Community Build F/A-18 Super Hornet 2B the FT-18 when completed

[HilldaFlyer]

Let us know for sure. That is so exciting!

 

[T-Richard]

uneventful, flew great, was well balanced. now I'll paint it and make it look the part. I flew only one battery so I am heading back in the morning to burn a few more packs. I'll post pics and stuff after the week end once I got it painted. Thanks Hillda flyer the F-18 is much nicer looking then an f-22 and scales nicely

 

[HilldaFlyer]

FT-18#4 Glassed and SuperSonic

I finished the latest update on the FT-18#4. It sports a 0.73 oz/yd fiberglass skin over foam and a SuperSonic 2200 kv motor.

 

[HilldaFlyer]

FT-18#4 Maiden

Here is a video of the two trimming flights.
On the second flight I lost sight of the plane in the sun. It didn't exit the other side as expected. Turns out it was circling in the sun for about 5 seconds. I didn't know 5 seconds was so long... Panic stricken I finally caught sight of it and finished the flight. All smiles now.

 

[T-Richard]

I really like the look of it. I feel like building a your sized version

 

[HilldaFlyer]

I really like the look of it. I feel like building a your sized version

Two sizes to choose from:

Regular FT size: FT-18

OR

Supersized with 40" wingspan that is foiled.
Forum Link

Let me know how it goes.

 

[T-Richard]

ok so the mini FT-18 is dead. Receiver signal loss while flying fpv. Was silly fun tho. I am inspired, I'll build a full size one with black core foam and DTFB.

I'll add ailerons tho as I found the roll was a touch lagging in the ft-18. This will also allow me to use a spoileron mix to land in tight spaces. I intend to use this for FPV as I found it to be a pretty nice platform for that.

Thanks HilldaFlyer! Picture to follow shortly

 

[T-Richard]

Just maidened the Ft-18 aileron elevator version. A bit of adverse yaw so I'll put in mechanical differential. Otherwise great! So much nicer to the Ft-22 in my opinion

 

[T-Richard]

Had a fun time with this but little receiver didn't agree with proximity fpv flying

 

[HilldaFlyer]

That is so cool... Thanks for sharing. Looks like you had a lot of fun with it. Sure takes a beating...

Just a comment... I like the flight characteristics of the FT-18 much better than the FT-22 too. The one I built with fiberglass skin #4 is still flying and I've been letting a lot of others fly it.

How sturdy do you find the wings of the FT-18?

 

[pilotofnothing]

Great Flyer!

Took mine on a maiden flight today, 2-3 clicks of trim to fly straight and true. After the flight while waiting for the battery to recharge I painted it. Then went and proceeded to fly for about 4-5 minutes before I got cocky and tried to thread the needle under a playground shade cover (It was vacant at the time of flight) Gunned the throttle and realized that I was going to hit the metal pole at 30+ MPH, tried to pull away to abort too late and went nose first into the pole LOL. The only damage was the tip of the nose came unglued!



Excellent design! Great flyer! Very durable! 12/10 Stars!

My Setup is as follows:
Hillda Flyer F/A 18E Super Hornet v2 (FT Style)

Motor - emax CF-2812 1534KV
ESC - Hobbywing Skywalker 20A
Prop - 7x5
Servos - 2x 7.5g
RX - Spektrum micro park flyer (not sure of the model)
TX - Spektrum DX6i

Thank you for such a GREAT plane!!

-pilotofnothing

 

[HilldaFlyer]

Thanks.... I'm so happy that you're enjoying it.
By the way, My nose... correction, the nose on my FT-18 looks the same way... but I didn't do anything crazy, just hit the ground.
Cheers!

 

[T-Richard]

That is so cool... Thanks for sharing. Looks like you had a lot of fun with it. Sure takes a beating...

Just a comment... I like the flight characteristics of the FT-18 much better than the FT-22 too. The one I built with fiberglass skin #4 is still flying and I've been letting a lot of others fly it.

How sturdy do you find the wings of the FT-18?

I do find the wing a tad weak. This is why i used blackcore foam and a 1x5 cf strip in the wing. I think the 40 inch or just a bit larger than this scale may help. regardless it works fine.

Flew it on 4 cells with a 5045 prop and it screams

 

[HilldaFlyer]

First Flight 2017 - Fantastic

Just got done with the first flight. After sitting all winter, it was still in pretty good trim, just needed a little left roll. Still flies really well for a small easy-to-build plane.