100% FT Nutball Power Pack A

[lienmeat]

Today I built and maiden-ed my first Nutball, but using a Power Pack A, instead of the recommended Power Pack B.

To get the power pack A to work, I used the standard FT Mighty Mini Tiny Trainer power pod, with an extra layer of foam around the bottom and sides so it fit snugly inside the nose portion of the Nutball. In the pics it doesn't look snug because the top/wings helps hold the body together better. I also cut a small "V" section out of the bottom of rear of the body to get the CG right, as it was just barely tail heavy when I put the battery in just behind the power pod (I didn't want it hanging from the bottom). I also had no landing gear, to cut back on weight, and also because I'm only used to hand-launching. Fully assembled, with battery, it weighs only 228g, which is lighter than my Tiny Trainer @ ~290g.

It flew very very well, and shocked me how easy it was to fly in this configuration. I was certain it was going to be severely under powered, but I don't think I ever went above 75% throttle, and I had to cut back quite a bit often to keep it slow. I did have an Aura 5 Lite in it, but had all assistance switched off (no gyros).

I'm extremely pleased with this build and the fact that it flies at all, because I scratch built it, with modifications, and the only other plane I've made or flew was the Tiny Trainer from a speed build kit. I think I might actually like this Nutball better than the Tiny Trainer!

Specs:
Flite Test Power Pack A "Radial Edition"
1806 2280kV motor
5g servos
6x4 prop
3cell, 45c 850mah Tattu battery

 

[mrjdstewart]

cool. i have an 80% nutball that i have an A pack on. it flies just as good, if not better than my full size with the F-pack. doesn't take much to get these nuttballs in the air.

laters,

me

 

[lienmeat]

cool. i have an 80% nutball that i have an A pack on. it flies just as good, if not better than my full size with the F-pack. doesn't take much to get these nuttballs in the air.

What prop are you running on it, just curious?

I first attempted a 75% scale nutball with my power pack A and a 6x4 prop, with no thrust angle, but I couldn't control it on launch, and I didn't have any smaller props. It was torquing too hard for me to counter with the rudder quick enough when hand launching. That's the reason I made a 100% version, and kind of glad I tried again, because it seems really nice now, and I can fit all the electronics inside, and I couldn't with the 75% version.

 

[mrjdstewart]

i use a 5x4x3 prop on the small one. my big one is a 6x4.5 2 blade.

me

 

[cbf123]

I built a 20" nutball from the original plans at https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?836389-The-NutBall-best-damn-RET-foamy-yet

Same power plant as yours, but even lighter than the FT design. You can probably get rid of the Aura, it doesn't really add anything to this plane and makes it harder to do the high-angle-of-attack stuff the Nutball is so good at.

You might try cutting away more of the bottom of the rudder to get more throw on the elevator. At really high throws the Nutball is even more fun.

 

[BlockerAviation]

I built a 20" nutball from the original plans at https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?836389-The-NutBall-best-damn-RET-foamy-yet

Same power plant as yours, but even lighter than the FT design. You can probably get rid of the Aura, it doesn't really add anything to this plane and makes it harder to do the high-angle-of-attack stuff the Nutball is so good at.

You might try cutting away more of the bottom of the rudder to get more throw on the elevator. At really high throws the Nutball is even more fun.

If you really want to have some fun, try flying a 10%ish nutball in your living room. It a blast!

 

[lienmeat]

I built a 20" nutball from the original plans at https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?836389-The-NutBall-best-damn-RET-foamy-yet
Same power plant as yours, but even lighter than the FT design. You can probably get rid of the Aura, it doesn't really add anything to this plane and makes it harder to do the high-angle-of-attack stuff the Nutball is so good at.

Yeah, when the stabilization is on, the nutball is really tame and docile, you're right. Most of the time I fly it with gyros off, then it's an absolute delight. I like being able to chop the throttle down to 10-20% and flip stabilization on when I know I'm in trouble though. Gets me out of bad situations when I got going too fast or I tried something too aggressive for my skill level, and can't tell easily my orientation. I hate breaking firewalls/props, and I'm a pretty terrible pilot still.

Edit: Also, the Aura doesn't really add weight, because the spectrum remote receiver + Aura is nearly the same weight as the RX I'd be using without the Aura.