Edf thrust vectoring and 3d

[Andy B]

I have several turbine and edf jets, but I'd like to get an edf with thrust vectoring capable of 3d flight and hovering. Can I get some of your experiences and recommendations please?

Thanks
Andy

[xviper]

The only true "hovering" EDF that I know of was the SebArt MiG29, which is no longer available. SebArt is an Italian company and a German company "Lindinger" was the last to sell it. JR America also used to sell it but no more. Look up old YouTube videos of the SebArt MiG 29 and you'll see it in action.
Currently, the only other EDF that can "sort of" hover is the Flex Innovation FlexJet with VT nozzle, however, with only one nozzle, it has very limited roll control when there is no airflow over the wings - it's more like roll by torque and it's only in one direction. I believe it flies on 8s and has plenty of thrust to go straight up from a static hover when needed.
If you want to actually hover statically in the air, the plane must have dual nozzles (for roll ability), a thrust to weight ratio of more than 1:1 (otherwise, it can't gain altitude when in a static hover). Your only choice at the moment is to find an existing EDF jet (likely a foamie for weight considerations) that has dual VT nozzles and reduce its weight and grossly increase its thrust to achieve your goal. You could find an older used FW Eurofighter or V1/V2 FW F/A-18. The current FW MiG29 can be fitted with dual nozzles but it just doesn't have the thrust to weight ratio to do a static hover. Of course, someone with the skills could mod it to lighten it up and give it the thrust it needs. When a plane can hover, it doesn't need landing gear to take off. You just let it go vertically out of your hand. However, for landing, you'd need to either "catch it" or put skids on it like the SebArt plane has. (I've had two of the SebArts and still have one.)

[xviper]

Oh and a PS. My experience with the SebArt and I'm sure this would apply to any hovering EDF ....................... Flight times are really short. The more you hover, the less air time you get. If I hovered my MiG most of the flight, it'll only stay in the air for less than 2 minutes. It takes a lot of energy to keep that thing hanging in mid-air. This is similar to my Flex Innovation FV-31 Cypher. It has 4 fans and when hovering, all 4 are running to hold the plane up. Just taking off and landing in hover mode, with a 5000mah, 3s battery, the flight time is about 3.5 minutes. If I hover it the whole time, it'll do it for about 1.5 minutes. I don't consider the Cypher to be a true 3D EDF as it's more like a quad that can convert into a plane. Nevertheless, it's a tremendous amount of fun, even more so than my SebArt MiG. You might want to look at some of the vids. It may appeal to you.