65% FT Storch "Tiny Whiny"

[Montiey]

65% FT Storch Build Log

So, insert a story of why I decided to build a plane here. Anyway.... I quickly was drawn to the FT storch for a design, as it was exactly what I needed and already "debugged". However, getting everything to fit right was a HUGE challenge when I decided to scale it down to 65% as all the A/B folds needed to be enlarged, which made the size of some parts change, and so they no longer fit right. Below are a ton of photos that I took while building and I plan to take many more and keep this tread updated.

I will break the build process up into chunks, this being the first. The next one will be sure to include a detailed report on many little "hiccups" I found during the build process.

If you want to see a specific part off this, please leave a reply to this thread as I have subscribed to it, and I'll snap it and upload it in the next update.

Be shure to check out the WHOLE log! Only the posts at the bottom (or the bottom of the last page) are up to date.

The maiden flight is here! look no further than the bottom for the video.

PHOTO BARRAGE!!!!

 

[Montiey]

Update: #2
The build is moving along smoothly, I have just installed all the servos and I am waiting to get my DX9 back from Horizon before I can test anything out to reverse stuff and really do much of anything. Below is a report on the general build process and how things went scaling it down to 65%.

So, I went with the wings first, and All the cuts there were just score cuts and full cuts, but when I went to do the spars, I found that the channels were too small. I widened them a little on each side and they went together nicely. I ended up doing an A fold instead of a B fold to get the foil right, and I used a split large popsicle stick ( a small one should work too) instead of a paint stick. It was only after I put together the wings and pretty much finished them did I realize that I was supposed to cut in the inside of the wing, so to leave solid paper on the ouside. However, this was confusing because on the plans, both lines are on the same side. You really need to thing EVERY cut through and envision where its going to go and how its going to fold up before you cut it. I plan on taping the plane anyway, so it shouldn't mater much. The fuselage was a breeze, however both halves were twisted, and I found the reason to be that I had not glued the corner-insides on the B and A folds. (I think they are B folds) I did this and held it square and it straightened out quite well. The power pod was A bit odd, because mine is held in place with TWO pins instead of a front mount and a pin in back. I accidentally cut the mini firewall to small so I decided just to make it a double pin design. The little Plush 18A ESC just barely fits in and the orange RX seems like it was made for it. Im using a 1300kv blue wonder and a 1300mAh lipo. Now on to the tail. After un-twisting this half of the fuse, I glued up the thin back part of the fuse and cut the slot and the top back part of the fuse out for the rudder and elevator. Taking knowledge from some of horizons micros, I decided to remove the large foam board tab and make a new tab out of layers of tape. This tab slips into a slit in the back of the fuselage and supports the small lower bit of the rudder. since the rudder is a thick piece of foam board, and the fuselage slit is in the middle, the rudder is now off center, so I simply trimmed the other "inner side" of the elevator to even it out. I used two BBQ skewers to make some tail struts like the original starch, but they are a bit crooked, so I'll adjust them later. I'll figure something out for a tail skid, probably an actual wheel, but ill see. Thats all! Ill add some photos very soon but its been a busy week for me.

 

[Montiey]

Update #3 FINAL PREPPING
Heres pretty much all the stuff I need to do before the maiden:
1. Cover the plane with packing tape (give me your suggestions for what color. Im thinking green)
2. Finish control surfaces/servos
3. Make landing gear
4. Tail Skid / tail wheel mechanism
5. Fix crooked tail supports

I haven't got much done lately, no pictures () mostly because I was in Chicago, and I need to get my DX9 back from horizon before I get the control surfaces done. I'm going to need to tape the whole thing up before then, so I couldn't if I wanted to. I really want to do the landing gear, I have plenty of wire, but just haven't found time at all (being 13 and in school 5 days a week with homework on friday doesn't help). I just set a reminder to add photos to this build log, so there will be another update soon.

 

[jh1985]

got any updated pictures. How did you scale it down? I wanna try too.

 

[Montiey]

I basically scaled it down just by printing out the plans at 65% of the full size. The only problem with scaling down a plane like this is that the thickness of the foam does not changes, but many cuts that rely on this thickness do change. I just sliced off a little extra off both sides or twice as much off one to acomadate. I have the photos taken, I'll upload them now. I checked off # 2, 4, and 5 from my to-do list today, I can't wait for a maiden before the weather gets cold.

cheers!

 

[Montiey]

Update #4 MORE PHOTOS, LANDING GEAR PLANNING

More stuff at bottom of post!

Here are those photos:

"Tiny Whiny" has dual ailerons that have flaperon programing in the transmitter
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Here you see just how cramped the fuselage is.
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An overview of the tail.
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A head-on alignment view, showcasing the paper air scoop for cooling.
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The belly of the plane.
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The mini power-pod, complete with no free space.
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The plane with wings rubber-banded on.
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A close up of the tail.
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A side-view of the whole plane.
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The landing gear, definitely not final.

LANDING GEAR
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I really am just going to have to wing this (pun intended). I can't afford much more weight, so the hefty 4 wire landing gear on the original Storch is going to have to go. I think I'll just use the traditional method, but with some slightly thicker wire. The traditional method is to put two bbq skewers into the fuse, and rubber band the front and back of the v-bend in the wire to the two skewers. I have two spare wheels that will do, and if not I have many more.

