Do you notice design flaws with Flite test?

[FishbonesAir]

Hey guys, have any of you built Flite test planes?
I've built a few and have found a couple issues constant when it comes to their design choices. in general and especially for the trainers there isn't enough emphasis on rigidity or survivability. Infact just by looking over the design in certain models the flaws really show through. Its even worse for scratch building because some planes are needlessly complicated with fewer benefits to justify the effort required.
New pilots in this hobby seem to be their main demographic but their design philosophy is coming from an experienced and advanced perspective with its biases. Personally I always add some reinforcements with pieces of wood and from in the more flimsy areas. For some models there needs to be huge changes in how they are built.
All of this is prompted by one of my ft planes having its wing snap in half which could have been avoided by using wood and heat resistant glue.

My FT Tutor has held up to quite a bit of abuse, but the fit on the landing gear was a bit dodgy. It did a nice bomb drop in the field out beyond the runway at the club field as a result. Nothing a little DTFB and some tape couldn't shore up however.

My Mini F-22 went according to plan; any problems were purely self-inflicted. Nuf said.

My biggest gripe was that the build video for the the Mini Guinea was rather dated, and it was my first build of a FT kit. FT updated to new ESC's, which don't fit like the old ones... this made wiring a challenge on that first build.

On my current Guinea, I built the Wing differently, which gave me more room for wiring, and a solid spar for strength. Works great! Also, I personally hate the free-castoring front wheel with a purple passion. It caused me nothing but endless grief, and now that I operate at a field where one is expected to taxi out, I will never, ever, Ever install one again. It's not that bloody difficult to put a 5g servo up there to control the nose wheel, in sync with the rudder. But this isn't something that FliteTest addresses at all, so I had to figure it out on my own. I was brand-new to RC, wasn't part of a club, and was staggering around in the dark for all intents and purposes.

Pewee! I spit on stupid Peter nosewheel!

Capt Fishbones

 

[DaveM]

Hey guys, have any of you built Flite test planes?
I've built a few and have found a couple issues constant when it comes to their design choices. in general and especially for the trainers there isn't enough emphasis on rigidity or survivability. Infact just by looking over the design in certain models the flaws really show through. Its even worse for scratch building because some planes are needlessly complicated with fewer benefits to justify the effort required.
New pilots in this hobby seem to be their main demographic but their design philosophy is coming from an experienced and advanced perspective with its biases. Personally I always add some reinforcements with pieces of wood and from in the more flimsy areas. For some models there needs to be huge changes in how they are built.
All of this is prompted by one of my ft planes having its wing snap in half which could have been avoided by using wood and heat resistant glue.

Yours is one perspective. Making something more rigid does not necessarily make it more crash resistant. The amazing light weight of Flite Test planes along with the new Maker Foam board we are using make the planes light and robust. I am curious which planes specifically you have concerns about and where are the failure points you have experienced?

 

[Crashmorflymor]

I mean…. what do you folks actually expect out of a plane made from foam board?? No plane is made to be a lawn dart.

My FT Tutor has held up to quite a bit of abuse, but the fit on the landing gear was a bit dodgy. It did a nice bomb drop in the field out beyond the runway at the club field as a result. Nothing a little DTFB and some tape couldn't shore up however.

My Mini F-22 went according to plan; any problems were purely self-inflicted. Nuf said.

My biggest gripe was that the build video for the the Mini Guinea was rather dated, and it was my first build of a FT kit. FT updated to new ESC's, which don't fit like the old ones... this made wiring a challenge on that first build.

On my current Guinea, I built the Wing differently, which gave me more room for wiring, and a solid spar for strength. Works great! Also, I personally hate the free-castoring front wheel with a purple passion. It caused me nothing but endless grief, and now that I operate at a field where one is expected to taxi out, I will never, ever, Ever install one again. It's not that bloody difficult to put a 5g servo up there to control the nose wheel, in sync with the rudder. But this isn't something that FliteTest addresses at all, so I had to figure it out on my own. I was brand-new to RC, wasn't part of a club, and was staggering around in the dark for all intents and purposes.

Pewee! I spit on stupid Peter nosewheel!

Capt Fishbones

Use a short piece of tubing as a support, and solder a washer to both ends where the landing gear wire goes in said tubing. This will create a bearing which the nose wheel will easily rotate within. The nose wheel on that plane is laughably weak, under engineered not intended for actual use.

These aren’t really rise off ground planes they are meant to be thrown around at the local park. Even my balsa models don’t do well off grass and I’ve tried all manner of tires. As long as you land into the wind and bleed off your speed with a nice flare you can plop these things very neatly on the ground.

 

[FishbonesAir]

I mean…. what do you folks actually expect out of a plane made from foam board?? No plane is made to be a lawn dart.


Use a short piece of tubing as a support, and solder a washer to both ends where the landing gear wire goes in said tubing. This will create a bearing which the nose wheel will easily rotate within. The nose wheel on that plane is laughably weak, under engineered not intended for actual use.

These aren’t really rise off ground planes they are meant to be thrown around at the local park. Even my balsa models don’t do well off grass and I’ve tried all manner of tires. As long as you land into the wind and bleed off your speed with a nice flare you can plop these things very neatly on the ground.

I use traditional gear and tailwheel, hooked up to the rudder for steering. It's worked out well, except for the one bomb 💣 drop of the mains, lol. 😆

I haven't been using the tundra tires either, but smaller ones.