@Project-Air]

Juan Lobos Martin unfortunately yes 😂🤦‍♂️ Might have to get myself a dedicated game PC at some point

[@loodwich]

@@Project-Air I also play it in Mac. go to the application of KSP, and press the secondary button, and "Open the package content" go to the folder "contents/macOS" and do a double click to the KSP application that is in that folder. For me a terminal window is open and the game is loaded.

[@pankajwaghela83]

Good project

[@gurpreetmankoo9794]

Hey , from where you get all knowledge about this please reply

[@Project-Air]

KSP

[@puffinus_puffinus5685]

Most model shuttles have fins shaped like flames, and colored in appropriately, coming out the exhausts of the solid rocket motors and all the engines in the base of the orange fuel tank. Model rocket motors are never consistent enough to rely on thrust offsets, and having them spread out over the base of a model would tip it over due to unavoidable small variations in their thrust. not to mention igniting them all at the same time...

[@DoRC]

That model glides about as well as the real shuttle did (it was kind of a brick).

[@tritionaerospace2277]

You do remember what happened last time someone ignored damage to a shuttle’s wing right? (I get this is a couple of years old but still)

[@badacconosu]

the tail heavy thing is the idea of the space shuttle because that high angle of attack is what slows it down/controls the whole thing theres a nice vid on ytube its called how to land the space shuttle... from space

[@matterwiz1689]

I'm pretty sure everybody has seen that video by now... anyways as he probably doesn't want it to slow down from orbital vellocities that angle of attack wouldn't be desireable

[@FlyingMarvin]

Nice idea, never seen before. But I think u will run in to an issue with the Rocket-Engines aren't working synchronous... soooooo it would crash. You should take a look at YT @BPS.space they made some controllers and solutions for your problem/project. (gyro?) Probably one big rocket would work better (sugar-rocket?!) Weather-balloon&FPV? Keep on doing.. great content Greetings form Switzerland

[@Project-Air]

Thanks for the suggestions man. I've talked to Joe from BPS.Space, but I want to try and keep the project fairly simple at first (without needing gyro-ing motors). I feel that working with more complex hardware would just add more time and complexity. Maybe in the future though!

[@Flybrei]

Super 👍

[@BEUNanim]

Nice

[@mdrihan4650]

Liked it

[@coolshooo]

You may want to bay some sort of tracking device, and attach one to both parts.

[@aldenhauser9555]

You should talk to BPS space for some advice and tips for this. He is very experienced in advanced model rocketry

[@Project-Air]

Alden Hauser yep I was telling Joe about it the other day! 😊

[@aldenhauser9555]

ProjectAir awesome!

[@tobiasebastiantempella9792]

It will be a great glider for shure

[@ichbaumalwas5615]

I have a construction of a release system. How can i send it to you (I don't have instagram)

[@d1rcwill]

Could you use a motor cradle (in gimbals, within the shuttle) with PID control for the launch trajectory?

[@vicsarnaudov3486]

Your awesome 👌

[@tobynagata8616]

No SRB separation?

[@TinyHouseHomestead]

Hey what happened to the plans! The link is gone byebye! 😱🤣🤪😁👍🇺🇸

[@jaqummh]

My doubt: simultaneous ignition of motors or unsymmetrical ignition/thrust

[@willemhart467]

You dont have to set your engine under a angel as long as your center of thrust is under the center of mass, the space shuttle did have its engins under a angel becaus when the booster separate the center of thrust is ofset Sorry of my bad english i am dutch

[@Project-Air]

Willem Hart Good point! 😊

[@abhilashasinha5186]

The wings are spread our to make swept wings used in the F-22 raptor

[@SpacefarerIndustries]

I don't recall a big fat CCCP on the wing of the american shuttle

[@techsbyglebbagrov7470]

The SRBs and the main shuttle engines had gimbal

[@BharathwajK]

Good ya but the project needs big costs ,it can be sufficient if possible with EDF systems

[@DoRC]

Check out bps space. His work overlaps with some of this in ways you might find very helpful.

[@lurgy1]

try dropping the shuttle from a drone to test it

[@Project-Air]

lurgy1 Im currently building an airplane to give it a piggyback for the next episode 😀

[@sterlingsmith202]

noice

[@wbologna99]

The drawings are from the buran the Russian space shuttle

[@hologramlaptop1777]

I think we need ting engines

[@danieleagle4354]

Hello from 2021

[@Z_dounut_Z]

150!!

[@tiejong2127]

Hello from 2022

[@TheHarberHangar]

Awesome challenge for yourself! For the release mechanism, check out Josh Orchard's bomb-release mechanism: www.thingiverse.com/thing:2811104 It's a good starting place for a servo-operated release mechanism. Thrust Angle: You will indeed need to orient the Shuttle's motor direction such that it points through the center of mass of the whole assembled vehicle. Measure the longitudinal CG, AS WELL AS the "Vertical" CG, meaning; What is the CG's location perpendicular to the belly of the Shuttle when mounted to the boosters? In a side-view, this will give you a specific CG location fore/aft and up/down: You want to point the Shuttle motor's thrust vector such that it intersects that point. Good luck!

[@Fur8002]

Are you putting a flight controller in the shuttle?

[@Project-Air]

Nope, just relying on good old stick and rudder :)

[@Steven-er2od]

Yes yes yed

[@didierneeferc]

Al our rc club we builded a 3x4m spaceshuttle from froam from a diy shop at our rc club if you want a vid or pics i can send you them on insta or fb

[@Project-Air]

Nice! Go for it

[@BigDawg9091]

that cccp is not on any space shuttle this is on shuttle buran!!!!

[@kevinschindler8052]

PLS WORK WITH BPS SPACE (also on youtube)!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Z_dounut_Z]

149…..

[@teodorvangelov]

You just use Russian space shuttle blueprints. Did you see the lable "СССР" on the left wing, this stands for USSR.

[@Project-Air]

Yes I noticed thanks

[@charlesklein7232]

i think if you got ride of the background music and did something about the wobbling of your face which makes me want to vomit i think you would have a more professional video. is your camera on a spring? i dont make comments anymore because people generally responded by telling me to FUCK-OFF but you really seemed intelligent! if the message bothers you i think you can erase it- please dont respond!

[@Steven-er2od]

Yes yes yed