1/48 MQ-10 Firebat UAV

Gallery Article by Mark Atkins on Jan 10 2010

Silly Week 2010

 

This is one of two models that came about as a result of my job. There is some back story to the two models I’m submitting and I thought that they might make for some interesting reading during Silly Week. I’m a long time reader of ARC and this is my first submission. I’ve been building models of airplanes and helicopters since I was in the 5th grade, hard to believe I’ve been modeling for 26 years now. Normally I build 1/48 scale military aircraft of the cold war era in my free time. Steve Bamford sounded a little worried when he mentioned he only had one submission for Silly Week by December 30th. Since I normally enjoy the results of all of Steve’s hard work I thought it was time to help him out and send off my first submission.

I’m a UAV pilot/mechanic by trade with a private company. In the spring of 2009 my company sent me and my good friend and fellow co-worker Bronson Ignacio to a UAV flight test course taught by American Aerospace Engineering (AAE). AAE is a small aviation engineering consulting firm. The company is owned and the course is taught by Mike Bartlett a former South African military test pilot and all around great guy. Part of the syllabus involved designing a UAV around a specific mission and writing a test plan for our designs. This gave us some rudimentary exposure to aircraft design, aero performance engineering and the opportunity to apply our newly acquired flight test skills. Again this was a introductory course and in no way made us test pilots or engineers. What it did was give us a set of skills that would allow us to be more effective members of a UAV flight test team.

When we graduated from the course Mike took CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawings of our UAVs and ran them through a machine that can cut plastic sheets into the shape of our designs. As an avid modeler this peaked my interest, I had no idea that there were machines out there that could cut plastic into the shape of something that I had drawn. A model builders dream! It was cool to get a physical model of something I had designed. So here it, for your viewing pleasure my MQ-10 Firebat UAV in 1/48 scale!

Here are portions of the Aircraft Description section of my test plan to give you an idea of the capabilities the Firebat would have…

The MQ-10 Firebat will provide the user with an all weather ISR and covert light strike capability. The Firebat will use a 23 pound EO/IR laser designator in a gimbalized turret and the LAHAT missile to accomplish these missions. The LAHAT (Laser Homing Attack or Laser Homing Anti-Tank) is a 29 pound semi active laser homing low-weight anti-tank guided missile developed and manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries. Key features of this airframe that will ensure mission success will include natural airframe stability for optimal ISR/weapons delivery and a quiet engine to increase covert capability.  

The aircraft will have hard points to accommodate two 29 lb LAHAT munitions or two external fuel tanks that will permit the aircraft to fly a 24 hour/ persistent ISR mission. These hard points are each rated at 30 pounds each and will have electrical connections for integration with future payload/drop tank configurations. The engine will incorporate hush engine muffler technologies, the engine will not exceed 60 decibels at cruise speed.  

Performance: 120 mph maximum horizontal speed (for dashing to targets), cruise speed of 90 knots, 19,000 foot service ceiling,14 hour endurance on internal fuel, hard points to accommodate two jettisonable external fuel tanks (each carry 20 lbs of fuel to extend range/loiter time to a minimum of 24 hours), constant speed 3 bladed propeller, pitch changed driven by aircraft electrical system, flaps for low speed approaches/landings/takeoffs. It will also be certified for land based and shipboard operations.  

Avionics/Safety: GPS primary navigation system that will update and back up an INS that will calculate heading and position when GPS fail, A line of sight communications range of approximately 100 kilometers, TCA, GPWS , Transponder/IFF, Barometric AIMS altimeter as well as GPS altitude, dual secure/digital video transmitters, fixed forward pilot vision camera with 60 degree field of view – with EO and Night Vision mode, Standard aircraft navigation and anti collision lights, one IR landing light, one white landing light, digital aircraft to GCS comm, ergonomically designed GCS incorporating standard cockpit conventions/configuration and HOTAS type technology for simultaneous camera and aircraft operation by one pilot/operator.

I did not know that Mike Bartlett was going to get models made for us until he presented them to us at graduation. As a model builder I would have loved to have visited the company that has this magical model making machine. Unfortunately time was not on my side. The whole idea of this machine turning my designs into models was fascinating. I guess the price to cut a CAD design into a plastic model was somewhere between $70 and $200 for 1/48 scale. I may have to call Mike up and get some details on this company for future projects and maybe swing by for a visit when I’m not on company time.

The Build. As you can tell this is not a typical out of the box model. I guess you would call this a modeling “rough draft”. It was formed by horizontally stacking sheets of thin pressed plastic that are then cut by the machine. The end result is a hunk of plastic that roughly resembles your design. Not award winning but still interesting.

SIDE NOTE: I learned in the Flight Test course the wing of the WWII era Spitfire is an almost perfect aerodynamic design. As a result I took the basic shape of a Spitfire wing and swept it back 18 degrees for the Firebat. I wanted this design to be aerodynamically stable and I also needed enough sweep for the wing hook to snag the recovery Skyhook rope.

Since this is a one of kind model I did not want to get carried away with sanding and scribing for fear of messing it up beyond repair/recognition. I decided to leave the body as is and only to paint and decal it as accurately as possible. The model was airbrushed with Model Master paints. The only new technique I tried was to airbrush black lines to represent the ailerons, flaps and rudders. Not the neatest line painting job but from a distance it makes for a nice effect. I custom built the tail hook and the upper anti-collision light with styrene plastic. On the belly I painted the hard points and closed landing gear doors a darker gray. The decals are a combination of things from my binder with 26 years worth of spare decal sheets. I used some leftovers from a 1/72 Predator for the tail code, crew chiefs names, aircraft name (Snake Eyes) and tail hook warnings. The USAF on the wing is from a 1/72 C-130 decal sheet and the national insignia is from a 1/48 F-15E decal sheet. I nervously drilled a hole in the belly of this one of kind model for mounting. I bought a wood dowel, finished wood plaque and a can of glossy black paint from Hobby Lobby to make a display stand.

The aircraft represents a UAV that would be owned and operated by the USAF at the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing at Nellis AFB, Nevada. I imagine that would be a good place for the first few MQ-10 Firebats to be assigned so that the Air Force can develop tactics and techniques for its newly acquired UAV.

One of the hardest parts of designing a plane was coming up with a name for it. Just about everything you can think of is already being used by something already flying, be it manned or unmanned. After two hours of surfing the internet trying to find a unique name I decided just to “borrow” one from a GI Joe toy I owned as a kid. The Firebat was a little red jet that launched out the Cobra Terror dome. Any kid who grew up in the 80’s will know what I’m talking about.  So maybe I should have named it the MQ-10 Firebat 2?

I made this one for Bronson and will be shipping it to him after New Years. If it survives the shipment it will look great on his bookshelf. If it doesn’t survive at least we have some great pictures of it and hopefully a nice ARC article to look at.

It may not be award winning, but it is one of kind and it will make for some interesting conversation. These fine custom painted UAV models can be yours for $500.00. If you want us to make the actual UAVs for you add an additional $30,000,000.00 (cash or money orders only). Happy New Year to all of you! Steve Bamford thanks for all you do for us and our hobby! Comments are always welcome.

Mark Atkins

Photos and text © by Mark Atkins