Baby Blender - Scratch Build

[Skipp2Maloo]

Power Pod Question

I am new to electrics, Can anyone tell me, Do I need to tilt my motor Down and to the right on my Power Pod for the Baby Blender and the Bloody Wonder?

 

[Orcoz]

I am new to electrics, Can anyone tell me, Do I need to tilt my motor Down and to the right on my Power Pod for the Baby Blender and the Bloody Wonder?

It's really not necessary on this airframe. You'll find that there is SO much lift out of these two wings, that you'll have more upward/climb characteristics than anything that would want to counter torque.

I just flew my Baby Blender for it's maiden, and oh-my-gosh I never expected it to be soooo gentle! It is an extremely predictable plane in the air, and slows down almost to the degree of the old GWS Pico Tigermoth or Slowstik!

Well... I suppose this really was a 'happy accident', but I'm thrilled with this model.

Thanks again Josh & Flite Test team!

Oz

 

[Bayboos]

The first one (in all aspects possible) BB

Hello

I just finished the first successful flight day of my first swappable, first scratch build, first plane built by my own hands and the very first RC plane I've ever had on my own; and guess what: it is Baby Blender! Not exactly the perfect first-time plane; but it worked quite well. Not from the first time, though...

The very first plane I've made did not even get airborne. I'm not sure why exactly it behaved this way; it was fast-taxiing all over the place, but when pulled back on the stick, it just jumped few inches, lost all the speed and fall back to the earth. The second one... well, it got definitely too heavy, too fast and too maneuverable for the first-time pilot. The third one went down two times - first there was a lantern pole (in the very first flight, less than a minute), then the wind got too strong. And I was a bit too inpatient to wait for another day...

But now, it's the fourth plane - or rather the same plane built fourth time - I've made in last two months - it's still the Baby Blender swappable, but with some mods; most notable are low profile fuselage, full wing struts (they broke into pieces after every "event"), different wing spans and... full span flap on the upper wing. It does make a huge difference - deployed half way greatly reduces the speed; full flap deflection (around 70 degrees) works great as an airbrake. And skis of course - we still do have a winter on the fields. Here are some pictures made today:

Even if this is not the most-recommended first-time airplane, today it flew perfectly fine - capable of both slow and fast flights, some aerobatics, some steady cruse (even with a wind not exactly cooperating again). And the eye-catching silhouette of an old, classic biplane - this is what I love in my new "toy". And - since I do love to build and make things work, too - I'm already planning to make BB v.2 with more mods (like swept upper wing, floats, lights, bubble canopy... and some more).

And here's the last one picture of the day - after the almost-successful landing at the end of today's last flight (no damage noticed):



Thank you very much, FliteTest crew, for all your work and it's result. Keep them coming - I would like to try FT 3D, but I really have to have your FT CRUZR and Spitfire - as soon as possible!

 

[rifled]

I just got back from flying this plane and it flies better than any store bought plane I have tried so far! Thank you for the plans flitetest!

The only problem I have is my landing gear is too weak and it keeps collapsing. Someone posted a link on page 13 to a .09 great planes landing gear on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Great-Planes-Dural-Landing-Gear/dp/B001BHGCEY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1361414430&sr=8-3&keywords=dural+landing+gear

Does anyone know what wheels, axles, and wheel collars I need to buy to make this fit the Baby Blender? I have tried looking but can't understand all the measurements.

I currently used 3 inch wheels I cut out of dollar tree foam which work well for take off and landing a few times before they start to become very loose on the axle. Any links someone could post would be great, or if anyone knows of any other landing gear that I can but that would work.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bayboos]

Hello folks, it's me again.

I have a problem with my Baby Blender (the one you may see two posts above). While it flies great and I have absolutely no problems operating it from snow (except very soft, wet, already melting one), it does not work well on hard surfaces. When using wheels, the plane is very unstable on the ground - while moving, it starts to turn to the side very easily; and with some speed, it rapidly tightens the turn, causing the wingtip to hit the ground and flip the plane over the nose (ground-loop).

My landing gear have a recommended geometry (2mm steel wire bent acc to the plans); yet for some reason it does not work as expected. I saw a lot of videos with Blenders that behaves correctly on the ground - both with original and somewhat modified landing gears; yet despite of many tries I was unable to repeat this experience. The problem was a direct cause of breaking a lot of props during landing attempts (and few during take-offs). Even worse: yesterday, after n-th ground-loop, wing struts broke forcing me to rebuild the "wing box" again - and all this without even leaving the ground.

