Raptor Aircraft

[jaxcessnadriver]

I’m thinking another remote tank with water/meth spraying over the intercooler is next.

 

[Kenny Phillips]

"I painted the tanks black so they would radiate more heat".

This is more comically inane "engineering" from Muller. I broke out in laughter when he said it.

Black will radiate more heat. It will also gain more heat when exposed to, say, sunlight.

 

[Tantalum]

What he should do it take a tank, then gentle hammer it almost flat, and after that crinkle it lengthwise into an accordion type shape, finally welding some additional fins on it.. that, in addition to it being painted black, will help dissipate that heat. Oh, and instead of a tank, just let the water flow through it. Ultimately it could look something like this:



He can keep it hidden in the nose if he'd like, however a cleverly placed naca vent with an outlet astern the radiator should help

 

[Tantalum]

Ooops.. wait, it has to be black, otherwise it won't work at all

 

[schmookeeg]

Ooops.. wait, it has to be black, otherwise it won't work at all
View attachment 91554

I hope you're billing him consulting fees.

 

[jsstevens]

I hope you're billing him consulting fees.

Needs two to even the aerodynamic loads. Otherwise it's gonna take a lot of ballast on the right wing...

 

[Volzalum]

The raptors next experiment will be to fill all of the areas outside of the cockpit with pressurized helium ... trying to add more useful load ...

 

[iamtheari]

Black will radiate more heat. It will also gain more heat when exposed to, say, sunlight.

I don't get what you're saying at all. The only way that these tanks will be exposed to sunlight is if the airframe catastrophically fails and starts shedding skin from the nose. ... Oh, now I get it.

 

[MacFlier]

Careful, that sounds like the kind of advice he'd take.

Since refunded the deposits in escrow, I beginning to think he is a genius. I wouldn't be surprised if he's making more profit from his Youtube channel than he ever would selling airplane kits. Its more entertaining than a lot of things on tv.

^^^this

 

[3393RP]

Black will radiate more heat. It will also gain more heat when exposed to, say, sunlight.

I'm fully aware of that. In the context of Muller's magic tanks, the black paint won't do anything to ameliorate the lack of engine cooling. Of course, neither will the tanks.

 

[231TC]

How many views is he averaging?

I heard somewhere a good rule of thumb is a youtuber makes 5 grand on a video with 1 million views.

Just under 5 million total views in 6 years. I've heard some make about $8 per 100k views, so same ballpark as your number. Either way, not nearly enough for him to be making much from YT.

He may be paying himself a decent salary out of the $2.6 million in "investments" he accepted a while back, and there was $40k from a GoFundMe campaign. Sounds like all that money is mostly gone since he said a couple weeks ago he may need more funding soon.

 

[pilotrick]

"Since refunded the deposits in escrow, I beginning to think he is a genius. I wouldn't be surprised if he's making more profit from his Youtube channel than he ever would selling airplane kits. Its more entertaining than a lot of things on tv."

Not sure if he is a "genius" but it's true! He will make more profit from his Youtube channel than he ever would selling airplane kits! Even if it is only a few bucks.

 

[1RTK1]

Has anyone taken a look at the DarkAero project carbon fiber home built?
They seem to be much better at designing, testing and fabrication.

 

[Tantalum]

They seem to be much better at designing, testing and fabrication

Admittedly, that bar has been set low

 

[IK04]

If I had a Gazillion Dollars, I would build the hokeyest airplane ever and film it all, just to hear all the hurtful crap from all of the POA "contributors."

Better yet, I'd fully fund Peter with unlimited resources to make this project a success...

 

[231TC]

Better yet, I'd fully fund Peter with unlimited resources to make this project a success...

Better make it two gazillion, then.

 

[Sierra_Hotel]

Has anyone taken a look at the DarkAero project carbon fiber home built?
They seem to be much better at designing, testing and fabrication.

How have I never heard of ULPower Aero Engines before?

 

[3393RP]

If I had a Gazillion Dollars, I would build the hokeyest airplane ever and film it all, just to hear all the hurtful crap from all of the POA "contributors."

Better yet, I'd fully fund Peter with unlimited resources to make this project a success...

