Concept sketches of the Ductling D-II
In September 2004 I had a vision made up of several parts, starting with a carving done in 1985 Angel, the BetterFly Logo and some sea shell fossils given to me, all together inspiring the Ducting D-II. They all had a characteristic of a flying legacy. Something not quite right, but appear to be flying. Something to to with the tail, all had a 'V' in them, this gave me an Idea. First I decided the Duct-tail was ineffective alone, by adding a second Duct-tail now dubbed "Duct Vane" and aligning them into a V shape I would achieve a similar affect as vector thrusting technology. I had to try this theory out. A series of pictures show the progression in the development of the Ductling D-II.
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Inspiration
The BetterFly Logo was design with a bird of prey in mind, and my SEAHAWK, an affordable amphibious hydroplane canard aircraft concept I had in mind at the time 1985.
I started another hobby early spring 2004 tumbling (polishing) rocks. This is something my mother in-law did; it was her display’s that intrigued me. So I decided to start my own. She gave me some of her specimens, fossil shells. A picture shows what they looked like.
Angel can it Fly?
A sketch from memory of the Angel carving I did some years ago in the 70’s. The concept was a winged object (angel) and some mythical properties from the Egyptians. Quite a story huh!!!
Putting together all my findings and formulate a plan to realize this vision.
Coincidence?
Remember fossil shells, do they have a resemblance? Also it is the fossil shells that put things in perspective with the V-Tail configuration and the shape of the craft.
Looking at the general
shape of the carving, it has potential characteristic with aerodynamics.
So I investigated a configuration for a fan unit.
I reviewed some of my earlier concepts, SEAHAWK and the DUCTLING I and begun to investigate the “V” tail configuration. The sketch with the words “DUCT V TAIL” was the vision incorporating the sea shell and then the “V” DUCTTAIL was born, and hence DUCTLING II.
Model this (prototype I)
Part of the design phase is building a model. In exploiting the basic paper airplane shape, helped identify the elements that contribute to this concept.
Looks like a bird?
Refinements
I felt that it needed to be widened. So a sketch was to work out the possibilities. Looking good.
A new model (prototype II)
A new sketch was made to work out the inlets. I built a larger model so I could concentrate on the power plant fan cradle. As you can see a model was built (in black) showing the inlets, but this did not satisfy my understanding of the relationship with the Duct-tail. This inspired me to build again.
A new sketch was done after the last model was built. What has occurred here is the original sketch (Back to the design phase) had sharp lines and did not depict the true shape that was to become. With emphasis on the inlets and defining the wings more you would get this. I also incorporated the shell features form my vision.
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2008 01 19.