This 800-Pound RC Airbus A380 Moves Its Gear Doors Just Like the Real Jet

Ramy RC has created something that blurs the line between model aircraft and full-scale engineering. His new Airbus A380 replica stretches 29 feet long with a 32-foot wingspan and weighs 800 pounds ready to fly. This 1/8-scale machine stands roughly 10 feet tall at the tip of its vertical stabilizer. It wears Lufthansa’s special centennial livery and has already completed multiple flights, including one that reached 103 mph.

Construction began with CNC-cut sections of eps foam to build the main body. From there, builders apply fiberglass to the surface for a smooth, durable finish, as well as carbon fiber to assist manage weight and strength on the inside. The wings, however, required considerably more care. They’re made of ABS foam and have carbon spars, large carbon tubes to keep them strong, and a lot of carbon fiber cloth wrapped around high-load places like the nacelles and engine mounts. The wooden pieces that link the wings to the rest of the fuselage play an important role in keeping them in place.

Four huge 250-millimeter electric ducted fans are mounted on reinforced pylons at the base of the wings. Together, they provide approximately 450 to 500 pounds of thrust, allowing this beast of an aircraft to fly quickly and climb credibly. All of this is powered by eight high-discharge Tattu 14v 23,000 mAh lipo battery packs, which is a lot of power. These battery packs provide all of the current required by the motors and electronics while maintaining a constant voltage during takeoff and climbs.

All the moving pieces are controlled by 39 servos plus a lot of extra actuators. The high-torque ones control the large flaps and ailerons, while the smaller ones handle the finer details. Each control surface may move independently, much like the full-size jet. Spoilers appear when it is time to land to reduce lift, and the inner engines have fancy reverse thrust that helps slow the plane down after landing. That landing gear system appears extremely realistic, as it is essentially a miniature A380 layout, with twelve wheels grouped in these multi-wheel bogies that closely resemble the actual thing. The weight is supported by specifically machined aluminum legs, and the plane’s gear doors open and close in the proper order, precisely like the original A380.

The same is true for the windows, where the builders cut actual apertures instead of just putting paint or decals. Each one features a 3D printed frame and a beautiful translucent acrylic pane. Ramy even managed to lose one of the panes while in flight and filmed the entire experience on camera. It took about a month and a half for a team of dedicated painters, led by Mike, to get the external paint just right, hand painted of course, so the lines and markings are crisp and fully correct throughout the aircraft.
[Source]