Father & Son Flitesticks : Build Log

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
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hotwax's design is pretty rock solid. I want to make one as close to the original Das Ugly Stick as I possibly can. That is one of the only reasons I'm going to do mine...eventually. I also want to try a few things to improve making the wingtips with foam board vs the poster board. Mostly to make that process easier, but also to see if I can make it look a little cleaner. It's not high on the priority list right now. I want to get a few hours on the FB Fllitestick to see if there is anything else I want to change.

A twin sounds pretty interesting. If I did one, I would probably just add engine nacelles to the wings and keep the single fuselage vs. a twin fuse design.
 

WilberMaker

Junior Member
Finely getting back to this project. What are you using for a tail wheel and mount? Also, I see the size of the Plywood support for the Main gear but not a measured location for it. I put mine between the two dowel holes on the plans. Is this correct?
 

AkimboGlueGuns

Biplane Guy
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Quick tip, don't delaminate the foam you want to use in the wings. I had an "incident" last night that resulted in the death of the Franken-Stick. I was doing a low pass and pulled up at the end of the runway to start a half cuban 8. It pulled to the vertical just fine, but when I pulled up again to put the plane inverted, the wings folded. It fell from about 150' up. Wrecked the prop shaft, the 3000 Mah 4S, and the airframe.

Oh well, I'll build another one. After all, it's just foam.
 

mactek

Member
A friend of mine built a flite stick after seeing mine. He forgot to use packing tape after he glued the wing half's together. His first flight he folded the wings and destroyed the plane.
 

SP0NZ

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I was thinking about this a little last night. The original plans have a dihedral wing. We have been building ours flat. There is only a short center spar joining the two wing haves together. I think when I design the 60" Ugly Stick I will design it with a flat wing and have the spar centered in the wing and splice the spar at the ends. Should add more strength where the stress concentration is going to be.
 

mactek

Member
I built mine with the dihedral in the wing. When i joined the wing halves i used hotglue and several layers of reinforced packing tape. I flip the plane at high speeds all the time and have not had any issues yet. It has even survived a couple of crashes without issue. I will say this plane is an absolute joy to fly. I have yet to find any bad tendencies with it. If you really wanted to reinforce wing and keep the dihedral you could probably use Nernic's method of a aluminum spar that has been cut in the middle to create the dihedral.
 

WilberMaker

Junior Member
Just getting back to the FliteStick project. Is there any ply or other reinforcement needed under the main gear on the outside of the fuse? I put the ply on the inside just wondering will the foam hold upon the outside.
 

SP0NZ

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Mine has had some hard landings and is showing no signs of wear.
 

mactek

Member
I have been flying the flitestick for the last couple of months now. This plane still amazes me and everyone around me every time i fly it. Are you guys still flying yours.
 

SP0NZ

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Keegan crashed his beyond repair. Mine is still in great shape but sadly has not flow in a couple of months. It probably won't take flight again until spring. I'm really hoping that it stays in one piece until FF'16. It's a great flying plane and I've had a blast flying it.