B-24 DTFB design and build log

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
Mentor
Thanks for sharing the plans. Did you do the entire design with Inkscape?

Yes. I am much more familiar with it and it is very nice for going around corners and rounded sides. I can drop those files out too if anybody wants. They are the almost the exact same size as the pdf's as it is all vector graphics. That way you can mod parts or edit layout for printing.
 

Rames

Member
Excellent work. The the slab sides of the B-24 lends itself well to DTFB construction. Love the paint job and weathering details.
 

Jaxx

Posted a thousand or more times
Yes. I am much more familiar with it and it is very nice for going around corners and rounded sides. I can drop those files out too if anybody wants. They are the almost the exact same size as the pdf's as it is all vector graphics. That way you can mod parts or edit layout for printing.

Awesome! I will be using Inkscape as well. It's a great piece of open source software.
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
Mentor
Thanks for sharing the plans. Did you do the entire design with Inkscape?

I followed nerdnic's tutorials pretty much. Inkscape makes it pretty easy to work with the flitetest plans. Heres my basic process that i have used now on a few planes i am working on:

  • Open new inkscape file.
  • Set page dimensions to 30x20, just to get an idea of its size compared to a sheet of foamboard.
  • drop in the powerpod pdf from flitetest and set the quality of the import all the way to the right.
  • Select all and spam the ctrl+shift+g button. This "disconnects" everything in the pdf and separates them so you can grab just the parts you want.
  • Highlight the powerpod or whatever part i want and ctrl+g to group that together.
  • Delete everything else.


Now you can drop in whatever pictures or plans and scale them up/down to match the same size as the powerpod.
Just make sure to hold down ctrl while shrinking things so it does it in all dimensions and it doesnt get lopsided.
 

Jaxx

Posted a thousand or more times
I followed nerdnic's tutorials pretty much. Inkscape makes it pretty easy to work with the flitetest plans. Heres my basic process that i have used now on a few planes i am working on:

  • Open new inkscape file.
  • Set page dimensions to 30x20, just to get an idea of its size compared to a sheet of foamboard.
  • drop in the powerpod pdf from flitetest and set the quality of the import all the way to the right.
  • Select all and spam the ctrl+shift+g button. This "disconnects" everything in the pdf and separates them so you can grab just the parts you want.
  • Highlight the powerpod or whatever part i want and ctrl+g to group that together.
  • Delete everything else.


Now you can drop in whatever pictures or plans and scale them up/down to match the same size as the powerpod.
Just make sure to hold down ctrl while shrinking things so it does it in all dimensions and it doesnt get lopsided.

Thanks for the great tips! I will be sure to try them.
 

Rasterize

Maker of skins and decals for foam board RC planes
Moderator
Mentor
Definitely now in my top 3 to build list! Thank you! :)
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
Mentor
another battery

Heres a longer flight. Couple notes from flying today.


  • Plane wants to rotate clockwise when looking from the back. I'm guessing this is a result of all 4 props spinning in the same direction. Its not uncontrollable, you probably wont be-able to really tell in the video, but i would recommend counter rotating props to help with this.
  • Larger ailerons would also be helpful. Per my plans i would say these give a very "scale" flight, but doing a roll would be pretty hard and you cant quickly get out of sticky situations with the current surface area. Although perhaps fixing the torque roll would assist.
  • 3s is dang overpowered. I really need to get 2s going. Even so i was at 3.8v per cell after this 7m flight on a 1000mah pack. So on a 2s i think i could get it close to 10 minutes.
  • 2mm Piano wire steel is pretty amazing. Has enough give in hard landings without taking the shape of the bend on impact.


Differential thrust spins in the air require practice!
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
Mentor
it was 4x 1806 2200ish kv motors, 12amp esc's. Dont remember flight time. It was with a 1000mah 3s battery and could handle a bigger one.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Nice job on that Nate. Looks great too!.

It seems to stop dead cold on landings. From the looks that wire is flexing just enough to let the nose wheel touch the battery and become and insta brake. Get a little more separation and that may land a whole lot better. I think skid marks on the battery would confirm if I am correct or not.

Have you changed over to counter rotating pros yet? Ill bet that makes how it flys a totally different experience.
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
Mentor
this was like 2 years ago. I stripped it down for parts long ago. Here is the current status of the electronics:
IMG_20171021_123003.jpg
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Ahh cool. Versacopters are fun. Specially on 4s. I like doing LOS on mine. I can actually SEE it in the air hehe. I really do need to flash the SPF3 to Betaflight now that I know how it works and get it off the original Cleanflight it was born with hehe. I converted it back to a 6 inch set up on 4s to be my "Butter quad" since all the big boys have one now it seems.
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
Mentor
I found my old multiwii controller. Really dont miss having to use an arduino programmer and text editor just to sync the servos lol. Its my beater quad now. 1806 motors are $5.99 now so really no worries with it. Trying to turn it into just a chase plane quad. That big top plate is nice for like every battery i own and a gopro on the front. Betaflight is so much easier than 3 years ago. I had kind of given up on quads as i dislike programming. This stuff thats out right now is way less stressfull on the software side.
 

kwhabq

New member
Foam board B24

Nate,

Thanks for sharing your plans. A couple of our flying group have completed the build, and I maidened mine yesterday. It only required a few adjustments to elevator and ailerons. 2nd flight much better. Require very little aileron input even with the small surface. Your idea was great, and I'm glad to give you credit for the plans. Photo included.

Ken
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20180409_134319-1-1784x938.jpg
    IMG_20180409_134319-1-1784x938.jpg
    459.7 KB · Views: 2

FoamyDM

Building Fool-Flying Noob
Moderator
Congratulations Nate! The model is great, maiden looks fun and the plans are Simple and straight forward!
 

kwhabq

New member
Friends finished model.

Nate this model in brown was made by my friend here in Albuquerque. He built my body/wing assembly. He is super quick with the FLITETEST foam board. His hasn't maidened yet. My hat is off to his building talent.

Again, you get credit for coming up with the plans. Thanks so much.

Ken
 

Attachments

  • Resized_20180320_185833.jpg
    Resized_20180320_185833.jpg
    235.3 KB · Views: 3