Anyone here not like the powerpod design?

KingWookie

Junior Member
Hi Everyone,

Right now I'm working on building an FT Scout from the speed build kit. I was really impressed with the kit overall but one thing I don't like about the FT designs are the powerpods. I can never seem to get them to be mounted stably. When I put my PP in the plane with the bbq skewers there is some slop that allows the PP to move up and down. I'd Like to avoid the PP all together but I'm not sure how best to mount something to the plane. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've been thinking about just hot gluing a wooden firewall to the front of the plane. Doing this would move the motor further out and I'm not sure how this would impact flight performance.

I attached some pictures of my idea so hopefully this makes what I'm trying to do clearer. The first image is the shape I would cut out of plywood and hot glue to the plane. The second picture is with the PP inserted but it's pulled out to where it would be mounted using the plywood. It's probably pulled out an inch or two more than the original design intended.

What do you guys think?

Thank you!
 

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TEAJR66

Flite is good
Mentor
I don’t always use the power pod as swappable. If you are willing to dedicate to a fixed firewall, cut the pod down to a size you like and glue it in.

One thing to consider, now that swappable is not a desire, build the pod upside down. Now when you glue it in, you have two larger flat surfaces to glue together. This will also open up some room in the nose and keep the ESC easily accessible.
 

KingWookie

Junior Member
I don’t always use the power pod as swappable. If you are willing to dedicate to a fixed firewall, cut the pod down to a size you like and glue it in.

One thing to consider, now that swappable is not a desire, build the pod upside down. Now when you glue it in, you have two larger flat surfaces to glue together. This will also open up some room in the nose and keep the ESC easily accessible.
Oh yeah that's a good idea! I'll look into that.
 

Chuppster

Well-known member
For the slop issue, you can drill holes in old credit cards or hotel room keys the size of a skewer and glue them up next to skewer holes. This also keeps the holes from "growing" over time.

I'm not a huge fan of the pod in all designs, but they have a huge benefit in that most nose-in crashes result in the firewall being ripped off. That is really easy to fix when you can just pull off the power pod and build a new one or fix the old one. Drastically cuts down on repair time. However, if you aren't prone to crashing this benefit is negated.

I use the power pod on the Cub (it fits very snugly so there's no slop anyway) but I cut, flipped, and glued down the power pod on my Baby Blender to make changing the battery a lot easier. If the power pod annoys me I just brainstorm a few ideas on how to do it better and if one sticks I go with it.
 

checkerboardflyer

Well-known member
Swappable Firewall Mod - Finally went out to fly the FT Old Speedster for the first time. Things didn't go well. When I went to taxi around it veered left when I gave it throttle. Then when I took off it kept wanting to climb even with several clicks of down elevator trim. The Speedster doesn't have any down or right trim built into the motor mount. Every balsa model that I have ever built had both down and right thrust. Lacking any other insights I decided to do that with the Speedster. I made a new firewall with a larger hole to pass the motor cables through. And I am going to use the X-mount and blind nuts with socket head cap screws. 4-40. Direct link to the post on my blog here: https://foamboardflyers.com/2019/09/25/old-speedster-firewall/ How I did down and right thrust on the swappable power pod here: https://foamboardflyers.com/2019/07/02/down-thrust-right-thrust/ More foam board flyer tips here: https://foamboardflyers.com/
 

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checkerboardflyer

Well-known member
Update: Here is how I made the down thrust / right thrust adjustment. I switched the X-mount from vertical to diagonal mounting. The diagonal mount makes it a bit easier to get either just right thrust, just down thrust, or both. More tips for foam board modelers at: https://foamboardflyers.com/
 

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Bricks

Master member
One of the easiest ways to see if your thrust angle is correct trim your plane to fly straight and level then take it straight up under full power. If it pulls in any direction like towards the canopy then you need more down thrust add washers, same goes in all directions until when throttled straight up it goes straight up with out any corrections from you or as close as you can get it.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
Another nice build.

If you tend to use just mounts then the washer trick is your answer. On the next plane you build you can build in down/right thrust into the foam that the firewall gets glued into. It's something I have done on a few planes now, just a difference of 1/8" from corner to corner. I noticed really how well it worked on my Scout V1
 

Foam Folder

Active member
Another nice build.

If you tend to use just mounts then the washer trick is your answer. On the next plane you build you can build in down/right thrust into the foam that the firewall gets glued into. It's something I have done on a few planes now, just a difference of 1/8" from corner to corner. I noticed really how well it worked on my Scout V1

Thanks,
not sure about the double surface, the aileron has to be cut down because of the up sweep at the wingtip, I guess a little more throw will be in order.
 

hiroshiman

Active member
Update: Here is how I made the down thrust / right thrust adjustment. I switched the X-mount from vertical to diagonal mounting. The diagonal mount makes it a bit easier to get either just right thrust, just down thrust, or both. More tips for foam board modelers at: https://foamboardflyers.com/

I learned that you don't want your engine well aligned with the plane it seems... Is it the same for every planes ? I'm scratch building the Scout right now and I don't remember reading about this thrust angle thingy.
 

TEAJR66

Flite is good
Mentor
I learned that you don't want your engine well aligned with the plane it seems... Is it the same for every planes ? I'm scratch building the Scout right now and I don't remember reading about this thrust angle thingy.
Build it as specified in the video. Make tweaks as you fly and figure out what you like. I never worry about thrust angle on an FT Build.
 

checkerboardflyer

Well-known member
Make tweaks as you fly and figure out what you like.

Good advice. When I trim a model airplane my goal is to have it fly level at half throttle with no elevator, aileron, or rudder trim. First couple of flights with the FT Old Speedster it kept climbing at half throttle. It took several clicks of down to make it fly level. So I added a couple degrees of down thrust to the motor and that did the trick; level flight at half throttle with no control surface trim.