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About the Plane:

The full size plane lost the Joint Strike Fighter competition to the X-35 in the fall of 2001. The model captures the look of the X-32A which was designed to satisfy the Navy's requirement; Carrier Variant (CV). A big wing and a huge fuselage cross section, intended for internal weapon bays, makes for a model with easy ducted fan installation and radio placement. This would be a great candidate for a big EDF.

Flying the Model:

The prototype model has not been flown yet.

BUT we're getting REALLY CLOSE!!

On Aug 12, 2006, run MGM709 inside the X-32 for the first time. It was easy to start using a Sullivan 12V starter. The TD-09 is much easier than the typical TD-051 to start. After the engine was running and warmed up, I installed the bottom hatch. No problems! Engine continued to run just fine.

I made some adjustment to the needle valve through the a small hole in the hatch. I silver soldered a 4-40 Allen head bolt to the end of the needle valve. That way I cal reach through the hatch and shell of the MGM709 with a ball-end 4-40 wrench. Very easy, and positive method of turning the needle when buried inside the fuselage. Note, to get the silver solder to stick, the black-oxide coating of the bolt and the needle valve has to be ground off.

I also made adjustment to the nozzle flap. It worked as designed, but I had no way of measuring thrust, so I don't know how effective it was. I did notice at extreme deflection it was vectoring the thrust. An upper and lower flap would really be better, and with a little linkage could be made to vector thrust just like the real one.

I noticed there was a lot of suction near the cheater hole. That means the fan wants as much air as it can get. Could always make the hole bigger....

So in the next few weeks I'll see about balancing, and getting ready for it's first flight!! Can't wait!!

Construction Highlights:

May 19, 2005: Pictures show radio installation. There is plenty of room under the canopy hatch. Visible are the two servos, receiver and switch. The second photo shows the MGM-709 installed. Easy access to the spinner will make starting easy. The battery is located under the MGM-709 unit. It was placed there to maintain balance. The fully detailed cockpit moved the CG forward enough that moving the battery to the engine compartment was required. For EDF power, the battery will need to be located near the fan unit.

Winter 2004-2005: MGM-709 successfully bench ran in preparation for installation into the X-32. Radio has been installed, MGM-709 installed, switch and battery. Nozzle Flap works just as designed. two small rubber bands hold the nozzle open, and the screw closes it down. This Spring the engine will fire up, installed!

6/29/04: Big news! The X-32 is now available in a larger size for big ducted fans such as the TOKI .18 or other .25 fan units. See the "large" version of the plans. Also, construction is complete, servos are installed, and working the radio installation now.

1/11/04: Painting is continues. Here are some good shots. Note the plane is well proportioned, and looks good from the rear aspect. I will repaint the nozzle region; it is too small. i still have to add some decals, and panel lines. Once that is done, a final shot of clear dope will seal it up.

1/6/04: Pilot installed and canopy glued down. I tried to use hot glue, but I was not happy with the results. Hot glue works great, takes paint, and is fuel proof. But it's cooling properties can be such that it is cool and hard before you get the whole bead applied to the fuselage. This is what happened. I guess the large rear half of the canopy was too large. It was cut down from a 13" Sig Bubble canopy. The pilot is a 1/12 scale Williams Brothers. Instrument panel is made from .015 plastic and paper with a B&W picture of the instrument panel glued to it. Ejection seat is .015" plastic. Note, it is glued to the canopy back, former "CB". Here are the detail assemblies before being glued to the canopy hatch:

12/31/03: The Christmas holidays slowed me down. Little visible progress has been made. But that will change in the next day or two. That is when the primer is sprayed on the complete airframe. First it will be grey to hide the wood grain, then the final off white with grey leading edges. Boeing did not finish their X-32 aircraft with fancy color schemes like Lockheed-Martin did with their X-35's. I think the white is a little plain, but with the decal markings and panel lines it should look very nice.

Since the last update, the plane has been covered in silkspan, sealed and filled with Nitrate dope/talcum powder mix, and the control linkages installed. The elevator and ailerons are glued in. The nozzle flap is not glued to the fuselage. There are small rubber bands that will hold the nozzle in place. Here are a few pictures:

11/19/03: Here is a picture of the hatch and fuselage bottom. Note, the fuselage bottom was sheeted with the hatch frame in place. After the sheeting is added, the hatch is cut away. Also shown is the internal structure of the movable nozzle flap. Sorry about the grainy pictures. My digital camera is not that good.

11/14/03: See the revised drawing previews. I added information on how to build the movable nozzle flap. You can adjust the exit flow area while the engine is running with a simple 4-40 screw adjustment. This should make the setting of the optimal area much easier.

10/13/03: Wings and fuselage have been joined. Top sheeting installed, and fin extensions in place. The elevators and ailerons are built, hinged and trial fitted. Note the ductwork in the fuselage is completely installed at this time. Remember to install the elevator, aileron, and radio guide tubes before the top sheeting is in place.

9/30/03: Fuselage construction has begun. Here is a picture of the partial fuselage, with the wings slid onto the stub spars on fuselage former F7. The wings were installed for the picture only. Fuselage went together quickly. It is a little tricky, but I noted the construction steps as I built the fuselage tonight. It seemed to work out fine. The next step is to install the nozzle side walls, the rear ductwork, the front ductwork, F1, the top stringers, the wing base, elevator cable guide tubes, top sheeting. More to follow in the coming days/weeks.

