top of page

F-35 VTOL ParkJet

Writer's picture: Nicholas RehmNicholas Rehm

This is a fully VTOL-capable F-35 radio controlled parkjet. It uses conventional racing drone components and a a modified version of dRehmFlight VTOL for smooth transitions between hover, where it flies just like a regular multirotor drone, to forward flight, where it flies like a foamie parkjet. Active stabilization and aileron-mounted motors for thrust vectoring makes for impressive maneuverability and control, not to mention speeds in excess of 80 mph. No RC airplane in existence is as fun to fly or as capable as this. Free plans & part files at the end of this article.


 

Motivation

VTOL is notoriously hard in the RC world because it effectively entails building a vehicle that is capable of being both an airplane and a helicopter--two very different things from a mechanical & electrical design perspective. I wanted to design a VTOL capable RC aircraft that was as easy to build as a flat foamie parkjet, while being as easy to fly as a basic racing drone. The F-35, being one of my favorite aircraft, was the perfect platform to try.


Airframe Construction

To make this an easy build, the airframe pieces are cut from dollar store foamboard and held together with tape & hot glue.



Similar to many other flat-plate RC airplane designs, tape hinges are used for all of the control surfaces--including the ailerons with integrated motor mounts for a unique dual-purpose thrust vectoring. The only custom parts needed are for the front motor tilt mechanism, which can either be 3D printed or laser cut from plywood and glued together with super glue.



Fully assembled, this vehicle weighs about 600 grams with a wingspan of 23 inches.


Different Flight Modes

The trickiest part in tying everything together is finding a flight controller that can facilitate the transition between the hovering & forward flight modes. To do this, I leveraged my opensource flight controller dRehmFlight VTOL, which was easily modified to support the motor and control surface mixing for this project.


For the hovering flight mode, the rear ailerons where the motors are mounted are fully deflected down to provide vertical lift along with a dedicated forward lift motor with a slight tilt to counter any remaining forward thrust component of the rear motors. Differential thrust of the left and right motors provides roll control, while differential thrust of the front lift motor and rear motors provides pitch control. Yaw control is achieved by tilting the front lift motor with a servo, similar to a regular tricopter.



For forward flight, the rear elevon control surfaces actuate to provide roll and pitch control. Additionally, the rear motors mounted on the ailerons also actuate, providing powerful thrust vectored control of the roll & pitch axes. Yaw control is achieved by differential thrust of the rear motors, which are now angled rearward for forward thrust, instead of downward as they were in hover.



For transitional flight, you can think of the control mixing as a hybrid of the hovering & forward flight approach: The lifting fan stays on and motor RPM is the primary means of control, but the control surface motion starts to fade in as it builds up some forward speed.


It is important to note: this airplane will not be able to hover or takeoff vertically without the flight controller. Additionally, it is designed to be very tail heavy in forward flight, requiring the assistance of the flight controller in that mode as well.


Conclusions

The magic is all in the flight controller: this build is as simple as any other scratch-built RC airplane, taken to the next level with some unique VTOL flight controls. If you've built & flown your own RC airplane and racing drone before, you'll have no problem getting this project off the ground. Trust me, this one is really fun to fly.


 

Make Your Own!

The primary purpose of this project was to make an easy to build VTOL F-35 that practically anyone can make themselves. Below you'll find all of the 3D print files, complete parts list, and modified dRehmFlight VTOL code needed to complete this project. Just follow the build video and you'll be flying in no time.


Download the free plans and .stl files:


Parts List

Note: These are affiliate links. I receive a small commission for each sale at no additional cost to you.


Code

Download the modified dRehmFlight VTOL code for this project on GitHub:




425 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page