*Unofficial* FT Tutor
- Thread starter SP0NZ
- Start date
speedy7385
Active member
Thanks for sharing.
But I am not good at landing, any hard landing would tear up the rudder/hinge. I believe mounting it on the fuselage is more studier.
speedy7385
Active member
CapnBry
Elite member
I got my 9x4.5 props from FT! It does fly a little nicer on that versus the 8x6. A little slower but plenty of power to even just hang vertical. I fly 11 gentle minutes on an old 3S 1300mAh (which is closer to 1000-1100mAh now), or 6 throttle % minutes and ended up at 3.7V/cell.
I'd like to put some landing gear on it but 0.1" wire seems to be hard to come by in a long enough piece to make the strut in the plans. I mean you can get it, but it is just expensive to ship a single 3ft long piece of wire. I've tried all the local hardware stores and best I can do is 1/16" ~1.7mm survey flags so it bends way too easy. Is there a 3D printed solution out there? I was thinking with 3D printer technology, there could be a real sweet design that had some thickness to it to prevent bending, and use a more commonly available thinner wire running through it to slap the wheels on. Bonus if it has like a spring or rubber band in it?
I'd like to put some landing gear on it but 0.1" wire seems to be hard to come by in a long enough piece to make the strut in the plans. I mean you can get it, but it is just expensive to ship a single 3ft long piece of wire. I've tried all the local hardware stores and best I can do is 1/16" ~1.7mm survey flags so it bends way too easy. Is there a 3D printed solution out there? I was thinking with 3D printer technology, there could be a real sweet design that had some thickness to it to prevent bending, and use a more commonly available thinner wire running through it to slap the wheels on. Bonus if it has like a spring or rubber band in it?
Matthewdupreez
Legendary member
Try an old hangar.. you know to hang smart shirts in your clothes cupboard
CapnBry
Elite member
I found coathanger wire to be too bendy on its own, even with the extra thickness. I also found this amazing set of gear (<- link) on thingiverse but golly so many small parts and I don't have all the parts to make them anyway.
Instead I spent most of yesterday working on my own idea of just wrapping the wire I have with some plastic for reinforcement.
It is just two 3D printed pieces with the wire inside and then I stole Flite Test's clever zip tie design to hold it together. Glue doesn't appear to be needed at all. Wheels are 100mm diameter with a piece of foam board with both papers removed to make it a bit softer and more importantly to absorb some of that terrible plasticy sound when they roll. The wheels are held on with a little hot glue blob with heatshrink over it which I'm sure will work its way off eventually. Weight of the entire landing gear assembly is 87g, which I think is comparable to the Flite Test version? Maybe someone can tell me how much theirs weighs.
Finally I am able to take off and land in my regular field more than once without the landing gear getting all bent up. I put them through 10 cycles of takeoff and landing and the main gear is still straight, although the axle part that holds the wheels bent up a bit. Perhaps shortening the axle or using wheel collets to hold them closer in would help. What they don't tell you about wheels is how filthy the plane gets! I weighed my Tutor before and after the flight and I picked up almost 20g of water and grime in the wheels, covering the underside of the wings and tail as well. I extended the taildragger bit, but I will swap it for something bigger because the rudder still is on the ground, call it tail steering?
With the extra weight, getting the CG back enough was tough. My 3S battery is as far back in the battery hatch as I can get it and still be able to retrieve it, and it still could go back a little. I'd swear it has auto-leveling built in now too. Without the gear it was really stable, but now it really wants to just fly straight and I can just let go after a turn to have it swing back to level. Feels weird.
But definitely a blast. I've never flown off the grass before so this is a real treat for me. Files are available on thingiverse:
FT Tutor and Cub landing gear wire reinforcement
Instead I spent most of yesterday working on my own idea of just wrapping the wire I have with some plastic for reinforcement.
It is just two 3D printed pieces with the wire inside and then I stole Flite Test's clever zip tie design to hold it together. Glue doesn't appear to be needed at all. Wheels are 100mm diameter with a piece of foam board with both papers removed to make it a bit softer and more importantly to absorb some of that terrible plasticy sound when they roll. The wheels are held on with a little hot glue blob with heatshrink over it which I'm sure will work its way off eventually. Weight of the entire landing gear assembly is 87g, which I think is comparable to the Flite Test version? Maybe someone can tell me how much theirs weighs.
Finally I am able to take off and land in my regular field more than once without the landing gear getting all bent up. I put them through 10 cycles of takeoff and landing and the main gear is still straight, although the axle part that holds the wheels bent up a bit. Perhaps shortening the axle or using wheel collets to hold them closer in would help. What they don't tell you about wheels is how filthy the plane gets! I weighed my Tutor before and after the flight and I picked up almost 20g of water and grime in the wheels, covering the underside of the wings and tail as well. I extended the taildragger bit, but I will swap it for something bigger because the rudder still is on the ground, call it tail steering?
With the extra weight, getting the CG back enough was tough. My 3S battery is as far back in the battery hatch as I can get it and still be able to retrieve it, and it still could go back a little. I'd swear it has auto-leveling built in now too. Without the gear it was really stable, but now it really wants to just fly straight and I can just let go after a turn to have it swing back to level. Feels weird.
But definitely a blast. I've never flown off the grass before so this is a real treat for me. Files are available on thingiverse:
FT Tutor and Cub landing gear wire reinforcement
codygoodman1337
Member
I finally got my tutor maidened and it now has 3 successful flights so I feel like it's earned it's paint and vinyls. Here is the progress after day 1. Keep in mind, I'm by no means a painter lol! I'm still going to add more numbers and small accents.
codygoodman1337
Member
Pretty well. Got the first one up and in the wind with no issues. Made a few passes around the field and only had to dial in minor trim. Second flight went without a hitch. By the time the third one came around the wind had picked up and I got it up without a hitch. Plane seemed a little tail heavy on this one so I took a few laps, made a few maneuvers then wrestled it down to the ground. The less than great landing caused a nose over, and the firewall came unglued from my power pod, but 2 minutes with a good glue gun and fiberglass tape fixed that right back up. Overall after my rough start with a spitfire and a simple scout, it was a great feeling to finally get a foam build in the air and I plan to keep it around a long time. Was considering adding flaps to it for later down the road, so I'm spending down time today looking into a good way to do that.
BrickPlane
Member
Mark408
New member
Finished my tutor using the plans I got from the FTCA (Only 6$ since I used a coupon code). The AUW is 670 grams with the Landing gear attached (lighter than expected). I gave a bit of right thrust angle on the power pod since I'm using a 10/4.5 prop. Also, I noticed the down thrust angle and the down angle of the elevator (something not present on the simple cub, and will make it fly better than the cub). Can't wait to fly it!
If you still need to know, they are both for the nose gear. One on each side of the ply parts.
Starts at 14:20
Mark408
New member
My landing gear (Thick FT wire and 2.75" foam wheels) was 65 grams.
CapnBry
Elite member
Thanks for the measurement! Seems like my gear is on par except they are 100mm (3.93") so they are a little heavier. I've since switched to 25mm wide wheels which are a few grams lighter (around 82g for the whole set) and drive just as well.
The profile looks kind of like a Cessna 185 to me, though the window decals don't match.
