First post - My foamboard Snoopy House design. =)

[Grymlock73]

Hi everyone! Long time reader, FT superfan, first time posting!

I started with FPV drones, a buddy at work pulled out his FPV rig while I was flying my little Hubsan X4 H107c during lunch... and the rest was history. Migrated over to the DJI fpv system recently and now I can never go back to analog. :-D

I got into fixed wings a bit later; flying popwings, crashtest hobby assassins, miscellaneous E-flite aircrat... but was always fascinated by the foamboard builds on the FT channel but never dove in until my kiddos wanted Tetris costumes for Halloween this year and I had an overabundance of dollar tree foam left over.


So, instead of trying to build a normal plane like any sane person, I had a design for a flying Snoopy doghouse kicking around in my head for the past year. I'm on version 2.5 now, and he flies pretty well! Surprisingly stable!

V1 was unstable, the CG was too far back and too high, and the control surfaces were too small. V2 flew great! But using two different servos for the elevons proved to be my undoing and he crashed hard after trying to trim him out. V3, I fashioned out of coroplast, but the airframe weight doubled and the weight/lift ratio didn't make sense for his size. So back to the V2 airframe which was still sound, just needed new matching servos and a motor pod rebuild. Painted him up and got some great flights with him over at Baylands in Sunnyvale, CA. Kids love him. ^_^

I'll post the plans a bit later if anyone's interested, and if there are any suggestions on how to construct some sort of landing gear... I'm all ears! Currently his CG is so far up, he flips forward on his nose (literally) and after a few landings, I have to make a new Snoopy since his head falls off :-D

Pics and vids below, enjoy! I'll get some more flight footage of him in the air from my friend and add. Love this forum, so many cool people in one place!

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[Merv]

Welcome to the forums
Great looking plane

 

[PsyBorg]

That was neat to see. LOVE the commentary.. Crash..... episode two Craaash Episode 5 Crrrraaaaaaasssshhhh.

I think I would extend the dog house length to maybe get it more stable and give you a better chance to get cog better. then I would use those big foam wheels people are using on the bush planes or STOLs like the kitfox. Solid axle thru frame bottom front for two larger wheels. Then maybe one center frame under the rudder area so you can tie them together and make it steerable. this will also get cg lower to counter the effects of snoopy sitting so high like a sail.

 

[Grymlock73]

Welcome to the forums
Great looking plane

Thanks Merv!

 

[Grymlock73]

That was neat to see. LOVE the commentary.. Crash..... episode two Craaash Episode 5 Crrrraaaaaaasssshhhh.

I think I would extend the dog house length to maybe get it more stable and give you a better chance to get cog better. then I would use those big foam wheels people are using on the bush planes or STOLs like the kitfox. Solid axle thru frame bottom front for two larger wheels. Then maybe one center frame under the rudder area so you can tie them together and make it steerable. this will also get cg lower to counter the effects of snoopy sitting so high like a sail.

Ooh, great feedback Psyborg, thank you! And hahaha, glad you enjoyed my daughter's commentary :-D She's been helping me with the arting up of the plane! I'm definitely going to iterate more on this guy; I really want to try and keep the proportions as close as possible to the tv show so I'll play with a bit more length on the house and see if I can strike a balance between dialing in a better cog and not losing the spirit of the comic. Giant bush plane wheels sound like a great idea! I think I'll try size it up as well to give me more lifting power.

 

[frogman]

I would love to see some plans if you have them at some point. Our family loves snoopy and I've always wanted a flying snoopy doghouse

 

[Rhaps]

This really made me happy! Between this and @JPE :s Splitting Plane Looks like 2021 is up to a great start

 

[mrjdstewart]

now that's making an entrance! welcome aboard!

i would LOVE to see some plans for this. like @PsyBorg said i think i little more length on dog house would go long way. there is a sub-forum down the main page called the "mad scratch builders" section. when you have plans you need to post down there, i will be waiting.

laters,

me

 

[Grymlock73]

Hi all! Happy New Year! Thank you so much for the kind responses and interest in Snoopy! I spent part of the holidays contemplating solutions and started another build utilizing some of the techniques recommended. Will keep you posted on that design, but for now, I'll share my current solution which is parachute landing! Here are some vids of the results! This works well enough for now and doesn't prompt repairs after every outing. ^_^ I've also snapped a bunch of pics with measurements which I'm going to share in the next post so you can hopefully build your own!

Thanks so much to Tim Rodriguez for his awesome footage of Snoopy in flight!

 

[Grymlock73]

Here are the measurements for the Snoopy build; sorry for the messy looking joints... this frame has been my OG version 2 and has been patched back together many times with several motor mount rebuilds

Electronics used are:
-2307 1750kv motor spinning a 6" tri blade quad prop
-30a esc
-four 9g servos for reverse v-tail elevons, rudder and parachute release
-frsky 6ch receiver
-4s 850mah batt
-36-40" parachute will get you down softly enough to avoid damage

This is also the order in which I built the house:
Walls, airfoil for horizontal crossbeam, vertical supports, roof, control surfaces, and finally Snoopy. I freehanded Snoopy but I'll draw up a new one and add it to the uploads for printing. =)



The sides and bottom are just 8"x8" squares; I cut a long 24"x8" section and did one of those fancy folds that I learned on FT I believe I removed the section on the side walls to preserve the 8" width.



