Imaginative Originals: Carbon Fiber Dizzy Space Plane

The original Dizzy Space was a great Silverlit / AeroAce creation by Christian Bürger. He designed it to fly very well using stock Aeroace components but it had one significant flaw: The frame “runners” and center fuselage.

The entire plane was originally designed around using 2mm Depron foam. The design was an excellent flyer. You can see here how Christian’s version flew. But if the plane took any sort of impact, its structure would just crumple. When we discovered ProtoPasta’s carbon fiber filaments, it gave us the idea of how to cure that problem, making a great flyer awesome! Here is a video of how it turned out:

So, let us get started building the new Carbon Fiber Dizzy Space…….

Getting started with the Carbon Fiber Dizzy Space

Our Carbon Fiber Dizzy Space consists of two types of components:

• 2mm Foam wings
• Carbon Fiber fuselage and “runners”

Christian Bürger’s original design called for simply printing out his PDF plan, attaching it to some 2mm Depron foam, and cutting the parts out.

What we did was come up with a method for taking the original drawings and converting them into printable parts.

We printed out a test frame runner in PLA to compare it to the original Depron foam frame runner to make sure our conversion worked properly.

To compare, we placed the old foam runner next to our print.

They are exact duplicates! So now we can get going.

Things you will need to build the Carbon Fiber Dizzy Space

1. Carbon fiber filament such as the ProtoPasta Hight temperature (HTPLA-CF) we are using here
2. A steel nozzle in place of brass for the hot end such as this one from Amazon.
3. Some 2mm Depron foam or equivalent.
4. Some PLA filament. We recommend using Solutech Clear PLA  or blue as we did in our build.

5. Some old Aero Ace pager motors and an Aero Ace Rx

6. A lipo battery to power things. We used this new 150ma lipo from Amazon.

7. Adhesive for your foam and carbon fiber.( Uhu 4 x POR Adhesive – DEPRON STYROFOAM EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE 40g/50ml )

8. A Number 2 or similar exacto knife (for cutting out the foam wings)

9. Our Carbon Fiber Dizzy Space plane download. This includes all the items you need for both printing the carbon fiber parts as well as the templates so you can easily cut out the foam components

Templates for the foam parts:

Having such great success with converting our plan images into printable parts, we decided that rather than taping the plan to our foam and cutting out the parts as was done in the past, we thought it would be a great idea to just creating some PLA templates instead for the wings. That way, each template could be used as a guide when cutting out the foam. You will need to print one of each of these templates out of PLA from our download:

• Front Wing Template
• Rear Wing Template

Recommended Infill: 20%

Once they are printed, just place each over your foam and cut out your parts. For the rear wing, you will need to flip it over on the foam to create the opposite wing.

With your foam parts in hand, you are now ready to move on to the carbon fiber ones.

Setting up your printer for carbon fiber printing

Carbon Fiber filament is extremely abrasive and will quickly wear away a standard .4mm brass nozzle on any hot end. If you have not already done so, please read our article on printing with carbon fiber. It explains how to set up your printer properly. Once you have all your settings in place it’s time to print!

Printing:

Printing with Proto-Pasta’s carbon fiber was remarkably easy. First, you will need to print 2 runners using this file from the download:

• Runner

Recommended infill: 20%

Printing each runner will not take long.

Once done with the runners, you will need to print your center fuselage. You have a couple of choices here. Either a 1mm fuselage or a 2mm fuselage. These are both included in the download:

• Fuselage Center 1mm thick
• Fuselage Center 2mm thick

During our testing, we found that some original AeroAce gear was not strong enough to handle the weight of the 2mm thick fuselage, so you will have to decide for yourself which one you wish to use.

Having all carbon fiber components in hand, it was time to move on to the assembly of the plane.

