FT Cruiser

[DDSFlyer]

Nice addition to the nacelles. I dunno what the shape of the inlets should be but there are shapes I've seen that have a term (I don't know) but look like a tapered entry? Just think the inlets should be a little bigger.

 

[Rames]

Nice addition to the nacelles. I dunno what the shape of the inlets should be but there are shapes I've seen that have a term (I don't know) but look like a tapered entry? Just think the inlets should be a little bigger.

Thanks for the feedback. I saw naca vents done on cruiser somewhere else on the site. I was concerned about removing too much structure near the motors and I'm just not that good at cutting foam. The scoops hide my uneven butchery.

 

[makattack]

So, after having built the FT-22, and Versa Wing, I'm thinking of going away from the elevon airframes towards the more traditional 4+ channel flying. Since my trainer plane was the twin engine Delta Ray, I'd love to build a twin engine Cruiser. I know J.Bixler mentioned a future plan to design/build a P-38, but I suspect I could reuse the parts from a Cruiser build for that, since I'm in love with warbirds.

I'm still fairly new to the scratch building process, and both my previous planes were relatively easy because they were speed build kits with electronics packages from LazerToyz.

The Cruiser electronics package is a little pricey from LazerToys, so I was thinking of getting everything from Lemon-RX, where I would get the RX for this build (would like to build FPV pod and will it with a simple FPV rig, so a satellite receiver makes sense to me):

6 Channel Stabilized/Satellite DSMX RX: http://www.lemon-rx.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=72&product_id=107
2x 1500kV SunnySky Motor: http://www.lemon-rx.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=75_65&product_id=83
2x 20A ESC: http://www.lemon-rx.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=66&product_id=84
6x Servos for flaps option (would need to buy 10): http://www.lemon-rx.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=75_69&product_id=88
I'm also thinking of a setup with counter rotating props: http://www.lemon-rx.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=74_68&product_id=78

I kind of like the idea of getting everything from one source, and they conveniently seem to have everything I would need.

Are there any RC veterans who know more about electronics than I do / have more experience, who can advise on the above?

According to this motor analysis/test: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=19619220&postcount=4 the max draw on a 8x4 prop is 12.9A on 3S, so the 20A ESC should work in theory with those quad copter props.

Anyone try setting up a Cruiser with counter-rotating props?

Thanks for any advice.

Dave

 

[Sinkhole]

I've been dabbling in helis on and off for a couple years and fixed wing has always sparked my interest. I saw this and immediately ordered the 3 pack swappables with the hopes of working my up to this. Just a beautiful foamy.

 

[nagromnewo]

Hi

I posted this on the other thread (why are there two?), but nobody responded, so I'll give it a try here.

I'm about to start building one of these now. I'll shorten the powerpods like I do on my other planes, which will give me the opportunity to make the nacelles more scale like and I'm thinking retracts. I'd also like to make the nose more pointy. What are you guys using for batteries and where do you place them? I have a bunch of nano-tech 1600mAh 3s. I'm thinking maybe two in parallel? Would she benefit from a larger undercamber area at the wing tips, more like the spitfire? Also it looks like there is no dihedral? Finally, has anyone successfully done a removable wing?

Owen

 

[makattack]

You are correct, no dihedral, but I don't think it's necessary, as it's a very stable platform. It does require a little speed coming into a landing, but not much. I fly with a 2200mAh 3S pretty much up against the nose. The only thing to be careful of with shortening the powerpods is to make sure you don't go overboard if you're using the homemade undercarriage as per the plans. If you are installing retracts, I guess that won't be a concern.

Haven't tried a removable wing myself, but it's a great idea. Due to the power systems being slung under the wing, I think you'd need a beefy connecting setup.

 

[nagromnewo]

You are correct, no dihedral, but I don't think it's necessary, as it's a very stable platform. It does require a little speed coming into a landing, but not much. I fly with a 2200mAh 3S pretty much up against the nose. The only thing to be careful of with shortening the powerpods is to make sure you don't go overboard if you're using the homemade undercarriage as per the plans. If you are installing retracts, I guess that won't be a concern.

Haven't tried a removable wing myself, but it's a great idea. Due to the power systems being slung under the wing, I think you'd need a beefy connecting setup.

I just realized looking at this yesterday that the FT Cruiser is mid wing while the DH-88 it's based on is actually low wing. Also, the engine nacelles on the DH-88 extend further forwards. This just made my life a whole lot easier. I can keep all the electronics except for the battery and tail servos in the wing, and if the weight of the motors is further forwards, it should not be a problem to get the CG right with a more scale pointy nose. Making a low wing removable is easy, but I may have to give her a little dihedral which the DH-88 has anyway.

Owen

 

[felixsamuel]

would it be possible to try to put floats on the ft cruiser?

would it be possible to try to put floats on the ft cruiser, and maybe include it in one of your videos?