But you already have a good idea how to build an airplane.

For your plan to be analogous to the Raptor, you would announce you intend to build a personal luxury submarine. You would claim it will go fifty knots while submerged, have large viewing windows, be able to stay underwater for six months at a time, and do so using a fuel cell, Li-Po batteries, and an electric motor. Copies would be sold for less than the cost of small yacht.

Even though you don't know how a fuel cell works, you would be confident you can learn the intricacies of their operation by using Google. You would engage experts in fuel cell and battery-electric propulsive methods, and an engineering firm with expertise in building subs, but once the project was maturing, you would decide you were smarter than them, and terminate their association with the endeavor.

As the project progressed, there would be comments and offers of help from some of the most experienced builders of small submarines in the world, fuel cell design engineers, and experts in the commissioning and shakedown of submarines and fuel cell/Li-Po/electric systems, but you would ignore their advice and utilize methods of your own inexperienced and unskilled mind and hands.

Problems would develop, but you would solve them as they came up. Most of these fixes would involve using 4130 steel plate and a 120 volt powered flux core MIG welder purchased at Harbor Freight. Your supporters would cheer you on, denigrating the advice from others as "hurtful crap", even though very few of them knew how to swim, much less build a submarine.

After years of work, even though the pressure hull design and construction had been proven to have defects and could not come close to your projected operating depth of 400 feet and water pressure on the hull of 188 PSI, the fuel cells produced just 20% of the planned power output, and the battery cooling system failed during dockside power tests and almost caught fire, you are making final plans to begin a test program, and the first dives will be to 100' depth and the accompanying water pressure on the hull of 58 PSI.

Leaving the dock and diving to just 20' depth, it becomes apparent the strength of the hull is inadequate, so before beginning the formal test program, you have gone to a building materials store and purchased three dozen 4" X 4" X 8' timbers, with which you intend to fabricate some cut to fit bracing for the interior of the hull. This will strengthen it against increasing water pressures that the submarine will encounter as it dives.

During this entire project, you have faithfully kept your supporters and investors informed of the project's progression by recording videos and posting them on YouTube. The installation of the hull bracing is no exception, and while explaining how you have cut the timbers to fit, you cheerily point out the wood you purchased is pressure treated, so if it is repeatedly soaked by leaks in the hull during dives, it will be much more resistant to rot than untreated lumber.

In spite of all this, I would eagerly look forward to seeing your project come to fruition.

 

[Jeff767]

Now that pretty much nails it!!

 

[Racerx]

Needs two to even the aerodynamic loads. Otherwise it's gonna take a lot of ballast on the right wing...

Nah, it needs to be the left wing. Right wing is already heavy remember?

 

[donjohnston]

So now he's installed a trim tab on the left outboard wing to fix the "right roll" tendency.

I'm guessing his incidence is off... Even though he says it's "okay".

 

[Omalley1537]

So now he's installed a trim tab on the left outboard wing to fix the "right roll" tendency.

I'm guessing his incidence is off... Even though he says it's "okay".

Oh, his incidence is off alright...

Possibly the plane’s as well...

 

[unsafervguy]

Ooops.. wait, it has to be black, otherwise it won't work at all
View attachment 91554

time to dig into the physics. yes a black body will RADIATE heat better than a white body. BUT, a radiator does not really cool by radiation, it cools by convection, the air moving over it taking the heat away, and that is not affected by the color to any extent. there is some variation due to the makeup of the paint. now, all that does not apply to schmookeeg's solution because we would have to take into consideration heating from radiant energy from the sun and then the silver one would win out.

 

[3393RP]

As I originally posted, the paint on the coolant tanks is emblematic of the ridiculous evolution of the Raptor at the hands of Muller. The tanks will do so little to alter the capacity of the heat rejection system it's laughable, and the black paint is nothing applied to nothing. Whatever heat rejection through radiation occurs, painted or unpainted, the tanks are in a confined space. But this is just a distraction from the more serious issues.

Once coolant in the tanks passes through the engine and radiator, the temperature of the contents will become the same as the entire system. This will take less than a couple of minutes, and do nothing to slow the inexorable temperature increase of the coolant. They are a totally ineffective effort that just adds another 75 lbs to the already overweight behemoth.