The cross beam is an airfoil... 6" long and 8" wide to fit the interior. I hot glued it in place about a 1/4" from the top of the side wall, flush with the front. The airfoil is two foam boards high, stacked on the interior.



I then cut some foam for the vertical supports; the bottom one should be 5" deep and sit flush with the horizontal crossbeam vertically and from the rear since we'll be mounting the rudder to it. This is also where the parachute (if you choose to use one) will mount as well.


The top vertical support is a bit trickier and unfortunately I don't have any pics to illustrate exactly what I did here (I will update when I build a fresh one though since this air frame is pretty beat up)... The vertical support you want to measure roughly 4" to 4 and 1/4" high, and run the length of the airfoil. I had cut out a seam from the top of the airfoil, but not through the spar, and then notched the bottom of the vertical support to fit over the spar. Then just hot glued the support in place. This is what the peak of the roof is going to sit on.


The roof I made out of single piece, cut down the middle to fold and sits equidistance front to back on the house. It measures 11" front to back and 9.5" down one side, or 19" for the full length. I also cut a 2"'ish wide piece to act as a step airfoil for the front and also so that the servos don't stick out and can sit flush.


The motor pod/mount was something I struggled with a bit and though it went against my aesthetic desires, I had to poke it out from the front of the house to get the CG where I needed it to be. The battery is mounted underneath. It extends about 3-3.5" out from the front of the airfoil (not the roofline). I would even go as far as 4" just to give you some wiggle room on moving the CG back and forth. I have my battery flush with the front of the motor mount and it JUST gets me to where I need to be.

I stuck some popcicle sticks on the inside to give strength for the velcro strap and I 3d printed a motor mount for it. I'll take some more pics of the interior of the pod when I get a chance. Thingiverse has a ton of printable motor mounts, but this is the one I used:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1522734



The strips that Snoopy sits on were added when I had him able to break away since I didn't want to keep making new ones everytime he landed (crashed) and probably aren't necessary.... I ran a carbon fiber rod through his entire body vertically which gives him enough stiffness to not suddenly bend mid-air... :-D Snoopy actually acts as a great vertical stabilizer to keep this wonky design from rolling on a dime.


Alrighty, control surfaces....
I have the servos waaay up front to help bring the CG forward; you'll see later just how far forward it has to be. =) The reverse v-tail elevons are about 6" long, 1.75" to 2" deep (I basically butted them up against the walls of the house). I ran the servo rods on the interior for aesthetics and durability.


The oversized rudder I very rarely use in flight, but was a great way to trim this guy out who pulls hard left due to the rotor torque.


The parachute release mechanism is a simple rubberband release. Two pins up top and the servo arm on the bottom. =) I have it mounted at the peak of the roof on the back via hot glued paperclip. I would pull up into a climb, pop the switch and the chute will just fall out the back.


And finally, the CG of this guy. It's only 2.75"-3" back from the front of the roofline. =)



I hope these images and details were helpful! I'll try get the Snoopy pattern up as soon as I can. =) Please respond or PM me with any questions! When I build a new frame, I'll document it much better and update. Enjoy!

 

[Grymlock73]

now that's making an entrance! welcome aboard!

i would LOVE to see some plans for this. like @PsyBorg said i think i little more length on dog house would go long way. there is a sub-forum down the main page called the "mad scratch builders" section. when you have plans you need to post down there, i will be waiting.

laters,

me

Thanks for the kind words man! I posted a writeup with photos and measurements up top and I'll copy it over to the Mad Scratch Builds as well for those eager to get started. =) I'll definitely document the next build better and get a step by step in. ^_^

 

[sprzout]

I might suggest you reach out to Otto Dieffenbach on RCGroups. He’s already built a flying Snoopy’s doghouse, and might have some tips for your build. Otto’s built some really cool stuff.

 

[Grymlock73]

I might suggest you reach out to Otto Dieffenbach on RCGroups. He’s already built a flying Snoopy’s doghouse, and might have some tips for your build. Otto’s built some really cool stuff.

Oh that's a great idea! I read his article and studied his design quite a bit when contemplating how I wanted to build mine. What I loved about his is how true to the proportions it was

 

[Grymlock73]

This really made me happy! Between this and @JPE :s Splitting Plane Looks like 2021 is up to a great start

I just watched the Splitting plane and my brain melted. :-D So amazing!!

 

[sprzout]

Oh that's a great idea! I read his article and studied his design quite a bit when contemplating how I wanted to build mine. What I loved about his is how true to the proportions it was

Otto’s a San Diego native, always has some crazy cool stuff that he flies and is a really nice guy. My wife wants his flying Dumbo that he built, but I have NO idea where I’d even STORE something like that...

 

[Grymlock73]

Otto’s a San Diego native, always has some crazy cool stuff that he flies and is a really nice guy. My wife wants his flying Dumbo that he built, but I have NO idea where I’d even STORE something like that...

Ahahah, I've been contemplating picking up another storage shed just for scratch builds now that I've gotten a taste of it... ^_^

 

[sprzout]

Ahahah, I've been contemplating picking up another storage shed just for scratch builds now that I've gotten a taste of it... ^_^

Yeah, I’m in a 2 bdr apartment with one room that is half full with my planes and half full with my wife’s craft stuff. I call it the “Crap Room.”

As much as I’d like to have more planes, it’s getting kinda difficult to manage that...