-Felix

 

[makattack]

Seeing the mini FT Cruiser behind Josh Scott in the latest episode about flying in the Alps motivated me to add to my existing FT Cruiser build:



I experimented with a few ways to snake LED strips in. I have the smaller 3528 sized strips. The most effective way was to solder the wires on one end, tape one end of some fishing line to the adhesive backing closest to the wire and tie some washers to the opposite end of the fishing line. I then dropped the washer and fishing line down along the wing spar towards the wing tips from the opening in the fuselage and center of the wing where the servo and power wires come out. I then stick two rare earth magnets to the end of the strip without the wires (one on each side) and drop it down after the fishing line/washer. I then stick a long, thick piano wire (landing gear gauge) into the wing tip, and let the magnets attach to the rod. I can then pull the strip through carefully, without pulling the wires all the way in. Once I see the strip end at the wingtip, I slide the magnets off, align the strip using the music wire, and finally pull the fishing line through to remove the backing to the sticky backed LED strip. Again, I use the music wire to press the strip adhesive into the wing spar.

The fuselage strip was a bit of a pain because it's so long, and requires a longer wire if you want to LED to go from tail to the end of the fuselage (not including the removable nose section). In this case, I taped the washer/fishing line to the end of the long white strip's backing paper only, drop it into the tail, use a thin solid wire with a hook to snag it from the small openings in the tail, and pull the line through. attach the strong magnets to the end with the wire, stuff that in, and use the music wire from the bottom of the nose to connect with the magnets and pull the rest of the strip down along the bottom of the fuselage and to the end of the fuselage towards the nose. I then remove the magnets, tape the piano wire to the backing for the sticky tape, and push it down the fuselage carefully until it pokes out of the rear. I use the fishing line coming out of the tail to keep things taut as that helps. Oh, and as the tape backing is removed, I started tacking the LED strip down from the front towards the nose.

I used three different color strips: red, green, and white, and soldered 22ga wire to them before installing them into the plane. after they were inserted, I then soldered them together along with some additional wires that went into a crimped JST male connector. This way, I can either plug in a separate 3S battery with JST leads, or use a JST -> 3S balance male connector that I have and connect it to the balance port of the flight pack.

Anyway, hope this helps anyone who tries to add lights to their builds after the build is completed.

 

[makattack]

While I've been working on the FT Cruiser -- in addition to the LEDs, I added flaps just to have a plane with which I can use to learn how flying with flaps goes. At any rate, after seeing the mini Cruiser behind Josh Scott in the Alps flying episode, I just realized a great idea for a show would be a formation flight with the 200% Cruiser (if it's still air worthy!), a regular Cruiser and a Mighty Mini Cruiser. Seems kind of obvious, so I suspect that's perhaps an idea already being thought about.

 

[nagromnewo]

Hi

I'm recovering from brain surgery, so finally got started on my Cruiser.
I decided to do it as Bulldog from the Planes movie. There are a few changes from the FT drawings, most notably a low wing instead of mid wing and how the nose goes together. The low wing design makes it a lot easier to make the wing removable too.

All paper has been removed and replaced with colored tape from Tape Brothers. I don't think he ever had skis in the movie, but such are the times.... Now I just need a cockpit and a mouth.

The 8x4.5 props seem to be the smallest APC make in counter rotating.

Owen

 

[ClearSkiesCalmWinds]

Hope your recovery goes well. I was planning the same things with my mini. Great job! Post final pics, it be nice to see finished.

 

[xtrmtrk]

I recently bought a home/craft vinyl cutter and had some fun with my new FT Cruiser build. The fine detail stuff is kind of hard, but fun!

 

[ClearSkiesCalmWinds]

Great work! Lets see her in the air.

 

[xtrmtrk]

The problem with putting the effort into making these planes look nice is I don't want to fly them - they aren't the most durable craft out there and my flying skills aren't the best. I kind of just want to look at it for a while before I crash it. - it makes me smile!

 

[Team_Monkey]

Gents,
I built a speed build kit cruiser last fall using 24g, 1500kv motors but never got around to posting about it. There is plenty of power but even with a 2200, 3S in the nose it "feels" like it is flying tail heavy. I'm pretty sure the CG is on the mark but it just wasn't stable.

Could you folks flying yours please see where you're balancing and report if it is ahead of the listed location?

Thanks!

 

[localfiend]

Anyone tried big motors on this thing? I know it became a cruiser, but would the original pylon racer theme work out? I've got a couple Super Megajet V2 motors with 50 amp esc's that could use a home.

 

[mjcp]

Gents,
I built a speed build kit cruiser last fall using 24g, 1500kv motors but never got around to posting about it. There is plenty of power but even with a 2200, 3S in the nose it "feels" like it is flying tail heavy. I'm pretty sure the CG is on the mark but it just wasn't stable.

Could you folks flying yours please see where you're balancing and report if it is ahead of the listed location?

Thanks!

I too *feel* that mine is tail heavy on the stock CG point. I run mine with a 2200 and a 3200 (obviously in different positions to maintain CG) and an RX battery pack.

I run ~1200kv motors with (originally 10x 4.7 SF) 8x8e props (8x6 tri blade counter-rotating on order).

The 10x4.7 were too tall and I snapped on and flipped over on landing, the 8x8 are a stop gap 'till the tri blades arrive.

mjcp

 

[BigAL66]

Ben's FT Cruiser Maiden Flight with Crashes

 

[iaincg]

Is there plans or a way to make the FT Cruiser's wings removable like the FT Spitfire? Otherwise it makes it very difficult for storage and transport