Help! First Plane FLT1072 or FLT1053

P40VRP

Member
Noobie here! I want to build the Simple Cub as my first build and trainer plane. Which model Simple Cub do y'all recommend: FLT 1072 or FLT 1053 for your first build and why? Thanks so much in advance and looking forward to this great hobby as a young 66 year old noobie!
 

Figure9

Elite member
Noobie here! I want to build the Simple Cub as my first build and trainer plane. Which model Simple Cub do y'all recommend: FLT 1072 or FLT 1053 for your first build and why? Thanks so much in advance and looking forward to this great hobby as a young 66 year old noobie!

Welcome to the forum. Good choice for a 1st effort. I like the FLT 1053 kit material because the foam board is almost water proof & the board is thinner. Enjoy your build & good luck on the maiden.
 

P40VRP

Member
Welcome to the forum. Good choice for a 1st effort. I like the FLT 1053 kit material because the foam board is almost water proof & the board is thinner. Enjoy your build & good luck on the maiden.

Thank you Figure9 for your prompt reply!
Sounds like good solid advice. I'm sure I will have many more questions as I get further into the build and hobby.
 
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Figure9

Elite member
Thank you Figure9 for your prompt reply!
Sounds like good solid advise. I'm sure I will have many more questions as I get further into the build and hobby.

You’ll find many forum members willing to provide the benefit of their experience to help you with your builds & flying. I used the FLT 1053 foam board to build my 1st kit because it was all that was available from Flite Test at the time. The new builder foam board is white, which has its advantages for paint & decorations. If you’re like I was in the beginning, & to some extent I still am inclined to wreck the models I build, you may not need to worry about finish issues. I still use tape to decorate & provide contrasting colors for orientation, I don’t worry about much else, the foam board is rebuildable or replaceable. After you build your first project you might decide to try scratch building with Dollar Tree Foam Board (DTFB). DTFB is not what I use for its potential life span, but in my case because it’s cheap & light weight. I made my 1st build an easy one by using a Flite Test kit with a swappable Power Pod. I bought the ‘B’ Power Pod package & I still use those original components on models I’m currently building. Probably the best advice I got was to seek out help from more experienced flyers to do my first flights (Buddy boxing) for flying a more advanced kit than the ‘ready to fly’ mini I started with. I’m planning on building a Simple Cub in the future & I might even do it from a kit, but I do love scratch building & modifying the plans to my own ideas. Good luck with building & flying & enjoy the adventure.
 

P40VRP

Member
You’ll find many forum members willing to provide the benefit of their experience to help you with your builds & flying. I used the FLT 1053 foam board to build my 1st kit because it was all that was available from Flite Test at the time. The new builder foam board is white, which has its advantages for paint & decorations. If you’re like I was in the beginning, & to some extent I still am inclined to wreck the models I build, you may not need to worry about finish issues. I still use tape to decorate & provide contrasting colors for orientation, I don’t worry about much else, the foam board is rebuildable or replaceable. After you build your first project you might decide to try scratch building with Dollar Tree Foam Board (DTFB). DTFB is not what I use for its potential life span, but in my case because it’s cheap & light weight. I made my 1st build an easy one by using a Flite Test kit with a swappable Power Pod. I bought the ‘B’ Power Pod package & I still use those original components on models I’m currently building. Probably the best advice I got was to seek out help from more experienced flyers to do my first flights (Buddy boxing) for flying a more advanced kit than the ‘ready to fly’ mini I started with. I’m planning on building a Simple Cub in the future & I might even do it from a kit, but I do love scratch building & modifying the plans to my own ideas. Good luck with building & flying & enjoy the adventure.

I do plan on painting the Simple Cub probably in a "Warbird Scheme" such as the Navy Cub or other military version. I'm crazy about military warbird history!
 

Figure9

Elite member
I do plan on painting the Simple Cub probably in a "Warbird Scheme" such as the Navy Cub or other military version. I'm crazy about military warbird history!

