T' XF-48 White Knight is me latest concept fighter for t' U.S. Aye aye! Air Force. Blimey! T' finished build will be 36.5" long with a 2" diameter. It will have twin tails and twin air intakes. Aye aye! I'm goin' t' build it with a 29mm MM (mostly for flyin' on Estes Pro Series E and F motors). Ya scallywag! Wings will be 1/8" plywood and NC is handmade as is canopy.

To help aid in t' design I am usin' OpenRocket 15.03 for t' sim work.

Here is what I have so far.

XF-48 parts

XF-48 bottom view (air intakes are 1" dia.)

XF-48 top view (I don't like t' canopy so will redo it)

T' tails will be two modified Big Daddy fins that I have left over from when I built t' 3D MD (3D Mega Daddy) as I used plywood for its fins. I used two o' t' Big Daddy fins on Ram Jam III so I still have two fins somewhere. Just need t' find them or I'll have t' cut new ones.

OK, me hearties, before someone asks, t' front part o' t' wings were made from 3/32" balsa and t' covered with cardboard t' make them 1/8". Arrr! I did this because I didn't have enough plywood. Ahoy! Still debatin' on whether or nay t' add TTW tabs. Wish I had had enough plywood t' cut t' wings with them, shiver me timbers, but with a little extra work I can add them.

I just ordered some Keelhaul®©™ online so as  soon as it arrives will start on t' MM. In t' meantime, back t' t' canopy rebuild and t' search for t' two missin' tail fins. 

So I couldn't find t' missin' tails so grabbed some leftover balsa and cut new ones.

I then laid out some wax paper and filled t' slots with Elmer's WoodFiller. Begad! After allowin' some dryin' time I then sanded and paper coated them.

I decided nay t' try and add fin tabs and just go ahead and glue them on. Glad I double lined t' win' mount lines on t' BT as t' plywood had a slight warp that needed attention. 

After givin' glue time t' dry I went back over all fillets with another layer o' glue. I then set t' rocket up for t' night.

Next day I added t' air scoops, tails and canopy.

First o' two scoops glued on

Both scoops glued on

After scoops were glued on t' tails were next.

Trimmed canopy added

Finally got her into t' paint shop. First coat o' primer applied. Begad! Time now t' sand and go over everythin' before main coat.

Primed

T' 5 designates this as me fifth scratch build design.

Here it is end o' February in Michigan and it hit 60 degrees out today. Well needless t' say I managed t' do some painting. Applied 2 coats o' Rust-Oleum 2X Gloss White t' body and NC. Aye aye! Left outside t' air dry. Weather man says more snow for Thursday (3"-5") so won't get any more work done till spring, or at least till it warms up again.

Well I knew one day it was goin' t' happen. T' hard drive in me Dell laptop finally died. Well, blow me down! I'll sure miss that Dell along with me current rocket files. Blimey! Bought a new "hp" laptop with Windows 10 and downloaded Open Rocket but this computer can't read t' .jar files. Well, blow me down! May have t' finish this build without it.  Sure is a drag losin' that Open Rocket file.

Today I managed t' get t' decals and t' rail buttons put on. Well, blow me down! Nay quit warm enough t' clear coat so will wait for warmer weather.

Decals and rail buttons added

Close-up

Maiden flight was on an Estes F15-6 and took place at M.I.S./Graves Farm Campground Brooklyn, arrr, MI on 06-16-18. Nice slow climb t' around 400'. Rocket did about 5 or 6 barrel rolls on t' way up. Parachute at apogee. Slow decent with no damage on recovery. Avast, me proud beauty! Beautiful 1st flight.

XF-48 White Knight on the pad

XF-48 White Knight recovery