Flattys

[Scotto]

I am affectionately calling these "flattys" but you might call them shockflyers or profiles. I got the idea from Pielikers Hitherto unnamed 3d profile. I built one but never finished it because I didnt have servos small enough.
The goal here was to make something so easy and cheap that I could practice 3d flying and not be out so much when I made it do kartwheels. I was pleasently surprised to find out that because of their light weight they can survive a lot of ground abuse.
These all use a cross shaped firewall that you can cut out of hobby plywood or 3d print. If you are cutting out a wood one the easiest way Ive found is to glue one template on and drill the holes. Then you can use the holes to line up the other template on the other side so you can cut with a utility knife from both sides.
These are one sheet foamboard so on my plans Ive made a 20x29.75" blue box around the outside so you can pick a corner and tile directly onto your Adams Readiboard foamboard with a school gluestick. I think FT foamboard is a little bigger so if you just trim the board to size, the outside of the blue line will make it easier to tile.
For the wing spars I'm using 0.6x4mm carbon fiber strips from Racedayquads. https://www.racedayquads.com/produc...p-1pc-choose-your-size?variant=31470537572465
To make a slot for the spar Ive found that a broken prop thats filed flat is perfect for opening up the score cut.

Its also good for forcing the spar down into the slot after youve filled it with hot glue.
Anyway, Ive had a blast with these this summer. I hope you enjoy them too. Please post pictures or video and any mods or tips you have.

 

[Scotto]

Video https://odysee.com/@Scotto:7/3DDustyVideo:d

This is Dusty. I scaled it up from my EZ Dusty. This was just a test to see what would happen, but I think it is actually the best flyer out of all of them so far. If you are trying different motors keep in mind that the weight of them will change the balance quite a bit, so you might need to move the tail servos or battery or both. Im not making any guarantees that it will balance the way it is. Ive found that I like a ridiculously high expo like 70% with these and throws to the max of course. To fine tune your CG, Ive found that when you roll with just full aileron, if it falls down its nose heavy, if it climbs its tail heavy. Its easier to fly nose heavy and easier to hover tail heavy. If its too tail heavy it wont do anything but hover, lol.

Im including skins scaled up from EZ Dusty, but I think the slots and stuff are maybe V.2 plans. These are only for people already comfortable with skins. I havent tried it yet because I am not very comfortable with skins myself.

After Version 1 was too beat up to fly aerobatics, I made him into a twin twirl. I thought it was pretty fun to try. This is also when I found out that the cheap orange props are total garbage and probly dont have 3/4 the thrust of an APC. They also broke super easy.

 

[Scotto]

Video https://odysee.com/@Scotto:7/F4fwildflat-1:0

This is my F4F "Wildflat." She's definitely my favorite. Looks good and flies good, too. A little hard to get balanced on account of the short nose. I had to get the battery so far forward there wasnt much foamboard left to hold it in. I had to reinforce with a skewer and a popsicle stick with a hole in it for the skewer. For V.2 I have the tail servos moved up so hopefully we wont need to do all of that again. I also made a drastic change to have more rudder on the bottom side. This is untested and it might be detrimental. I dont know. It looks like the upper part could be weak now. There will probly be a V.3 later, but Im not in a hurry to build any more of these right now because any daylight I could squeeze out to go fly is fading and I have so many other things to do.

 

[Scotto]

Video https://odysee.com/@Scotto:7/Clippedwingcub-1:c

Clipped wing cub. This isnt so much a 3d flyer but it is fun and surprisingly stable with no dihedral. It is a little trickier to build but Im guessing it is probly lighter than a box fuse. For the wing camber I put 2 long scrap pieces of foamboard under the leading edge when I glued in the spar. Since the ailerons are on one servo, I put in a little permanent down "flaps" on them for some extra slow. Just an option.

On V.2 I moved the mating lines so the nose wouldnt look so goofy. But the motor mount could still err to the high side of the "x." It definitely needs some down thrust, so make sure you have some before you glue and tape your firewall on. If you have a light motor, you might want to extend the nose a little to make it easier to balance.

 

[Scotto]

Double Trouble. This is the least tested of the four. I just ran out of summer to test it, but it was fun while it lasted. I set it up with a servo on each side so I could have flaperons. I think its a little over 250 grams. For V.2 I made the nose a little longer to help balance, and I made the tail smaller. It might end up needing the bottom of the tail smaller and the top bigger. There is almost no angle of attack when its taking off so it was very sudden when it did. I didnt have spars in this but Im not blaming that for the reason I broke the wings off of one side.

 

[FlyerInStyle]

View attachment 231256
View attachment 231258

Video https://odysee.com/@Scotto:7/3DDustyVideo:d

This is Dusty. I scaled it up from my EZ Dusty. This was just a test to see what would happen, but I think it is actually the best flyer out of all of them so far. If you are trying different motors keep in mind that the weight of them will change the balance quite a bit, so you might need to move the tail servos or battery or both. Im not making any guarantees that it will balance the way it is. Ive found that I like a ridiculously high expo like 70% with these and throws to the max of course. To fine tune your CG, Ive found that when you roll with just full aileron, if it falls down its nose heavy, if it climbs its tail heavy. Its easier to fly nose heavy and easier to hover tail heavy. If its too tail heavy it wont do anything but hover, lol.

Im including skins scaled up from EZ Dusty, but I think the slots and stuff are maybe V.2 plans. These are only for people already comfortable with skins. I havent tried it yet because I am not very comfortable with skins myself.

After Version 1 was too beat up to fly aerobatics, I made him into a twin twirl. I thought it was pretty fun to try. This is also when I found out that the cheap orange props are total garbage and probly dont have 3/4 the thrust of an APC. They also broke super easy.
View attachment 231257

can the dusty do 3d easily? how well does it hold up to crashes?

 

[Scotto]

can the dusty do 3d easily? how well does it hold up to crashes?

I dont have much to compare it to other than ft simple stick and dancing wings yak, but I think dusty was much easier to fly once I found the right cg. The crash survivability is the best thing about it though. Dusty and simple stick are probly 20 to 1 on kartwheels.

 

[FlyerInStyle]

I dont have much to compare it to other than ft simple stick and dancing wings yak, but I think dusty was much easier to fly once I found the right cg. The crash survivability is the best thing about it though. Dusty and simple stick are probly 20 to 1 on kartwheels.

then that is exactly what I would need. I will probably build one oince the weather gets nice, and maybe warmer.