FT Storch Owners Thread
- Thread starter airhawk
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J Bergsmith
Member
Here's mine showing the short field take off ability even without flaps. 
m00ndancer
Member
Here's mine: Scratch built and modded with a hatch. 3mm piano wire and 75mm rubber wheels.
Finished painting mine last night. This plane sat unbuilt for two years before I finally managed to set aside time to put it together. Needless to say I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out! Had a maiden flight the other day, took off, did some aerobatics and landed like a champ.
Things went pretty smoothly, aside from some of the paint coming off the packing tape (tried to fix it, sort of worked). Now I'm just waiting for the winds to die down before I take it back up (next time with a gopro stuck to the bottom between the gear legs).
100% Rustoleum spray paint, no decals. Printed out a picture of the cockpit windows online and made a stencil out of it.
Things went pretty smoothly, aside from some of the paint coming off the packing tape (tried to fix it, sort of worked). Now I'm just waiting for the winds to die down before I take it back up (next time with a gopro stuck to the bottom between the gear legs).
100% Rustoleum spray paint, no decals. Printed out a picture of the cockpit windows online and made a stencil out of it.
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magic_marty
New member
Did you use anything to seal the foam before you painted or just spray directly to the foam? If so is it white foam or the water resistant foam?
Thanks..
Thanks..
magic_marty
New member
Great i plan on painting my Bush Wacker soon that i scratched built with the plain white board and been reading a lot of different post about weather or not to first seal or just spray light coats directly to the foam...
Thanks for the info..
Thanks for the info..
nhk750
Aviation Enthusiast
I minwaxed mine and used Cricut vinyl decal material. It came out great! I painted the last Storch and painting seemed really hard, but the Cricut decal method is really easy and looks good too.
I just finished this one and trimmed it out and balanced it tonight, ready for its maiden. We just need flying weather now.
I think this Storch will be an interesting flyer, got a few mods into it...
I just finished this one and trimmed it out and balanced it tonight, ready for its maiden. We just need flying weather now.
I think this Storch will be an interesting flyer, got a few mods into it...
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Nice looking plane, what kind of mods did you do? And the decals came out nicely.
Anyway, did a bit of flight with the new paint job. Flew perfectly, and scored some decent footage (I'll have to change the camera angle next time)
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nhk750
Aviation Enthusiast
MODS: Bigger motor, semi symmetrical wing (I accidently built the wing this way, see picture below), taped wing leading edges with heavy duty 3" packing tape, taped hinges with 2" packing tape, ironed all wing edges for better aerodynamics and looks, reinforced landing gear mounting areas with extreme packing tape on bottom and top of fuselage, reinforced wing dowl rubber band mounting areas with paint sticks inside fuse, installed a tail wheel that casters (not steerable for now), and Minwaxed entire model then used Cricut decal material.
To explane the accidental wing design: I taped the leading edge of wing with heavy duty 3" packing tape to protect it from impacts (I found this worked on the last Storch amazingly well). I taped the wing before I built it when it was flat board so it was easier to tape and looked better. The problem I had when I went to fold the wing over is that the tape caused the bottom of the wing to angle up a bit exactly like the wing in the middle of the picture. The tape caused the wing to be too stiff in this area, but it was perfect all the way accross, so it came out great (happy accident). I have yet to see how it will fly, but all my research shows that it should be more areobatic! Also, when I mounted my larger motor, I had to lower the motor a few mm to get it to fit correctly. That changed the thrust line alignment slightly which should compensate for the reduced lift of the wing (another happy accident).
I wont know until I get her in the air, but I have a feeling that it should fly very nicely.
I am also using a Turnigy 3s, 2200, 40c battery that balances the model perfectly. I havent weight her for a final weight yet, but last time I weighed her she was around 1,000 grams.
To explane the accidental wing design: I taped the leading edge of wing with heavy duty 3" packing tape to protect it from impacts (I found this worked on the last Storch amazingly well). I taped the wing before I built it when it was flat board so it was easier to tape and looked better. The problem I had when I went to fold the wing over is that the tape caused the bottom of the wing to angle up a bit exactly like the wing in the middle of the picture. The tape caused the wing to be too stiff in this area, but it was perfect all the way accross, so it came out great (happy accident). I have yet to see how it will fly, but all my research shows that it should be more areobatic! Also, when I mounted my larger motor, I had to lower the motor a few mm to get it to fit correctly. That changed the thrust line alignment slightly which should compensate for the reduced lift of the wing (another happy accident).
I wont know until I get her in the air, but I have a feeling that it should fly very nicely.
I am also using a Turnigy 3s, 2200, 40c battery that balances the model perfectly. I havent weight her for a final weight yet, but last time I weighed her she was around 1,000 grams.
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mikeporterinmd
Still Learning
I made a wing like that, too. It was quite acrobatic I've since remade a flatter bottomed wing. But, getting back to your wing: I agree, it will fly. I wonder if applying the wing curve first, as is done in the Bloody Baron build would help? The problem I see with that is the spar is pretty close to the upper wing folds. It might be easy to accidentally glue the top of the wing to the spar before you are ready.
Mike
I've since remade a flatter bottomed wing. But, getting back to your wing: I agree, it will fly. I wonder if applying the wing curve first, as is done in the Bloody Baron build would help? The problem I see with that is the spar is pretty close to the upper wing folds. It might be easy to accidentally glue the top of the wing to the spar before you are ready.Mike
magic_marty
New member
My wing came out that way and it cause the storch to climb excessively and i had to add foam to the rear of the wing saddle to raise it to keep it from climbing so bad..it flies fine but seems like it has a lot of drag on it for some reason , like it is towing a very long streamer i never could figure out why. It is very stable and slows to a crawl without any stall what so ever it just dips and never tip stalls..
nhk750
Aviation Enthusiast
Had a great maiden flight of the new scratch build Storch today, video to come probably tomorrow. It was awesome! It has unlimited vertical with my power setup and flys light a dream. Did some great aerobatics today for a rookie!
It seems I am on two threads with the same subject...hmmm...
It seems I am on two threads with the same subject...hmmm...
basslord1124
Master member
Beginning my journey on building the Storch. Heres a video I threw together of the early build process.
Probably have the build complete here soon.
Something that has crossed my mind even though I am not there yet but is there a certain size rubber band needed to secure the wing. Like balsa trainers need a 64 size rubber band which would be too big for the Storch. So is there a smaller size needed for the Storch?
Probably have the build complete here soon.
Something that has crossed my mind even though I am not there yet but is there a certain size rubber band needed to secure the wing. Like balsa trainers need a 64 size rubber band which would be too big for the Storch. So is there a smaller size needed for the Storch?
magic_marty
New member
I use #64 bands on all my FT planes and they work fine just remember to add a pop sickle stick or something to keep them from crushing into the foam, I mostly use very thin hobby grade plywood 1/32 works good cause it is thin enough to curve with the wing on the leading edge...But on my last build (BushWacker) i used a couple pop sickle sticks...
basslord1124
Master member
Really? I just figured it needed a smaller size rubber band. Good to know though, thanks.
nhk750
Aviation Enthusiast
I like your build video. I do have some tips on Storch building too, I will post up some when I get a chance. Im solving one issue right now with the wing trailing edge against the fuse where it is bending due to the rubber band dowl placement. Im going to reinforce the wing with carbon fiber rods and foam board.
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