About
Hey! Welcome back! I haven't been doing 3D modelling for almost a year now...yeah! busy enjoying life and some VR hobby as usual. Btw, check out my latest 2024 project for Phoenix R/C simulator. This time i decided to build replica version of my RC jet model from my hangar....a SKY LIGHT HOBBY / LANXIANG - SR-71 BLACKBIRD. If you've watched my actual real maiden 
flight of this model on my Youtube channel you'll notice its quite a tricky sight to spot and orientate the model in the air especially when its cast just a thin a dark silhouette againt backdrop ofmorning sunrise make it hard to know if it banked either on left or right aileron orientation. This is the jet plane that will make me say "i can't see where its going"...its a flying dark stick with no sign which way to 'bank & yank'. Its 'visually' challenging to fly especially when it take large radius and bigger buffer of air space to correct any movement since it fly fast, heavy and hot approach. This is why i decided to create virtual version of this SR-71 into the Phoenix R/C simulator so anyone who attempt to maiden flight or decided to get this scale jet can have an actual feel how it flies and get more safe air time before doing it on real model.
About on this model: This models comes under various branding depending on the marketting and regional vendor. In East Asia this model well known under the brand "SKY FLIGHT HOBBY" or LANXIANG (LX) while on western regionespecially in US and Canadian distribution market its popular under the brand "BLITZRCWORKS" distributed by Banana Hobby. Similar 
models also can be found decades ago at Hobby King (here) without retracts only run on lighter 3s li-po battery. Regardless the variation size and specification of SR-71 R/C models availablein the market they all seems to have similar flying characteristic and most importantly they are visually hard to see during light of sight flying (L.O.S). Fortunately for me i bought my Sky Flight Hobby SR-71 Blackbird as second hand unit from my friend at less than half the price much lower than the original market price complete with digital servos, solid linear servo metal retracts, Twin 10x blade Dr. Mad Thurst metail EDF unit (heavy), Hobby Wing SKY WALKER 80A esc and running a heavy 4s 4500 45c li-po battery....yipeee!!! However my maiden flight wasn't that interesting nor making it smile but it landed perfectly in one piece. Its not as fun as F-18 Hornet EDF jet, an A-10 or other jet i have from my hangar because the SR-71 flies like its driving through narrow road on empty gas...you'll get to know one once you flew it on simulator.
Me as a problem solving guy try to milk everything out of my newly purchase SR-71 so i can get more air time and familiar with this plane after previous real flight experience outdoor i've decided to build replica version of this model and made it available inside Phoenix R/C simulator so i don't push my luck too much on this "too dark to see!" jet plane. This plane have extremely poor visibility factor and this sim will help to train your eyes on it. Time to build it!
The build
As usual first stage of the build; a simple orthographic style photograph of several view point of the 'SR-71 Blackbird' are taken to create outline layout for 3D modeling tracing work. There are about 3x main trace panel; top, side and bottom of orthographic photography which will be aligned in all axis inside 3D modeling work space. Yes again like my previous 3d modeling work all object meshes was build inside ancient Z-MODELER 3d tool..simple and it works. 
This time the model is easy to work on because it requires less amount of polygonal count which is almost half the amount of poly than previous sim models i used to build last years. 3D meshes values are; Vertices: 3742 and Faces: 5072 which all already include with collision (_col*) meshes good enough for any user PC with low CPU and GPU processing power to run this model on Phoenix R/C simulator. After building the meshes next phase will do some texturing works. 3D UV mapping work is easy on this model; the flat fuselage, cyclindrical turbine unit, open vertical stabilizer and other parts around the build easily 'wrapped' around with texture without a fuss... not much work on some minor 'texture baking' or texture correction either.
At last modelling phase i'm using 'PHOENIX BUILDER' tools to apply all functional mechanics such as model physics, flight control surfaces, thrust unit and etc on to the completed 3D meshes of SR-71 Blackbird model to be compile and make it flyable inside the Phoenix R/C Simulator. Overall the build took just under 6 hours tops with break time and snacks in between, lol!.
Real world 'Sky Flight Hobby / LanXiang - SR-71 Blackbird':
3D construction:
Texturing works and decaling:
Applying control surface and parameters:
Final production in R/C Phoenix:
Below are the real world stock factory attributes on Sky Flight Hobby/LanXiang SR-71 Blackbird which translate the similar performance you would feel inside Phoenix R/C simulator:
- Actual wingspan: 750mm
- Flying weight: 1.050kg (Stock factory actual flying weight with 4s li-po battery)
- Thrust configuration: 2x 64mm EDF.
- Motor unit: 2x 3500KV brushless outrunner (Stock factory)
- Propeller blade count: 6 blade (Stock factory)
- Flight control surface: Elevon (Elevator + Elevator mix)
- Main wing airfoil type: NACA 2145 (For simulator setup only)
- Side fuselage airfoil type: NACA 2145 (For simulator setup only)
- Launch & landing method: Ground rolling with landing gear.
Flight characteristic
I build this plane in simulator to replicate the actual behaviour of 'stock factory' setup; it comes with under powered 2x 3500kv brushless outrunner motor, 2x 64mm 6x blade performance and a heavy 4s li-po battery. However my actual model have 
better strong thrust EDF unit but right now i'll keep it 'stock' in the simulator with the exception of having 4s 4500mah saggy 45c li-po battery which makes it nose heavy CG. You'll need to elevator trim up when flying tis model in the simulator.