Even though the coolant system is pressurized and thus has a higher boiling point, the already observed behavior of its heat rejection capabilities make it clear that at some point the coolant will begin flashing to steam in the engine. It will also overcome the set point of the radiator cap, and coolant will be pushed into Peter's coolant reservoir (which is a half liter water bottle tie wrapped to the engine mount) and lost overboard.

Simultaneously the temperature of the engine oil will increase to the point of thermal breakdown. While Muller has indicated a 250° F oil temperature as acceptable, that ignores the real conditions in the engine, and particularly the turbochargers. We don't know where in the engine that temperature is being monitored, and there may be oil temperatures far in excess of that shown on the cockpit display.

I've looked around but haven't found specifications for the oil system which include oil pump displacement, fluid flow velocity (m/sec), and fluid flow (l/min), or an oil flow diagram. I did find one diagram which indicates the turbocharger oil feed galley diameter is 8 mm.

The turbochargers are subjected to exhaust temperatures in excess of 1700° F. We assume the oil feed lines are large, but don't know where they are fed from. If the connection point is to the factory oil galley that fed the stock single turbocharger, its 8 mm diameter is undoubtedly too small to supply the demand of the two large turbochargers fitted to the engine.

Connecting two larger oil lines to the stock oil port would result in a decreased oil velocity and flow to the turbochargers. The heat transfer to the oil is increased because of the longer dwell time, contributing to an overall higher oil internal temperature. There is thus a concern the oil could reach its flash point in the turbochargers, causing greatly increased oxidation, viscosity breakdown, and loss of lubricity.

I could go on, but it is sufficient to say there are myriad knock on effects presented by the uncontrollable temperature increases in the heat rejection system. I have seen calculations elsewhere that put the excess heat contribution to the system over 1.1 kW, a huge number. This explains the sustained increases in the oil and coolant temperatures when the engine is operated on the ground, even at reduced throttle settings. What will happen when suddenly sustained full throttle operation is needed to keep the Raptor in the air?

The only possible solution is to build a ducting system for the radiator and induction air aftercooler. However, because of the way they have been stacked together, it's likely this will not ameliorate the real problem, the system's inability to reject the total heat produced by the powerplant. Muller sized the heat rejection devices to fit under the cowling, not to properly perform their intended function.

It's a given that thermal management is a primary means of achieving reliability. The Raptor fails miserably in this regard, and the engine is going to give up sooner rather than later. For Peter's sake, I hope it happens close to a runway or open field.

 

[Racerx]

He's actually aware of how ridiculous the tanks are by saying it buys him a couple of minutes. So he knows nothing was solved yet did it anyway

 

[rtk11]

It's a given that thermal management is a primary means of achieving reliability. The Raptor fails miserably in this regard, and the engine is going to give up sooner rather than later. For Peter's sake, I hope it happens close to a runway or open field.

All good points. Hmmm... all this extra fluid, radiator... how is this less complex than removing the extra turbo from the exhaust system as previously stated? The "witch hunt" of covering the wheel openings, yarn everywhere, extra ducting, more weight on the nose, heavier springs on the controls which required extra bracing on the carbon fiber... this is a project that went awry a long while back.

I've stopped watching the YouTube videos for fear that I'm going to end up watching a large smoldering crater one day. I hope that is not the case, but I can't watch anymore.

 

[Tantalum]

Just spend the $30K and throw a hellephant in it. Leave it alone, crank a big @$$ radiator somewhere and move on. The junkyard audi turbo'd to death is hopeless

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-sh...hp-hellcat-crate-engine-taken-to-the-extreme/

 

[iamtheari]

All good points. Hmmm... all this extra fluid, radiator... how is this less complex than removing the extra turbo from the exhaust system as previously stated? The "witch hunt" of covering the wheel openings, yarn everywhere, extra ducting, more weight on the nose, heavier springs on the controls which required extra bracing on the carbon fiber... this is a project that went awry a long while back.

I've stopped watching the YouTube videos for fear that I'm going to end up watching a large smoldering crater one day. I hope that is not the case, but I can't watch anymore.

