FTFC19 - Build-ruary

[Paracodespoder]

Charging my battery in preparation of the maiden of my final entry (minus bonus entry), the trainer glider will be maidened within the hour. I will be back with results soon. Thinking about doing an 18inch nano goblin style plank with an 1106 fo a bonus build, but I have 10 days left, so it will probably be something a little bigger and better .

 

[Paracodespoder]

Done! Trainer glider maidened, it’s way underpowered on 2s though, going back out soon armed with a 3s that is only 2 grams heavier than the 2s .

 

[FoamyDM]

@Vimana89 this whole weekend hear in eastern NC was like an overcast turd just hung out and wrung itself out slowly... all... weekend...long.
@Paracodespoder Great work and effort! This challenge is a beast right, esp. when you make untested planes?

 

[FoamyDM]

BTW - i just changed my 3rd plane from the Sea Duck to a Kolibri High-Alpha Flyer.

 

[Vimana89]

BTW - i just changed my 3rd plane from the Sea Duck to a Kolibri High-Alpha Flyer.

Outstanding choice! The development of that particular plane and the first version gave me a lot of ideas to put back into my slender delta, especially in regards to building the fuselage. @Dr. Looping Looie was able to give me some valuable info on how planes like that handle and how to fly them based on his experiences.

 

[Vimana89]

As ready as she's going to get. The zip ties decreased the slop a bit, but still not ideal. Oh well, I learn something new every time. The small square with x is marking cg.

 

[FoamyDM]

Any summary of the high-alpha flight tips for those of us who aren't experienced?

 

[OliverW]

Any summary of the high-alpha flight tips for those of us who aren't experienced?

Constantly be doing little changes in throttle. Hold as much elevator as needed

 

[Vimana89]

My plane wouldn't fly at all at first, I think it was mainly Cg issues and maybe a bad launch. I started to get the cg better by moving the battery around until she started flying a little. She is still seeming sort of anemic and I have issues over controlling still. I launched with no expo this time but will try with expo on the repair. I have some crappy footage from my phone in my pocket that shows a brief flash of the plane in the air a couple times and a shot of it taxiing back to me skidding down a dirt trail, but it won't let me load the file. Thankfully this build is pretty robust and I only have some mild to moderate damage at the very nose.

 

[Vimana89]

Any summary of the high-alpha flight tips for those of us who aren't experienced?

As @SquirrelTail said, a lot of it is pretty much all about elevator and throttle. With a plane that is very oriented to high alpha, throttle is the difference between climbing and just changing your AOA. More skilled pilots can use this to their advantage as an aerial braking method to rapidly decelerate by cutting down throttle and pitching the nose up.

 

[FoamyDM]

I'm excited to try mine.

 

[BrickRedRock]

I might end up with an extra build. While I was cutting out 2 Tiny Trainers, I decided, "What's one more?"

Should be easier to work with the kids if I'm showing them what I'm doing instead of explaining.

 

[FoamyDM]

Everybody is doing such a GREAT job!

ONE WEEK LEFT!

I'm hoping that we can all get this buttoned up.
Continued good luck and good and clear skies!

 

[Vimana89]

I have a question regarding the rules and a request to change my last plane. The question is, If I am unable to work out a solution to recording and uploading videos by the deadline, is that a 4 point loss for no maiden video, or is my entry now somehow worthless? I have no reason to cover up anything or be dishonest about how my planes fly(or don't) and their shortcomings, I'm just new to recording and uploading videos as well as pretty new to building and flying, so I'm learning and working out the technical difficulties as I go.Either way, this was more about challenging myself to learn and sharing the process as best I can than winning anything or getting anyone else's approval, so it's all good.

If my entries are still valid, I'd like to change my fourth plane to a nutball. I would rather wait for a proper F kit to build the DR1, and this Graupner motor would mount easily to a scratch nutball, but be a pain to mount on the DR1 like I did on my scout, and there's no guarantee that won't affect it negatively in some way, though everything looks good so far. The deadline's coming up so I would rather not botch a nice $30 kit, so I decided on something easy and fun.

The nutball was the first plane I built that actually flew, but it was 15" small diameter of heavy Elmer's foamboard running on a TX with no expo. It was totally uncontrollable, and it would stay in the air, but do all sorts of crazy stuff I didn't intend it to. I know I could do it better now. I will try in the meantime to find some solution to record and upload my flights.

 

[BrickRedRock]

Fortunately it’s rainy days until Sunday. Should have the family in the air by then

Everybody is doing such a GREAT job!

ONE WEEK LEFT!

I'm hoping that we can all get this buttoned up.
Continued good luck and good and clear skies!

 

[basslord1124]

Everybody is doing such a GREAT job!

ONE WEEK LEFT!

I'm hoping that we can all get this buttoned up.
Continued good luck and good and clear skies!

I like to think I got 2 weeks left since I started a week late. But whatever happens happens. Progress is getting made and that's what matters, even I drag it out even further. I do plan to keep updating my thread as well with updates. I'm also hoping our weather will keep getting better. Temps haven't been terrible but we are in an area that's been hit by rain. I dunno if I would say massive flooding for our area, but we have had some small streams backed up and the river has been up a bit too. And then of course it makes for muddy flying fields and rainy days where you can't fly. Perhaps I should've done RC boats this year.

Best of luck to everyone else as well, and thank you @FoamyDM for the challenge.

 

[DamoRC]

Everybody is doing such a GREAT job!

ONE WEEK LEFT!

I'm hoping that we can all get this buttoned up.
Continued good luck and good and clear skies!

Probably won't get done with all that I promised but it will have been a productive and educational month - which is what it's all about.

I said this last year, and I'll say it again - I am definitely not doing this next year (yeah, right)

 

[FoamyDM]

I said this last year, and I'll say it again - I am definitely not doing this next year (yeah, right)

I said the same thing about multiple entries into @rockyboy 's design & Build challenges.

 

[Vimana89]

Well, my scout flies! Took a bit of battering learning to keep her up but she's still got a lot of life in her. I'll try somehow to get footage of the next time I take her out.

 

[DamoRC]

Well, my scout flies! Took a bit of battering learning to keep her up but she's still got a lot of life in her. I'll try somehow to get footage of the next time I take her out.

Excellent! - Well done!