micro_builder
Active member
Thanks! Yeah I dont know how he does it, must have the hands of a surgeon and the patience of a saint.
FT Micro Cruiser - balsa edition
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micro_builder
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Thanks for the shoutout on the podcast today guys, that made my day (or week, or month)!
Nick
Nick
Nick I was pleased to hear you getting recognized. Your idea has given me one. I have a UMX T-28 Trojan that has had some hardish landings, sometimes a wing touching down before the gear or belly. As a result one wing has more flex than allowable for airworthiness. I've been trying to think how or where I could find the foam necessary to replace a whole wing but the foam picnic plates are a few inches shy of being sufficient.
So while listening to the podcast highlighting your balsa build it dawned on me, "why not balsa wings?" What do you think? I'm thinking balsa is light enough, thin enough, strong enough, and can be found big enough to function as a wing. I'm thinking a foam body and balsa wings & tail feathers would be a good blend and worthwhile way to enter into taking me use of balsa higher.
What do you think? Are there any recommendations or cautions you'd offer? I would appreciate you insight.
—Jim
So while listening to the podcast highlighting your balsa build it dawned on me, "why not balsa wings?" What do you think? I'm thinking balsa is light enough, thin enough, strong enough, and can be found big enough to function as a wing. I'm thinking a foam body and balsa wings & tail feathers would be a good blend and worthwhile way to enter into taking me use of balsa higher.
What do you think? Are there any recommendations or cautions you'd offer? I would appreciate you insight.
—Jim
kriswithak
kriswithak57
Nice work Nic
Very impressive plane, both static and in flight, but as all planes are most impressive in flight. Job well done.
Kris.
Very impressive plane, both static and in flight, but as all planes are most impressive in flight. Job well done.
Kris.
I saw the project last night. As I had an old silverlit rx and tx and was searchig for something to put it on I gave this a go. I asked micro_builder about the dihedral and wingshape, built it today following his advice. It has 3/4 inch of dihedral and the wing is just tapered. I added a hatch access door and planed on doing an elevator but the 1/32 balsa seems too flimsy for the job. I also put together a set of plans. I'm still waiting for a chance to fly it, it's too windy at the moment.
Plans:
View attachment Balsa FT Cruiser 12in.pdf
Plans:
View attachment Balsa FT Cruiser 12in.pdf
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micro_builder
Active member
Thank you, Kris!
Jim, yeah I was honored they took the time to even mention it, I was not expecting that at all! Balsa will most certainly work for you there. I replaced the foam wings with 1/32 balsa on the UM P-51 I converted to brushless as the foam wings wouldve never handled the loads. The sheet of 1/32 I had was pretty stiff so it worked, but If youve got 1/32 thats somewhat floppy, a layer of tape along the leading and trailing edges does a pretty good job of stiffening it up, add a bit of carbon fiber rod if you've got it to give it more strength if needed.
1/32" is also flexible enough that it should conform to the original airfoil shape molded into the fuselage where the wing meets it...the airfoil will flatten out further down the wing, but that shouldnt be a problem. You can make a balsa rib from the shape of the airfoil on the fuselage to help keep the airfoil shape if it needs it. 1/16th will work too and will give you some more material to sand in a nice leading and trailing edge.
Heres a pic of the balsa wings meeting the fuselage on the now smashed P-51. The 1/32 was about the same thickness as the foam wing, so it fit very well and held the airfoil contour nicely, I just glued it directly to the top of the airfoil on the fuselage. Let me know if youve got any other questions
Loghin85, you work fast, and it looks great! Cant quite tell from the picture, did you add the downthrust to the motors? It looks like your motor pods are a bit closer in than mine, if its turning too wide, just move them out a bit (you probably already knew that lol). You'll love flying it, try to get some video when you do, would love to see it! And welcome to the forums, glad to see another micro builder.
Nick
Jim, yeah I was honored they took the time to even mention it, I was not expecting that at all! Balsa will most certainly work for you there. I replaced the foam wings with 1/32 balsa on the UM P-51 I converted to brushless as the foam wings wouldve never handled the loads. The sheet of 1/32 I had was pretty stiff so it worked, but If youve got 1/32 thats somewhat floppy, a layer of tape along the leading and trailing edges does a pretty good job of stiffening it up, add a bit of carbon fiber rod if you've got it to give it more strength if needed.
1/32" is also flexible enough that it should conform to the original airfoil shape molded into the fuselage where the wing meets it...the airfoil will flatten out further down the wing, but that shouldnt be a problem. You can make a balsa rib from the shape of the airfoil on the fuselage to help keep the airfoil shape if it needs it. 1/16th will work too and will give you some more material to sand in a nice leading and trailing edge.
Heres a pic of the balsa wings meeting the fuselage on the now smashed P-51. The 1/32 was about the same thickness as the foam wing, so it fit very well and held the airfoil contour nicely, I just glued it directly to the top of the airfoil on the fuselage. Let me know if youve got any other questions
Loghin85, you work fast, and it looks great! Cant quite tell from the picture, did you add the downthrust to the motors? It looks like your motor pods are a bit closer in than mine, if its turning too wide, just move them out a bit (you probably already knew that lol). You'll love flying it, try to get some video when you do, would love to see it! And welcome to the forums, glad to see another micro builder.
Nick
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micro_builder
Active member
Sounds like you've got it nailed, your maiden should go much more smoothly than mine lol
micro_builder
Active member
Rorence, I'm working on that as we speak! I just posted a video in the Ultra Micro Aircraft forum on how to build a magnetic actuator. This particular plane didnt use one, but if you want to build at this size, they're almost required as the servo/esc bricks from the ParkZone/Horizon planes are just too big and heavy, but the actuators are easy to make.
I plan on doing a few more videos on these micros, including a complete DIY. Stay tuned...
Welcome to the forum!
Nick
I plan on doing a few more videos on these micros, including a complete DIY. Stay tuned...
Welcome to the forum!
Nick