Assembling the Plane:

The assembly sequence of the Dizzy Space is extremely specific. It is:

1. Rear wing
2. Rear wing to runners
3. Fuselage to front wing
4. Rear wing / runner assembly to fuselage / front wing assembly
5. Electronics

Rear Wing:

Assembly of the dizzy space starts with first joining the two rear wing segments. This is done by placing the rear wing segments on a flat surface with the side you have determined to be the “bottom” facing you. A strip of packing tape needs to be applied to join the two pieces.

The wing is then flipped over. This exposes the seam between the wings by raising them and apply some of the UHU POR adhesive. Then lay the wing assembly flat. Apply a second narrow piece of clear tap on the top of this joint and allow the wing to completely dry. Add a weight to hold the wing down in the center while it is drying.

We need to wait until the rear wing assembly is completely dry before continuing with the build.

Rear Wing to Runners:

Attaching each runner to the rear wing involves making sure that each runner is straight and properly spaced.

1. First measure along the leading edge of the wing, from the center outward 94mm. Make a tick mark or dot at this point. This is where the front of the runner will be placed.
2. Second, measure along the trailing (rear) edge of the wing, from the center outward 88mm. Make a tick mark or dot at this point. The rear of the runner should match up with this mark.
3. Repeat the process for the other wing segment.

Glue each runner into place and support as shown below.

Notice that the wing assembly is supported from underneath by blocks, with a weight (a battery) applied at its center on top. This because the wing needs to be elevated for each runner to properly line up over the leading edge of the wing. The weight in the center also helps maintain a slight upward angle of the wing itself. You should allow this assembly to dry completely before moving on.

Fuselage to Front Wing:

The smaller front canard wing should be glued to the from fuselage section next. The easiest way to do this is to apply glue to both the forward fuselage section and the wing where they will each make contact and allow it to set.

Apply glue along this area of the front fuselage

Apply glue along this area of the wing.

After the adhesive has set, push both pieces together, taking care to line up the wing so that it is perpendicular to the fuselage piece. Then let the assembly dry. The best way to do this is to support the fuselage inverted on a table upright like this:

Rear wing / runner assembly to fuselage / front wing assembly

 

To attach all the components together is the last phase required. The first thing that is required, is to line up the front wing fuselage assembly with the rear wing runner assembly to figure out where everything needs to be glued. This is because all components of both assemblies need to be joined at the same time.

The best way to do this is to lineup each assembly as shown below, to start getting it all in place:

The rear of the fuselage should line up with the seam of the rear wing. Also, the notches at the front of each runner should engage with the rear of the front wing. Once everything is lined up, you will be able to identify where glue needs to be applied on the front wing, and where glue will need to be applied to the fuselage and rear wing.

You will need to find some methods of support, such as what is shown above to make it easier to line the parts.

Making a mark on the front wing where the tip of each runner should be will help you apply glue to the front wing as you assemble it all.

Once you are satisfied everything lines up, apply glue, position the assemblies.

Pay special attention to the areas where the front wing contacts each runner. The wing needs to tilt up and be flush with each runner glue point, so besides supporting the front wing from underneath you may also need to add some weight on top of each runner to keep it all properly aligned while drying.

Electronics

If you are staying “traditional” and using the Aero Ace electronics is the next step of the build. In the original design, the battery sat in from the for Rx. However, with the switch to carbon fiber, a change had to be made. The battery now needs to be directly behind the Rx, secured to the side of the fuselage with a tie wrap or velcro.

Each motor should be secured to the rear wing with adhesive.

The Rx is simply glued into the fuselage cut out designed for it.

To avoid interference, route the Rx antenna under the wing.

Flying

Launching and flying the Dizzyspace is quite simple. The plane floats very well on a calm day outdoors and should be launched gently with an underhand toss.

If you find your build does not climb as expected, consider adding some simple elevons at the rear of the wings.

This can be easily attached with tape as a hinge. Then fixed into position with a second piece of tape.

We hope you enjoyed this trip back in time with the Dizzy Space. Stay tuned for more articles in the coming weeks on the Dizzy Space. We will be discussing using more powerful pager motors, a “high power” Dizzy Space, and much more!