9/29/03: Construction has begun in earnest. The wings halves are being built first, however they are not required to be built first as was the case with the X-35C. Note the use of 0.007" carbon fiber spars. There are no other spars, except at the TE, where the elevator and aileron are mounted. This type of construction is very light. The CF spars are strong, but need full span shear webs to work properly. All wood is contest grade balsa (4-6 lbs/cuft.)

I have also tried something new. I built in the hinge pockets. I used a piece of 1/32" ply and 1/16" balsa to create a pocket. Small hinges fit right in. See the sketch. This takes very little time, and they guarantee the hinges are properly spaced, and at the right height.

The aileron cable exits through the bottom of the wing. I cut a small slot for the cable end to fit into while the wing was flat on the table. I used a small 1/16" cover to keep the tube from getting lost inside the wing once it was removed from the building board.

The wing has built in washout. To get it right, three places under the wing have to be "blocked". Use scrap piece of balsa to keep those regions of the wing off the board. I found adding the wing sheeting to be tricky. So I first glued the top skin on, using 5 minute epoxy, in a region from the shear-web back to the TE, and from Rib 1 through Rib 6. This can add weight quickly so use a very fine bead of epoxy on the rib and shear web edges. Once the skin is on, then you can glue the sheeting to Rib 7, and hold it in place against the blocks under the wing. After the tip is glued, the wing can be removed from the board, and the forward portion of the top sheeting can be glued to the forward edges of Ribs 1-6. After the sheeting is on, trim the excess sheeting from the LE flush with the ribs. Finish the wings by gluing on the 1/4" balsa LE, trim and sand flush.

6/7/03: Here is the first picture of the X-32A. I show the plan view, the formers and the MGM-709 fan unit. There is one missing former in this view, it goes between the first and second former from the front. Note the front former looks like a carbon fiber loop. It is! The plans show how to make this. The fan duct will bolt to the two formers. The rear former is a 1/16" ply plate, which has integral stub spars for the wing. Each wing half will slide onto the stub spars and be permanently glued to the fuselage. The wing span is only 28" so this plane will fit anywhere. You can see from the top view, that the plane follows the original pretty well.

I am going to try something different from the X-35C web page.. I am going to add a running construction commentary at the bottom of this page. I will add steps as they occur. When I am done with the prototype, the construction instructions will also be complete, and as accurate as possible.

5/21/03: Good news. I am restarting construction. There has been quite a bit of interest in the X-32A. So I am going to start documenting the construction. The X-32A and the X-35C will be battling it out again, on this web site. The X-32 will be built with the MGM-709 fan unit, but will easily swallow a EDF unit.

PLEASE NOTE: the drawing previews are not the final product!! The previews show the former and templates. The actual drawings are full size and will explain how to build it. Please look at the RV-8, F-16, Rhodes 19, or Gnat drawing previews. That is what the actual drawings would look like. The same level of detail! Sheet 1 is 34" x 44", and Sheet 2 is 22" x 34".

Construction has been started, but is on hold. Once Boeing's X-32 lost to Lockheed-Martin's X-35 my interest waned. The model is a good size for ducted fan, or EDF. It is compact and can easily fit into any car. The fuselage is huge, and could swallow a battery pack. The base design was centered on my MGM-709 fan unit, but could be converted to EDF.

The plane is similar in size to my A-7A Corsair II. In fact that is where I drew my inspiration. I copied the construction technique as well. I suspect the plan would fly similarly to the A-7A with the exception of stall recovery. Delta wings do not like to recover from stalls, so they should be avoided. Deltas can also be a problem in roll stability. Small span delta wings can result in very quick roll rate. The X-32A has one advantage. The two segment elevons can be configured separately with the small outboard surface acting solely as an aileron and the inboard surface acting as the elevator. This should reduce the roll sensitivity compared to the use of one big elevons.

X-32A Construction steps:

1) Cut all the formers out using 1/16" balsa, except where shown by the plans. The main former is a bulkhead that integrates the wing spars and the transmittal of engine thrust to the airframe. This primary bulkhead is made from 1/16" plywood. The rear of the fan unit bolts to this former. If you plan to use a EDF unit, then I would mount the fan outer shell to this former too. Glue wood block to the back side of the this former. Tack glue the fan unit to the former, and drill three bolt holes through the outer ring of the fan unit and the former. Use 2-56 screws and blind nuts to hold the fan unit to the former. Note: this fan unit generates about 20 oz of thrust; don't worry about the strength of the bolts. The 2-56 bolt is more than enough. The traditional 4-40's are not needed. See plan for the hole locations.

2) The inlet uses 1/16" balsa, 0.007" carbon fiber strip, and 1/64" plywood. It is a sandwich of 1/16" balsa between to pieces of 1/64" plywood. The 0.007" carbon fiber strip runs around the outside edge, and around the inside of the hole.

3) The former that get bolted to the front of the MGM-709 unit is also made of the 1/64"-1/16"-1/64" sandwich. Use hard balsa where the front mount bolt holes will go, but do no drill them yet! These holes, and the positioning of the former in the fuselage will be finalized, after the rear former is glued in place.

Keywords: X32, X-32, X-32A, Boeing, JSF, Joint Strike Fighter, EDF, Ducted Fan, Lockheed Martin, X35, X-35, X35C, Carbon Fiber, MGM-709. Toki .18