fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 A build from 12 years ago: In 1993 a very strange –or familiar, if you think about it- sight in the sky puzzled more than one casual cloud-gazer. The FMX-4 Facetmobile is a homebuilt aircraft created by Barnaby Wainfan with the lifting body concept approach, and its looks, as hinted before, resemble…a flying crushed cardboard box?...a miss-assembled tent, blown by the wind?...or…yes, you got it, a very famous "secret" (no more, actually) plane that uses stealth technology, the same technology used by the crooks that steal from people making millions and get rewarded by their corporate headquarters for it . But I digress. This one reputedly flew before the other one was unveiled to the public. A difficult shape to forget, the Facetmobile was a temptation that posed as an innocent would-be model. Little I knew. The images will tell you how I made it. Suffice to say that I had more than one accident with the superglue, because given the fact that the body was build with two shells of clear plastic, the use of normal styrene glue didn’t cause the desired effects. After –seemingly- months of merciless bouts, the model emerged; not perfect, but perhaps good enough to bring a smile. The original flew, and very well! 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invidia Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Fantastic looking aircraft. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheonix Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 The wing structure looks simple enough....the rest looks like a scratch builder's nightmare! To have persevered to complete this and make such a fine model deserves the highest respect from fellow modellers. I see no faults - only another of your superb models. P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 What, might I enquire, were the advantages over a conventional aeroplane that so interested Mr Wainfan. I’m guessing low construction cost and relatively high structural strength? Anything else? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 (edited) 50 minutes ago, Bandsaw Steve said: What, might I enquire, were the advantages over a conventional aeroplane that so interested Mr Wainfan. I’m guessing low construction cost and relatively high structural strength? Anything else? We shall ask Mr. Wainfan. The following does not apply to you, Steve, it's a comment about what I sometimes see when posting these types: It is extremely interesting to observe the responses of fellow modelers and aviation enthusiasts to unorthodox types. That we modelers are a field day for psychologists and sociologists is not new, but the reaction (some times quite virulent, when not plain dismissive) about aviation solutions that seem not to be validated (or even sanctified) by the Orthodox Church of How Things Should be in Aeroplanes, is absolutely amazing. Let's consider that if people wouldn't think out of the box, we wouldn't have airplanes to start with. Or anything else by that matter. We would still be monkeys (which would make wonders for the environment, among other benefits). Why is it that "out of the norm" things cause such reactions, instead of awe, inspiration, excitement, curiosity, etc.? Makes you wonder. Cheers Edited February 8, 2019 by Moa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelh Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 I doubted so I googled. Yes it was a thing. I apologise. 😗 Of course almost anything can fly. A barn door can fly if the angle of attack is sufficient and enough power is applied We are stuck a bit with birdlike configurations, all the more surprising considering modern aircraft are essentially computers. But basically flight is achieved with an aerofoil and angle of attack plus something to stabilise the whole thing. So it isn't so radical after all. Brilliant modelling though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Yes - good discussion indeed - and of course my query was not intended to in any way cast aspersions on the design or the designer . It is great that there will always be people looking for new ways to do...well anything really... In aviation of course, the results - whether failure or success - can be truly spectacular! Hats off to Mr Wainfan and his Ilk! 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 22 minutes ago, Bandsaw Steve said: Yes - good discussion indeed - and of course my query was not intended to in any way cast aspersions on the design or the designer . It is great that there will always be people looking for new ways to do...well anything really... In aviation of course, the results - whether failure or success - can be truly spectacular! Hats off to Mr Wainfan and his Ilk! 👍 I know that, no worries, hence my clarification before what followed, yours' is a legitimate question. It was an expression of a thought that was brewing in the back of my mind, after having read during the last months many responses commenting on how "that" could not fly, or how silly/naive/wrong was the designer, or similar statements on those lines. They are, in turn, the expression of the person that makes the comment, and therefore valid, it is just notorious that that sort of expression is what comes before than anything else, not as an afterthought. It also surprises me how much is mostly unknown to otherwise active, productive and well-informed modelers, as if these things were hidden somewhere, they are not, they are just behind the pile of usual types, if we just look a little bit further. Granted, some types are sort of ridiculous, bizarre, strange, unusual, mysterious. Those very qualities are what makes me study them and build them, not how many races they won, how many were sold, how well they flew, which is very, very boring to me. I don't want respectful, orderly, known, approved, validated types. I want to go where no modeler has gone before 😉 🖖 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 2 minutes ago, Moa said: I want to go where no modeler has gone before 😉🖖 And that - Sir - is an awesome brief for a scratchbuilder! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheonix Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 7 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said: And that - Sir - is an awesome brief for a scratchbuilder! To which I add hear hear! And the more we do so the better, despite what others may think or write. P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldy Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Well - now we are all put rightfully in our place.... Another beautiful build Moa - 1993 is a bit on the modern side for you though isn't it? Anyway - as you kinda alluded, it vaguely resembles some of the early lifting body NASA projects and I guess fly better than some of them! Cheers Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 2 hours ago, Baldy said: Well - now we are all put rightfully in our place.... 🤨 2 hours ago, Baldy said: 1993 is a bit on the modern side for you though isn't it? It is for sure, another sin of youth. 2 hours ago, Baldy said: Anyway - as you kinda alluded, it vaguely resembles some of the early lifting body NASA projects and I guess fly better than some of them! Cheers Malcolm I was thinking more of the F.117. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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