First flight first versa lots of mistakes

[Dodger]

First mistake was not having a recording system to record the "flights." But i did get some webcam footage of the battle scars. Please note i'm a terrible public speaker even in front of cameras.

Anyway, mistakes.

I didn't minwax my build: The amount of carnage some damp grass can do in a short amount of time is pretty nuts.

I did not remove the paper when mounting my firewall: The last crash of the day, which i really wish i had video of, was a vertical nose dive into some packed ground from around 20'. The nose is smooshed, hatches tore, and the motor went flying mount and all.

I had no idea what i was doing with trim and CG: and i didn't even go on youtube for a few instructionals. Just decided to fly out and see what happens. So it seemed to always want to climb, It also favored banking to the right. Once i got it to kinda point down it went into a nose dive. Once i got it flying level i could let go of the controls almost and it seemed to fly straight! So...i haven't got a clue. I really need some video of next time. Maybe later today after some repairs and food.

Trying to think of some things i could do in future builds to help reinforce the airframe against some recklessness.

So vid:

Enjoy the boring drawn outness of sentences and awesome awareness of where the camera is pointing!

 

[Craftydan]

Mistakes are stepping stones to success . . . so long as you learn from them

As far as the paper goes, if you build another versa, strip her before you add on the wing plates. The paper inside is plenty to give you the rigidity you need, and is isolated from the moisture outside. Adding back a layer of packing tape to harden the skin isn't a bad idea. this can be done on other FT designs, but it's by far the easiest to do on the Versa. Be sure to add back the leading edge packing tape, and this is one of the places Extreme packing tape will be preferred over the regular kind.

To increase the hold of the firewall (and increase the damage in the truly epic crash), consider mounting the firewall to an old credit card/room key widthwise (extra card sticking out the sides). Scratch/score up the card then glue the firewall centered on it. Cut the notch wide enough for the firewall, then slide the card between the foam layers with some fresh glue. the wider footprint should do a better job of spreading the force.

Balance on a flying wing . . . you don't have a lot of room for error. Trim will depend on how fast you are on the sticks, but CG is VERY important on wings.

As far as re-enforcements . . .

- line the leading edge glue channel with a re-enforcement rod -- In past I've used 1/16" fiberglass kite rods for resilience, and 1/8" steel wire for weight and strength (pusher wings tend to be naturally tail heavy and like a bit of nose ballast). The kite rod makes the leading edge TOUGH. The steel rod worked well for light crashes but one hard crash and the dent stuck . . . .but it was a REALLLLLLLY hard crash.

- coroplast bottom plate -- I've made coroplast plates to go over the bottom, one flute wider than the battery hatch. not only give you a bit more depth for the battery to sit lower but holds the center seam together well. also is a great material to tie into your pusher firewall.

- Flush winglets -- in fairness, I've never printed the plan section for the versa winglet (I always use a bloody wonder tail-fin template for the winglet) but you don't need it extending below the lower surface -- cut/attach the winglet flush with the lower edge. Sticking out the top only makes it much harder to get ripped off accidentally.

- glue nose -- did I mention pusher wings have a tail-heavy nature? if you must add ballast, make it work for you. add in almost all the lead you need (with battery and gear in place) and make up the remainder by filling the open space in the cavity with hot glue. you'll end up with a crazy resilient nose and your balance should be happier

 

[Dodger]

Thanks crafty for the info! a good bit helped and some of the recommendations i think i'll be holding off till i build another. I've more or less decided that as long as i can salvage the electronics i'll fly this one with gusto till i get the hang of things then rebuild one a little more proper and robust. Though will definitely save the tattered remains as a memory to it's sacrifice to my edumacation.

So as of this is what i'm doing for balancing. I'm placing my pointers on the CG holes on the blunt nose mod marked off by FT and then watching my versa act like some of my buddies at 0100 on a Saturday morning in downtown Savannah.

This is my build post crash top to bottom, last minute is a bit drawn out:

This is the thingy i forgot:

So advice? Notes on balancing etc?

The things i'd like to do on the new build will be to add in those Fiber glass kite rods and glue nose. packing tape or perhaps, and i'm thinking this more and more, a light coat of paint to help seal the exterior though i think i need to keep the paper on to do that. If i pull the top paper off i'm going with packing tape as you also recommended crafty. I'll also be looking into that coroplast bottom plate. I see that becoming useful to me. Thoughts?

I'm also considering using expanding foam fore of the spar as seen here except just front of the spar not behind. Make the leading edge rigid and tough while adding some front weight. Who knows something to play with:

The kid is flippin adorable. So there you go. I"m going to go attempt flying again and if i can get this set up right and if i'm feeling ballsy i'll try to video my flight. Also, will try to look into how to video edit lol so i can cut out the boring unimportant bits.