Flying this particular SR-71 is not your typical average EDF plane. You'll need a good eye spotting coordination and stick skills to predict where you want to fly. This model need to be launched on the ground that have long smooth flat runway to gain air speed and lift, hand launching not going to work well unless you're at some high beach cliff side. Once the wheel take-off from the ground it will still struggle to gain altitude but gradually will go up slowly at low curve point until it reached optimal speed where enough airflow to cause elevon surface control to gain 100% effective deflection control....that mean more airspeed = more surface control to allow good stable flight. You have to understand this; SR-71 have very small surface control on its elevon...so ramp up the speed! Noted that if you're pulling too early on the elevator with too much alpha angle (high nose angle) during take-off and didn't gain enough air speed the SR-71 will rock/wiggle it wing left and right stall like behaviour...so ramp up the throttle 100% to avoid stalling.
Once in the air provided with proper amount of throttle to maintain cruise it will able to hold altitude very well once the elevator is well trimmed. Because SR-71 have a very long narrow body fuselage and small elevon control way at the back the aileron roll rate is higher which mean a small aileron stick push will make the plane roll/bank instantly. To reduce the aileron roll sensitivity you'll need to adjust theEXPO setup on your radio to your prefered low stick travel sensitivity. However on the elevon control; the climbing and decending respond rate are dependent on the air speed...the faster it goes the better the elevon repond. 
If you fly wit lower air speed the elevon control wont react very well and you'll sink faster. Since the SR-71 vertical stabilizer doesn't have working servo rudder you'll need to mix rudder control with the elevon control via radio setup. Stock model on this sim is just elevon's 'Bank & Yank' operation to yaw turn left and right. However because of its long fuselage it take large turning radius to complete the desired turn/yaw. Stall characteristic on SR-71 is quite different from ordinary EDF jet; should it stall due to lack of air speed it will gradually sink link a ship going down into the ocean and sometimes do sink at high nose angle (alpha) when the air speed low enough. Overall you're more likely to crash because of misjudge the orientation of the plane due the dark slender silhouette view of the plane in the sky even at moderate line of sight flying distance...this is the reason why i build and put this plane in the simulator for 'spotting' training.
Landing the SR-71 Blackbird both in real life and virtual can be a bit tricky, you cannot simply 'flare' at casual alpha angle seconds before you're about to hit the touch down on the ground else you might flip the whole plane backwards since the whole length of the fuelage is basically a 'long rectangular flying wing' that have big wall of flaps. It need to be approached at almost straight forward angle or simply 'hot approach' so that that wind will just pass the fuselage surface area without resistance; you'll need to hold the elevator and throttle steady to avoid to much nose down or stalling.
Summary
The Sky Flight Hobby / LanXiang SR-71 Blackbird is indeed a cool looking twin EDF scale jet and very welknown among R/C jet enthusiast. This model looks really good on the shelf and great air show model for spectator to see on in the skies. However regardless in real world field or on virtual simulation the SR-71 Blackbird is very challenging plane to look at; you'll have that moment "Did i turned left or did i 
turned right?" issue because it very hard to view the plane in the air due to its dark and slender fuselage silhouette which makes it hard to predict its orientation and also manouverability can be a bit hard for intermediate level flyer even ones have experienced flying a fast EDF jet. Its very sensitive on roll, takes bigger space to make wide turning and hot landing while trying to avoid 'flaring' can put any RC pilot on the edge of their seat. All these reasoning has led me to build this model into simulator so i don't trash my precious 'shelf queen' SR-71 Blackbird.
Overall my personal opinion with SR-71 Blackbird after experienced flying it in real life and sims; its still not really a fun plane to fly, you'll struggle to see where its flying but you'll get some adrenaline junkie for trying to push something over the edge and have pride able to land get it back in one piece. Even my camera man and head mounted Go Pro HERO 2 have problem getting close shot of this dark slender plane, the visibility on this plane in the air is very poor. On real model i've flown about 5 times and that was it.....i'm really bad looking at dark little object in the skies even with after wearing prescription glasses. Another similar 'hard to see jet plane' i've flown is the Sky Flight Hobby / LanXiang F-117 Nighthawk steatlh fighter jet, felt the same way as the SR-71 but at least much slower and have better elevon control authority without struggling to control the plane at lower air speed. If you really like some challenges flying a 'hot liner' then this SR-71 Blackbird is worth trying in simulator before you decide to pick one in real life. As for me i'll just keep my SR-71 hannging on the wall until i get better eye glasses.....flying in my mid 40's is harsh, lol! If you're a young RC pilot then go fly more before age catch up with ya. ;)
Video
Tools used to create these custom model:
- 3D Modeler program: 3D Zmodeler v1.07 and v2.0 (*.OBJ support)
- Compiler tools: Phoenix Builder v1.0.p
- Texture editing program: Corel Photopaint
Related article & community
Here are list of article and links related to the above model.
- Rcgroups.com community forum: Wicked powered SR-71
- Rcgroups.com community forum: SR-71 Blackbird EDF
- Model manufacturer website: https://www.skyflighthobby.com
Phoenix RC support community.
General info | model: SR-71 Blackbird | platform: PC | simulator version: Phoenix R/C v5.5 | type: Aircraft | class: Airplanes | style: Scale | level: Advance | power: Electric | Manufacturer: Sky Flight Hobby / LanXiang | avg ZIP file size: 7.02MB | date released: 1-July-2024 | Revision: v1.0
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Download this Phoenix R/C model
*Installation instruction: How to install custom models in Phoenix R/C
* Disclaimer: The SR-71 Blackbird model for Phoenix R/C simulator does not always able replicate 100% the behaviour of actual real world model but we try as best as we can to setup closer/similar to 'factory stock' flight characteristic as permitted by current simulator software physic engine.
*Note: This models are available for free distribution and for non-commercial purposes.
*'Sky Flight Hobby' and 'LanXiang' are trademarks of their own respective company. All Rights Reserved