I’m not worried about the smoldering crater video. He takes hours or days to edit his videos before posting them.

 

[Salty]

It’s kinda hard to produce a video when your in a smoldering crater.

 

[Volzalum]

This reminds me of the Raptor Project Management.

 

[wayne]

This reminds me of the Raptor Project Management.

He'd just get a heavier stick for the next try, as that would make it better. If that doesn't work he could paint it black.

 

[steingar]

I honestly hope he runs out of funds before he makes a smoking hole in that thing. Even if he isn't the whiz he thinks he is in aircraft design and fabrication, he is obviously highly intelligent and I don't want to see him die.

 

[Omalley1537]

I honestly hope he runs out of funds before he makes a smoking hole in that thing. Even if he isn't the whiz he thinks he is in aircraft design and fabrication, he is obviously highly intelligent and I don't want to see him die.

While I certainly don’t want any harm to come to him, if it does, it will be a textbook example of “he did it to himself.” His stubborn, arrogant, flippant attitude towards aircraft construction, coupled with his absolute refusal to work with anyone who points out that he’s wrong, makes that outcome highly likely, and quite frankly, predictable.

Unfortunately, intelligence means nothing if there isn’t common sense and humility to go with it.

The fact that we had a gentleman in my high school that scored nearly a perfect result on his SATs and other markers of intelligence, but couldn’t figure out how to turn on one of the power tools in our shop class, is but one example.

 

[steingar]

The fact that we had a gentleman in my high school that scored nearly a perfect result on his SATs and other markers of intelligence, but couldn’t figure out how to turn on one of the power tools in our shop class, is but one example.

I bought a really nice Puig chin spoiler to put on my motorcycle. Looked over the installation beforehand, four bolts. Didn't look too bad until I stripped the first one. I really suck at wrenching. Does that make me an utter boob who should wind up in a smoking hole?

 

[Omalley1537]

I bought a really nice Puig chin spoiler to put on my motorcycle. Looked over the installation beforehand, four bolts. Didn't look too bad until I stripped the first one. I really suck at wrenching. Does that make me an utter boob who should wind up in a smoking hole?

Not at all, and not my point. To be equivalent, you’d need to refuse any assistance from the design team at Puig, then engineer some Rube Goldberg “solution” to mounting.

it’s also a far cry from an inability to wrench, to my example which involved a simple push-on, push-off machinery switch.

 

[steingar]

Not at all, and not my point. To be equivalent, you’d need to refuse any assistance from the design team at Puig, then engineer some Rube Goldberg “solution” to mounting.

I'm going to have a friend who is less ham fisted than I come and give me a hand.

it’s also a far cry from an inability to wrench, to my example which involved a simple push-on, push-off machinery switch.

Some things are only simple when you already know how to do them. I know all kinds of genetics. Seems simple to me. Should I give my students a hard time because they can be slow to grasp the concepts?

 

[jsstevens]

I'm going to have a friend who is less ham fisted than I come and give me a hand.


Some things are only simple when you already know how to do them. I know all kinds of genetics. Seems simple to me. Should I give my students a hard time because they can be slow to grasp the concepts?

My first college Calculus professor (who may have been a great mathematician but was a lousy teacher!) once finished an example on the board and said "This result is obvious. [about a 3 second pause] To those who know it I suppose."

 

[nauga]

My first college Calculus professor (who may have been a great mathematician but was a lousy teacher!) once finished an example on the board and said "This result is obvious. [about a 3 second pause] To those who know it I suppose."

I had an instructor for a class known informally as "Stability and Control for the Hard of Hearing." 'If you don't understand my lecture, I'll say it again...LOUDER.'

Nauga,
old school

 

[Datadriver]

How have I never heard of ULPower Aero Engines before?

They are legit, just pricey

 

[jsstevens]

I had an instructor for a class known informally as "Stability and Control for the Hard of Hearing." 'If you don't understand my lecture, I'll say it again...LOUDER.'

Nauga,
old school

I went to this Calculus professor for help during office hours. He repeated, word for word, his exact lecture section that I didn't understand in the first place. He did that multiple times.

I got an A in Calculus... 18 years later with a different professor.