What ever Foam Board you use I recommend brushing on a couple of coats of Minwax prior to painting. Seal all the Foam Board edges with hot glue or by low heat ironing if you’re going for longevity so the edges don’t delaminate or easily be damaged. I use water base Minwax but others recommend oil base. Both seem to work well to keep the paper from delaminating from the spray propellants or chemicals in the paint.
 

Figure9

Elite member
Noobie here! I want to build the Simple Cub as my first build and trainer plane. Which model Simple Cub do y'all recommend: FLT 1072 or FLT 1053 for your first build and why? Thanks so much in advance and looking forward to this great hobby as a young 66 year old noobie!

Ya’ know, on further consideration. The Build Foam FLT1072 might be worth doing some research on. From the photos it doesn’t look like the thick stuff, it’s advertised as 3/16” while the FLT1073 is advertised as 5mm. Basically the same! The white would be a Great base to start with for painting.
 

messyhead

Well-known member
Hey, welcome to the forum. The Cub looks like a good first plane, but I've read posts on here from people that struggled with it. It's not as easy to fly for a newbie.

I'd recommend the tiny trainer. I built a modified version as my first plane, and it flew great. I had to use a modified larger wing as the foam board here in the UK is heavier.

I'm currently building a FT Tiny Trainer from the speed build kit for my son to learn.

I was also thinking of building the Cub as my next plane, but when I read about it, I decided I didn't want a plane I'd not enjoy flying at my level. So I'm going to build a Scout next.
 

P40VRP

Member
Hey, welcome to the forum. The Cub looks like a good first plane, but I've read posts on here from people that struggled with it. It's not as easy to fly for a newbie.

I'd recommend the tiny trainer. I built a modified version as my first plane, and it flew great. I had to use a modified larger wing as the foam board here in the UK is heavier.

I'm currently building a FT Tiny Trainer from the speed build kit for my son to learn.

I was also thinking of building the Cub as my next plane, but when I read about it, I decided I didn't want a plane I'd not enjoy flying at my level. So I'm going to build a Scout next.

Thank you messyhead for your input! It is very much appreciated. I had originally thought about going with the Eflite Apprentice for my first plane and trainer but when I saw the Flite Test build videos and the economical price of the Flite Test kits I was truly impressed by Flite Test.
The fact of a more hands on build interests me more than the ARF planes.
 

Indy durtdigger

Elite member
Howdy. New to these forums myself and haven't yet introduced myself. I'm in the process of getting back into the hobby and upping my game in the type of planes I'm using. I thought that since I have flown planes before the Simple Cub would make a good get back into things option. I quickly discovered that I'm more rusty than I gave myself credit for. That advice about the SC being a bit of a handful is pretty good advice. I reassessed my plan of attack and built an Explorer as it is a pusher prop and should save frustration and money as the prop is somewhat protected when gravity comes a knockin.
Something that I think was giving me problems is the B pack components. The SC calls for an 8x4.5 prop and the B pack comes with a 9x4.5. I think (and I could be wrong) the included props with the B pack over prop the plane as I was struggling with terrible prop torque. When I was searching the forums for tips on this I came across more than one comment stating that the SC does not take well to being overpowered.
One more thing I did was order a copy of Real Flight 9 RC simulator and have spent the last week worth of bad weather sharpening my skills and reaction times. Once I got back to the point I could keep the planes in the air, perform acrobatics, and land without crashing more times than not I cranked everything the game has to offer in the way of realism all the way up and started using the trim to further mess things up on top of what the game does to ya. Not sure how much this will translate into actual flight time but at the very least my reaction times should be considerably better.
 

Maxx

Active member
Noobie here! I want to build the Simple Cub as my first build and trainer plane. Which model Simple Cub do y'all recommend: FLT 1072 or FLT 1053 for your first build and why? Thanks so much in advance and looking forward to this great hobby as a young 66 year old noobie!
Welcome to the forum !
 

