2026 High-Speed Foamboard RC Challenge

[Houndpup Rc]

May have just figured the GPS thing out, for myself at least. I have a Radiomaster transmitter already that has telemetry capability, so now I've ordered a Radiomaster ER6 receiver and ERS-GPS module that should allow me to track speed. $25 receiver and $27 for the GPS sensor.

Nice! That should work great!👍

 

[RickHunter]

September works for me too. Got all of mine at about 90% done or more. Wife's health took a turn for the worst, so been in the hospital for what feels like forever. She's doing a bit better now, so hopefully going home soon and will have time (and motivation) to finish them up in time. Hoping all three will be in the 150mph+.

 

[Houndpup Rc]

September works for me too. Got all of mine at about 90% done or more. Wife's health took a turn for the worst, so been in the hospital for what feels like forever. She's doing a bit better now, so hopefully going home soon and will have time (and motivation) to finish them up in time. Hoping all three will be in the 150mph+.

Man, I'm sorry to hear that! I will pray for her recovery!👍

 

[L Edge]

I can only speak to the kinds of applications I have used 3D printing in but like I said, no noticeable damage from being exposed to normal conditions for RC planes for over a year. The F-106 is a big, heavy, 4+ kg plane and I fly aerobatics with it every flight, so it's not some lightly loaded part that's just hanging out. However, I can't really speak about exposure to hours of vibration like in a motor mount since EDFs tend to be very low vibration as a whole. I also can't speak about chemical exposure like with a mount for a gas engine, but ABS in general is attacked by solvents like acetone, so I wouldn't recommend trying to use it with a gas engine
I can say that if you don't have a strong enough structure ABS will start to crack over time - this was an issue with the vertical stabilizer mounts on my modular F-104 - but that was one of my earlier designs and the first one where I had ever used ABS so I was still figuring out what I was doing. I haven't had any issues with cracking under reasonable flying conditions in any of my more recent designs. And if an ABS part does crack you can fill in the crack with CA glue and it's almost as good as new.

Looked up data for ABS and found that in vibration and bending, it is moderate to good. For torsion, rated poor to moderate. Wow, so it looks like you should pay attention to the way you make the part and may be add a safety factor or two.
First case to mind I envisioned is the fuse, high torque from prop, gusty winds from wings, tail feathers, gear,etc acting on your many printed layers could snap the least bonded.
You live in a warm climate, how about the planes below freezing, where the inter layers bonds turn brittle which could snap under vibration or shock.
Most of the time for the average flyer, no problems, but going for speed, when you have high rpm's, these are only some of the factors that need to evaluate when you make that turn pulling many G"s.

This is what got my attention about ABS, heating beyond its printing zone or resting against a hot nozzle can start thermal composition. This releases volatile organic compounds and ultra-fine particles, necessitating proper ventilation or an air filtration system.
That's scary, if one inhales any of that crap.

 

[telnar1236]

Looked up data for ABS and found that in vibration and bending, it is moderate to good. For torsion, rated poor to moderate. Wow, so it looks like you should pay attention to the way you make the part and may be add a safety factor or two.
First case to mind I envisioned is the fuse, high torque from prop, gusty winds from wings, tail feathers, gear,etc acting on your many printed layers could snap the least bonded.
You live in a warm climate, how about the planes below freezing, where the inter layers bonds turn brittle which could snap under vibration or shock.
Most of the time for the average flyer, no problems, but going for speed, when you have high rpm's, these are only some of the factors that need to evaluate when you make that turn pulling many G"s.

This is what got my attention about ABS, heating beyond its printing zone or resting against a hot nozzle can start thermal composition. This releases volatile organic compounds and ultra-fine particles, necessitating proper ventilation or an air filtration system.
That's scary, if one inhales any of that crap.

I can only speak to my experience which has been that in general, 3D printed planes are stronger than they need to be in the air, but that they survive crashes well. They handle gusty winds much better than foam planes due to the higher weight and more spread-out weight distribution and I've had never had an ABS design break in the air. I've had a couple PLA designs fail, but those were design or printing mistakes and inherent to the material. I've flown ABS planes down to about 40-degree weather, but no colder so I can't tell you how it would handle below freezing.
For ABS in general you definitely need a well-ventilated room at a bare minimum and ideally an exhaust fan.

 

[FishbonesAir]

Challenge Runs From:
April 1st to September 1st

Join the challenge and start building!​

Deal me in.

Capt Fishbones 🐱

2026 Speed Challenge - Capt Fishbones

My first entry is: Foamboard J7W-1Shinden Setup: Twin 4000KV 1306 motors , 3x3x3 props, ELRS Estimated Top Speed: 100 mph Video: [link] TBD

forum.flitetest.com

 

[Houndpup Rc]

Deal me in.

Capt Fishbones 🐱

2026 Speed Challenge - Capt Fishbones

My first entry is: Foamboard J7W-1Shinden Setup: Twin 4000KV 1306 motors , 3x3x3 props, ELRS Estimated Top Speed: 100 mph Video: [link] TBD

forum.flitetest.com

Done!🫡👍 (Great to have you!😁👍)

 

[Mr Man]

Boy, I gotta hook up the control surfaces and make a battery mount on my hotliner... (and paint too)

 

[Houndpup Rc]

Boy, I gotta hook up the control surfaces and make a battery mount on my hotliner... (and paint too)

Yeah..I gotta build another radjet😂😂