With winter finally ending, I cannot rely on skis anymore - I need to work with the wheels. I love the plane, it flies great and looks even better; but the horrible (the "swedish horrible"!) ground handling characteristics ruin the whole experience - I need to rebuild the airplane after every day in the air, just two or three (or sometimes none!) flights made that day.

If anyone knows any way to improve that, or have a clue what may be wrong, please share. Thank you in advance.

 

[Villalji]

Hi Babyboos,
What I did on mine is add a piece of ply in the wing tips glued with epoxy, in a shape similar to what many WWI planes used to avoid dragging the foam. Also, to avoid flipping the plane, be gentle with the throttle, don't push it to max right away, let it roll, and after you have some speed, pull the elevator.

Then of course, check the obvious: motor and/ or pod not angled to one side after one crash, make sure plane faces wind, trims all centered (here you can trim rudder to compensate for the tendency to turn on the ground if you need to, but make sure it flies neutral), landing gear also centered, wheels in line, tail skid centered (not dragging to one side)... Can't think of any othe issues. Hope you can fix it, I like this plane so much!

 

[Bayboos]

Thx for the answer. Most of those are already done/checked/applied, wingtip skids are on the way - thx for the tip.

But the problem is not that the plane turns "by itself", with no input from my side. Well, it does slightly; but it's not the main issue. The thing that causes all crashes/ground loops is what the plane does after it starts turning (in any way): it rapidly tightens the turn, with no possibility to overcome this tendency with opposite rudder deflection.

The only way to have at least some chances of successful take-off is to... apply full throttle immediatelly with gentle rudder correction. This helps provide some rudder authority and makes it turn to the same side every time - without max throttle I would never know which way it will turn. But this would not work on landings for obvious reason...

Also, I suspect the gear legs to be too soft - despite of being made acc to specification (2mm steel wire), they bend easily during every landing, especially not the really perfect one. The wind is not a relevant issue - flying in dead calm weather gave the same results. Or maybe even worse, because any wind provides some help with rudder authority...

Thanks again for pointing all this out - it does not help me much, but may help someone else. Right now my BB is destroyed again, and I will not rebuild this one to airworthy condition (just for display). I'm going to build new one, implementing some v.2 design solutions; but this one will not be swappable anymore (to allow different, more rigid landing gear solution) and will have both wings attached to the fuselage separatelly (to overcome breaking wing struts issue). I hope I will be able to provide more photos; most likely in the BB v.2 thread.

Thanks again.

 

[stilly1984]

Balance

Hello,

Just finished my baby blender. I am having issues with it nosing over when trying to take off. However once its in the air it seems to be tail heavy. Not sure what can be done to fix this.

Any ideas?

Cheers

 

[johanjonker]

hows the elevator trim for neutral?

 

[Bayboos]

If possible, try to move main gear forward. Also check if both wheels rotate freely - even slight resistance may cause such light plane to flip over. Those were two things I've corrected in my Blender, and they helped a bit. Other than that, please reconsider if the wheels are big enough for the surface you are trying to take off from - the wheels from plans would work great on hard surface and should be fine on tiny stones; but they might not be big (tall) enough for grass (especially if it's the "natural" one, not made perfectly flat) and definitely are too small (too narrow) for surfaces like soft sand ect.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

The other trick is to make the wheels toe in a little. It helps steer it straight.

Definitely bend the main gear forward of the CG as much as you can.

 

[Bayboos]

Hello, it's me again.

After several modifications (some of those enforced by "rebuild opportunities"), my Blender is still up and running. Since I've got few days to spare (with weather not cooperating very much), I've done another, long overdue mod. Here's the result:


(more photos can be found after clicking on the picture)

I can't wait to see it in the air...

 

[Nathan_116]

Okay, so I went to maiden my BB this evening, but every time I threw it the prop came off. (no landing gear and prop saver and band holding the prop) My question is, is does a blue wonder running an 8045 prop produce too much thrust for the band? Do I need to upgrade to the prop collet? (Going to order one anyway).

Thanks for you answers in advance!!!

 

[waylon]

Finally got my baby blender build, I like this plane very much.
Since there is open cockpit, minions are good fit for its pilots. Even I got into the flight site but I didn't fly it because it was too windy.