Maxx

Active member
Howdy. New to these forums myself and haven't yet introduced myself. I'm in the process of getting back into the hobby and upping my game in the type of planes I'm using. I thought that since I have flown planes before the Simple Cub would make a good get back into things option. I quickly discovered that I'm more rusty than I gave myself credit for. That advice about the SC being a bit of a handful is pretty good advice. I reassessed my plan of attack and built an Explorer as it is a pusher prop and should save frustration and money as the prop is somewhat protected when gravity comes a knockin.
Something that I think was giving me problems is the B pack components. The SC calls for an 8x4.5 prop and the B pack comes with a 9x4.5. I think (and I could be wrong) the included props with the B pack over prop the plane as I was struggling with terrible prop torque. When I was searching the forums for tips on this I came across more than one comment stating that the SC does not take well to being overpowered.
One more thing I did was order a copy of Real Flight 9 RC simulator and have spent the last week worth of bad weather sharpening my skills and reaction times. Once I got back to the point I could keep the planes in the air, perform acrobatics, and land without crashing more times than not I cranked everything the game has to offer in the way of realism all the way up and started using the trim to further mess things up on top of what the game does to ya. Not sure how much this will translate into actual flight time but at the very least my reaction times should be considerably better.
Welcome to the forum !
 

P40VRP

Member
You’ll find many forum members willing to provide the benefit of their experience to help you with your builds & flying. I used the FLT 1053 foam board to build my 1st kit because it was all that was available from Flite Test at the time. The new builder foam board is white, which has its advantages for paint & decorations. If you’re like I was in the beginning, & to some extent I still am inclined to wreck the models I build, you may not need to worry about finish issues. I still use tape to decorate & provide contrasting colors for orientation, I don’t worry about much else, the foam board is rebuildable or replaceable. After you build your first project you might decide to try scratch building with Dollar Tree Foam Board (DTFB). DTFB is not what I use for its potential life span, but in my case because it’s cheap & light weight. I made my 1st build an easy one by using a Flite Test kit with a swappable Power Pod. I bought the ‘B’ Power Pod package & I still use those original components on models I’m currently building. Probably the best advice I got was to seek out help from more experienced flyers to do my first flights (Buddy boxing) for flying a more advanced kit than the ‘ready to fly’ mini I started with. I’m planning on building a Simple Cub in the future & I might even do it from a kit, but I do love scratch building & modifying the plans to my own ideas. Good luck with building & flying & enjoy the adventure.


Figure9,
What gluegun do you recommend and what type or brand of glue sticks?
Thank you!
 

Ketchup

4s mini mustang
Figure9,
What gluegun do you recommend and what type or brand of glue sticks?
Thank you!
I have an adtech pro 200 and their own glue sticks, and I love it, but the pro 200 is fairly expensive. The pro 80 also works, and I heard that somebody has a dewalt glue gun that they like very much. Of course the little mini craft store guns work too if you want something even cheaper, but you might have to switch to a bigger gun for larger builds in the future. I spent a couple years building with a mini one, and it worked, but only for small builds. Also, to make sure that a specific person sees your post, just type an @ symbol and the start typing their username. A list of users should show up and you can just click on the right one to tag them like this, @P40VRP . Anyways, good luck with your build!
 

Figure9

Elite member
Figure9,
What gluegun do you recommend and what type or brand of glue sticks?
Thank you!

@P40VRP I use the AdTech Pro200 & the glue sticks that FT recommends & I’ve been pretty happy with it. I did need to lay the gun down on it’s left side, remove the right side by taking out the tiny phillips #1 screws & clean all the melted glue out of the inside so the glue stick feed mechanism would work. Eventually the glue build up stops the glue stick from feeding properly. I recently had an experienced builder tell me he uses White Gorilla Glue & it works fine for building foam board models.