 

[BanditJacksRC]

Wow. I really like this build. I hope the maiden goes well.. good luck!

 

[Christopher14]

I basically scaled it down just by printing out the plans at 65% of the full size. The only problem with scaling down a plane like this is that the thickness of the foam does not changes, but many cuts that rely on this thickness do change. I just sliced off a little extra off both sides or twice as much off one to acomadate. I have the photos taken, I'll upload them now. I checked off # 2, 4, and 5 from my to-do list today, I can't wait for a maiden before the weather gets cold.

cheers!

I agree, scaling a FT plane down is tricky. How I do it is I take the plans and when I am cutting them out I do not keep the A or B folds. I treat the 50% score cuts on the fuselage like a regular cut by going all the way through, and when the parts are cut out the fuselage it is in four pieces instead of one. I glue it together in the same way as the normal size one.

I hope this was helpful.

 

[Montiey]

I agree, scaling a FT plane down is tricky. How I do it is I take the plans and when I am cutting them out I do not keep the A or B folds. I treat the 50% score cuts on the fuselage like a regular cut by going all the way through, and when the parts are cut out the fuselage it is in four pieces instead of one. I glue it together in the same way as the normal size one.

I hope this was helpful.

Hmm.. Thats another way to do it.
But then you would have only the glue holding it together. The paper is a pretty strong component, but I guess you could tape it over afterwards.

 

[Montiey]

It's been too long to say that I have any schedule for updating this thread, but on a day that was just right I managed to take my mini storch up for a maiden. It went well except that I needed to implement 100% differential to counter adverse yaw, and I still need to add nose weight. Oh, yeah. I need to give this poor little guy some "feet" too! I have decided on the traditional method for landing gear, with bbq skewers and the V bent wire gear. Being a large(er) plane I might reinforce it a bit with another set of wire on either side.

 

[tmkroeger]

Montley --- Thanks for all the details and the flight video. Awesome work and nice flying.

I'm looking for a good 4ch flyer that I can have fun with in the smaller parks and back yard. I'm tempted to go down to 50% did you have any particular reason to stop and 65? Has anyone else gone to 50%?

 

[Montiey]

Montley --- Thanks for all the details and the flight video. Awesome work and nice flying.

I'm looking for a good 4ch flyer that I can have fun with in the smaller parks and back yard. I'm tempted to go down to 50% did you have any particular reason to stop and 65? Has anyone else gone to 50%?

Flitetest is getting ready to release a ft mini stitch, so you may want to see what scale size they used first. It has some problems with tail heavy-nes and adverse yaw, and it does weird things on stalls and inverted. Your welcome to try 50%, but the problems I had with going from the original 100% to 65% will probably only get worse at 50%. I would wait a week or two until the mini starch comes out so we can see what josh has to say about the scaling.

Also, if your looking for something small and 4 channel, you might want to look into adding single servo ailerons to a mini scout or something. Two servos would probably be too much, so you will need to figure out where to place the servo to get it to work both ailerons at once. Something like this might work:

 

[tmkroeger]

Thanks for the suggestion. Nice catch on that other thread. We'll see. I worked out tile PDFs for 60 and 45 (3x3 and 4x4) last night. But I'm traveling and rather busy over the next week or two so maybe they'll beat me to it. If not, maybe I'll get to build two... ;-)

Tom MK

 

[Montiey]

Thanks for the suggestion. Nice catch on that other thread. We'll see. I worked out tile PDFs for 60 and 45 (3x3 and 4x4) last night. But I'm traveling and rather busy over the next week or two so maybe they'll beat me to it. If not, maybe I'll get to build two... ;-)

Tom MK

lol Haha. Traveling is tough, but this may be a perfect time to plug a R/C simulator for iOS (not sure if you have a iDevice or not). It's called PicaSim, and its primarily for gliders, but has 17+ different models including a quadcopter, and lots of panoramic and 3D sceneries. You can set the parameters for almost anything.. Here is a screenshot or two:

 

[saiga556]

lol Haha. Traveling is tough, but this may be a perfect time to plug a R/C simulator for iOS (not sure if you have a iDevice or not). It's called PicaSim, and its primarily for gliders, but has 17+ different models including a quadcopter, and lots of panoramic and 3D sceneries. You can set the parameters for almost anything.. Here is a screenshot or two:

View attachment 38297 View attachment 38298

Realflight has a pretty good app for android too. First few planes are free. The rest are pretty cheap and they just added a quad.

 

[ttprigg]

Nice work Montiey!
We were enjoying the video and recognized the "flying field". I think we camped next you at FliteFest 2014. I built the Storch - full size and I really enjoy flying it. Looks like you are using a 24gram "blue wonder"- seems to have plenty of power. I am tempted to give it a go, but I guess it would be prudent to wait to see what Bixler comes up with. I did a "scout - lite" to slow it down and try some "indoor" venues--- I removed a lot of the "unnecessary" paper, particularly from the tail area. I wonder if that would help with your balance issues.